And it's not just the recent ancestors. The DNA of the apostles, martyrs, prophets, evangelists, doctors of the church as well as saints known only to God is still swirling around down here in our blood. I have a hunch there's a dab of Enoch in me!
Ugh...I hope this is just posturing on part of this politician. If not, this is really just spiraling out of control http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/world/2014/03/10/ukraine-nuclear/6250815/
Why is the US/West pushing Russia? Putin Speaks March 10, 2014 | Categories: Articles & Columns | Tags: Putin, | Print This Article Putin Speaks Paul Craig Roberts You can read an English translation of Vladimir Putin’s March 4 press conference here: http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article37889.htm Americans have not experienced political leadership or an independent media for such a long time that they will be amazed at the straightforward answers from the Russian President and by media asking real questions, some of which show the influence of Washington’s propaganda. Americans will also be struck by how greatly the facts of the Ukraine situation diverge from the constant stream of lies that flow from Washington, its European puppets, and presstitute media. Putin’s calm leadership, the absence of provocative statements and threats, and his insistence on legality and will of the people stand in stark contrast to the West’s threats and support for violent overthrow of a democratically elected government. It is astonishing that the only leadership the world has comes from Russia, China, and three or four countries in South America. The Western world no longer has diplomatic capability. Instead, the Western world relies on propaganda, threats, force, and schemes to overthrow governments that it first demonizes. Notice that Putin repeatedly asks why the West created the crisis in Ukraine. He makes the important point that in post-Soviet countries, legality and democracy are fragile. Democracy and legality are not furthered by overthrowing democracy before it has taken roots and placing in office an unelected government by force and illegality. It is impossible to argue with this point. Why, indeed, did the West murder democracy and constitutional order in Ukraine? The fact that Putin asks the question does not mean he does not know the answer. He does not give the answer, because he is a diplomat and still has some hope for common sense and good will to prevail. He knows that the West supported the overthrow of the Ukrainian government as part of its strategic thrust against the sovereignty and independence of Russia. Aligning Ukraine with NATO means US missile bases in Ukraine. Remember how terrified Americans were of Soviet missile bases in Cuba. Putin knows that Washington in pursuit of world hegemony is driving the world to a dangerous war in which neither side can accept defeat. Thus, nuclear weapons would be unleashed. Putin knows that the reason Washington withdrew from the anti-ballistic missile treaty and installed anti-ballistic missiles in Poland is to degrade Russia’s nuclear deterrent. Putin knows that the reason Washington changed its war doctrine to permit preemptive nuclear attack is to carry out a first strike against Russia. Putin also knows that only Europe can prevent this final devastation. Therefore, Putin does not make provocative statements or take strong actions. He hopes that Europe will notice his reasonable behavior in contrast with the reckless behavior of Washington and realize that Europe and NATO must cease enabling Washington’s pursuit of hegemony, a pursuit that is driving the world to its destruction. Putin hopes that Europeans’ sense of self-preservation will prevail over their lust for Washington’s money and invitations to dinner at the White House. By taking this humane and rational approach, Putin has established himself as the true leader of the world. Washington counters Putin’s leadership with demonization. Putin’s leadership frustrates Washington and makes Putin a candidate for assassination.
You gota hand it to Putin and his cronies. He invades the sovereignty of another nation to usurp control of the country and then blames another country for what he has done. Sounds allot what Satan does. He temps one to sin, then once a person does sin he turns it back on the sinner as if he was not the origin of the sin.
I would say you have to hand it to the West/banksters for yet another overthrow/destruction/enslavement of a country. You have to be kidding Fatima if you don't see whose hand is behind this whole affair pushing us close to a nuclear war. This is the Cuban missile crisis all over again. How are the people doing in Libya, Iraq, Syria, Afghanistan, Serbia, etc? We have bombed them all back into the stone age, forget about all the blowback the Christians living in those countries have gone thru. I am sorry Fatima, prophecy is one thing, reality is another.
