http://www.globalresearch.ca/washington-has-set-the-world-on-a-path-to-w...

Washington Has Set The World On A Path To War

By Dr. Paul Craig Roberts">Why is Washington so opposed to Crimean self-determination?  The answer is that one of the main purposes of Washington’s coup in Kiev was to have the new puppet government evict Russia from its Black Sea naval base in Crimea. Washington cannot use the government Washington has installed in Ukraine for that purpose if Crimea is no longer part of Ukraine.  

Washington could not make it any clearer that Washington totally opposes self-determination by Crimeans.

Washington claims, falsely, that the referendum cannot be valid unless the entire population of Ukraine votes and agrees with the decision by Crimeans.  Note that when Washington stole Kosovo from Serbia, Washington did not let Serbians vote.

But lets overlook Washington’s rank hypocrisy and self-serving double-standards. Let’s apply Washington’s argument that in order to be valid any change in Crimea’s status requires a vote on the part of the population of the country that it departs.  If this is the case, then Crimea has never been a part of  Ukraine.

http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/03/13/us-serbia-election-idUSBREA2C1...

Milosevic-era minister shakes off dark past on path to power in Serbia

BY MATT ROBINSON AND JAKSA SCEKIC

Photo-shopped pictures of Aleksandar Vucic - dressed in superman underpants and cape, head superimposed onto the bulging green body of the Incredible Hulk, bare-chested astride a horse à la Vladimir Putin - went viral.

Until 2008, Vucic was a disciple of the "Greater Serbia" ideology that fuelled the wars of Yugoslavia's demise in the 1990s and left Serbia isolated and bankrupt.

He is haunted by YouTube, where in TV clips he rails against the West and heaps praise on genocide suspect Ratko Mladic, the accused architect of Europe's worst mass killing since the Nazis when his Bosnian Serb forces massacred 8,000 Muslim men and boys in Srebrenica in 1995.

http://www.globalresearch.ca/ukraine-protests-carefully-orchestrated-the...

Ukraine Protests Carefully Orchestrated: The Role of CANVAS, US-Financed “Color Revolution Training Group”

The photo left is from Tahrir Square; the right from Kiev and here below is the English original used by the Belgrade CANVAS NGO:

Canvas, formerly Otpor, received significant money from the US State Department in 2000 to stage the first successful Color Revolution against Slobodan Milosovic in then-Yugoslavia. Since then they have been transformed into a full-time “revolution consultancy” for the US, posing as a Serbian grass-root group backing “democracy.” [2] Who would ever think a Serbian-based NGO would be a front for US-backed regime change?

« Breaking News »

Russia deploys anti-air Pantsyrs to Crimea for referendum 

DEBKAfile March 16, 2014, 3:16 PM (IST)

Voting on the referendum to determine whether Crimea secedes to Russia or remains part of Ukraine has proceeded so far Sunday without incident. DEBKAfile’s military sources report that Russia convoys carrying Pantsyr anti-air missile batteries were sighted in the morning moving on the peninsula’s main roads. The Ukraine prime minister says the ringleaders of the separatists will be found and brought to justice.
 

http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/03/16/us-ukraine-crisis-idUSBREA1Q1E...

Crimeans vote on union with Russia as Moscow pours in troops

Things will only get worse in the Ukraine before they get better.  Ukrainians hate Russian because Stalin starved 14 million Ukrainians during world war II by stealing their crops and selling them to buy weapons to fight Germany.  Ukrainians are even more proud that the Polish people.  There will be blood.

I do wonder whether Russia/Putin will be satisfied with just Crimea? If not, then there's going to be a problem...

http://www.globalresearch.ca/russia-crimea-and-the-mighty-wurlitzer-coun...

“Ukraine, a new and important space on the Eurasian chessboard, is a geopolitical pivot because its very existence as an independent country helps to transform Russia. Without Ukraine, Russia ceases to be a Eurasian empire….However, if Moscow regains control over Ukraine, with its 52 million people and major resources as well as access to the Black Sea, Russia automatically again regains the wherewithal to become a powerful imperial state, spanning Europe and Asia.”

-Zbigniew Brzezinski, 1997; from The Grand Chessboard [1]

The final results found that with 81.3% of eligible voters in Crimea participating in the referendum, more than 96% chose to rejoin Russia. [2][3]
Western nations, including the US and Canada say they will not recognize the result of the vote. Moreover, the US and EU are pursuing economic sanctions against Russia, supposedly as punishment for its violation of the territorial integrity of Ukraine. [4][5]

The West’s concept of popular democracy seems to be highly nuanced.

