An excerpt from, "Coup in Kiev" by Justin Raimondo, AntiWar.com, February 24, 2014:
Putin could outwit the regime-changers by proposing a plebiscite in which the Crimean people and other Russian-speakers could choose to go their own way – and make Western leaders look like the warmongering cold warriors they are. Civil war – and a confrontation between Russia and the US/EU – in "nobody’s interest," as Ms. Rice would put it. Yet that is precisely what American insistence on the "unity" of Ukraine will lead to.Video Title: Ron Paul's Texas Straight Talk 2/24/14: Leave Ukraine Alone!. Source: YouTube channel minnesotachris. Date Published: February 23, 2014.
The costs to Putin if he "loses" Ukraine to the West are going to be steep. While Western media depict the Russian leader as some kind of ultra-nationalist maniac intent on "revanchist" dreams of rebuilding the old Russian Empire, in the context of Russian politics he is a relative moderate. There are real ultra-nationalist forces that would come down on him like a ton of bricks if the historic land of the Cossacks was "lost" to the anti-Russian EU and their American allies. Indeed, two of the most visible anti-Putin "dissidents" – Alexei Navalny and Eduard Limonov (of the fascistic National Bolshevik Party) – are rabid nationalists who make Putin look like the kind of liberal who listens to NPR and strongly favors Birkenstocks. Naturally these two are celebrated by the Western media, who don’t care to look too closely at whom they are lionizing.
The same goes for the "dissidents" who have taken over Kiev: many of these "heroes" – as Tymoshenko calls them – are militant neo-Nazis, with several shades of ultra-nationalists well-represented. There is Svoboda, formerly known as the "Social National" party, which idolizes World War II Nazi-collaborator Stepan Bandera, who fought on the side of Hitler’s SS against the Red Army. The leader of Svoboda was once expelled from Parliament for calling pro-Russian leaders agents of "Moscow’s Jewish Mafia." Then there is the "Right Sector," a gang of football hooligans which is openly fascist and has been used as the "muscle" of the movement as the insurrectionists took over public buildings and fought the police in the streets.
The chief rabbi of Ukraine has declared the country unsafe for Jews and is urging them to emigrate: he says the Israeli embassy is telling them not to leave their homes because Jews are not safe in the streets. No wonder Spanish neo-Nazis are marching in support of their Ukrainian "brothers"!
This is not to say there aren’t many sincere people in the ranks of the protesters – undoubtedly the majority – who are tired of the corruption and just want a better life. They are the biggest victims of this coup.
The US government has poured millions into the Ukrainian protest movement, and they want their money’s worth – even if it means spilling oceans of blood. The reality is that their interests and those of the Ukrainian people are diametrically opposed: Washington’s manipulations can only lead to yet another "revolution" betrayed. The tragedy is that the long-suffering people of that country may learn this lesson far too late.