Ignore any of this has happened. The US, NATO and the West use economics to enslave countries – FM Živadin Jovanović © Collage: Voice of Russia Like Afghanistan, Iraq, Libya, Syria and before it the former Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, Serbia is another country that was also invaded and destroyed by US/NATO. Serbia today is overburdened by foreign debt and through the IMF and other “loans”, like other countries, faces being enslaved by the West. Serbia is proof that when the West gives 1 Euro, it takes 100 Euros. You mentioned the damage of NATO to Yugoslavia $120 billion. But even what was not destroyed, that was privatized by criminal privatization. These issues and more were touched upon by Živadin Jovanović, the former Foreign Minister of Yugoslavia in an interview with the Voice of Russia.
picadillo, I see who's hand is in the moral and physical destruction of countries throughout the world, it is Satan and his willfull Mason's. Do you not recall the state of the countries aforementioned when US/NATO forces engaged the brutal dictatorships, which they were unleashing on their own people? Serbia's ethnic cleansing, horrible torchers/crimes by the various regimes, starvation, rape, murder, mass executions and the degradation of women and children (I do). No, I am not blind about what the free countries entered the various conflicts for. We just have a different view of this. And as far as bankers go, I have dealt with this issue before. The US is not the only country with corrupt bankers in the world, as the Masons are planted everywhere to do their bidding for Satan. And one more important point, no country, I mean NO COUNTRIES have given all together a 10th of the foreign aid to poor countries and those in dramatic need as the US alone has done for the past 100 years. But, perhaps the political bias against the US will not allow you to see this. America is changing, no doubt. Its moral fiber that it was founded on has all be eroded, but it still is the only country left in the world that will stand up against tyranny from brutal dictators..... well, at least until the infamous leader we now have in place. War is ugly no matter what window one is looking into and from.
Fatima and Picadilo, this conflict is not a US vs Russia conflict. It is smoke and mirrors and they work for the same invisible bosses that work for the devil and want the same things. We caught a glimpse of this deception prior to the last election for Obama when, by the grace of God, the microphone was left on in the meeting between Obama and Medvedev. Obama clearly showed that he worked for someone greater and was on the side of the Russians. I agree with both of you on the points you make because we are on the same side....God's side and not Satan's as they are on.
Andy, I agree. I just get tired of hearing that it's only 'evil America' to blame for all the problems of the world. I love my country, though I know it has lost its way in many regards. It's still my country and I would not want to live anywhere else in the world. Its kinda like having a brother who may have lost his way. I would still love my brother and when someone is talking smack about him I will defend him regardless of his bad ways, cause he's my brother. God Bless America, in spite of its many sins, I pray.
Me too Fatima. I love our country but that is because I love the people of the country and not the crooked politicians, greedy businessmen and shadow rulers that are trying their best to ruin it.
Its the Freemasons not America causing the trouble. USA we love you. If it wasn't for America we wouldn't have such great forum members. There wouldn't have been a place with such opportunities and freedom for so many people from over this side to emigrate to. No Bruce Springsteen or Art Garfunkel the list goes on. God Bless America.
Believe it or not, I love the USA, even if it has been taken over by something not of Christ. I am just pointing out the problems the West is causing for countless people. God bless the USA and may the USA bless God.
I missed this news story about what was caught when the microphone was left on. Can you explain what was said?
Ukraine crisis: bugged call reveals conspiracy theory about Kiev snipers Estonian foreign minister Urmas Paet tells EU's Cathy Ashton about claim that provocateurs were behind Maidan killings Share4692 4 inShare19 Email Ewen MacAskill The Guardian, Wednesday 5 March 2014 14.06 EST Jump to comments (761) The conversation featuring EU foreign affairs chief Catherine Ashton was posted on YouTube. Photograph: Ye Pingfan/Rex A leaked phone call between the EU foreign affairs chief Catherine Ashton and Estonian foreign minister Urmas Paet has revealed that the two discussed a conspiracy theory that blamed the killing of civilian protesters in the Ukrainian capital, Kiev, on the opposition rather than the ousted government. The 11-minute conversation was posted on YouTube – it is the second time in a month that telephone calls between western diplomats discussing Ukraine have been bugged. In the call, Paet said he had been told snipers responsible for killing police and civilians in Kiev last month were protest movement provocateurs rather than supporters of then-president Viktor