Donbass Fighting for the Future of the World

The Gray Lady has gone silent, minus a perfunctory story filed by David Herszenhorn over the weekend regarding Petroshenko's inauguration ceremony, about rapidly unfolding events in Ukraine. She does include this Associated Press story this morning:

SLOVYANSK, Ukraine — Several buildings have been damaged by shelling in an eastern Ukraine city controlled by pro-Russian separatists. 

An AP reporter in downtown Slovyansk saw five buildings on Monday that had suffered heavy damage. Slovyansk has been the epicenter of a nearly two-month standoff between Ukrainian forces and the pro-Russian rebels, who have seized administrative buildings, police stations and border posts across the region. 

Residents said the shelling happened on Sunday. Rebels have held the Ukrainian government responsible for the rising number of civilian casualties in the conflict, while Ukraine has insisted that the pro-Russian rebels are responsible for the bloodshed. 

On Saturday, Ukraine's new president, Petro Poroshenko, was sworn into office, calling for armed groups to lay down their weapons and promising amnesty for those "without blood on their hands."

The Saker has pointed things to say about the speech Poroshenko gave at his swearing-in ceremony:

Poroshenko did more than just spew some garden variety Ukie nonsense. He specifically committed himself to one language, no federation, no negotiations (at least not with those folks who matter) and he topped it all with a completely surreal statement about the Crimea being forever Ukie. Ok, these are not just words, the man cornered himself into a crazy, maximalist position. Some ask what I was expecting and say add that Poroshenko had no other options. Nonsense! He could have said something along these lines: 

The blood of the glorious Ukrainian people is sacred to me and my first duty is to prevent it from being spilled (= stop the shelling). I shall never rest until each and every Ukrainian will feel that he/she is a precious part of an inclusive Ukrainian society whose historical roots have always been diverse and multi-national (language issue). The Ukraine must forever become a land of peace and peaceful trade (= neutrality). There is no personal sacrifice I shall not consent to achieve these lofty goals (= negotiate with the Novorossians). Etc. etc. etc.

Guys, this is not that hard. Not to mention that NOW would have been the correct time to get rid of the Nazis while the "eyes of the world" were upon the "legitimate President of the Ukraine". 

Poroshenko totally blew it. Totally.

And not because he is dumb. All those who know him agree on two things: he is a total prostitute and he is very smart. In this case, he was simply reading the speech written for him by Uncle Shmuel. 

So that is what changed:

a) a total collapse and surrender by the EU 1%ers
b) a total sellout of Poroshenko to Uncle Shmuel

And this is why I see no point in waiting any longer. That, and the fact that if time is on Russia's side (which it is - Banderastan is not viable), time is not on the side of the people of Novorossia who need help now.

The question on everyone's mind is, "Why isn't Russia doing anything?" I assume the Gray Lady's silence is evidence that she is killing stories from her reporters in Donbass -- Sabrina Tavernise and Andrew Roth -- because these stories reveal what is going on -- that the Ukrainian military is using heavy-duty artillery on civilians. What Samantha Power would call a war crime if it weren't for the fact that U.S. is actively supporting the Kiev's junta ATO ("Anti-Terrorist Operation").

So why the appearance of passivity from the Kremlin? Certainly it can't be playing well on the streets of Moscow. Check out this quote from a Russia TV1 talk show "Policy" panelist. I gleaned it from Niqnaq's blog:

KAREN SHAKHNAZAROV, film Director, people’s artist of Russia: I’ll tell you this, as I see it. In principle, in parallel, there are many conflicts in the world: in Mali, Sudan… With great sacrifice. And in my opinion, Donetsk and Lugansk will today decide the fate of the world. And these few thousand brave and daring people, militia, probably some thousands, not more, have in their hands the fate of the world. What will happen? If they lose, Ukraine fully falls under the West. Surely there will be a NATO base after some time. Russia pushed all the way in Asia, Russia will have to find real military allies in Asia or in the Islamic world. The world will split exactly in the confrontation, as Orwell’s “1984″, on the East and the West. It’ll turn out all that great and, possibly nuclear war. If the militia wins, then Usaia will lose its leadership role, that’s all. Russia is returning to Europe, where in 1991 it was pushed out. The role of Germany is sharply rising. Most likely draw the Alliance between Germany and Russia. A different configuration. And all this is now in the hands of these really. All history is made by a small number of people. You know, Latin America was conquered, Siberia. Now the question: what should Russia do? Indeed, Russia is facing a very difficult situation, because Russia today is like a boxer who came out to the ring and did not know what to do. Russia, I think it is time to understand that it is war. To understand and even to declare. Because look at how cleverly Obama proceeds: he says, “No, we do not start a Cold War. No, no, no, no Cold War, no speech.” Why does he do this? Because in the West, in Usaia, the huge majority of the public does not want a Cold War. And if Russia will publicly announce that we see a threat to our national interest, that we believe that we are in the Cold War, believe me, many in Western Europe and in Usaia will look at this conflict in a completely different way. I think it is necessary to act today. And this, by the way, today Russia is not yet practically threatened. So I would first of all realize, because to me it’s obvious, of course, it is clear that humanitarian assistance is needed, some support is needed. But we must understand that these guys out there who are fighting, they’re fighting for the future of the world.

Russians perceive the stakes as nothing less than the future of the world. And while it appears that the Kremlin is rolling over -- pulling back troops from its own border; Putin promising to do a better job preventing the free flow of fighters and weapons to Donbass -- something deeper is going on. The thing to remember -- and I'm not engaging in hero worship here, just sharing an opinion based on my interpretation of past events -- is that Putin, though caught off guard by the fascist putsch of February, has handled the situation with a great deal of skill and finesse. Compare it to the lies and the unseemly shrieking by the United States.

I think there is some reason to speculate that Russia has not gone into Donbass as it did in Crimea (ignoring all the obvious reasons) because the U.S. has let it be known that Syria would shortly see a no-fly zone established by Western powers. In other words, the U.S., unable to directly engage the Kremlin militarily in Ukraine, is threatening to blow up the Middle East.

Russia is relying on the ability of the federalization militias in Donbass to hold on while Moscow attempts to negotiate with Kiev. Poroshenko's rhetorical bombshell is a way of telling Russia, "Don't bother."

We'll see. Maybe Poroshenko's rhetorical bombshell is just that, rhetoric, designed to mollify Ukrainian ultra-nationalism (a.k.a., fascism), and, given a few more weeks of atrocities committed by his troops, he will cut a deal.

In any event, the Russian red line is approaching. Once the U.S./EU go after Russia's energy sector and declare sanctions on Gazprom, all bets are off. That is why I don't think we'll get there. In the meantime, while we are safe and snug in our normal routines, the people of Donbass are going to suffer.