by Stephen Lendman

This year's March madness wasn't in America. Nor what continues in April. Or what preceded it. Or perhaps what's likely to follow. It's in Ukraine.

It's ground zero. It represents the greatest geopolitical crisis since WW II. It threatens a third global conflict. It that's not madness, what is?

Obama bears full responsibility. His rap sheet is blood-drenched. He's waging multiple direct and proxy wars. He's got lots more mass slaughter and destruction in mind.

He wants unchallenged US global dominance. He wants Russia marginalized, isolated, weakened, contained and co-opted. His objectives risk global war.

Ukraine is a major geopolitical flashpoint. It's hugely dangerous. Challenging Russia recklessly may ignite what no responsible leader would risk.

Obama represents the worst of rogue leadership. He's ideologically extreme. He's over-the-top and then some. He's a con man like no other. He risks potential armageddon.

Aijaz Ahmad is a political commentator. He's a New Delhi-based Nehru Memorial Museum and Library Professorial Fellow.

He's a York University, Toronto visiting Political Science Professor. He's the Indian newsmagazine Frontline senior news analyst.

It's a Hindu Group fortnightly English language publication. It covers domestic and world news. It features analysis.

In its April 18 edition, Ahmad headlined "The 'Great Game' in Europe," saying:

"In its eagerness to complete the encirclement of Russia by turning Ukraine into a forward country for positioning NATO bases, the US is paving the way for fraternal genocide and ethnic cleansing."

"A closer strategic alliance between Russia and China may well be the one positive outcome of the Ukrainian fiasco."

On April 4, RIA Novosti discussed Ahmad's analysis. It headlined "US Instigating 'Yugoslav Scenario' of Fraternal Genocide in Ukraine."

From March 1991 through mid-June 1999, Balkan wars raged. Yugoslavia "balkanized" into seven countries.

They include Serbia, Kosovo, Montenegro, Macedonia, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Croatia and Slovenia.

From March 24 through June 10, 1999, US-led NATO war raped and destroyed the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (FRY).

Known or suspected military sites were targeted. So were many civilian areas and infrastructure unrelated to military operations.

Cities, villages and other locations were struck. Mass slaughter, displacement, destruction and human misery followed.

America claimed another imperial trophy. The former Yugoslavia no longer exists. Imagine this happening to Ukraine.

Imagine it igniting global conflict. Imagine the madness of risking it. Ahmad addressed the issue.

Washington ousted Ukraine's democratically elected government. It elevated fascist putschists to power.

It opposes legitimate Crimean reunification with Russia. It challenges Moscow irresponsibly. It does so recklessly.

What's ongoing represents a "turning point and a watershed event" in US/Russian relations, said Ahmad.

It followed Obama's Asia pivot. It's about hardening America's Pacific presence. It involves advancing Washington's military footprint.

Doing it aggressively is planned. China's growing economic might and military strength are targeted. So is checking Russia at the same time.

Obama wants both countries contained. They're formidable adversaries. Permanent war is longstanding US policy.

Bush said "You're either with us or against us." Independence isn't tolerated.

Washington began rebalancing East Asia years ago. Strategy involves strengthening military, economic, and political ties with Japan, South Korea, India, Australia, New Zealand, Indonesia, the Philippines, Thailand, Myanmar, Singapore and Vietnam.

It involves undermining Chinese and Russian influence. It's about isolating them from neighbors. It's asserting Washington's dominance over territories and waters not its own.

WW I and II echoes remain audible. Never again grows more likely. Flashpoint conditions risk the unthinkable. Small disputes ignite major ones.

It's back to the future. Cold War politics never ended. It morphed into new form. Containing Russia and China involve civilizations clashing. Perhaps belligerently.

Obama exceeds the worst of his predecessors. He's biting off more than he can chew. He defends the indefensible. He risks the unthinkable.

Ahmad is justifiably concerned. Obama initiated a European pivot, he said. Encircling Russia with US/NATO bases is reckless.

Ukraine may become another Yugoslavia. Doing so risks WW III.

"IMF-imposed austerity on a ruined economy and NATO-propelled militarization for eyeball-to-eyeball confrontation with Russian power is just the kind of combustible combination that may well lead to a civil war, a regional war, and heaven knows what else - in a country where 70 per cent in a recent Gallup poll voted against joining NATO," said Ahmad.

China and India support Moscow's Ukraine agenda. It's legal. It's responsible. It's polar opposite Washington's intentions.

Putin prioritizes peace and stability. Obama risks East/West confrontation. Recklessness defines his agenda. The worst of all possible outcomes may follow.

Earlier Great Game confrontations were minor compared to what's ongoing today. At stake is humanity's survival.

US-led NATO is a killing machine. It's a weapon of mass destruction. Millions of corpses bear witness to its ruthlessness.