Yanukovych. Ashton responds: "I didn't know … Gosh." The leak came a day after the Russian president, Vladimir Putin, said the snipers may have been opposition provocateurs. The Kremlin-funded Russia Today first carried the leaked call online. The Estonian foreign ministry confirmed the leaked conversation was accurate. It said: "Foreign minister Paet was giving an overview of what he had heard in Kiev and expressed concern over the situation on the ground. We reject the claim that Paet was giving an assessment of the opposition's involvement in the violence." Ashton's office said it did not comment on leaks. During the conversation, Paet quoted a woman named Olga – who the Russian media identified her as Olga Bogomolets, a doctor – blaming snipers from the opposition shooting the protesters. "What was quite disturbing, this same Olga told that, well, all the evidence shows that people who were killed by snipers from both sides, among policemen and people from the streets, that they were the same snipers killing people from both sides," Paet said. "So she also showed me some photos, she said that as medical doctor, she can say it is the same handwriting, the same type of bullets, and it's really disturbing that now the new coalition, that they don't want to investigate what exactly happened." "So there is a stronger and stronger understanding that behind snipers it was not Yanukovych, it was somebody from the new coalition," Paet says. Ashton replies: "I think we do want to investigate. I didn't pick that up, that's interesting. Gosh," Ashton says. Russia Today, reporting the call, said: "The snipers who shot at protesters and police in Kiev were allegedly hired by Maidan leaders, according to a leaked phone conversation between the EU foreign affairs chief Catherine Ashton and Estonian foreign affairs minister, which has emerged online." Last month, a recording was leaked in which US state department official Victoria Nuland was heard venting the White House's frustrations at Europe's hesitant policy towards pro-democracy protests. Speaking to the US ambassador to Ukraine, Geoffrey Pyatt, Nuland was heard to say "flook the EU." Asked about the emergence of a second embarrassing phonecall, a spokesperson for the US state department said: "As I said around the last unfortunate case, this is just another example of the kind of Russian tradecraft that we have concerns about."
Kathy. Just read this message from a Protestant about blood. Interesting that you were just talking about blood. Messages to Julie Whedbee www.IAmCallingYouNow.blogspot.co.uk I WILL RESTORE YOUR VERY BLOOD March 11th, 2014 Just as it was in the beginning, I am doing again in My Bride this day. My creation reflected all that I am. I am come now in the hearts of My chosen to exhibit holiness, righteousness, truth, and purity. I conquered death at the cross, I abolished it for all men who receive Me, for all time. I came that you would have life everlasting, that the curse of sin would be overcome. I am restoring yet again through My last days remnant, a sanctified and holy people who are walking in My statutes and My example, demonstrating that a sinless life is to be your goal. I have shown you the Way as I am the only Way, the Truth, and the Life. He that follows Me knows no death. I am come for a pure and spotless Bride, one who continues to seek Me every moment of every day. I am come to rescue My love from the judgements which are upon you. My love prays continually for Me to remove the stain of sin and to restore new life. I purify this one, cleanse this one, strip this one of darkness and separation. I pour My new wine into this, My surrendered and emptied vessel, for it is only in total surrender and obedience that this one can be used mightily as an instrument to others for My Kingdom and My glory. I speak to you now of a restored bloodline. Pray - seek Me - repent - walk in complete humility, and I will make all things new. I will restore your very blood, My precious blood in you to function in complete reflection of I AM, the One who breathed you into existence. I will remove any trace of the enemy's curse upon you and in your temple, My Sanctuary. I wish for you to understand what I am asking. My Spirit can not reside in an old wineskin that can not hold My rivers of living water. I must have a vessel that is impervious to the enemy and pure from the inside out as I can not indwell anything that entertains the profane. Do you understand child what I am requiring for My first - fruits remnant? This one (Bride) is who I come for first, so that she may be used mightily to gather the last days harvest and be a light in a world which is being plunged into darkness. You must walk worthily of that for which you have been purchased for. Yes, you hear correctly daughter. You have been purchased, purchased with a price that no one else has done for you. A sacrifice that I would give again and again and again because of My love for you. I know you intimately, better than you know yourself and I have given every one of you the ability to do as I ask. There are no excuses. The Way has been made - the Path is illuminated, victory is won, the battle is Mine, My yoke is easy, My burden light. While they say peace and safety sudden destruction will be upon you and your choice will have been made. I love you so intensely and wish all of you gathered to Me. Choose My Path now - this moment - as I have already spoken it - time as you know it is no more. PRAY! PRAY! Receive Me - receive this gift as I pour out My Spirit upon all who empty themselves to receive Me. This must be done NOW........ Jehovah Mekoddishkem -The Lord Who Sanctifies You
