by Stephen Lendman

On April 4, 1967 (exactly one year to the day before his state-sponsored assassination), Martin Luther King called America “the greatest purveyor of violence in the world today” - in his Beyond Vietnam speech delivered at New York’s Riverside Church.

America is “on the wrong side of a world revolution,” he said. It allies with “landed gentry (against) shirtless and barefoot people.”

“(C)apitalists of the West invest huge sums of money in Asia, Africa and South America, only to take the profits out with no concern for the social betterment of the countries.”

He accused Congress of authorizing “military funds with alacrity and generosity (while providing) poverty funds with miserliness.”

His voice is sorely missed today. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey echoed some of his thoughts accusing Washington of “impos(ing) (its) will upon others by force.”

Interviewed on Singapore’s Channel News Asia, he called the Islamic State a product of Middle East and North African violence and chaos.

He accused Washington and its allies of “promot(ing) their own view of the world and promot(ing) their vision of how all countries must live, including through using military force, including through changing legitimate governments - all this brought to life so many uncertainties and gave rise to people who want to use terrorist means to achieve their goals.”

“They think that if somebody is allowed to use force, why don’t we follow the same example and promote our ideas. That’s how ISIL announced its goal to create the caliphate from Spain to Pakistan on huge territories.”

“Whenever you start expanding your ideology not by persuasion but by force, you create so many risks and so many dangers - be it the promotion of communism like the Soviet Union used to do, be it the promotion of democracy in spite of all the cultural differences and ignoring the traditions and values of the people whom you want to ‘make happy’, or be it terrorist ideas of the caliphate.”

Lavrov expressed concern about America’s “very huge military buildup in Asia, including under the (phony) pretext of countering the North Korean threat but the scale of the buildup is way beyond the need and disproportionately huge” because China and Russia are the real targets.

He took dead aim at Washington’s deplorable foreign policy, a hegemonic agenda threatening world peace. Its so-called European and Asian missile defense is for offense.

Renouncing the important ABM treaty was hugely destabilizing. “It triggers buildup and brings us back to the mutually assured destruction logic as it relates to strategic stability,” Lavrov stressed.

Russia wants peace, not war. It deplores an arm race. Straightaway in office, Obama “publicly said that if the Iranian nuclear issue is resolved, there would be no need for missile defense in Europe.” Lavrov saying “it seems that he was not telling the truth," is a diplomatic way of calling him a liar.

Separately, he commented on repeated Kiev violations of Minsk ceasefire terms, including failure to dialogue responsibly with Donbass officials.

Virtually everything it agreed to was breached. Junta initiated violence continues - multiple incidents daily.

Former Ukrainian Prime Minister Nikolay Azarov formed a Committee for the Salvation of Ukraine to regain power through snap elections, end war on Donbass and replace illegitimate US-installed fascist rule democratically.

At a Monday Moscow press conference, he asked “all citizens, political parties, labor unions and social movements to unite and restore order in our home by joint efforts.”

He stopped short of naming other committee members because many “live and work in Ukraine, and (revealing their opposition to rogue state government) is very dangerous.”

In time, they’ll be introduced to the Ukrainian people and the world. “I can assure you that they are patriots who have no ties with current authorities or former” ones, Azarov explained.

Washington replaced democratically elected governance with illegitimate Nazi-infested fascist rule. Conditions are deplorable politically, economically and socially. Police state repression targets dissenters.

Azarov said when he resigned as prime minister, he “hoped (for) a government of national unity, which would include representatives of various political forces and would focus on the key issue - the restoration of stability and peace in our country.”

He stepped down “on the condition (things) would stabilize and the disarmament of all illegal militias and armed groups, which prevented restoration of peace and stability in the country, would take place. Time has shown that this decision of mine and the decisions of the country's leadership at the time had serious flaws and serious mistakes.”

He couldn’t imagine coup d’etat authorities would wage war on their own people, institute police state repression, create overall chaos and wreck Ukraine’s economy.

It’s now he supports ballot box regime change - to let responsible officials replace rogue coup d’etat ones. “The Salvation Committee thinks it is impossible to restore accord without changing the political leadership,” Azarov stressed.

Committee members called for Poroshenko and Yatsenyuk to resign. They urged Ukrainians to demand snap presidential and parliamentary elections. A Committee statement said:

“This criminal regime is bankrupt and is obliged to leave, they forcibly seized power, illegally dispersed the 7th Ukrainian Verkhovna Rada. The country is in dire need of reforms. With your support the Committee is prepared to take responsibility for the future of the state.”

Azarov said ruling regime authorities enjoy 20% public support at most. The vast majority of Ukrainians want them replaced.

The regime is “slavish,” he added. It’s a Western controlled puppet state with no legitimacy. Its authorities exploit Ukrainians for their own self-interest. Sooner or later it has to go.

Putin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Moscow has nothing to do with the Committee’s efforts. If it gains traction, Washington and Kiev for sure will blame Putin.

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

His new book as editor and contributor is titled "Flashpoint in Ukraine: How the US Drive for Hegemony Risks World War III".

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

Visit his blog site at sjlendman.blogspot.com.

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