by Stephen Lendman

Weeks of Ukraine street protests continue. Washington's dirty hands are involved. They're manipulating things disruptively. Imperial ruthlessness operates this way.

International law is clear and unequivocal. Meddling in the internal affairs of other countries is illegal. Doing so is longstanding US policy.

It's to eliminate independent sovereign states. It's about replacing them with pro-Western vassal ones.

It's about weakening major rivals. It aims to eliminate them altogether if possible. It's for unchallenged global dominance.

It's to make the world safe for corporate American profiteers. John Perkins was an "economic hit man." He explained, saying:

"(H)ighly paid professionals cheat countries around the globe out of trillions of dollars."

"They funnel money from the World Bank, (IMF, and other international lending agencies, as well as) other foreign aid organizations into the coffers of huge corporations and the pockets of a few wealthy families who control the planet's natural resources."

"Their tools include fraudulent financial reports, rigged elections, payoffs, extortion, sex, and murder."

"They play a game as old as empire, but one that has taken on new and terrifying dimensions during this time of globalization."

Their mandate is plundering nations for profit. It's controlling their resources. It's impoverishing and bankrupting them. It's trapping them debt bondage.

Nations refusing terms face major reprisals. Washington stops at nothing to achieve goals. Tactics include bullying, intimidation, punishing sanctions, assassinations, coups and lawless aggression.

Media propaganda accompanies them. The battle for Ukraine features Russia bashing. More on that below. It involves beating up on Ukraine's democratically elected government.

New York Times editors want Ukraine tilting West. They lied saying President Viktor Yanukovych "undermined his legitimacy."

They said he did so "when his security forces used truncheons and tear gas against thousands of protesters..."

One day only they confronted them violently. Yanukovych took them to task for doing so.

During weeks of protests, they've shown remarkable restraint. US police are some of the world's worst bullies. Don't expect Times editors to explain.

They lied claiming an EU alliance "open(s) the way to a brighter economic future." It assures plundering Ukraine for profit, impoverishment, unemployment, debt entrapment, and extreme human misery.

Former NYT executive editor Bill Keller writes alternate Monday Times op-eds. He does so irresponsibly. He supports wealth, power and privilege. He spurns objectivity. He turns truth on its head.

On December 15, he headlined "Russia vs. Europe." He accused Vladimir Putin of "bullying neighboring Ukraine into a new customs union (resembling the) Soviet Union Lite."

Fact check

Putin offers carrots, not sticks. He engaged Yanukovych responsibly. Mutually beneficial trade terms are being negotiated.

On December 17, Putin and Yanukovych will co-chair a Russian/Ukrainian interstate commission session. They'll do so in Moscow. Bilateral agreement terms will be finalized.

On Sunday, European officials in Brussels suspended talks on an EU/Ukrainian alliance. They wrongfully accused Yanukovych of refusing to accept terms demanding rejection.

They're one-way. They're take it or leave it with no concessions. They assure opening Ukraine to plunder if accepted.

Stefan Fule is European Commissioner for Enlargement and European Neighbourhood Policy. He duplicitously said Ukraine's position has "no grounds in reality."

He calls anything short of unconditionally agreeing to harsh EU terms unacceptable. So do other EU officials. Washington demands nothing less.

John McCain represents the worst of legitimate governance. He's an embarrassment writ large. He's militantly hardline. He an unindicted war criminal. He's ideologically over-the-top.

He showed up in Ukraine. On Sunday, he addressed protesters. He lied saying:

"People of Ukraine, this is your moment. This is about you, no one else. This is about the future you want for your country."

"This is about the future you deserve. A future in Europe, a future of peace, with all of your neighbors."

"The free world is with you. America is with you. I am with you. Ukraine will make Europe better, and Europe will make Ukraine better."

Turning East, not West, serves ordinary Ukrainian best. McCain lied claiming otherwise.

So did Senator Chris Murphy. He accompanied McCain. He disingenuously told Kiev protesters "Ukraine's future stands with Europe, and the United States stands with Ukraine."

Keller espouses the same one-way dogma. He maliciously attacked Putin. He accused him of "draw(ing) the line against Europe."

He's "deepen(ing) division. It seems clearer than ever that Putin is not just tweaking the West to rouse his base or nipping domestic opposition in the bud."

He's "attempting to turn back 25 years of history. (He) put on a KGB uniform and never took it off. (He's) the cynical, calculating master of realpolitik."

"He sees the world in conspiracies and responds in kind. (He's) a tortured Russian soul out of Dostoevsky, distressed by godlessness, permissiveness and moral decline."

"He is Soviet Man, still fighting the Cold War. (He's) a classic narcissist...His beef with the West is no longer just about political influence and economic advantage. (It's) profoundly spiritual."

Keller-style Putin bashing features malicious misinformation. Putin and Obama are polar opposites.

Putin supports global peace, stability and security. He urges cooperative relations with all countries.

He rejects meddling in the internal affairs of other states. He believes sovereign independence is inviolable.

Obama prioritizes advancing America's imperium. It aims for unchallenged global dominance.

It features ruthless economic exploitation. It involves violence, instability and imperial wars.

Obama breaches rule of law principles. He abhors democratic values. He wants the world made safe for US corporate crooks.

He's ravaging one country after another to achieve it. Putin is polar opposite. Don't expect Keller to explain.

His op-eds read like administration handouts. Propaganda substitutes for truth and full disclosure.

He recalled Mikhail Gorbachev's July 1989 speech. At the time, he endorsed Russia sharing a "common European home."

Keller quoted former Washington Post chief foreign correspondent, Jim Hoagland, saying:

"The long winter of world conflict based on the division of Europe seems to be approaching an end."

According to Keller: "Nearly 25 years after Gorbachev's 'common European home,' Putin sounds like a common European home wrecker."

Fact check

In 1989, GHW Bush promised Gorbachev NATO wouldn't expand East. It wouldn't do it to Russia's borders provided Moscow let its former republics become independent.

Another promise made. Another broken. Former Russian republics Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania are NATO members.

Other Eastern European ones include Albania, Bulgaria, Croatia, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, Romania and Slovenia.

Washington wants all remaining Eastern European nations co-opted. It wants them part of NATO.

US bases encircle Russian and Chinese borders menacingly. So-called missile defense systems intended for offense target them.

Neither country threatens America. Positioning strategic weapons near their borders shows Washington's real intentions.

Keller conveniently omitted explaining what readers need to know. He told half the story. He suppressed its most important part.

He duplicitously claimed Ukrainians "hope to be part of the West." National sentiment is divided.

Longstanding historical and cultural ties point East, not West. So does hope for Ukraine's troubled economy.

Allying with EU's sinking ship assures disaster. It guarantees predatory Western exploitation.

It risks turning Ukraine into a zombie country. No responsible leader should chance it. Whether Yanukovych is up to the challenge remains to be seen.

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

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

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

Visit his blog site at sjlendman.blogspot.com

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http://www.dailycensored.com/washingtons-dirty-game-ukraine/