By Pepe Escobar
May 13, 2021 "Information
Clearing House" -Picture yourself about
to meet a girl with kaleidoscope eyes… No. Sorry.
Actually picture merry lines of code in the R
programming language – wallowing in a happy valley
of game theory models which would not preclude Goth
or New Romantic Walkyrie dancin’ to the 12-inch
version of Bauhaus’s Bela Lugosi is Dead.
Imagine this reverie coming about because of a
“pin!” in your inbox. After all you have just been
presented with an astonishing piece of intel. You
scramble to the exit, actually the entrance of the
Magic Theater, where you ask, Keats-style, Was it a
dream? Do I wake or sleep?
So what was the dream about? Oh, something so
prosaic, so down to the nitty gritty geopolitics:
what really happened during the visit of US
Secretary of State Tony Blinken to Ukraine.
The great Andrei Martyanov has remarked that
Blinken “told Kiev behind the scenes to ‘dial it
down’, amidst the fluffy tropes about US concern for
Ukraine’s ‘sovereignty’ and ‘security’”.
Well, looks like there was way more than fluffy
tropes.
Leaked info on the closed-door meeting between
Blinken and Comedian-in-Charge Zelensky is no less
than incandescent. Blinken seemed to have read a no
holds barred riot act.
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Here are the guidelines. All Ukrainian state
corporations must be controlled by the proverbial
“foreign interests”. So board majorities must be
either foreign or 5th columnists. The
entire anti-corruption vertical drive must also be
foreign-controlled. Same for the judicial system.
Andriy Kobolyev – an American asset – must be
reinstated as head of Naftogaz. Zelensky moved
mountains to get rid of Kobolyev.
Blinken demanded a massive push against every
Ukrainian oligarch, so that huge chunks of Ukrainian
economy are transferred to – who else – foreigners.
Same for land privatization.
Somewhat hilariously, Blinken warned that Russian
troops might invade Ukraine. In this case, Zelensky
can count only on huge political assistance, not
military. So Zelensky in fact was ordered to stop
asking to join NATO and cease provoking Russia, as
President Putin, who already drew red lines, could
make a “drastic decision”.
Blinken demanded that American assets should be
untouchable by Ukrainian law, and named honored
figures of civil society. Maidan cookie distributor
Victoria “F**k the EU” Nuland, also in the room,
drew up a list of The Untouchables, and Blinken met
with them separately.
Finally, the giant ghost hanging over the whole
trip to Kiev had to make itself known. In practice,
Zelensky was invited to turn in everyone in Ukraine
who helped bring information about Hunter Biden to
the media via Rudolph Giuliani.
According to the source who had access to the
leak, Zelensky was left beyond speechless. That’s
not exactly what he was expecting. Especially when
it comes to transferring valuable assets controlled
by Ukrainian oligarchs to “foreign interests”.
Someone will inevitably whack him.
No one is touching this leak – as if it was
radioactive poison. No one will confirm it. Its
plausibility though cannot be denied.
Contradicting these powerful, left unnamed
“foreign interests” is simply out of the question.
They now seem to be guided by a “take the money and
run” logic, as in taking over the looting of Ukraine
lock, stock and barrel before the whole thing –
actually a failed state – blows up.
Pity those oligarchs who thought they were going
to loot the land through privatization. Instead the
money is on a one way out journey. Follow the money.
Follow the dream.
Pepe
Escobar is correspondent-at-large at
Asia Times.
His latest book is
2030. Follow him on
Facebook.-
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