Bully you:

http://www.debka.com/article/23724/

Moscow will halt military steps in Ukraine – only after a US guarantee not to post missile shield there

However, according to our US and Russian sources, Putin is after hard, practical strategic gains, principally, a demilitarized Crimea that would not threaten Russia from its western doorstep.

In fact, the Russian president has couched his demands for further negotiations under four headings:

1.  The Kiev government whichever form it takes must sign an obligation to abstain from any ties with NATO.
2.  Neither the US, NATO or any other power will deploy X-Band or BX-1 radar stations on Ukraine territory whether on land, sea or air. This guarantee would additionally cover elements of an anti-missile missile shield and ballistic missiles placing Russia in their sights.
3.  Restrictions will govern the types of weapons allowed the Ukrainian army.
4.  Local military bodies will be established to protect the Russian-speaking and ethnic Russian regions of Ukraine.

P & O talk through the 'mediator' Merkel

Putin emphasized in his conversation with Merkel that, until those four conditions are met, Russian forces would remain where they are in Crimea and if this was deemed necesssary, advance into other parts of Ukraine.

http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/03/22/us-ukraine-crisis-crimea-airba...

Russian troops surround Crimea airbase, issue ultimatum

BELBEK AIRBASE, Crimea Sat Mar 22, 2014 9:51am EDT

http://www.globalresearch.ca/crimea-putins-triumph-now-the-confrontation...

Novo Rossia: The Eastern and Southeastern Mainland Provinces of Ukraine

He is a cool cucumber, Mr Putin. Everybody, including this writer, thought he was too nonchalant about Ukraine’s collapse. He waited patiently. The Russians made a few slow and hesitant, almost stealthy moves. The marines Russia had based in Crimea by virtue of an international agreement (just as the US has marines in Bahrain) secured Crimea’s airports and roadblocks, provided necessary support to the volunteers of the Crimean militia (called Self-Defence Forces), but remained under cover. The Crimean parliament asserted its autonomy and promised a plebiscite in a month time. And all of a sudden things started to move real fast!

But Putin justified the Russian proverb: the Russians take time to saddle their horses, but they ride awfully fast. He recognised Crimea’s independence on Monday, before the ink on the poll’s results dried.

A new Jewish joke was coined at that time:

Israeli President Peres asks the Russian President:

- Vladimir, are you of Jewish ancestry?

- Putin: What makes you think so, Shimon?

- Peres: You made the US pay five billion dollars to deliver Crimea to Russia. Even for a Jew, that is audacious! O2

The US Neocon-led conspiracy in Kiev was aimed against the European attempt to reach a compromise with President Yanukovych, said the SBU chief. They almost agreed on all points, but Ms Nuland wanted to derail the agreement, and so she did – with the help of a few snipers.

O: 'We're changing our phones now…...'

according to chinese news, i saw jusr mow in metro tv, there is wide peace and even chinatown, norhing specual there....

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-26743197

'North Horea' has test-fired what appeared to be two medium-range ballistic missiles, just hours after the US, South Korea and Japan met in the Netherlands to discuss the country.

Analysts say the launch, if confirmed, would be a major escalation from the short-range rockets Pyongyang has fired in recent weeks.

http://www.veteransnewsnow.com/2014/03/25/404358-how-crimea-plays-in-bei...

Strategic partners – Russia’s Putin and China’s Hu Jintao – are leaving the U.S. behind

Furthermore, the UN Security Council itself is a joke, with US ambassador Samantha “Nothing Compares to You” Power – one of the mothers of R2P (“responsibility to protect”) – carping on “Russian aggression”, “Russian provocations” and comparing the Crimean referendum to a theft. Oh yes; bombing Iraq, bombing Libya and getting to the brink of bombing Syria were just innocent humanitarian gestures. Samantha The Humanitarian arguably gives a better performance invoking Sinead O’Connor in her shower.

Now imagine all this as seen from Beijing. No one knows what exactly goes on in the corridors of the Zhongnanhai, but it’s fair to argue there’s only an apparent contradiction between China’s key principle of non-interference in the internal affairs of sovereign states, and Russia’s intervention in Crimea.

