Washington's Dirty Game

By Stephen Lendman
2-8-14

Washington can't hide its dark side. It's too ugly to conceal. Its been exposed numerous times.

Here we go again. Assistant Secretary of State for European and European Affairs Victoria Nuland was caught red-handed. More on this below.

She's hardcore neocon. She's a career foreign service officer. She's worked with Democrat and Republican administrations.

Early in her career, she covered Russian internal politics at Washington's Moscow embassy.

She served on the Soviet Desk in Washington. She worked in the State Department's Bureau of East Asian and Pacific Affairs. She served in Guangzhou, China.

She was Deputy to the Ambassador-at-Large for the Newly Independent States of the former Soviet Union. She directed a task force on Russia, its neighbors and an expanding NATO.

She was Clinton's Deputy Secretary of State Strobe Talbott's chief of staff. She was Deputy Permanent Representative to NATO.

She was Dick Cheney's Principal Deputy National Security Advisor. She was Permanent US Representative to NATO.

She was a National War College faculty member. She was Obama's Special Envoy for Conventional Armed Forces in Europe.

On September 18, 2013, she was appointed Assistant Secretary of State for European and European Affairs.

Her husband is Project for the New American Century (PNAC) co-founder Robert Kagan. He's a neocon foreign policy theorist/hardliner.

He advised John McCain's 2008 presidential campaign. He served on Hillary Clinton's Foreign Affairs Policy Board.

The Foreign Policy Initiative (FPI) is PNAC's current incarnation. He's a board of directors member. He represents the worst of America's dark side. So does Nuland.

She supports regime change. She backs neo-fascist governance replacing Ukrainian democracy.

She's involved in manipulating street thug violence. She's part of a US-instigated insurrection.

She wants legitimate Ukrainian governance toppled. She wants pro-Western stooge governance replacing it. She lied saying: "We stand with the people of Ukraine..."

She demands Ukrainian President Viktor Yanokovych engage "with Europe and the IMF."

She was caught red-handed urging regime change on tape. Her conversation with US Ukraine ambassador Geoffrey Pyatt was recorded.

It's circulating on You Tube. It's more evidence of America's dark side. It bears repeating. It's too ugly to hide.

The leaked video is damning. It's four minutes long. It's titled "Maidan puppets." It refers to Kiev's Independence Square.

The Kiev Post (KP) broke the story. On February 6, it headlined " 'F..k the EU,' frustrated Nuland says to Pyatt, in alleged leaked phone call."

On February 4, the Nuland/Pyatt conversation was posted on You Tube. It's unclear by whom.

Both US officials expressed frustration over EU "inaction and indecision," said KP. Nuland was heard saying "f..k the EU."

Pyatt called opposition figure Vitali Klitschko the "top dog." He heads the Ukrainian Democratic Alliance for Reform party (UDAR). Pyatt and Nuland agreed he's "too inexperienced to hold a top government post."

A US Kiev embassy spokeswoman had no comment. State Department spokeswoman Jennifer Psaki downplayed what happened.

"I'm not going to confirm or outline details," she said. "I understand there are a lot of reports out there and there's a recording out there, but I'm not going to confirm private diplomatic conversations."

When pressed about the You Tube's authenticity, she said she "didn't say it was inauthentic. I think we can leave it at that."

She was pressed again about the conversation revealing US intentions opposite of public comments about Ukrainians deciding their own future.

She lied saying they aren't "inconsistent in the least bit." Her convoluted explanation doesn't wash.

She claimed Washington is working with Ukraine's government, opposition elements, as well as "business and civil society leaders to support their efforts..."

Obama wants regime change. He wants Ukraine's democratically elected government toppled. Not according to Psaki.

She lied claiming it's "up to the Ukrainian people themselves to decide their future. (It's) up to them to determine their path forward, and that's a consistent message that we're conveying publicly and privately."

Psaki was hard-pressed explaining why Nuland felt the need to apologize. Doing so shows You Tube dialogue was authentic.

White House and State Department officials barely stopped short of accusing Russia of surreptitiously recording Nuland's conversation.

Psaki called the incident a "new low in Russian tradecraft in terms of publicizing and posting this."

"I don't have any other independent details about the origin of the You Tube video," she added.

Snowden exposed NSA's systematic global spying. Foreign leaders are targeted. Their phone calls are monitored. Their emails are read. Psaki left that issue unaddressed.

White House press secretary Jay Carney said "since the video was first noted and tweeted out by the Russian government, I think it says something about Russia's role."

He wouldn't comment on what Nuland and Pyatt said.

Hours before the You Tube surfaced, Russian Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin's aide, Dmitry Loskutov, was among the first to tweet information about it, saying:

"Sort of controversial judgment from Assistant Secretary of State Victoria Nuland speaking about the EU."

According to the Kiev Post, "(t)he leaked phone call appears to have been made following (Ukrainian) President Viktor Yanukovych's Jan. 25 offer to opposition leader Arseniy Yatseniuk to be prime minister and Klitschko to be deputy prime minister..."

In 2005 and 2006, Yatseniuk was Ukraine's economy minister. In 2007, he was foreign minister.

In 2007 and 2008, he chaired Ukraine's parliament (the Verkhovna Rada). It's a unicameral body.

The All-Ukrainian Union "Fatherland" is Ukraine's second largest party. Yatsenyuk heads its parliamentary faction.

He and Klitschko refused Yanukovych's offer to join his government. On January 28, former Ukrainian Prime Minister Mykola Azarov resigned. Yanukovych accepted his resignation. He signed a decree. He dismissed other cabinet officials.

