Historical illiterates in the House

Yesterday, we got to read the thoughts of former President Valéry Giscard d'Estaing—a respected member of the French establishment.  His take on the dust-up with Russia was calm, rational, and historically informed.  In contrast, the US House just passed a resolution that demonstrated just how absurd historical illiterates can be.

The facts on the ground concerning Crimea are abundantly clear. Yes, Russia DID seize Crimea by force of arms—although the Russian leader at the time was a German named Catherine and the country it was seized from was Turkey in a war between 1768-74.  Over time it would become a major Russian navel base in addition to becoming a major winter destination for the Russian nobility—think of some combination of San Diego and Palm Springs.  Crimea was one of those parts of USSR that was captured by the Nazis after a prolonged and bloody struggle.  The Red Army got it back but only after another long and bloody fight.  Between those two battles, USSR lost roughly the same number of casualties as USA lost in all of WW II.

In other words, Russia was not about to lose Crimea to a bunch of cheap thugs who organized a coup in Kiev.  On the ground, the people who actually live in Crimea must go to bed every night thinking how fortunate they are to be part of Russia with triple the pensions and other manifestations of higher living standards as opposed to suffering under the misrule of the coup plotters in Kiev.  And because the Russians who had populated Crimea since Catherine the Great were so relieved and grateful that the Russians were coming to their rescue, the transfer of power in Crimea was accomplished without firing a shot.

Of course, virtually no one understands any of this because in USA, being an historical illiterate is considered acceptable.  So in such minds, Putin's sky-high approval ratings can only be a product of some sophisticated propaganda techniques—and certainly not because he came to the rescue of his countrymen.  If the US House knew any history about Russia, they would understand that in her history, she has had damn few leaders as smart and capable as Putin.  What is more, the Russians can figure this out for themselves.  A historically literate House member just might consider that since we could not dislodge Castro with hundreds of assassination attempts and other tricks, we are unlikely to cause much damage to a Russian leader that the citizens consider the best one they have had since Peter the Great.

The US House of Representatives Openly Calls for Regime Change in Moscow

The US House Resolution to send lethal arms to Ukraine also calls for a long-term strategy for the overthrow of Vladimir Putin

Alex Christoforou

Aside from the usually Congressional lust for war so as to secure their billions in military industrial complex campaign donations (slush funds), the key part of the House's bill, calling for lethal aid to Ukraine, has noting to do with Ukraine at all.

The resolution gets to the root of what America's elite really want...the dismantling, and subsequent resource plundering of the Russian Federation.

As taken from the US House Resolution:

Whereas the United States and its allies need a long-term strategy to expose and challenge Vladimir Putin’s corruption and repression at home and his aggression abroad;

Let that sink in for a second. The United States Congress has put, in writing, their goal to formulate a "long term strategy" to challenge the democratically elected President of Russia, Vladimir Putin.

What would the US say if Russia's Duma or China's National Assembly voted through a resolution that stated a need to implement a...

long term strategy to expose and challenge President Barack Obama's corruption (trillions of lobbying dollars for political influence) and repression at home (police violence, NSA spying) and his aggression abroad (Iraq, Afghanistan, Libya, Yemen, Venezuela, Syria, Ukraine)."

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Congress Demands War in Ukraine!
Written by Daniel McAdams.

Just weeks after a European-brokered ceasefire greatly reduced the violence in Ukraine, the US House of Representatives today takes a big step toward re-igniting -- and expanding -- the bloody civil war.

A Resolution, "Calling on the President to provide Ukraine with military assistance to defend its sovereignty and territorial integrity," stealthily made its way to the House Floor today without having been debated in the relevant House Committees and without even being given a bill number before appearing on the Floor!

Now titled H. Res. 162, the bill demands that President Obama send lethal military equipment to the US-backed government in Kiev and makes it clear that the weapons are to be used to take military action to return Crimea and parts of eastern Ukraine to Kiev's rule.

Congress wants a war in Ukraine and will not settle for a ceasefire!

The real world effect of this Resolution must be made clear: The US Congress is giving Kiev the green light to begin a war with Russia, with the implicit guarantee of US backing. This is moral hazard on steroids and could well spark World War III.

The Resolution conveniently ignores that the current crisis in Ukraine was ignited by the US-backed coup which overthrew the elected government of Viktor Yanukovych. The secession of Crimea and eastern Ukraine were a reaction to the illegal coup engineered by US officials such as Victoria Nuland and Geoff Pyatt. Congress instead acts as if one morning the Russians woke up and decided to invade Crimea and eastern Ukraine.

There is no mention at all of US backing for the coup -- or even that a coup took place!

Indeed, a read of the Resolution shows it is revisionism par excellence:

Whereas the Russian Federation under President Vladimir Putin has engaged in relentless political, economic, and military aggression to subvert the independence and violate the territorial integrity of Ukraine; ... Whereas Russian aggression against Ukraine is but the most visible and recent manifestation of a revisionist Kremlin strategy to redraw international borders and impose its will on its neighbors, including NATO allies;

Shamefully, the resolution pins the blame for the thousands killed by Kiev's shelling of civilian centers in eastern Ukraine on Russia:

Whereas this Russian aggression includes the establishment and control of violent separatist proxies in other areas of Ukraine, including arming them with lethal weapons and other materiel including tanks, artillery, and rockets that have enabled separatist militias to launch and sustain an insurrection that has resulted in over 6,000 dead, 15,000 wounded, and more than a million displaced persons;

The Resolution goes even further, explicitly calling for the US to support regime change in Russia itself:

Whereas the United States and its allies need a long-term strategy to expose and challenge Vladimir Putin’s corruption and repression at home and his aggression abroad;

"Expose and challenge" the elected Russian president at home.

During the Floor debate on the Resolution, Rep. Eliot Engel (D-NY) even compared Russian "action" in Ukraine to Hitler's invasion of Czechoslovakia, demanding that this time the "Hitler" must be stopped before he goes further!

Not a single Member of Congress took the Floor to oppose this dangerous Resolution.

Passage of this Resolution should make it clear that the political leadership of the US will accept nothing short of war with Russia.

Update: The Resolution passed in the House, 348-48. more