From The Ramparts

Making Sense of Current Events Part II

                                              Making Sense of Current Events Part II

                                                           Junious Ricardo Stanton

            Everyone is buzzing about the oval office dust up last Friday when President Trump and Vice President Vance verbally spared with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky who finally was unceremoniously escorted out of the White House. As with everything Trump does, there are differing emotions, opinions and perspectives. Some claimed Trump and Vance did a tag team beat down on Zelensky while others feel Trump stood up for America and “American values”. There is truth in both perspectives

            The problem is we have been lied to and gaslighted by the government and media as a result, most Americans are totally ignorant regarding the root causes of what is going on in Ukraine. Most don’t know the US government spent five billion dollars of US taxpayer money to undermine and overthrow the duly elected government of Ukraine in 2014. The Obama administration influenced by the imperialist minded Neocons decided to use USAID money and CIA shenanigans to foment another “color revolution” to topple the government of Viktor Yanukovych. Yanukovych was a pro-Russian leader the US wanted removed from the playing field because of his pro-Russian leanings.

When the US deposed Yanukovych Petro Poroshenko served as president from 2014-2019.   Eventually the actor comedian Volodymyr Zelenskyy was elected president during a time when neo-Nazi elements called the Azov Brigade (Battalion) had been indiscriminately attacking and shelling several provinces in Ukraine which had linguistic and ethnic ties to Russia which were historically part of the old Soviet Union.

Overwhelmed, the residents of Donetsk appealed to Putin for help. Finally on February 24, 2022,  Putin launched what he called a Special Military Operation whose objective, according to Putin, was to Demilitarize and Denazify Ukraine, protect Russian speaking residents of the regions under attack by the Ukrainian government and styme NATO’s encroachment on the Russian border.

The Special Military Operation devolved into a full-fledged war as Western nations rushed to side with Ukraine arming the country and supplying technical and sophisticated logistical support to the overmatched and overwhelmed Zelenskyy regime.  Their agenda was to cripple Russia and bring Putin to heel using increased economic sanctions.

Putin’s actions thrusted Zelenskyy into the global limelight, he relished the media attention and has taken full advantage of his new status parading around the world posing and passing himself off as a Ukrainian David winning a war for his people against the Russian Goliath.

Meanwhile most honest military analysts know Ukraine can never defeat Russia and the West’s providing offensive weapons so Zelenskyy can strike deep inside Russian territory has worsened the situation. The war has escalated as Russia has forcibly responded to attacks on its territory and Zelenskyy and Ukraine are paying a heavy price.

During the election campaign Trump pompously claimed Putin would not have invaded Ukraine while he was president and said he would end the war as soon as he was inaugurated. Well Trump is now president yet the war is still raging. Zelenskyy feels comfortable making demands of the EU and US and getting US aid, but he was shaken when Trump wanted to make a half a trillion dollar deal involving Ukrainian rare earth minerals as payment for US support. We all know how that turned out last week.

The US needs Ukrainian rare earth minerals because China has a global monopoly on them. China controls over 60% of the world’s rare earth production and 90% of its refining capacity! These are the minerals modern technology needs to be productive: lithium, titanium, phosphate, zircon, graphite, cobalt, beryllium, zinc, they power our modern gizmos and gadgets, the so-called green technology, microchips and modern warfare.

Trump is trying to seize an opportunity to close the gap between the US and China with this deal. This is why he and his team were furious when Zelenskyy reneged on signing it last week.

Always follow the money and the resources. Don’t fall for the humanitarian rhetoric, Musk and his ilk in Silicon Valley, the technocrats and the military industrial complex need these minerals to be competitive and to maintain their global hegemon. This is what the bruhaha in the White House was really about.

posted by Junious Ricardo Stanton @ 7:19 AM