He promised more concessions. He appointed a committee to propose constitutional revisions.

It didn't help. At the time, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov condemned street violence by "fascistic youths."

He warned against external interference. Russia "stands for a political settlement within the framework of Ukrainian law," he said.

Washington's dirty hands bear full responsibility for street violence. Regime change politics is longstanding US policy. It involves every dirty trick imaginable.

Syria is in the eye of the storm. So is Ukraine. Conditions remain volatile. Nuland/Pyatt intentions reveal what Ukrainians have to fear.

In December 1994, Washington, Russia, Britain and Northern Ireland welcomed Ukraine's accession to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons, saying:

They "reaffirm(ed) their commitment to Ukraine, in accordance with the principles of the CSCE (Helsinki) Final Act, to respect the Independence and Sovereignty and the existing borders of Ukraine."

They "reaffirm(ed) their obligation to refrain from the threat or use of force against the territorial integrity or political independence of Ukraine...in accordance with the Charter of the United Nations."

They "reaffirm(ed) their commitment…to refrain from economic coercion designed to subordinate to their own interest the exercise by Ukraine of the rights inherent in its sovereignty..."

Washington is duplicitous. It can't be trusted. It's word isn't its bond. It's history is treacherous.

It systematically ignores international law. It violates treaty obligations repeatedly. It wants all independent governments toppled. It goes all out to remove them.

It targets Ukraine for regime change. Nuland told Pyatt a UN official she spoke to said Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon agreed to send someone to Ukraine to "help glue this thing and have the UN glue it."

She was told Ban will appoint former Dutch Ukrainian ambassador, Robert Serry, as his representative.

"That would be great I think to help glue this thing and have the UN glue it," said Nuland. At that point, she said "And you know, f..k the EU."

"Exactly," Pyatt replied. "And I think we got to do something to make it stick together because you can be sure that if it does start to gain altitude the Russians will be working behind the scenes to torpedo it."

"Let me work on Klitschko," he added. "I think we should get a Western personality to come out here and midwife this thing."

Klitschko "is obviously the complicated electron here," said Pyatt.

"And you've seen some of my notes on the troubles in the marriage (among opposition leaders) right now."

"So we're trying to get a read really fast on where he is with this stuff."

"But I think your argument to him, which I think you’ll need to make...is exactly the one you made to Yats (Yatseniuk), and I'm glad you kind of put him on the spot in where he fits in in this scenario."

Nuland favors Yatseniuk for a leadership role. He's "the guy who's got the economic experience, the governing experience," she said.

"What he needs is Klitsch (Klitschko) and (Svoboda party fascist leader) Tiahnybok on the outside. He needs to be talking to them four times a week, you know."

"I think Klitsch going in, he's going to be at that level, working for Yatseniuk. It's just not going to work," she added.

"Yeah, I think that's right," said Pyatt. He urged Nuland to reach out directly to him and "help with the personality management among the three," he added.

The conversation ended with Nuland saying she can get Vice President Joe Biden to call Yanukovych "for an attaboy and to get the deeds to stick."

In December, Nuland spent days in Ukraine. She met publicly with opposition leaders. She joined their street protests. She handed out cookies.

Imagine if Russian, Chinese or other foreign officials acted the same way in Washington. Imagine the public rage. Imagine the threatening response.

On Monday, EU foreign ministers will meet in Brussels. They'll discuss imposing sanctions on Ukraine. Washington threatens its own.

On Thursday evening, Nuland met with opposition leaders Yatseniuk, Klitschko and Tiahnybok. They plotted strategy.

Hours earlier the European Parliament approved an anti-Ukrainian resolution. It called for imposing sanctions. Ukraine's Foreign Ministry responded saying:

"We're disappointed at prejudice with which the European Parliament assessed the Ukrainian government's actions and at the fact that it ignored the vast majority of constructive efforts made by the Ukrainian leadership in relation to the implementation of plans for building trust and engaging into a peaceful and inclusive dialogue with both the opposition and the civilian population."

"An unbalanced nature of the resolution and calls for introducing EU restrictions don't contribute to nationwide reconciliation and trust in Ukraine and undermine the process of settling the conflict."

Washington manipulated Ukraine's 2004 Orange Revolution. Yanukovych's earlier government was ousted.

In 2010, he was reelected president. He's targeted again. Orange Revolution 2.0 continues. At stake is Ukrainian sovereign independence.

What's ongoing involves weakening and isolating Russia. Washington's dirty game is transparent. Imperial ruthlessness is longstanding US policy.

All independent states are targeted. So are major rivals. America wants unchallenged global dominance. It wants world resources plundered for profit.

It wants ordinary people made serfs. It wants them impoverished. It wants vassal states beholden to US interests. It wants them trapped in debt bondage.

It wants ruthless control replacing democracy. It wants subservient stooges replacing legitimately elected officials.

Empire building is dirty. Tactics include bullying, intimidation, sanctions, assassinations, coups and lawless aggression.

Ukraine's future is at stake. Whether Yanukovych can save its democracy remains to be seen. The fate of 46 million Ukrainians hangs in the balance.

Stephen Lendman lives in Chicago. He can be reached at lendmanstephen@sbcglobal.net.

His new book is titled "Banker Occupation: Waging Financial War on Humanity."

http://www.claritypress.com/LendmanII.html

Visit his blog site at sjlendman.blogspot.com.

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