Beijing has identified very clearly the sequence of affairs; long-running Western interference in Ukraine via NGOs and the State Department; regime change perpetrated with the help of fascists and neo-nazis; a pre-emptive Russian counterattack which can be read as a by-the-book Samantha The Humanitarian R2P operation (protecting Russians and Russian speakers from a second coup planned in Crimea, and thwarted by Russian intelligence.)

The Obama administration – like a blind Minotaur – is now lost in a labyrinth of pivots of its own making. A new Borges – that Buddha in a gray suit – is needed to tell the tale. First there was the pivoting to Asia-Pac – which is encircling of China under another name – as it’s well understood in Beijing.

On Ukraine (“the last battlefield in the Cold War”) and specifically Crimea, the (unspoken) official position by Beijing is absolute neutrality (re: the UN vote). Yet the real deal is support to Moscow. But this could never be out in the open, because Beijing is not interested in antagonizing the West, unless heavily provoked (the pivoting becoming hardcore encirclement, for instance). Never forget; since Deng Xiaoping (“keep a low profile”) this is, and will continue to be, about China’s “peaceful rise”. Meanwhile, the Western dogs bark, and the Sino-Russian caravan passes.

O2.o2

N. Horea as provocateur:

New York Times - ‎32 minutes ago‎   SEOUL, South Korea - North Korea conducted extensive live-fire military drills off its southern coast on Monday, some of its artillery shells falling south of the disputed sea border with South Korea, in a military provocation that came a day after the North ..  

I can't open whole article in NYTimes.....

Russia was really backed into corner if you think about it.  America was actively recruiting all of Russia's neighbors and biggest trading partners to join NATO.  Putin felt he had to draw  a line somewhere and after the CIA was caught instigating a revolution in Kiev, the guy put his foot down. I think America would do the same if Russia or China put some military bases in Mexico or Canada.

http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2014-04-03/china-general-says-war-japan-in...

China General Says "War With Japan Increasingly Likely" As Russia Conducts New Army Drill Near Latvia, Estonia

A retired People's Liberation Army senior officer says a war with Japan over territorial disputes is becoming increasingly likely and that China is more than capable of defending itself. Other military experts are not convinced the PLA would win any future conflict, despite China's military build-up and modernisation.

"So far, all aircraft sent by both countries to the Diaoyu waters have been third-generation fighter jets. The PLA's newest and most advanced planes entered service at the turn of this century, including the J-10, J-11B and the [Russian-made] Su-27," said Luo.

"In contrast, Japan has deployed to the region only about 30 F-15Js, which their air force has used since the 1980s."

"China has several military airports along the southeast coast that could provide effective logistical support to PLA fighter jets because those air force bases are much closer to the Diaoyus," he said.

"But in Japan, there is just one airport close to the Diaoyus: Naha airport in Okinawa."

http://rt.com/news/uss-donald-cook-montreux-716/

US destroyer Donald Cook enters Black Sea amid Ukraine tension (VIDEO)

USS Donald Cook, a destroyer equipped with the powerful Aegis missile defense system, has crossed through the Bosphorus and entered the Black Sea, with Russia claiming that NATO is assembling a battle fleet in the region.

“What we are seeing is that for the first time since 2008, NATO is creating a naval battle group outside the Russian borders,” a source told Interfax news agency, citing the entry of French reconnaissance ship Dupuy de Lome and destroyer Dupleix – both expected within the next week.

The French rescue vessel Alize has been inside the Black Sea basin since late last month.

“The purpose of this is to provide moral support for the regime in Kiev, but also as a demonstration of power to make Russia come to heel. But the ship will also collect information on Russian military activity in Crimea and on the Ukrainian border,” the source said.

Russia’s Black Sea fleet is stationed in Sevastopol in Crimea, which was incorporated into Russia following a referendum last month.

http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/04/11/us-ukraine-crisis-idUSBREA391X...

Will EU spend next winter in cold, because of US 'manure' in Ukraine? P. wants money from US & EU. Maybe IMF will open cash register? 

In a letter to the leaders of 18 European countries, Putin made clear that his patience would run out over Kiev's $2.2 billion gas debt to Russia unless a solution could be brokered urgently.

Russia has nearly doubled the gas price it charges Ukraine, whose economy is in crisis, since pro-Moscow President Viktor Yanukovich was overthrown two months ago. Russia then annexed the Ukrainian region of Crimea, provoking the biggest confrontation with the West since the Cold War.

