September 24, 2015 "Information Clearing House" - "Antiwar"-  I probably know more about Russia than most Americans.  I have had the pleasure of visiting the “evil empire” on many occasions, since I am married to a Russian national.  The effect of the current international sanctions have been a blessing in disguise for me, because my U.S. dollar has more than double the spending power that it used to here.  It is puzzling that I have not been asked, even once, about the current efforts of our Nobel Peace Prize winning and warmongering president and the neocons, warmongers and fossil fuel kings who own him, to destabilize the Ukraine and force a showdown with Russia.

Russia’s geopolitical interests in the Ukraine are very clear and go back centuries; far beyond the Soviet Union.  The threat of a Russian invasion and takeover of the Ukraine is ridiculous.  It would have already happened if it was going to happen, without much fanfare and with little or no resistance.  The annexation of the Crimea was a logical result of the Washington backed coup of the Ukrainian government.  The Crimea provides the strategic location of a Russian naval base on the Black Sea, established in Sevastopol, a city built by the Russian Empire in 1783, before the penning of the United States Constitution.  It is this naval base that is the key to the Russia’s access to the Black Sea.  The current base, before the annexation of Crimea to Russia, was under lease from the Ukrainian government to Russia.  Unlike Crimea, Russia has no interest in annexing the Ukraine, a relatively poor country, which would only place a burden on Russia’s already heavily burdened social welfare system.

The current crisis in the Ukraine, orchestrated by the United States, only benefits the US military industrial machine and US oil and gas barons.  Gas poor Europe, their primary potential customer, has thrown its hat in (as usual) with the United States and joined it in imposing economic sanctions against Russia, which have caused billions of dollars of damage to the Russian economy.  These sanctions are tantamount to a declaration of war against Russia.  The double speak supporting these sanctions is as hypocritical as the drone-loving warmongering Obama’s Peace Prize.  The official reason cited is a response to Russia’s alleged military aggression in the Ukraine. 

It is no secret that the United States is now at war in Syria, under the guise of fighting ISIS, but the real reason the US in bombing Syria is the same reason that it bombed Iraq into oblivion.  The real struggle is over oil and gas and its transmission to Europe in this critical region.  Dominance of the area is critical to the US energy barons and the continuing success and profit of the never ending US military hardware and support industry.  But to extend its reach into Russia’s rich and vast natural resources by attempting a “regime change” in Russia is the equivalent of playing Russian roulette.

Russia is not, and never has been an aggressive nation.  But, sure as Napoleon in the 19^th century and Hitler in the 20^th discovered, it does not take kindly to invasion, and every man and woman in Russia will join together to defeat any such attempt.  It is in their blood.  With all the experts on Russia in our government, why hasn’t our Commander-in-Chief been briefed on how suicidal it would be for the United States to pick a fight with this nation?  And to pick a fight with the strongest leader at the helm of the country since Joseph Stalin is even crazier.  Despite all the efforts to chip away at Putin’s popularity, he remains popular with the people, and for just reason.  Things are much better in Russia under his leadership.  I know.  I have seen it.  Unemployment is down, pension payments are up, corruption is down, and the quality of life is significantly better than it was before.

Joe Biden may find European critics to Russian economic sanctions “annoying,” but the people of the United States have to realize that we are not threatened by this peaceful nation which occupies the largest land mass on earth.  The threat comes from us, and, if it comes to a showdown, I for one, will not relish the thought of my American brothers shipping off hallway around the world to fight to the death against my Russian brothers, who will lay down their lives to protect their mother and fathers, sisters and brothers.  United States military aggression has reached the point of idiocracy, and it must end.  The holder of the Gold Codes and nuclear football needs to be reminded that he answers to us, not the American oligarchs he has been catering to for the past six years.

Kenneth Eade is an attorney and best-selling author of A Patriot’s Act, the fictional story of a naturalized U.S. citizen, captured in Iraq and held indefinitely at Guantanamo, and the Brent Marks Legal Thriller Series.