by Stephen Lendman

America seeks unchallenged global dominance. No holds barred tactics pursue it. Rule of law principles don't matter. Means justify ends. Might makes right.

Events are manipulated. Wars, economic disruption, financial terrorism, and other upheavals play out in real time. Grand schemes reflect them.

Ongoing Ukrainian protests didn't erupt by chance. Washington's dirty hands manipulated them. Obama officials want Kiev turning West, not East. They'll stop at nothing to achieve it.

They want Russian influence weakened. They want Ukraine's potential ruthlessly exploited. They want its people transformed into serfs. They want another NATO member they control.

They're playing hardball against Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych. They're considering various options. State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki said:

"All policy options, including sanctions, are on the table, in our view, but obviously that still is being evaluated." She didn't say what kind Washington has in mind.

It imposes sanctions recklessly. It does so lawlessly. It does it ruthlessly. One day it'll go too far. It'll target one victimized country too many.

Most others won't go along. They'll maintain normalized relations. They should be doing it now. Washington rules don't matter if no one obeys them. It's high time that practice took hold.

America is a global bully. It's all take and no give. US officials warned Yanukovych. Don't target protesters forcefully, they said.

Doing so in America is common practice. So is lawlessly interfering in the internal affairs of other countries. State terrorism is official policy. War on humanity rages.

New World Order ruthlessness reflects it. McAlvany Intelligence Advisory calls it:

"a supranational authority to regulate world commerce and industry;

an international organization that would control the production and consumption of oil;

an international currency that would replace the dollar (and other major currencies);

-- a world development fund that would make funds available to (all) nations alike; (and)

an international police force to enforce the edicts of the New World Order."

These policies reflect the Bilderberg Group's grand design. It includes:

universal rules it sets;

centralized control of world populations;

manipulating public sentiment to do so;

controlling global wealth and power;

eliminating middle class societies;

replacing them with ruler-serf ones;

preventing real democracy from emerging;

crushing it when it does so;

perpetuating crises and wars;

expanding corporate controlled trade worldwide;

making NATO a global military;

imposing a universal legal system;

abolishing human and civil rights; and

placing monied interests above all others.

This type world isn't fit to live in. Money power in private hands is tyrannical. It's abhorrent. So is waging war on humanity ruthlessly.

Washington glorifies it in the name of peace. The business of America is war, grand theft, and unchallenged global dominance.

One nation after another is ravaged. They're pillaged. Their sovereignty is destroyed. Washington rules replace it. Brute force harshness reflects it.

Smedley Butler (1881 - 1940) was a former Marine major general. It was the highest authorized rank at the time. He served on active duty for over 33 years.

He was cut out of a different mold. He transformed himself after years of service. He looked back with regret. He justifiably called war a "racket."

He spent "most of (his) time being a high class muscle-man for Big Business, for Wall Street and for the Bankers." He called himself "a racketeer, a gangster for capitalism."

He "helped make Mexico safe for American oil interests. (He) helped make Haiti and Cuba a decent place for the National City Bank boys to collect revenues in."

He "helped in the raping of half a dozen Central American republics for the benefit of Wall Street" and other corporate crooks.

"The record of racketeering is long," he said. He "helped purify Nicaragua for the international banking house of Brown Brothers."

He "brought light to the Dominican Republic for American sugar interests. In China, (he) helped to see to it that Standard Oil went its way unmolested."

"During those years, (he) had, as the boys in the back room would say, a swell racket."

"Looking back at it, (he felt he) could have given Al Capone a few hints. The best he could do was operate his racket in three districts." Butler "operated on three continents."

America's global empire stretches everywhere. Super-weapons Butler couldn't have imagined enforce it. Going public made him an American hero.

Who in today's military can match him? Who in government? Who'd dare try? Who'd survive if they did? Who'd make a difference long enough to matter?

Obama and Vladimir Putin reflect opposing doctrines. Obama solely serves monied interests. He deplores popular ones.

He advocates conflicts and instability. He pursues global dominance. He does so ruthlessly.

Putin supports peace and stability. He champions nation-state sovereignty. He respects international laws and norms. He endorses multi-polar world priorities.

