Is NATO's Trojan Horse Riding Toward the 'Ukraine Spring'?

[eridani]

http://readersupportednews.org/news-section2/355-europe/20954-focus-is-natos-trojan-horse-riding-toward-the-ukraine-spring

Ukrainian citizens have rallied in the bitter cold at Independence Square in Kiev to demand a better economic future and to protest President Viktor Yanukovych's failure to sign an economic agreement with the EU.

But while the draft of the EU "Association Agreement" is being sold as an economic boon for Ukrainian citizens, in reality it appears to be NATO's Trojan Horse: a massive expansion of NATO's military position in the region. What's more, the Agreement occurs under the cover of nebulous economic promises for a beset population hungering for better wages.

In a country where the average monthly minimum wage stands at about $150 USD, it's not hard to understand why Ukrainians are in the streets. They do not want to be in Russia's orbit, nor do they want to be pawns of NATO.

But is the plight of Ukrainians being exploited to usher in a new military agreement under the guise of economic reform?

For NATO, the goal is expansion. The prize is access to a country that shares a 1,426-mile border with Russia. The geopolitical map would be dramatically reshaped by the Agreement, with Ukraine serving as the new front for Western missile defense at the doorstep of Russia. Should the U.S. nuclear deal with Iran fall apart, Ukraine could be employed in larger regional disputes, too.

As an EU deal appears imminent, few people are asking questions about NATO's role in the deal, which was meant to facilitate jobs and trade. Economic conditions in Ukraine are dire: $15 billion in IMF loans suspended, danger of default and a zero growth forecast.

<snip>

For Greece, Spain and others, EU membership hasn't turned out to be a shining economic savior. The return of austerity policies reminds one of Naomi Klein's warning about the perils of disaster capitalism, in which instability opens the door for exploitation from outside forces.

For the protesters in Kiev, standing tall for democracy and economic opportunity, there's suddenly a new worry: Disaster Militarism. Ukrainians may be pro-EU, but are the EU and NATO pro-Ukrainian?

[dipsydoodle]

1. Perfectly true as far as I'm concerned.

Hence the USA's current interest in the subject.

The EU "Association Agreement" would be an economic boon for the EU : not necessarily Ukrainian citizens whose short term plight, probably 10 years or so , would make Greece look like a picnic.

The issue with the suspended of $15 billion in IMF loans is that the IMF demanded that consumer gas prices be increased to help ensure repayment. The amount specified is necessary for repayment of current loans elsewhere and to cover probable initial shortfalls in exports elsewhere. Consumer gas prices are currently below cost to government. Ukraine's gas price is based on Yulia Tymoshenko agreeing to pay EU prices for gas back in January 2009. Russia and the Ukraine are currently renegotiating gas prices.

Part of the attraction to some protesters may be access to EU Schengen Visas which would become part of a trade agreement. They may not however grasp that those visas are valid for 90 days only the same for example as would be the case if a US citizen applied for one for travel in Europe.

[eridani]

2. Why the West Loves the Ukraine Protests

http://readersupportednews.org/opinion2/357-europe/21015-why-the-west-loves-the-ukraine-protests

Secretary of State John Kerry gave away the whole game when condemning the police crackdown of Ukrainian protesters' encampments in Kiev's Independence Square.

"The United States expresses its disgust with the decision of Ukrainian authorities to meet the peaceful protest in Kyiv's Maidan Square with riot police, bulldozers, and batons, rather than with respect for democratic rights and human dignity. This response is neither acceptable nor does it befit a democracy." ~ John Kerry, December 10, 2013

All of the responses Kerry describes happened to American protesters, in the United States, particularly in Oakland, New York City, Portland, Los Angeles, the campus of University of California-Davis, and many other places in the Fall of 2011, when Kerry was a United States senator. This means either that Kerry was in a coma during those months, or that he acknowledges that the US is not a democracy, like Ukraine, where police violently attacking nonviolent protesters prompted a stern international condemnation. But by taking the side of the Ukrainian protesters, Kerry has highlighted the United States' vested interest in making sure Ukraine becomes a member of the European Union (EU), a key cause championed by protesters.

If Ukraine joins the EU, they will become the newest member of the biggest scam forced on us by the international banking cartels since the Federal Reserve. As Greg Palast has noted, the EU is a system devised by the banks to ensure themselves everlasting bailouts, paid for by everlasting austerity and cuts on public programs that ordinary people need and depend on.

Palast noted that Robert Mundell, the architect of the Euro, came from the same Chicago School of Economics that forced supply-side economics (re: deregulation and privatization) on the US when Milton Friedman was Reagan's top economic advisor. The Euro ensured that when big crises hit, the big banks and corporations got to set the rules.

"It puts monetary policy out of the reach of politicians," he said. "[And] without fiscal policy, the only way nations can keep jobs is by the competitive reduction of rules on business." ~ Robert Mundell, architect of the Euro

[G_j]

3. this:

"This means either that Kerry was in a coma during those months, or that he acknowledges that the US is not a democracy"

[dipsydoodle]

4. Never mind a comma

more likely a full stop.

[dipsydoodle]

5. Not now its not

see : Russia trumps US in Ukraine poker game
http://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1133&pid=2797