Ukraine: It's now or never for Washington (Energy Bulletin)

[mulethree]

http://www.energybulletin.net/3445.html

Published on Friday, December 3, 2004 by New Statesman / FTW

Ukraine: It's now or never for Washington
by Mark Almond

America's real aim in Ukraine and other former Soviet republics is to seize control of vital resources before China and India can challenge US dominance.

Are we on the brink of a new cold war? On both sides of the Atlantic, media commentators see the crisis in Ukraine as comparable to the Berlin crises, involving the US and the Soviet Union, which kept the world on tenterhooks for decades. In this supposed drama, a resurgent Kremlin under an ex-KGB colonel is suppressing freedom at home and encroaching on ex-Soviet republics around his country's vast rim.

This terror of shadows has a track record of success. In the 1970s and early 1980s, the ailing world of Leonid Brezhnev was portrayed as a sinister superpower with its tentacles almost around Uncle Sam's throat. The US and the majority of western European nations combined behind a programme of arms build-up and covert sponsorship of anti-communist dissidents.

The coincidence of dates is not often noted, but the Pentagon was inaugurated on 11 September 1941, exactly 60 years before it took its first direct hit. In my view, its role was positive for many years: few would regret the fall of Hitler or the deterrence of Stalin. But America's bloodless victory in the cold war did not lead her to rest on her laurels. As early as 1992, Pentagon insiders led by Paul Wolfowitz and sponsored by the then defence secretary, Dick Cheney (under President Bush I), had drawn up a doctrine designed to prevent any power getting the "capacity" to challenge the US in the future. Not only potential foes but friends were to be kept subordinate

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http://www.energybulletin.net/3445.html

[Selatius]

1. We're on the brink of a world where the US is no longer unchallenged

I believe by the end of the 21st century, we will have moved back into a multipolar world--a world were there are several major powers competing for dominance and resources, not just one power today. I believe it will be difficult to avoid at best. It's coming. If the US does not accept the outcome, there's going to be tension and, sadly, war.

[slor]

2. "As early as 1992..."

Yeah, we know what "friend" they planned to "subordinate", but then he invaded Kuwait. This all goes far to dispel the whole 9/11-Iraq connection as their excuse for war, and points right to the oil.

[cliss]

3. Thanks, M.

I just read this article on http://www.fromthewilderness.com/.

If there are any lingering doubts in anyone's mind, this latest article should settle the case of what we do in other countries. We meddle, we cause problems, we disrupt. We depose leaders. We support dictators. And the amazing this is, we've got our fingers in just about every country on earth.

There might be a few paltry countries that don't merit our attention. Like maybe Madagascar. But you never know. We might discover that they have some crops worth something.

Oh, to be a poor country in this world and escape the American ardor!