In recent days, the architect of Ukraine’s misery, Victoria Nuland, Undersecretary of State for Political Affairs, kind dispenser of cookies and terminal advice to the EU, and a woman (yes, I assumed her gender) with a visceral, some would say psychotic, hatred of all things Russian, has, it seems, opened her mouth and accidentally spoken the truth about the military conflict in Ukraine.
In a disturbing, even for her, interview, the arch neocon, and hammer of the Slavs, made a number of interesting comments. While trying to put pressure on Republican lawmakers to approve another massive aid package for Ukraine, one that is currently firmly blocked in Congress, she trotted out the tired old trope that “If we don’t stop Putin in Ukraine, he will keep going” she also complained that “this isn’t the Russia we wanted” accusing Russia of not wanting to cooperate with the west after the collapse of the USSR.
Birds of Feather
This is a statement which flies in the face of the ample historical evidence that Russia’s many efforts to integrate with the west, including NATO, were firmly rebuffed by Nuland and various administrations, especially her colleagues, e.g., “birds of feather” in a number of western foreign ministries, and their efforts and intent to break up Russia into “smaller, more manageable and controllable pieces”.
The icing on the cake, however, and one that speaks to the true evil of both neocons and the military conflict in Ukraine that they planned, seeded, and poured gasoline on the flames of, was her statement that she had strong confidence that the aid bill would pass as it addresses America’s interests,
“We have to remember that the bulk of this money is going right back into the US economy, to make weapons, including good-paying jobs in some forty states across the US,”
This ties in with her boss Blinken’s recent comment as follows:
“Our support hasn’t just helped Ukrainians. Ninety percent of the security assistance that we provided to Ukraine has been spent here in the United States, benefiting American businesses, workers, communities, strengthening our nation’s defense industrial base.”
If this is true, then combined with the lack of oversight on weapons or cash deliveries to the corrupt neo-Nazis in Kyiv, we are seeing that the US elites are using the military conflict in Ukraine not only to “weaken Russia” but to fleece the US taxpayer, line the pockets of defense contractors, and enjoy kickbacks from both the military industrial complex, but also their Ukrainian puppets.
Pro-Russian Groups: OR Pro-Georgian Groups?
We, as reported earlier, are seeing the same thing occurring with the French-born president of Georgia, Salome Zurabishvili, who claims that Russia is funding “pro-Russian” groups in Georgia to interfere in the upcoming elections.
“We are directly there, we have 20% of our territory which is currently occupied by Russia, and we are concerned because we are going to have elections by October, and we know the experience of many other countries much stronger than we are, how Russia can interfere with elections,” she said.
Zurabishvili is, like her evil twin Nuland, a hater of all things Russian, painting Georgia’s time in both the Russian Empire and USSR as “a time of oppression”, which is not unexpected for the scion of a family that fled to France in the early 20th century. If you listened to her, you would think that Russian rule had reduced Georgia from a super state to an impoverished vassal, and that only the west can return Georgia to its glory. Obviously, anyone who disagrees must be a “traitor on the payroll of Russia”
As a Georgian friend recently said to me “Salome Zurabishvili and her western backers need to look at their own actions, it is the behavior of the US and EU in attacking Georgian culture and traditions, particularly their promotion of LGBTQ+ agendas, the unveiled attacks on the Church in general, and the Patriarch in particular, along with the growing public realization that the West used Georgia as a stick to poke Russia in 2008, that have resulted in a significant part of the Georgian public seeing that a country that has occupied 20% of their territory is actually not as much of an evil as their supposed ‘friends and backers’ in the west.
This is further reinforced by Western and Ukrainian attempts to pressure Georgia into opening a ‘second front’ against Russia, and the ongoing US inspired schism in the Ukrainian Church, something many Georgian faithful fear happening here when the elderly, and widely loved, Patriarch Ilia II finally passes”
Contrary to the impression you may get when walking through the richer parts of Tbilisi, such as Vake and Ortachala, where the inheritors of the Communist elites dream of untold riches upon joining the EU and where anti-Russian attitudes are the most common, and the only Churches are ancient historical structures, just 30 minutes’ drive away in areas like Saburtalo and Dighomi, new Churches are springing up, paid for by donations from the local public. One of my friends lives in an area where there are 7 new Churches within 2 kilometers of his apartment, 5 built in the last 8 years, and all within the last 20.
Many Georgians have a more nuanced view of history than their foreign born (and Western appointed) president. It is well known that Georgia was fractured and exhausted after centuries of invasions by the Islamic world, particularly the Persians and Ottomans, and severely depopulated.
For all their faults, Russian protection in the 19th century ushered in a massive increase in population, from an estimated 400,000 to over 4,000,000 by the end of the last century. Russian protection also saw a revival in culture and sciences in Georgia, and Georgians were promoted to high positions in the military and government throughout the Empire, and the USSR.
It should be noted that great Georgians of the period were in favor of more autonomy, but not independence, such as the great St. Ilia Chavchavadze, a writer, educator and political activist, who was murdered by Georgian socialists, aka, Georgian Mensheviks, for his belief that Georgia’s future was as an autonomous region within the Russian Empire.
The Mensheviks on their way out, not putting up much of a fight to Bolsheviks, then proceeded to loot the national treasury on their quick departure. Many of the foreign born Georgians who now claim pride in having dual citizenships, and who like to give interviews condemning the entire Russian race, had tainted roots that were nourished by stolen Georgian wealth and the unabated greed of those who ran like rats from Georgia in the face of the Bolshevik invasion, leaving ordinary Georgians to “face the music” alongside Bolshevism’s Russian victims.
Today, there is a growing realization amongst Georgians that the promises of the west are an illusion, as so is much of its short-lived Socialist past. Despite so-called “free trade” agreements with the EU, the vast majority of national income comes from trade with the Russian Federation, and from Russian tourists and businesspersons working with Georgia.
Georgia and Georgians also understand the need to be pragmatic in their foreign relations, and not be the next sacrificial lamb on the altar of Western Hegemony, which stains the ground of so many fledgling democracies throughout the world with the blood of its victims.
Seth Ferris, investigative journalist and political scientist, expert on Middle Eastern affairs, exclusively for the online magazine “New Eastern Outlook”.