Washington and rogue NATO allies threaten world peace. They suspended political and military cooperation with Russia. A joint statement said:

"We have decided to suspend all practical civilian and military cooperation between NATO and Russia."

"Our political dialogue in the NATO-Russia Council can continue, as necessary, at the Ambassadorial level and above, to allow us to exchange views, first and foremost on this crisis."

NATO partners plan "additional measures to reinforce (the alliance's) collective defenses." Detailed proposals will follow.

A Kremlin statement said earlier efforts to integrate Ukraine into NATO led to a "widening of the split in Ukrainian society, the majority of which anything but supports the idea of Ukraine entering the NATO military block."

It doesn't matter. It's happening in real time. NATO members plan enhanced military cooperation with Ukraine. Doing so includes involving Kiev in NATO military exercises.

It's integrating it into other NATO activities. They involve encroaching closer to Russia's border.

According to NATO ministers, they're considering "options ranging from stepped-up military exercises and sending more forces to eastern members states, to the permanent basing of alliance forces there…"

Doing so is hugely provocative. Claiming a Russian threat doesn't wash. None whatever exists.

Moscow prioritizes peaceful co-existence. America is obsessed with empire building.

A circulating social media graphic shows Western and Eastern Europe infested with NATO bases encroaching on Russia's borders.

How dare Moscow locate its territory close to NATO military installations, it suggests.

Putin is geopolitically polar opposite Obama. He prioritizes peace and stability. He's gone all-out to prevent East/West conflict.

It's the world's greatest threat. Preventing it matters most. Best efforts may fail. Hegemons want things their way.

Washington exceeds the worst of earlier ones. Obama represents the worst of rogue leadership.

It's a combustible combination. It risks global war. Ukraine may be flashpoint enough to ignite it.

Efforts to defuse things aren't happening. Polar opposite policies are ongoing. They're escalating.

A nonexistent Russian threat is being hyped provocatively. America's sordid history is long and disturbing.

Enemies are invented. They're pretexts for war. America won't quit waging them. It plans more. Advancing its imperium alone matters.

Challenging Russia is madness. It's happening in real time. It bears repeating. The worst of all possible outcomes may follow.

A Final Comment

On Saturday, Afghans voted. A previous article called Afghanistan elections more farcical than fair.

Bribes, intimidation, violence, ballot-box stuffing, and other massive fraud characterized previous elections. Pro-Western candidates are featured. Independent ones are shunned.

Eight candidates vied to become Afghanistan's next president. US-anointed stooge Harmid Karzai vowed no third term.

He's constitutionally ineligible to seek one. Hundreds of candidates competed in provincial elections.

Weeks or perhaps months will pass before knowing who won most contests. If no presidential aspirant wins a majority, runoff voting will follow.

It's scheduled for May 28. The two top polling candidates will compete. A previous article said it hardly matters.

Afghans already lost. Choices excluded hope and change. Democracy is nowhere in sight. It's strictly verboten.

Militarized occupation prevents it. Barrel of a gun rule excludes it. So does out-of-control daily violence. Not according to Obama.

On April 5, a duplicitous White House statement "congratulated the millions of Afghans who enthusiastically participated in today's historic elections, which promise to usher in the first democratic transfer of power in Afghanistan's history and which represent another important milestone in Afghans taking full responsibility for their country as the United States and our partners draw down our forces."

"We commend the Afghan people, security forces, and elections officials on the turnout for today's vote - which is in keeping with the spirited and positive debate among candidates and their supporters in the run-up to the election."

"These elections are critical to securing Afghanistan's democratic future, as well as continued international support, and we look to the Afghan electoral bodies to carry out their duties in the coming weeks to adjudicate the results - knowing that the most critical voices on the outcome are those of Afghans themselves."

"Today, we also pay tribute to the many Americans - military and civilian - who have sacrificed so much to support the Afghan people as they take responsibility for their own future."

"The United States continues to support a sovereign, stable, unified, and democratic Afghanistan, and we look forward to continuing our partnership with the new government chosen by the Afghan people on the basis of mutual respect and mutual accountability."

Fact check

Afghans have no democracy. Not now. Not planned. Not any time short or intermediate term. Washington tolerates none at home or abroad.

It abhors sovereign independence. It demands subservient vassal states. It wants pro-Western puppets leading them. Regime change targets outliers. Aggressive wars are waged to replace them.

America's "partnership" with Afghanistan reflects a master/colonial subjugated servant relationship. Washington rules apply. Afghans have no say.

Plundering Afghanistan for profit is prioritized. So is exploiting its people.

It's flooding the world with massive amounts of heroin from locally grown opium. It's targeting Russia and China from nearby US/NATO bases.

Human lives don't matter. Equity, justice, and other democratic values are verboten. Hegemons operate this way.

America is by far the worst in world history. It may end up destroying planet earth to own it.

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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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