Metacomet is one of those Loony Liberal Lefties who are envy-ridden Big Oil haters. <I just find it a bit ironic that the first thing people would assert about overthrowing Saddam was its a "war for oil". Yet, US oil companies have really not participating in Iraq's oil exploration markets.. (the Iraqi gov't wants to big a cut of the revenues).. >
Similarly, Putin isn't trying to grab the gas. Neither are Obama/Biden/Kerry and F-bomb Nuland trying to grab the gas. What is going on is a continuation of the megalomania in Washington for Turnkey Tyranny. They are wanting to ram NATO right up through Ukraine and into Moscow. They are stupid and short-sighted.
They are continuing their decades of cold war, which started off in the aftermath of WWII to hold the line against murderous Stalinist global totalitarianism. USSR continued right up to the invasion of Afghanistan which Carter/Brzezinski opposed by backing Osama bin Laden's mujahideen "giving them their own Vietnam" as Brazzo said. That jihad support carried on even after civilized Gorby tried to stop the MADness and did, resulting in the sudden devolution of the USSR. Ooopsy daisy, not many decades later, USA soldiers were being killed en masse by said mujahideen during the conquest of Afghanistan by the USA [and allies]. Plus ca change and all that.
Many in the USA thought they caused the USSR to collapse but they did not. They didn't cause Zimbabwe to implode either, though Mugabe blames outsiders.
Now the USA senses victory over the non-existent USSR communists is close. But they are short-sighted, arrogant and stupid. Napoleon and Hitler looked forwards to a cake walk to Moscow too. Ooops a daisy, those attacks didn't work out any better than backing Osama bin Laden. Now the USA plans the same deal as the 1812 Overture. Putin is of course aware of history. He also happens to be armed with MAD. Dr Strangelove rides again and it might be that some Dr Strangelove Pentagon planners are drooling at the chance to do a first strike, at last.
A broader view of the geopolitical scene and a review of history shows that Russia, Europe and NATO have more in common than the USA thinks and that peeking over the Urals to the far east might be a good idea. That's where the Mongol hordes left from for conquest and genocide across to the west of Asia right up to Europe and Turkey.
There is now 1.3 billion people with a pretty good GDP in China, a good collection of atomic bombs, satellite launch and star wars technology, and a lot of soldiers.
Why wouldn't they see a huge mass of unoccupied [near enough] land to the west, all the way to Ukraine and what the heck, the North Sea? They might even think that if the USA/NATO gets to Moscow, NATO might carry on east, all the way to the Great Wall of China, and beyond. So the Beijing defence planners might reasonably think that a forward defence position would be a good idea.
In planning the conquest of Moscow, it would pay Kerry, Biden, Obama and F-Bomb Nuland et al to consider that Russia and China might think it wise to act in concert to oppose Turnkey Tyranny. China might even consider it a reasonable outcome for Russia, Europe and USA to go MAD, reducing voluntarily their atomic bomb stocks by exploding them over each other's cities. When Japan invaded Manchuria and set off on their conquests of east Asia down to Australia, they did not imagine such a cake walk would end with their cities in ruins, umpty million dead and atomic bombs going off over Hiroshima, Nagasaki, and next stop, Tokyo. Maybe from Washington, rolling Russia and Putin looks like a cakewalk. At least out of Ukraine, for a start.
As you pointed out, some gas in Ukraine is irrelevant in the big picture. Same in Iraq. George Bush wasn't trying to get hold of oil for Exxon. It might be that keeping that oil off the market for a decade or two helped keep Exxon's prices and profits high - that makes more sense. Governments are often used to keep competitors off the market.
Obama, Kerry, Biden, F-Bomb [now probably pushed out of the scene] should have a lie down and a nice cup of tea and get something more useful to do than cause carnage. Some referenda, elections and devolution in Ukraine to better package political interests would be a good idea. Similarly to what was done in Yugoslavia with the devolution to Serbia, Kosovo, and those other bits.
That might even get Obama half a victory over Putin in that a new border half way through Ukraine would enable NATO to load up the new border with lots of profitable equipment from weaponry suppliers. That might be a hazard too far for Putin who might prefer the NATO border to remain at the west of Ukraine rather than half way through it.
China is watching with interest.
Mqurice |
