THE USUAL SUSPECTS

Ukraine is in turmoil as I write and the usual suspects are hard at work, stoking the flames. Since the breakup of the Soviet Union the same neoconservatives who engineer our wars in the Middle East have also been busy destabilizing and exploiting faction in Eastern Europe.

As usual with the Neocons, they have an interior game and an exterior game. The exterior game that we are meant to see is called, “Spreading Democracy.” The interior, or should I say, ulterior game is to gain leverage in foreign states to enrich themselves and their interests. This is achieved by controlling our foreign policy. In order to do this, our public must be gulled into thinking that they have an interest in persons, movements and countries in which we have little or no stake. The Neocons have been very effective in doing this, insinuating their people into the foreign policy establishment to such a degree that they are influential no matter which party controls the White House.

How do they do this? Apart from buying members of our congress, they concentrate funding and press influence on the think tanks that produce foreign policy experts, or persons who might plausibly pass for same. These think tanks are the pool from which administrations pick talent. The neocon cabal controls who is, and is not, acceptable in these institutions, which include the American Enterprise Institute, The Heritage Foundation, etc.

Neocons operate via nepotism to a great degree as well. It’s rarely mentioned in the media. Here is a for instance: Victoria Nuland of the State Department and who is in the news lately, is the wife of Robert Kagan, one of the “experts” who engineered our disastrous invasion of Iraq under false pretenses. Victoria first entered public service under Dick Cheney but went on to serve Hillary Clinton. So no matter who wins, a Kagan or a Nuland will be in the mix. There are many such examples.

The high temple of this phenomenon is the organization called NED, the National Endowment for Democracy. It gets most of its funding from our congress. Its two main components are The National Democratic Institute manned by Democrats like Madeleine Albright and The International Republican Institute, run by neocon warmonger Senator McCain.

What do they do? They do what the old Communist International used to do. They insinuate themselves into the politics of foreign nations in order to accomplish outcomes favorable to themselves. They seek to undermine regimes that they dislike by funding opposition groups, tampering with the press coverage and ginning up boycotts, to name but a few of their practices. And remember this is all on our dime and technically not official American policy. Of course, when the US State Department and the NED share the same Neocon personnel, there is no difference.

Right now the neocons are busy in Ukraine. That country is deeply divided between ethnic Russians and Ethnic Ukrainians, who have very different affinities between the Russian and the European Union political/economic orbits. A tragedy is brewing. Ukraine, like many Eastern European countries is hobbled by population policies enforced by Stalin. Like Poland before 1939, the Ukrainians are not alone in their own country but share it with ten million Russians. That is seventeen percent of the country’s population. Ukraine has a tragic and complex history with Russia. Indeed the Ukrainians are the original Russians as in the Kievan Russ. No country has suffered more at Russian hands or been as closely associated with Russia, as has Ukraine. There is no simple and painless solution to Ukraine’s problem.

The Neocons meddling in this situation can easily result in a civil war with even more awful consequences. We have already seen how compassionate and nuanced the neocons are to the awful consequences of their pet wars and plots. The Neocons will fight Russia no matter how many Ukrainians it takes. Neocon Victoria Nuland is the US State Department’s Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs. She was recorded on a telephone call using obscene language to describe the European Union. The focus of the call was to plot who would be acceptable as the next leader of Ukraine.

My question is, acceptable to whom? The current President was elected in a free election. He tilts toward Russian in the matter of joining the EU. It is reported that we are backing the protesters and even paying them. Is it the policy of the US government to overthrow the government of a country on Russia’s doorstep? If so, why? What is our national interest in meddling in the internal affairs of a nation so far way? Let’s remember that the United States went to war with the German Empire for it’s similar skullduggery in Mexico.

The Neocons are no friends of Democracy. They are simply enemies of Putin or any strong Nationalist Russian leader. The Neocons were deeply implicated in the looting of Russia by the Oligarchs in the post-Soviet era. The Neocons have deep roots in the followers of Leon Trotsky and inherit an animosity to Slavic Russians in general. It shows in their constant vilification of Putin and all things Russian.

Whatever happens in Ukraine will be between that country’s population, Russia and the EU. We have no legitimate role in this whatsoever. Our interference can only cause further harm. As long as we let this malignant neocon cabal use our national might and prestige for their own purposes, we share in their guilt. We must return to a traditional American foreign policy of fair play and non-interference in our dealings with the rest of the world.