March 13, 2014, Thursday – Other Voices "Put your sword back in its place, for those who live by the sword will die by the sword." —Matthew 26:52; the words are those of Jesus, who is about to be arrested by the soldiers of the Sanhedrin; he is saying that if one uses violence, or other harsh means, against others, one can expect to have those same means used against oneself "Last month... Vladimir Putin ordered that the Black Madonna of Kazan, the holiest icon of the Russian Orthodox Church, be flown over the Black Sea... Over the centuries, the “Black Virgin” has been taken to battlefields to bless Russian armies fighting Swedish, Polish, Turkish, Persian, French and German invaders. Stalin sent it to Stalingrad in 1943 to ensure victory over the German invaders under Field Marshal Friedrich Paulus... With Putin’s troops in control of Crimea and threatening to move further into Ukraine, we now know that the icon was brought in to bless a military operation this time as well." —Amir Taheri, an Iranian writer, in the London-based paperAsharq Al-Awsat, March 7, 2014 (The icon of Kazan that was flown over the Black Sea a month ago on the order of Russian President Vladimir Putin. The icon was in the papal apartment of Pope John Paul II for a decade, from 1993 to 2004. It now resides in Kazan, a city 600 miles east of Moscow. It is considered a "miracle-working" icon, and over the centuries has come to be called "the Protection of Russia") (A detail from another copy of a similar holy Russian icon, showing a close-up of the Madonna and Child. A reflection casts rays of light on Mary's face and the forehead of Jesus) =====================
CONTINUED FROM ABOVE: A Reflection on Truth and Lies We all know the first casualty of war is truth. But we must not allow this casualty, this "wounded sentinel," to be taken to a field hospital, and set aside... Truth is much too precious for that. In fact, truth is a characteristic, a constituent element, of Christ himself (he said: "I am the way, the truth, and the life"). So we must keep the truth close, even when wounded... especially when wounded... The truth about Ukraine, and Russia, and the implications of what is happening, is being smothered in a massive avalanche of rhetoric, one-sided presentations of facts, and real disinformation, to the point where we hardly know what's true and what's a lie. And because one "incident" could touch off a conflagration here, this tense situation is ripe for manipulation, that is, for a "false flag" attack (think, the Reichstag fire) -- an "incident" perpetrated by hidden actors and blamed on someone else. Any such "false flag" could "light the match" of war, to the sorrow of all of us. The complete "truth" about the situation in Ukraine is impossible for humans to know. We cannot know to what extent all, or some, or none of what happened was planned, what occurred by chance and what was organized. We do not know to what extent the entire scenario was "scripted" in advance or to what extent all that happened has been the product of the spontaneous desires of Ukrainians for a better life. The truth is likely some combination of these two. If there is a director for such events, the director is like a director of jazz music; "Your turn, you do your solo now," he says, and the musicians play freely, so the direction and the spontaneity intertwine. We are reduced in these circumstances to seeking partial truths, and being vigilant against lies. Ukraine has always suffered from the classic geopolitical problem of being sandwiched between far more powerful states (Russia, Poland, Germany) and, since most states -- by their very nature -- are opportunist and prey on their weaker neighbors, Ukraine has long suffered economically, socially and culturally as a result. Ordinary Ukrainians therefore have a right to something better than the corruption of the Yanukovych regime -- as Vladimir Putni himself acknowledges in the interview below (text #3). Still, despite these high hopes, the country now stands on the verge of civil war, a war which would have global consequences. In analyzing this crisis, there are many open areas of uncertainty. Here are three: 1) The shootings. Who gave the order for snipers to shoot protesters in Maidan Square? Who were the actual snipers? Have they been identified? Has there been an official investigation? Will they ever be identified and brought to justice? 