On Thursday,he delivered his state of the nation address. He did so before Russia's Federal Assembly.

It consists of the lower house State Duma and upper house Federation Council. It's the equivalent of a joint session of Congress.

Russia seeks to be a world leader, he said. It doesn't seek super-power status. It doesn't want to interfere in the internal affairs of other countries.

"We will aspire to be a leader by protecting international law and insisting upon respect for national sovereignty, independence and uniqueness of peoples," he said.

"We have always been proud of our country, yet we do not aspire to super-power status, which is understood as a claim to global or regional hegemony."

"We are not encroaching on anyone's interests. We are not pushing our patronage on anyone, and we are not trying to lecture anyone on how one should live."

He called Moscow's policy on Syria "resolute, well-judged and reasonable."

"Not a single time have we put either our own interests and security or global security in danger. In my opinion, this is the way a mature and responsible power should act."

"(W)e and our partners managed to turn the situation there away from war and toward the development of a nationwide Syrian political process and the achievement of civil reconciliation."

He wants 33 months of conflict resolved peacefully.

"In my opinion," he added, "it is our shared success that the choice was made on the basis of the fundamental principles of international law, common sense and the logic of peace."

"At least thus far we have managed to avoid foreign military intervention in Syrian affairs and the spread of the conflict beyond the region."

Russia "made quite a significant contribution to this process," he stressed.

"The Syrian precedent reaffirmed the UN's central role in global politics."

"As the situation around Syria and around Iran today has shown, any international problem can and should be resolved exclusively by peaceful means, without resorting to military actions, which have no prospects, but only serve to cause denunciation by the majority of countries in the world."

Putin didn't mention America directly by name. He commented on destabilizing conflicts it initiated. He warned against foreign powers seeking a military advantage over Russia.

He called attempts to destroy the current global strategic balance futile. He dismissed claims about Washington's so-called missile shield being defensive.

He said it has strategically offensive potential. He was outspoken about Western nations attempting to undermine Moscow's national defense strategy.

He's mindful about fast-strike weapons platforms able to hit high priority targets worldwide.

"The increase by foreign countries of their strategic, high-precision non-nuclear systems potential and boosting missile defense possibilities could ruin earlier reached agreements on nuclear arms control and reduction, and lead to the disruption of the so-called strategic balance," he said.

"No one should have illusions over a possibility of taking military advantage over Russia. We will never allow this."

Moscow's military capability is able to respond to all challenges effectively, he stressed.

Putin commented briefly on Ukraine. Earlier he said Russia's "integration project (is) based on equal rights and real economic interests."

On January 1, 2010, Moscow's Customs Union with Belarus and Kazakhstan was established. Putin hopes other regional states will join.

"I'm sure achieving Eurasian integration will only increase interest from our neighbors, including our Ukrainian partners," he said.

His Eurasian Union success depends in large measure on whether Ukraine opts in. Putin envisions a cooperative trading bloc extending from the Pacific to Western European borders.

Ukraine weight heavily in his plans. It's future is up for grabs. Turning East, not West, offers Yanukovych the best chance for economic progress. Joining a troubled EU alliance assures harder than ever hard times.

The battle for Ukraine continues. Washington's hardball tactics show no letup. It remains to be seen how things turn out. Kiev's future hangs in the balance.

A Final Comment

On December 12, Yanukovych said he'll remove officials responsible for drafting the Association and Free Trade Area Agreement with the European Union.

"Those who prepared the agreement will be relieved of their duties or sacked altogether," he said.

According to Prime Minister Mykola Azarov, Ukraine will sign a trade agreement with Moscow. It removes all trade contradictions.

"A visit to Moscow is planned for (December 17) so that we can sign agreements eliminating the majority of contradictions in trade with the Russian federation at the presidential level," Azarov said.

Customs, standardizations and other issues will be resolved. Restoring trade with Russia to its former level will help Ukraine avoid economic collapse, he added.

"I assure you that we will do everything we can to" restore normal Russian/Ukrainian trade relations, he stressed.

Expect Washington and rogue EU partners to go all out to disrupt them.

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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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