Is
Russia Learning?
By Paul
Craig Roberts
December 21, 2018 "Information
Clearing House"
-
Is
Russia learning that Washington wants no
deal with Russia except Russian vassalage
and that relying on agreements with the West is
delusional? There is some indication that Russia
is learning, but it seems to be a slow process.
Russia Insider
reports that the Russian government has told
Israel that Israeli strikes inside Syria are no
longer acceptable.
https://russia-insider.com/en/russia-greenlights-retaliatory-syrian-attacks-israeli-targets-report/ri25684
Russia Insider
also reports that when asked about Kiev using
Russian focus on the World Cup to attack the
Donetsk and Luhansk republics, Putin answered:
“if that does transpire, there will be harsh
consequences for Ukraine’s sovereignty in
general.”
https://russia-insider.com/en/politics/what-if-kiev-attacks-during-world-cup-putin-theyll-rue-day-video/ri23722
These
are reassuring statements that Putin has learned
that turning the other cheek to Washington and
Israel does not lead to diplomatic solutions but
to further provocations. Nevertheless, Putin
still appears to hold on to his belief in
agreements. Putin said that the solution was for
Ukraine to comply with the Minsk Protocol.
The
Minsk Protocol reincorporates the Donetsk and
Luhansk republics in Ukraine, which is what the
Russian government wants as the Russian
populations of these breakaway republics would
offset to some extent the nazi elements in
Western Ukraine and, thereby, maintain some
political balance within Ukraine.
The
defect in the Russian policy is that it
overlooks that Ukraine is a Washington vassal
and that Washington intends to use its vassal to
foment problems for Russia. It is naive for
Putin to ascribe the pending violence as a
consequence of the political difficulties of the
Ukrainian president. The pending violence shows
Washington’s determination either to discredit
Putin with Russian nationalists by his refusal
to defend the Russian populations from Ukraine’s
attack, or, if Russia does intervene, to
demonize Russia as an agressor that has again
invaded Ukraine.
By
refusing to accept the votes of Donetsk and
Luhansk to be reunited with Russia like Crimea,
the Russian government has produced a no-win
situation for itself. The failure to
reincorporate Donetsk and Luhansk into Russia
was a strategic error by the Russian government.
It is
difficult to comprehend how the Russian
government got the idea that Washington was
going to permit Ukraine to return to a
reasonable relationship with Russia. This idea
is so unreasonable and improbable that my
conclusion is that Russia has a lot more to
learn.
The
Russian government seems unaware that Washington
has already in effect declared war on Russia. To
be legal, sanctions must be imposed by the
United Nations. The sanctions imposed on Russia
are unilateral US actions and, thereby, strictly
illegal. They comprise an American attack on
Russia. In response, Russia has done virtually
nothing.
The
Russian government fails to protect its
citizens. As the Russian Foreign Minister Sergei
Lavrov has said, to end her harsh
treatment—essentially torture—Maria Butina
agreed to a plea bargain so that she could be
convicted in the absence of evidence.
Butina’s attorney, Dan Kovalik, stated the truth
when he said: “They broke her. They abused her.
They sexually assaulted her in jail, and now
she’s pleading guilty. People should be very
shocked by this. Women’s rights groups should be
shocked by this, because initially they claimed
without any basis that she was selling sex
for access, and that turned out to be a lie, and
they withdrew that charge. How she’s been
treated is absolutely despicable.”
See:
https://sputniknews.com/us/201809111067914325-Judge-Dismayed-Sex-Allegations-Mariia-Butina/
and
https://sputniknews.com/analysis/201812141070670984-Butina-Pleads-Guilty-Sexually-Assaulted-DC-Jail/
.
After
being illegally tortured, Butina was subjected
to an illegal show trial in order to buttress
the fake news that Russia is a threat. The
Russian government complained, but that was it.
There
are many Americans all over Russia that could be
truthfully arrested as spies. Why did not Russia
round up several dozen, or several hundred, and
subject them to the same conditions? At least
the Chinese detained two Canadians in response
to Canada’s illegal arrest of the Chinese
corporate executive for Washington. Ron Unz has
shown China what to do —http://www.unz.com/runz/averting-world-conflict-with-china/
— but the Chinese leadership seems more
interested in money than in raising the prestige
of their country by exercising the power it has
in its hands.
Russia
and China are making some progress in catching
on, but they still have a long way to go.
The
reason that this is of serious interest is that
the lack of appropriate responses by Russia and
China, far from defusing a situation, encourages
more provocations. As the provocations grow in
their outrageousness and transparancy, the
failulre of the Russian and Chinese governments
to put down a firm foot results in war, not
peace.
Dr. Paul Craig Roberts was Assistant Secretary of
the Treasury for Economic Policy and associate
editor of the Wall Street Journal. He was
columnist for Business Week, Scripps Howard News
Service, and Creators Syndicate. He has had many
university appointments. His internet columns
have attracted a worldwide following. Roberts'
latest books are
The Failure of Laissez Faire
Capitalism and Economic Dissolution of the West,
How America Was Lost,
and
The Neoconservative Threat to
World Order.
The
views expressed in this article are solely those
of the author and do not necessarily reflect the
opinions of Information Clearing House.