2) The goals and fears of Russia. Does Russia seek to annex Crimea, eastern Ukraine, all of Ukraine, and even other territories, to recreate the Soviet Union, even a new "Russian Empire"? Many seem to think so. But is Russia's true goal? To expand? In the digital age, the age of global travel and global communication, isn't physical occupation of land "so 20th-century," that is, irrelevant? So is Russia's goal then actually financial, to plunder resources? To have access to Ukraine's wealth, to control the large oil and gas deposits off the Crimean coast, then the oil and gas of eastern Ukraine? Or is Russia's goal -- as Putin continually claims -- more benign, more justifiable: to protect Russian-speaking ethnic Russians inside Ukraine? Or is Russia's goal military-strategic? To keep a "non-NATO aligned" Ukraine so that NATO missiles cannot be placed on Russia's border? What is Russia's true goal? What does Russia truly fear? 3) The goals and fears of the West. Does the West wish to support an indigenous democracy movement in Ukraine, to help create a modern, stable Ukraine, with respect for all its citizens (something evidently very much needed, as the corruption of the old regime seems universally acknowledged, even by Putin (see the interview below)? Or does the West wish to surround Russia? Is the West's eventual goal actually a "Maidan Square" in Moscow, leading to the overthrow of the current Russian government and the division of Russia, so that Russia becomes a "non-factor" in the developing "new world order"? Or, does the West actually fear that Putin will move on from Crimea to southern Ukraine, to Moldava, then even to Poland, and even to Germany, if he is not forced to retreat from Crimea? Does the West really fear a resurgent, expansionist Russia? Clearly, what is taking place concerns much more than just Ukraine. It concerns the order of the entire world, about who will establish that order, administer it, control it. In this confrontation, the financial, cultural, political "architecture" of the post-World War II world is being shaken, re-examined, tested. In this context, the overarching impression one receives from the media, in this context, is that there are two opposing "sides," one good, one bad, one "Western/American" and the other "Russian," and that these two "sides," "positions," "world views," are totally antagonistic to each other. That one must triumph, and the other fail. But this is not true. There are more than these two positions. Both inside America, and inside Russia, and everywhere in between. Some inside Russia actually oppose expansionism (see text #4 below from Prof. Andrei Zubov), and, to the extent that what Putin is doing is expansionist, oppose Putin. Some inside America, and in Western Europe, oppose the Obama administration, and the European Union central administration, and their secularizing agenda. Do we forget that all of us, whether Russian, Ukrainian, German, British, or American, all human beings share a common hope -- to leave a world for our children which is healthy for them, safe for them, at peace? Do not all of us pray for these things, if we pray? In this context, the demonization of the Russians is false, wrong, and evil. Russia was once called "the House of Mary" because so many churches in Russia were dedicated to the Virgin Mary. Russia's people have suffered enormously, under attack from the West -- from Napoleon, from Hitler -- and they have mourned their dead. The people of Ukraine have also suffered enormously, especially in the 1932-33 famine. In a small effort to show that there is a diversity, a plurality, a multiplicity of views in Russia, in an effort to see Russia more clearly, I am copying below four texts which present very different perspectives on this crisis: (1) an article about the icon of Kazan being flown on Putin's order over the Black Sea a month ago; (2) a comment published today in the Moscow Times, by a Russian strategist close to the Putin goverment, setting forth his fears, his hopes, his reasons and his explanations, all from his perspective, included here in order to show how the Russians are explaining what they are doing to themselves; (3) the complete text of a very long interview, more than an hour, given a week ago by Russian President Vladimir Putin to a group of journalists; most will not read it all, I suspect, because it is so long, but it is here, if you should wish to read what Putin said, without gloss or interpretation; and (4) an essay by a Russian Orthodox professor from Moscow who loves his country, but who protests against the policy Putin has chosen, showing that there are different viewpoints in Russia today, as there are in America, as there are in Ukraine. I hope this may be a small contribution to better understanding of this crisis, in the hope of a just peace. CONTINUED BELOW
========================== Four voices (1) Opinion: The Black Madonna and the Russian Problem by Amir Taheri Published in Asharq Al-Awsat, an Arabic newspaper based in London Friday, March 7, 2014 Link: http://www.aawsat.net/2014/03/article55329733 (Mr. Taheri is an Iranian columnist for Asharq Al-Awsat, an Arabic newspaper based in London, which bills itself as "the leading Arabic international paper" and "the world’s premier pan-Arab daily newspaper." The web site says: "Launched in London in 1978, Asharq Al-Awsat has established itself as the decisive publication on pan-Arab and international affairs, offering its readers in-depth analysis and exclusive editorials, as well as the most comprehensive coverage of the entire Arab world." Taheri was the executive editor-in-chief of the daily Kayhan in Iran from 1972 to 