On Sunday Ukrainian prime minister Yatsenyuk resigned, just four days after
the Dutch voted against Ukraine joining the European Union. Taken together,
these two events are clear signals that the US-backed coup in Ukraine has not
given that country freedom and democracy. They also suggest a deeper dissatisfaction
among Europeans over Washington's addiction to interventionism.
According to US and EU governments - and repeated without question by the
mainstream media - the Ukrainian people stood up on their own in 2014 to throw
off the chains of a corrupt government in the back pocket of Moscow and finally
plant themselves in the pro-west camp. According to these people, US government
personnel who handed out cookies and even took the stage in Kiev to urge the
people to overthrow their government had nothing at all to do with the coup.
When Assistant Secretary of State Victoria Nuland was videotaped bragging
about how the US government spent $5 billion to "promote democracy" in Ukraine,
it had nothing to do with the overthrow of the Yanukovich government. When
Nuland was recorded telling the US Ambassador in Kiev that Yatsenyuk is the
US choice for prime minister, it was not US interference in the internal affairs
of Ukraine. In fact, the neocons still consider it a "conspiracy theory" to
suggest the US had anything to do with the overthrow.
I have no doubt that the previous government was corrupt. Corruption is the
stock-in-trade of governments. But according to Transparency International,
corruption in the Ukrainian government is about the same after the US-backed
coup as it was before. So the intervention failed to improve anything, and
now the US-installed government is falling apart. Is a Ukraine in chaos to
be considered a Washington success story?
This brings us back to the Dutch vote. The overwhelming rejection of the
EU plan for Ukrainian membership demonstrates the deep level of frustration
and anger in Europe over EU leadership following Washington's interventionist
foreign policy at the expense of European security and prosperity. The other
EU member countries did not even dare hold popular referenda on the matter
- their parliaments rubber-stamped the agreement.
Brussels backs US bombing in the Middle East and hundreds of thousands of
refugees produced by the bombing overwhelm Europe. The people are told they
must be taxed even more to pay for the victims of Washington's foreign policy.
Brussels backs US regime change plans for Ukraine and EU citizens are told
they must bear the burden of bringing an economic basket case up to European
standards. How much would it cost EU citizens to bring in Ukraine as a member?
No one dares mention it. But Europeans are rightly angry with their leaders
blindly following Washington and then leaving them holding the bag.
The anger is rising and there is no telling where it will end. In June, the
United Kingdom will vote on whether to exit the European Union. The campaign
for an exit is broad-based, bringing in conservatives, populists, and progressives.
Regardless of the outcome, the vote should be considered very important. Europeans
are tired of their unelected leaders in Brussels pushing them around and destroying
their financial and personal security by following Washington's foolish interventionism.
No one can call any of these recent interventions a success and the Europeans
know it.
One way or the other, the US empire is coming to an end. Either the money
will go or the allies will go, but it cannot be sustained. The sooner the American
people demand an end to these foolish policies the better.
