The shock doctrine in Ukraine

original article: https://philebersole.wordpress.com/2014/03/06/the-shock-doctrine-in-ukra...

Naomi Klein, in her book, The Shock Doctrine, told how the global banking system took advantage of crises, and sometimes created crises, in order to force national leaders to accept policies against their will.   This seems to be what is going on in Ukraine.

Ukraine has beem in gave financial difficulties.  Last fall the International Monetary Fund offered Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovich a bailout, under conditions that reportedly included a doubling of prices for gas and electricity to industry and homes, the lifting of a ban on private sale of Ukraine’s rich agricultural lands, a sale of state assets, a devaluation of the currency and cuts in funding for schools and pensions to balance the budget.  In return, Ukraine would have got a $4 billion loan, a small fraction of what was needed.

Then the Russian Federation offered a $15 billion loan and a 30 percent cut in gas export prices.  Naturally Prime Minister Yanukovich accepted.  Then all hell broke loose.

A mysterious sniper killed peaceful demonstrators in Maidan square in Kiev and, as has happened with mysterious sniper attacks in Venezuela, Thailand and other countries, the killings sparked a violent uprising.

U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Victoria Nuland said in a leaked telephone conversation with the Ukraine ambassador that “we” want the former banker, Arseny Yatsenyuk, installed at Yanukovich’s replacement, rather than some more popular politician.  And that’s what happened.

Yatsenyuk said he will do whatever it takes to get IMF financing, even though this probably will make him the most unpopular prime minister in Ukraine history.  He in fact has little choice.  The Russian offer has understandably been withdrawn, and Ukraine is in a much more desperate plight than it was six months ago.

Elections are scheduled for May, but that’s plenty of time for Ukraine to be locked into binding commitments to the IMF.

Ukraine is a country rich in natural resources but poor in money — an inviting target for financial speculators.   Based on what has happened in other countries in like situations, I look for Ukraine’s resources and assets to be sold off at bargain prices.

I don’t see what business a U.S. Assistant Secretary of State has trying to name the head of a foreign government, or how this in any way benefits the American people.  It seems to be an example of the workings of Wall Street as a component of Michael Lofgren’s deep state.

LINKS

The shock doctrine

Washington’s Man Yatsenyuk Setting Ukraine Up for Ruin by Kenneth Rapoza for Forbes.

The Rape of Ukraine: Phase Two Begins by F. William Engdahl for World News Daily Information Clearing House.

Former Ukrainian Minister of Economy Says Aid for Ukraine “Will Be Stolen” by Wolf Richter.

Ukraine Premier States ‘Kamikazi’ Mission As Crimea Erupts by Bloomberg News.

The mysterious snipers

Snipers Are Commonly Used As “False Flag” Terrorists by Washington’s Blog.

Ukraine: Ashton Phonecall on Maidan Snipers by Moon of Alabama.

Everyone Agrees Sniper Attack Was False Flag Operation by Washington’s Blog. [added 3/15/14}

Ukraine's right wingers

Who Are the Protesters in Ukraine? by political scientists Keith Darden and Lucan Way. [Added 3/15/14]

Front and Center in Ukraine Race, a Leader of the Far Right by Andrew Kramer for the New York Times.  [added 3/15/14]

After Ukraine protest, radical group eyes power by Maria Danilova for the Associated Press. [added 3/15/14]

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I think governments should repay their debts, just as individuals do, and I think the Ukraine needs to get its house in order.  But I don’t think debt repayment is the supreme obligation that supersedes all other obligations.

I think two parties are responsible for an un-repayable loan, the borrower and the lender, and the consequences of the bad decision should fall on both.  I think borrowers are morally obligated to make a good-faith effort to pay back loans, but that obligation falls short of selling themselves and their dependents into the equivalence of indentured servitude.

When a government is in the position of Ukraine or Greece, it should be able to freeze its debts and pay off the principal, rather than trying to keep up with compound interest by reducing its population to misery and selling off national assets to speculators at bargain prices.

I recognize that there are other political issues in Ukraine besides foreign debt, including governmental corruption, ethnic divisions and relations with the Russian Federation and European Union, and I don’t claim to understand them all.  And I think these other issues might have been worked out by the Ukrainian people if let alone to decide for themselves.