1979. He has worked at or written for many publications, has published 11 books, and has been a columnist for Asharq Al-Awsat since 1987. Mr. Taheri has won several prizes for his journalism, and in 2012 was named International Journalist of the Year by the British Society of Editors and the Foreign Press Association in the annual British Media Awards.) Last month, when Vladimir Putin ordered that the Black Madonna of Kazan, the holiest icon of the Russian Orthodox Church, be flown over the Black Sea, many believed he wished to secure blessings for the Winter Olympics in Sochi. It was the first time the icon, or rather a copy of it, since the original was stolen and possibly destroyed in 1904, was deployed to bless a peaceful enterprise. Over the centuries, the “Black Virgin” has been taken to battlefields to bless Russian armies fighting Swedish, Polish, Turkish, Persian, French and German invaders. Stalin sent it to Stalingrad in 1943 to ensure victory over the German invaders under Field Marshal Friedrich Paulus. With Putin’s troops in control of Crimea and threatening to move further into Ukraine, we now know that the icon was brought in to bless a military operation this time as well. Putin appears strong because US President Barack Obama, accidentally cast as the leader of Western democracies, is weak. Putin is over-using the power Russia really doesn’t have because Obama under-uses the power the US does have. As long as Obama prevents the US from playing the leadership role it has had since the end of World War II, Putin will see no reason why he should not pursue his dream of reviving the Soviet Empire wherever possible. In doing so he is acting within a tradition established since the 18th century, when Russia emerged as a power with a pathological fear of encirclement. That fear has always made Russia aggressive. Throughout the 19th century, Russia used “the protection of Christian minorities” as an excuse for invading its Muslim neighbors, especially the Ottoman Empire and Iran, annexing vast chunks of territory. The whole of Northern Caucasus, plus Georgia and Armenia, were annexed with that excuse, as was Crimea. In the 18th century, Empress Catherine II used the pretext of protecting Christians to wrest away Dagestan and Georgia from Iran. Russia also used the excuse to seize territories that belonged to European neighbors, including Germany, Poland and Finland. For almost 100 years, Russia expanded at the average rate of 62 square miles (100 square kilometers) a day, creating history’s largest empire in terms of territory. Casting itself as the “Third Rome” and the final defender of Christianity, Russian empire-builders claimed that their enterprise enjoyed divine blessing. Russia has used the trick of granting Russian nationality to people in neighboring countries as a pretext for invasion since the 18th century. In 1829, Russia used the excuse of freeing Georgian women, supposedly granted Russian citizenship, from the harem of the Qajar Shah of Persia as a pretext for an invasion of Iran. A Tehran mob retaliated by murdering the Russian chargé d’affaires, Alexander Griboyedov. In 1911, a number of Qajar princes led by Shu’a Al-Saltaneh (The Light Beam of Monarchy) and opposed to Iran’s Constitutional Revolution declared themselves subjects of the Tsar and raised Russian flags on top of their palaces. The Tsar used the pretext of “protecting” his subjects for invading Iran, occupying five Iranian provinces and sending an army to destroy the newly created Iranian parliament. In 1912, Russia used the excuse of protecting its citizens for invading parts of China and annexing large chunks of land, especially in what is now Mongolia. After the Bolshevik Revolution of 1917, the empire, re-named the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, replaced Christianity with Communism as its ideological matrix. It was in the name of defending “Socialism” that, in the 1950s and 1960s, the Soviet Union sent is tanks to Hungary, Poland and Czechoslovakia. The invasion of Afghanistan in 1979, too, was sold as a bid to “defend Socialism.” After the disintegration of the Soviet Empire in 1991, Russia revived the old excuse of protecting its “kith and kin” in neighboring countries. In some instances, those minorities are genuine communities shaped over a century or so. In others, however, “kith-and-kin” communities are artificial creations to be used as a means of pressure on weaker neighbors. Under Putin, Moscow has been distributing large numbers of Russian passports, some suggest millions, in neighboring countries, notably Azerbaijan, Belarus, Ukraine, Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia and Kazakhstan. There are also significant numbers of Russian passport-holders in Transnistria, part of Moldova, which does not have a border with Russia. The first test of the “kith-and-kin” excuse came in 2000 when, as prime minister, Putin forced Tajikistan to host 15,000 Russian troops stationed at six bases. The next time “kith-and-kin” was cited was in August 2008, coinciding with the Beijing Olympics, when Putin, this time as president, ordered an invasion of Georgia and annexed the autonomous republics of South Ossetia and Abkhazia. Today, Russia has some 40,000 troops