Off-Guardian has published the first part of a 3 part timeline on the Ukraine crisis. Some really interesting things happened that I was unaware of but my earlier thinking holds that the US is primarily responsible for the current mess.
As Russia actually do launch an invasion or “special operation” in Ukraine, we thought now was a good time to recap on how we got here.
The historical, political and ethnic divisions in Ukraine go back decades, if not centuries, but we don’t have the space for that kind of deep-dive. For now, we’ll be keeping it to three simple parts: The fall of Viktor Yanukovych, the Crimean referendum, and the ensuing civil war which puts the region in a direct path to the events of today.
Much like our 30 Facts on Covid, this piece is intended as a quick reference guide to help get friends and family up to speed on the recent history of Ukraine, a handy index of contemporary sources, or a refresher course for those who’ve forgotten the details.
Anyway, let’s get to it.
1990
Following the fall of the Berlin Wall and the reunification of Germany, multiple Western leaders give both written and spoken assurances to then-Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev, that NATO does not plan to increase its territory eastwards.
To quote US Secretary of State James Baker:
not only for the Soviet Union but for other European countries as well it is important to have guarantees that if the United States keeps its presence in Germany within the framework of NATO, not an inch of NATO’s present military jurisdiction will spread in an eastern direction.”
1997
More: Timeline: Euromaidan, the original “Ukraine Crisis”
Twitter has given the seal of truth approval for the above article as this warning is displayed when you click on the link from within a tweet:
I’ve pretty much come to the conclusion that anything being censored by western mainstream media or the big social media networks is most likely the truth. This is becoming very obvious with anything to do with the #scamdemic and anything involving the axis of evil, USA, KSA & Israel, causing mayhem around the world.
Another really good essay by Pepe Escobar published at Strategic Culture Foundation really lays out the situation well:
History will register that the birth of the baby twins – Donetsk and Luhansk People’s Republics – only a few hours before 2/22/22, was simultaneous to the birth of the real, 21st century multipolar world.
As my columns have stressed for a few years now, Vladimir Putin has been carefully nurturing his inner Sun Tzu. And now it’s all in the open: “Let your plans be dark and impenetrable as night, and when you move, fall like a thunderbolt.”
The thunderbolt was months in the process of being meticulously polished. To paraphrase Lenin, who “created Ukraine” (copyright Putin), we did live many decades in only these past few days. It all started with the detailed demands of security guarantees sent to the Americans, which Moscow knew would be rejected. Then there was the Russia-China joint statement at the start of the Winter Olympics – which codifies not only the strategic partnership but also the key tenets of the multipolar world.
The culmination was a stunning, nearly one hour-long address to the nation by Putin shortly after the Russian Security Council live session deliberating on the request for independence by the DPR and the LPR (here is a condensed version.)
More: The Birth of the Baby Twins: Russia’s Strategic Swing Drives NATOstan Nuts
Of note is that you cannot even post a link on Twitter to Strategic Culture Foundation as last year they determined there was too much truth coming out from them. Such as it is with the Empire trying to control the narrative.
Another good essay calling BS on the whole situation.
What Is the Difference Between Kosovo & Donbass?
By Vladimir Golstein
There once was a country called Yugoslavia. It was a multi-ethnic, multi-religious federalist country, rather prosperous by Socialist standards, and consisting of proud people who stood up to Adolph Hitler and even Joseph Stalin.
There were intermarriages, great food, and great films too. And then the West — once the Soviet Union began to collapse — decided that it was Yugoslavia’s time to collapse too. It would no longer be a country but the land of ancient Balkan hatreds. And they began to foment them and foment them, blaming one republic in particular: Serbia.
Serbian villains were blamed for slowing the rapid European integration of all the other republics, which began to declare their independence. This independence — Slovenia, Croatia and so on — was quickly embraced by the West. Germans were there first, trying out their new role as the masters of Europe, so all these republics were eventually recognized and then — since the population was mixed — civil strive began within each newly, independent republic.
Serbian minorities from every republic began to be harassed and kicked out. All this was condoned and supported by the West, which started a new narrative: great separatists, bad Serbians. [The Clinton administration, including then U.N. ambassador Madeleine Albright, gave a green light to Croatia to ethnically cleanse a quarter of a million Serbs from the Krajina region. Years later, angry Czechs in solidarity with Serbs, confronted Albright at a book signing in Prague. She called them “disgusting Serbs.”]
Kosovo
More at above link.
If you get in an argument with a ‘neoshitlib’ over Ukraine, or US foreign policy in general, just show them these two pictures and walk away. It’s not worth arguing over as the western MSM propaganda machine has imposed delusion on the masses and it’s next to impossible to break through.
That is all for now. Hopefully cooler heads will prevail and the not so cold war won’t get any hotter.
Zim how nice to see your writing again I really missed your voice at JPR Cheers from Eugene
Earth artist