The ceasefire violations by Kiev, many done by its uncontrollable Nazi and Nationalist battalions, have unwittingly let loose an army of neo-Frankensteins upon the already victimized land, with 500 civilians killed so far. Lost in that statistic is an even sadder one, the 1500 civilians who are missing in Donbass areas controlled by Kiev during 2015.
That all seems to be kosher in the estimation of the coup puppets Western backers if Ukrainian forces engage in killing the Donbass people via shelling. But the recent arrests for looting, torture and rape show that there are some limits to the West’s depredations, even if for show only, as evidenced by the missing above which meets with total silence in the West.
Nationalist battalion arrests begin
The infamous Tornado battalion commander and eight of this men were arrested for such crimes. Their unit immediately mutinied on hearing they were to be disbanded, and they barricaded their base to defend against being forced to disband.
When Donbass was targeted for destruction by the West and Kiev, some of the independent battalions were formed by emptying out prisons and giving them weapons, with promises of looting, raping to teach the evil Russians a lesson. These hoodlums would become the future warlords of the conquered land, which it seems the banksters still want to hold as collateral for the IMF loans or purchase at fire sale prices as the economy crashes, with George Soros a the head of the line.
The second hammer to fall was the removal of the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) director, Valentyn Nalivaychenko. He was an experienced official who had managed to avoid being tainted by the endless corruption scandals within the security organization, and who had been at odds with these renegade nationalist battalions. Most in the West are not aware he is a US citizen, with a real passport.
A comfortable majority in the factionalized Rada voted to remove him, and historically the SBU top staff is obliged to follow. But where will they go? Who will they side with in the next coup? It certainly will not be the Tornado battalion, despite the silly story about their 170 men headed to Kiev, all ex-convicts that the police and regular army units would love to shoot on sight.
If they are disbanded, they would no longer be under military law and punishment, but free to roam the countryside looking for any paymaster to put them back to work, and doing what to whom? This reminds me of the ancient saying, “Keep your friends close… and your enemies closer.”
Nalivaychenko proved this to be the case. Rather than going into hiding or keeping a low profile, he has already announced that he is considering running for the presidency. That takes some gall for someone just ridden out of town on the rail. But news reports prominently mentioned that he had a lot of foreign support. Presidential puppet candidates no longer come in sheep’s clothing.
The economic war rages on
The Minsk agreement continues its sleepwalk, but to what and where no one seems to know. Kiev has slowed its implementation down to a snail’s pace. The end game special status that Donbass wanted enshrined in the Ukraine constitution seems like a mirage now, all talk and no action. Although France and Germany guaranteed Kiev’s compliance in implementing the Minsk accords, they have literally done nothing to reign in Kiev’s ceasefire violations using the nationalist battalions.
This make-believe Minsk process is of course completely endorsed by the West. As General Breedlove told the wavering EU delegates at the Munich conference, he wanted them to help arm Kiev, despite knowing that it cannot defeat Donbass militarily, but to keep the war going in order “to give the sanctions against Russia time to work.” That goal has become as much a bad joke as Obama talking about Russia’s growing isolation.
Charlie Rose duels with Putin in the St. Petersburg arena
The recent St. Petersburg trade conference put a wooden stake in the heart of that fantasy. Billions of dollars in trade deals were signed, and over 2000 journalists attended. One of the highlights of the show was Charlie Rose hogging the microphone for what he thought was going to be his career highlight of whipping Vlad Putin in front of the world.
There is an wonderful American contribution to the English language that describes what happened. Putin ate Charlie Rose for lunch. His closing response to him was classic Putin in response to Rose’s attempt to put him on the defensive with Ukraine.
“Until the military and the so-called battalions – the armed nationalist formations – appeared on those territories, there were no weapons there. And there wouldn’t be any right now, if they tried to resolve the problem through peaceful means. Weapons appeared only after people started being killed by tanks, artillery, rocket launchers, combat aircraft. That’s when the resistance appeared. But as soon as someone undertakes an effort to resolve the conflict peacefully, the weapons will disappear,” Putin said.
Even little Crimea is laughing at Obama’s premature victory lap for isolating the entire Russian people and culture. “The West has already done everything which it could have done. They have tapped off water and imposed a transport blockade on Crimea. We have survived all that and continue developing – now in new economic realities. We have become even stronger over the past year,” said Crimean head Sergei Asyonov. Investors are flocking to Crimea, but having to work around the Western sanctions, something which has spawned a cottage industry in itself.
For Donbass things are much tougher. The economic blockade is hurting them. As Kiev sufferers economically, it wants to keep Donbass in worse shape, or Kiev would look ridiculous to its voters. In what was apparently an organized attack, one of the main gas trunk lines was shelled, which began undermining the entire pipeline pressure. If that pressure drops far enough, it will take months to repair, shutting down what local industry was still in operation.
My big worry is that this could have been a prelude to a summer offensive which a desperate Kiev might use as a diversion for its failures on the domestic front. The water supplies from Kiev-held territories are also blocked, ensuring that refugee populations will not be returning to their homes any time soon. But who would want to without a final resolution? There are no jobs to be had, so what would be the sense in returning?
Kiev general staff begins defecting to Donbass
Kiev is still a coup that has not really consolidated its power. The people trust this government less than the former. They know they were sold a bill of goods. Most are powerless but not all, like Kiev’s Deputy Minister of Defense, Major-General Alexander Kolomiets who defected to Donbass this week. He has this to say:
“The potential of the Ukrainian army is at a very low level. From a moral point of view, all the generals and officers who understand that the government’s actions are criminal, don’t want to fight. Only volunteers from nationalist troops are fighting. In the near future the Armed forces of Ukraine will be rocked by uprisings. Officers do not understand the commands to kill civilians. We will see it sometime in the fall. Everything will change very soon.”
While Kiev plays its waiting game, it is somewhat tied to that of the US and NATO, where the 6,000-man ready reaction force could be increase to 40,000 at the NATO conference next week. Four divisions is a major offensive move. Much of this force is headed to the Baltic States who have made a huge strategic blunder by offering themselves up for Western cannon fodder. The citizens there need some new and better leadership, and quickly, like most of the rest of us do.
Moscow is also buying time to complete its military modernization and to complete building with China and India the Eurasian integrated economic and military defensive Great Wall of Asia that will be able to defend itself via mutually assured destruction. Yes, the Western leaders are taking us backwards to that situation.
The last time they did this, it was the golden years for the US economy in which I grew up. Not so this time. Maybe the good citizens will finally grab their pitchforks and do what they need to do in time for our 2016 elections, where the next follow up step of the 9-11 coup is scheduled. These are dangerous times for us all indeed. We just have to make it that way for those who have brought this upon us, and give them their just reward, which is not the one they are looking for.