stationed in the two enclaves. Ukraine is the third nation to experience Putin’s “kith-and-kin” game, and if Putin manages to pull this one off, it will not be the last. Putin’s shenanigans in Crimea are symptoms of a deeper malaise caused by Russia’s inability to gauge its place in the post-Cold War international order and the inability of European powers and the United States to accommodate Russia in a way commensurate with its weight, if not its ambitions. In the past quarter of a century, with the loss of its glacis in eastern and central Europe, Russia has seen NATO arrive right at its borders. The entire European continent has been reorganized within the framework fixed by NATO and the European Union. Today, Russia is just one of four European powers still shut out of both NATO and the EU. It took Russia almost two decades to gain admission into the World Trade Organization (WTO) and, more tentatively, be offered a side chair at the G8. The only leadership slot Russia has had is its veto-holding seat in the UN’s Security Council, a relic of the Cold War. But even then, until Obama paralyzed US foreign policy the Western powers, led by Washington, simply ignored Russia whenever it suited them, as was the case in the 2003 military intervention in Iraq. Putin has built his narrative on the theme of encirclement by hostile powers and their “agents” inside Russia. To the West, Russia is shut out of Europe, which paradoxically remains its principal trading partner. To the south, Russia is hemmed in by a string of Muslim-majority nations with deep-rooted resentment of Tsarist and Communist oppression. To the east, Russia faces two hostile powers—China and Japan, part of whose territories remain under Russian occupation. At home, Russia faces a seemingly endless war against jihadist forces in five Caucasian republics, while relations with Georgia and Armenia remain strained. Prime Minister Dmitri Medvedev claims that Russia today is in the vanguard of fighting “Islamic terror” and its aim of world conquest. However, jihadists are not alone in posing a threat to Putin’s idealized vision of a greater Russia seeking global leadership. Well-financed Christian missionary groups, mostly from the US, are expanding their networks throughout Russia at the expense of the Orthodox Church, which has become Putin’s principal ideological ally. To make matters worse for Putin, his autocratic style of rule is also challenged by a growing number of Russians seduced by the Western ideas of multi-party democracy, pluralism and desacralization of political power. Meanwhile, the domination of the Russian economy by the oligarchs, whose support Putin needs, has slowed down, and in some cases even prevented, genuine development. Russia has become an exporter of raw materials, especially oil and gas, dependent on European markets. Worse still, a good part of the capital formed in Russia finds its way into European banks, especially in Britain and Switzerland. Today, the real issue is not whether Russian troops remain inside their bases in Crimea or show their teeth in the streets of Sebastopol. The real issue is how to find Russia a place in a world order in the creation of which it played no part. Putin’s current policy could transform Russia into a fully fledged rogue state. And that would be dangerous both for Russia and the world, even if the Black Madonna of Kazan were brought in to perform a miracle. —Amir Taheri CONTINUED BELOW
============================================= (2) A Russian Explains The Real Stakes In The Fight For Crimea (And Ukraine) Russia Must Stop U.S. Expansion in Ukraine By Sergei Markov, director of Moscow's Institute of Political Studies March 14, 2014 The Moscow Times Link: http://www.themoscowtimes.com/opinion/article/russia-must-stop-us-expansion-in-ukraine/496137.html Today, as a result of the Ukrainian crisis, U.S.-Russian relations have hit their lowest point since the invasion of Afghanistan in 1979 or of Czechoslovakia in 1969 — or perhaps even since they bottomed out during the Cuban Missile Crisis. The Crimean crisis, which began as a power struggle between the ruling authorities in Kiev and opposition forces, transformed in to an attempt to overthrow Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych by pro-Western and nationalist opposition forces with the support of the U.S. and European Union. The crisis escalated into a conflict between the U.S. and Russia after the West supported a coup, then lied by violating the Feb. 21 agreement when it recognized the formation of a new and illegitimate government of extremists. This conflict has the potential of sparking a new Cold War — something I never thought could happen in modern times since I believed it would have to be rooted in ideological differences. Instead, Moscow and Washington have billions of dollars of economic interests at stake, making this a geopolitical rather than an ideological Cold War. Moscow does not see the revolution in Ukraine as an attempt to create a more democratic or law-based society. Instead, it sees the events in Kiev as an attempt to make Ukraine as anti-Russian as possible. The new government represents a minority of the Ukrainian population. It wants to suppress the Russian-speaking majority