That could have knock-on effects for European Union countries, much of whose Russian gas flows in pipelines across Ukraine. "We fully realize that this increases the risk of (Ukraine) siphoning off natural gas passing through Ukraine's territory and heading to European consumers," the letter said.

Russia meets 30 percent of Europe's natural gas demand and half of this goes through Ukraine.

The United States accused Moscow of using its vast energy reserves to pressure the former Soviet republic. "We condemn Russia's efforts to use energy as a tool of coercion against Ukraine," State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki said.

http://rt.com/news/germans-support-putin-ukraine-265/

US wants to destroy Ukrainian ‘bridge’ between EU and Russia – German intellectuals support Putin

OP: Excellent article with explanation of 'US manure in Ukraine'!

“During the Cold War, the interests of United States and Europe where almost 100 percent identical. But since 1990 this has changed. European interests are objectively different than those of the US,” he told RT. “So our task here in Europe, and off course Russia belongs to it too, is to take our affairs in our own hands. To work with each other in peace and cooperation with respect for human rights.”

The Europeans are now “considered to be an obstacle in the way of American intentions in the region,” as revealed by the leaked telephone conversation between Assistant Secretary of State for Europe Victoria Nuland and US ambassador, Scholz says.

Having in mind the main US geopolitical goal of neutralizing Russia, the retired colonel believes, as stated in the letter, that Washington used the Ukrainian unrest as a “tool” to achieve it.

“This template was used repeatedly: in Serbia, Georgia and Ukraine in 2004, Egypt, Syria, Libya and Venezuela,” the letter addressed to Putin reads.

More US sponsored 'manure' on Ukraine:

http://www.globalresearch.ca/nato-uses-old-images-taken-in-august-2013-t...

NATO wants to justify it’s existence and what better way than to show a big build up of Russian troops on Ukraine’s border. Fact is that the pictures are from August 2013. The military adventures of recent years by NATO, shows that it likes to use fake pictures and videos in order to justify invasions and gaining support at home for unpopular wars.

NATO is actively building its naval presence in the Black Sea in view of sharp aggravation of the Ukraine crisis, a Russian Defence Ministry source told the Russian news agency TASS on Thursday.

“Destroyer USS Donald Cook equipped with the Aegis combat missile defense system has just entered the Black Sea. According to our information, it is going to be joined by French reconnaissance ship Dupuy de Lome by April 11. French Navy’s destroyer Dupleix is expected to enter the Black Sea on April 14,” the source went on to say.

“Considering the presence of the French Navy’s rescue vessel Alize in the south-eastern part of the Black Sea since late March, we can say that NATO is building a naval grouping in the Black Sea in the vicinity of the Russian border for the first time since 2008,” the Russian Defence Ministry source said.

http://rt.com/news/putin-letter-us-ukraine-944/

Putin to US: It’s bad to read other people’s letters

US State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki has accused Russia of reneging on an agreement that offered reduced gas prices to Kiev and using “energy as a tool of coercion against Ukraine.” 

The price Ukraine is currently paying is “clearly not set by market forces and well above the average price paid by EU members,” she added. 

“It’s a bit strange,” Putin said after Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov informed him of the US comments during a Russian Security Council meeting. “It’s strange, at any rate, as it’s bad to read other people’s letters. It wasn’t addressed to them, but the consumers of gas in Europe.” 

“Everybody is used to the fact that our American friends are eavesdropping, but turning to peeping is shabby altogether,” he said.

He added that he wrote his letter because “Russia can’t carry the Ukrainian burden alone,” urging the European leaders to hold a joint meeting as soon as possible “to find ways to help and support the Ukrainian economy.”

“Handing out cakes at the Maidan isn’t enough to prevent the Ukrainian economy from plunging into complete chaos,” he said.

The comment dates back to a PR stunt by US Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs, Victoria Nuland, who tried to feed snacks to protesters and police as she visited Kiev during the standoff in December last year.

I really hope not. Another World War would be... terrible. Too many people would die, and I'm sure nuclear weapons would be used.

http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/04/13/us-ukraine-crisis-idUSBREA3A1B...

Ukraine prepares armed response as city seized by pro-Russia forces In Kramatorsk, some 80 km (50 miles) to the north, gunmen seized the police station after a shootout with police, a Reuters witness said.

I agree with Hulk. This whole thing wa provoked by U.S. & Nato and now neither of them walk their talk.