We who write Boggart Blog in all its guises have sometimes felt as though we were shouting into the great void as we presented the results of our research, investigations and long term reporting (since 2014 and even further back than that,) on how the attempts of the Western Alliance (USA, NATO and the European Union,) to recruit Ukraine as a member of the anti - Moscow club could only result in conflict, economic catastrophe and probably to eventual war.
We do not feel at all please with ourselves for predicting that something like the current crisis was the inevitable outcome of expanding NATO eastward and ever closer to Russia's borders and thus gain the ability to place NATO troops and weaponry on the border was not going to be acceptable to Moscow. If you are familiar with recent history consider America's reaction when communist Cuba invited Russia to install missiles on the Caribbean island only a hundred and fifty miles from the US coast in the early 1960s.
America, quite rightly, threatened serious consequences and Russia backed down. Imagine how Britain would react if Ireland tried to join the Russian Federation or France if Andorra was annexed by China. The USA, NATO allies and the European Union member states must accept their share of responsibility for the current conflict. There were several options other than full NATO membership for Ukraine, a United Nations backed guarantee of neutrality for Ukraine was the most favourable to all sides.
So it is gratifying to us to see that more and more sober, intelligent voices in alt_media are calling out the hysterical demonisation of Russia and its leader Vladimir Putin and arguing that armed conflict, with all the attendant suffering and pointless deaths could have been avoided had the western alliance not beein more intertested in effecting regime change in Russia than it was in creating conditions for peaceful co - existence between Russia and Ukraine.
Below is an extract of one more excellent example of how the 'conspiravy theorists' of alt - media have once again beaten the mainstream media boy and girl reporters with their little degrees in media studies.
The US is Culpable in Today's Ukraine Crisis
by The Space Worm
The US is Culpable in Today's Ukraine Crisis
How the incessant neo-conservative urge to reshape foreign nations in the Western image has brought us to the brink of World War.
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Many know this story, but I’d like to summarize it as succinctly as possible, using only primary and establishment media sources in hopes that this article may be persuasive and shareable to friends/family of all politics. The goal is not to distract from Ukrainian suffering but to inform US citizens of how their leaders often engage in harmful foreign policy so that we may refrain from electing such leaders in the future.
Brief Background
Throughout 2012 and most of 2013, Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych had been in negotiations with the European Union on the terms of a political/trade agreement involving a sizeable loan, lowering of tariffs, and a goal to “promote gradual convergence on foreign and security matters with the aim of Ukraine's ever-deeper involvement in the European security area” (direct quote from the agreement). Putin has stated, numerous times over several decades, his concerns about Western military forces creeping closer to Russia’s border. The Ukranians asked for $160 billion to offset trade restrictions that Russia would likely implement as a result of the deal. The EU could only offer $828 million. Russia then offered Ukraine a $15 billion loan and to cut Russian natural gas prices by almost a third. Yanukovych canceled negotiations with the EU and accepted Putin’s offer. Considering the Russian loan was nearly 20 times greater than the EU loan and the agreement eliminated the possibility of Russian sanctions while leaving EU relations largely unchanged, this was a rational decision by Yanukovych. To quote Reuters, “the unwillingness of the EU and International Monetary Fund to be flexible in their demands of Ukraine also had an effect, making them less attractive partners.”
The decision to cancel the EU agreement, which was not a unilateral decision by Yanukovych but a valid vote by Ukranian Parliament, was met with protests
in the North-Western Capital Kiev, led by prominent members of
Yanukovych’s opposition party, which quickly turned violent. Western
Ukranians were understandably upset after the one-year-long negotiations
fell through. ... Continue reading >>>
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