and violate their right to representation by holding unfair elections on May 25. Moreover, U.S. President Barack Obama and German Chancellor Angela Merkel deceived President Vladimir Putin when they pursuaded him to convince Yanukovych to refrain from using force to quell the Maidan, and then to sign the Feb. 21 agreement — which they refused to uphold. Instead, they told Russia to accept the new reality in Ukraine. But why should Moscow accept that reality when it is directed against Russia, democracy and human rights? What did Russia do to become the focus of so much animosity? Is it because it prevented the West from bombing Syria? Because it persuaded Yanukovych not to sign the Association Agreement — a treaty of little real importance to the EU? Those are trivial reasons for starting a new Cold War. It seems that the West simply does not like Putin. He is a huge obstacle who prevents them from achieving global hegemony. For this reason alone he must be broken. Nobody in Moscow has any doubt that what happened in Ukraine will be repeated in Moscow in two or three years. Without Putin, there will be few world leaders left who have the power or courage to stand up to Washington. When this happens, the entire world will have to quickly accept the new reality. Russia is not in Crimea to expand its territory but to oppose the immense power of West and its financial institutions in New York and London. Washington wants to characterize this as a conflict between Moscow and Kiev, thereby forcing Russia to negotiate with an illegitimate regime determined to destroy everything Russian in Ukraine. However, everyone understands that this is a conflict between Moscow and Washington and that these countries should negotiate a solution. The question here is not Crimea but which reality the two sides are prepared to accept. Should Moscow allow Washington to force it into humiliating submission and accept the possibility of a violent overthrow of the Putin regime? Or should Washington acknowledge that it can no longer impose its will on others? Both sides are unwilling to admit their weakness, thus making a geopolitical Cold War likely. The West will hit Russia with economic sanctions to pressure Russian oligarchs into forming a fifth column, just as it did in Ukraine. To avoid this, Moscow will have to force oligarchs to bring their overseas assets back to Russia. If Washington wins this geopolitical Cold War, it will install a pro-Western government in Moscow which could lead to the breakup of Russia. Siberia, the Caucasus and the Far East will demand autonomy, and the country's oil and gas resources will be transferred from the government to multinational corporations. However, it is possible that Russia can resist, thereby fulfilling its historical mission of foiling the designs of those who long for world domination. Just as Russia stopped Hitler in the 20th century, Napoleon in the 19th century and Frederick the Great in the 18th century, it will stop Washington in the 21st century. This is nothing personal, just business. Russia has its historical mission to fulfill. If a geopolitical Cold War erupts, it very well may morph into an ideological one since a Western attack would force Putin to rely heavily on conservative forces in the country's so-called "moral majority" in order to bolster his support. Additionally, Moscow will attempt to relieve pressure and find support abroad by stepping up its information campaign among the hundreds of millions of EU residents who sympathize not only with Putin's stance against Washington, but also his support of the traditional values that have been rejected by the EU elite. Recent polls show that 80 percent of Germany's population sympathizes with Russian policy in Ukraine and only 8 percent favor sanctions. The online social networks in the West constitute an intellectual revolt against the bias of the mainstream media — all of which demonize Putin without any objectivity. Social network users clearly sympathize with Putin and their support will only grow. Washington once transformed Cesar Chavez from a minor U.S. activist into a major political figure. Now Washington will transform Putin from his role as the man that lifted Russia off its knees into a global leader in the struggle against the global domination of Washington and the new values of postmodernism. However, I would like to believe that the current crisis will not develop into a full-fledged geopolitical Cold War. After all, Obama thinks in 21st century terms, not 19th century. For his part, Putin holds many Western convictions. What's more, a geopolitical Cold War would hit Europe the hardest, robbing it of the balanced economic growth it needs and preventing it from consolidating its resources for something more useful. It is now the time for every responsible European leader to speak out against a new Cold War since they have the most to lose. The way to end this standoff is clear: Ukraine must become a neutral state with a democratic government. It must grant full equality to both its Ukrainian and Russian-speaking citizens, adopt the policy of federalism and make both Ukrainian and Russian official state languages. —Sergei Markov CONTINUED BELOW =======================================
