Freedom Rider: Putin in America’s Crosshairs

by BAR editor and columnist Margaret Kimberley

“Regardless of the identity of the culprit who fired the shot, the blood is still on America’s hands.”

The chaos created by United States interventions is never ending and every act of aggression brings the world closer to mass conflict. As is always the case with its interference, the American effort to destabilize Russia has created unforeseen and dangerous consequences. Just as support for jihadists complicated the imperial project in Syria and Iraq, the United States’ instigated war between Russia and Ukraine has spiraled out of the West’s control.

Last week Russian president Vladimir Putin returned to his country flush with foreign policy success. Corporate media ignored his six-day trip to Latin America, but Russia’s financial aid to Cuba and Nicaragua established a much needed counter weight to pax Americana. The 200 year-old Monroe Doctrine, which states that the western hemisphere is the property of the United States, is still accepted in the American mind and political establishment.

Putin’s foray to Latin America was as audacious as it was shrewd. His presence told Barack Obama that 19^th century policy was nothing he felt bound to respect. Not only did Russia breathe new life into struggling left wing regimes, but he offered assistance to Argentina and Brazil with their nuclear power programs before delivering the most important news of all.

“American intervention in the past ten years has created ruin in Somalia, Iraq, Libya, Syria and now Ukraine.”

Along with his counterparts from Brazil, India, China and South Africa, Putin announced the creation of a $100 billion BRICS development bank and a currency pool worth an additional $100 billion. Not only did he tell the United States that he wouldn’t take their interference lying down, but he also made it clear that there is another important player in world affairs.

It is a good thing that the United States has competition for influence. American intervention in the past ten years has created ruin in Somalia, Iraq, Libya, Syria and now Ukraine. While this country is unmatched militarily it can’t control what it unleashes and sometimes isn’t even guaranteed victory on the battlefield. American supported Libyan jihadists killed the ambassador at Benghazi and are still fighting against other forces in that country. Syria’s infrastructure is destroyed and thousands of people are dead or homeless refugees, but Bashir al-Assad hangs on and America is stuck in the mud of its own making. ISIS has made a mockery of the Iraq intervention and turned what was called a “cake walk” into a continuing American headache.

The damage done to Ukraine is enormous. The country is in the midst of civil war with all of the casualties that come with it because of American desperation to rule the globe. The depth of that danger was made clear on July 17^th when Malaysian airlines flight MH17 was apparently shot down over Ukraine.

In the midst of combat and conflicting claims it is impossible to determine who is at fault for the loss of 298 lives. But Barack Obama and his scribes in corporate media wasted no time in blaming the so-called rebels in Ukraine who are fighting against the United States backed government.

One thing is clear, the conditions that precipitated this catastrophe are all of Washington’s making. There would be no BUK missiles in Ukraine, no uprooted refugees, and no bloodshed if the United States and other NATO nations had not picked a fight with Russia. Regardless of the identity of the culprit who fired the shot, the blood is still on America’s hands.

“The country is in the midst of civil war with all of the casualties that come with it because of American desperation to rule the globe.”

The Russian government is to be commended for assuring that there is at least the possibility of an impartial investigation of this incident. While Barack Obama and his putative heir Hillary Clinton called names and the corporate media parroted their every word, Putin arranged for the flight recorders to be turned over to Malaysia, the country with the most important interest in this case. Despite what the talking heads have to say, it was remarkable that it only took four days for victims’ remains to be taken from the war zone and sent to the Netherlands, the country of origin of the flight.

Instead of practicing even handed journalistic skepticism, the press have happily turned themselves into propaganda mouth pieces for the White House. There isn’t even a pretense of good reporting and news gathering which would inform the public. Instead we are treated to the kill list president making statements such as, “This is the kind of behavior that has no place in the community of nations.”

As Putin traveled to the Americas, the Obama administration pressured European nations to increase sanctions against his country. The plane shoot-down is already being used as a pretext to bully other western nations into joining the anti-Russian mob, but eventually it will all be for naught. The world won’t bend to America’s will, but in the meantime, there is plenty of opportunity for this nation to bring more catastrophes to the rest of the planet.

Margaret Kimberley's Freedom Rider column appears weekly in BAR, and is widely reprinted elsewhere. She maintains a frequently updated blog as well as at http://freedomrider.blogspot.com. Ms. Kimberley lives in New York City, and can be reached via e-Mail at Margaret.Kimberley(at)BlackAgendaReport.com.

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