Courtesy of The Automatic Earth.
Esther Bubley Sign at the National Zoological Park, D.C. May 1943
The story itself may at times feel repetitious and belonging to a different era, but in the case of Ukraine it’s certainly applicable: another country is being given the Shock Doctrine treatment; it’s by no means restricted to South America in the 1970s. Ukrainians have hit the streets for months, and about a hundred of them got taken out cold by nobody knows who, just to end up with a government handpicked by American powerbroker kingmakers, a government, moreover, that will only be in place for a very limited time, until the upcoming elections, but which by the time it recedes into the background will have signed away everything not bolted down, to the IMF and its western handlers.
Former PM Yulia Tymoshenko, who got very rich in a very disputable way through a gas delivery monopoly, just today announced her candidacy in the elections, as Dmytro Yarosh did earlier this week, the leader of the Right Sector that saw one of its lieutenants shot to death a few days ago by a Ukraine police whose allegiance one might pose a question or two about, like so many things Ukraine related. That will make for a nice field of candidates. Don’t count on “Yats” being on of them, his job is to sell the country to the west and vanish into a nice plush job for, say, the World Bank.
And while it’s of course not yet 100% clear what the EU/US plans are with Ukraine, since at first sight the country doesn’t possess that much of real and immediate value. The heavy industry that might attract some interest is all in the eastern part where the population is predominantly ethnic Russian, and it has a whole lot of the most fertile soil – black earth – in the world, but that’s not exactly a fungible resource. The only store of value then would seem to be the Gazprom pipelines that run underneath the country’s land. If these pipelines are what the west is after, they are after war, because Russia will never give up control of them (and there’s no reason why it should).
It was announced today that Ukraine will get an $18 billion loan from the IMF. The Maidan protesters would do good to read the fine print, but they don’t really have much of a say anymore, do they? They had a lot more of that before Yats was installed. But would you take a look at all the other goodies, all theirs just for singing over control over their lives:
The IMF agreement will clear the way for a planned €1.6 billion ($2.2 billion) in emergency aid from the European Union, EC President Barroso said. The EU has also pledged project loans and grants that could reach €11 billion over 7 years. The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development said today that it would increase investments in Ukraine to €1 billion a year and resume lending for state-run projects. Ukraine is also awaiting $1 billion in loan guarantees and $150 million in direct assistance from the U.S. “This represents a powerful sign of support from the international community for the Ukrainian government as we help them stabilize and grow their economy and move their democracy forward,” the White House.
Sounds like a lot of money provided you don’t pay attention. And every penny is welcome. As Yats put it: “The country is on the edge of economic and financial bankruptcy. [..] “This package of laws is very unpopular, very difficult, very tough”. Yes, he said laws. As in cast in stone. In return for the IMF package, Ukraine under an unelected PM is signing up for a kind of austerity Greece would be jealous of. It will also sign away any and all control of its own economy. For what if you do pay attention is really not that much money. Ukraine already owes $13.6 billion in total in just the next 11 months alone, by far most of it to Russia.
Maybe the west can try and poke the Russian bear some more over that. While Ukraine heating gas prices will rise by 50% on May 1. May 1 is one thing, but wait till winter comes, by which time the squeeze of IMF induced austerity has set in, the cost of living has exploded and a civil war between heavily armed nationalist militia from pro- versus anti Russian forces is either on the brink of breaking out or already a foregone fact. Who’s going to prevent widespread slaughter in the country then? There’s only Putin, isn’t there? Who would have to enter the country to do that. And if he does …
Maybe it’s time for us westerners to whistle back the rhetoric and war mongering that’s being committed by those who claim they represent us. To mix in a nuance or two with the propaganda we’re being bombarded with in our media. Because if we don’t, chances are things are going to be perpetrated in our name that we should feel deeply ashamed of. And we can’t after all keep saying forever that we didn’t know. Really guys, you’re ready to let this happen in your name?
