Neocons Have Weathered the Storm

[unhappycamper]

http://www.opednews.com/articles/Neocons-Have-Weathered-the-by-Robert-Parry-Crimea_Neocons_Political_Putin-140314-257.html



Neocons Have Weathered the Storm
By Robert Parry
OpEdNews Op Eds 3/14/2014 at 16:26:59

By the middle of last decade, the storm clouds were building over the neocons: their "regime change" in Iraq was a disaster; President George W. Bush's "Mission Accomplished" speech was a running joke; news articles were appearing about their "dark side" behavior in the "war on terror"; and the public was tired of the blood and treasure being wasted.

You might have expected that the neocons would have been banished to the farthest reaches of U.S. policymaking, so far away that they would never be heard from again. However, instead of disappearing, the neocons have proved their staying power, now reemerging as the architects of the U.S. strategy toward Ukraine.

Neocons played key behind-the-scenes roles in instigating the Feb. 22 coup that overthrew a democratically elected president with the help of neo-Nazi militias; the neocons have since whipped Official Washington into a frenzy of bipartisan support for the coup regime; and they are pushing for a new Cold War if the people of Crimea vote to leave Ukraine and join Russia.

A few weeks ago, most Americans probably had never heard of Ukraine and had no idea that Crimea was part of it. But, all of a sudden, the deficit-obsessed U.S. Congress is rushing to send billions of dollars to the coup regime in Kiev, as if the future of Ukraine were the most important issue facing the American people.

[grahamhgreen]

1. K&R. Seems like Ukraine is about furthering the neocon agenda.

[summerschild]

2. I am sick.

It has been mind boggling to watch the PNAC criminals maintain their high profile, "I'm a genius" shtick in Mainstream TV and the press over these years after the Iraq debacle. Thousands of wasted deaths, trillions of wasted dollars.... And they still acted like the toast of the town in the media. But until the Ukraine stuff started I had no idea they had actually invaded the Capitol AND AT THE INVITATION OF THE ADMINISTRATION!!!!!


From the article: "At Clinton's State Department, other neocons were given influential posts. Frederick Kagan's brother Robert, a neocon from the Reagan administration and co-founder of the neocon Project for the New American Century, was named to an advisory position on the Foreign Affairs Policy Board. Secretary Clinton also elevated Robert Kagan's wife, Victoria Nuland, to be State Department spokesperson.

"Though Obama's original "team of rivals" eventually left the scene (Gates in mid-2011, Petraeus in a sex scandal in late 2012, and Clinton in early 2013), those three provided the neocons a crucial respite, time to regroup and reorganize. So, when Sen. John Kerry replaced Clinton as Secretary of State (with the considerable help of his neocon friend John McCain), the State Department's neocons were poised for a powerful comeback.

"Nuland was promoted to Assistant Secretary of State for European Affairs and took personal aim at the elected government of Ukraine, which had become a choice neocon target because it maintained close ties to Russia, whose President Putin was undercutting the neocons' "regime change" strategies in their most valued area, the Middle East. Most egregiously, Putin was helping Obama avert wars in Syria and Iran."

In other words, the ultimate goal of the Ukraine gambit is not just "regime change" in Kiev but "regime change" in Moscow. By eliminating the independent-minded and strong-willed Putin, the neocons presumably fantasize about slipping one of their ciphers (perhaps a Russian version of Ahmed Chalabi) into the Kremlin."

Then, the neocons could press ahead, unencumbered, toward their original "regime change" scheme in the Middle East, with wars against Syria and Iran.
As dangerous -- and even crazy -- as this neocon vision is (raising the specter of a possible nuclear confrontation between the United States and Russia), the neocons clearly appear back in control of U.S. foreign policy. And, they almost can't lose in terms of their own self-interest, whichever way the Ukraine crisis breaks.

If Putin backs down in the face of U.S. ultimatums on Ukraine and Crimea, the neocons can beat their chests and argue that similar ultimatums should be presented to other neocon targets, i.e., Syria and Iran. And, if those countries don't submit to the ultimatums, then there will be no choice but to let the U.S. bombings begin, more "shock and awe."

On the other hand, if Putin refuses to back down and Crimea votes to abandon Ukraine and reattach itself to Russia (which has ties to Crimea dating back to Catherine the Great in the 1700s), then the neocons can ride the wave of Official Washington's outrage, demanding that Obama renounce any future cooperation with Putin and thus clear the way for heightened confrontations with Syria and Iran."

Even if Obama can somehow continue to weave his way around the neocon war demands for the next two-plus years, his quiet strategy of collaborating with Putin to resolve difficult disputes with Syria and Iran will be dead in the water. The neocons can then wait for their own sails to fill when either President Hillary Clinton or a Republican (likely to need neocon support) moves into the White House in 2017."



These people want regime change in Moscow. They're ignorant and evil enough to want a world war. I knew Clinton was more hawkish than Obama - that's why I voted for him instead. I will not support Clinton in light of this. The nightmare is back.

[MisterP]

3. even Collier's threatened to overturn Moscow

http://www.conelrad.com/books/print.php?id=321_0_1_0