Obama’s Strategy Of Fomenting Revolution In Ukraine Is Backfiring Dramatically

By Michael Snyder, on March 3rd, 2014

 

When the Obama administration was plotting to overthrow the democratically-elected government of Ukraine, what in the world did they expect to happen in the aftermath?  Did they just expect Russia to roll over and play dead as the U.S. and the EU installed a rabidly anti-Russian government in Kiev?  Over the past few years, the U.S. government has chosen to foment violent political revolutions all over the globe.  We have seen violent revolutions overthrow governments all across the Middle East and Africa, but when the U.S. government decided to do the same thing in Ukraine they went way too far.  When you mess with Ukraine, and when you mess with Crimea in particular, you are crossing a huge red line as far as the Russians are concerned.  By crossing that red line, the Obama administration has ensured that the relationship between the United States and Russia will never be friendly again.
If you have not listened to the conversation between Assistant Secretary of State Victoria Nuland and Ambassador to the Ukraine Geoffrey Pyatt that was leaked a little over a month ago on YouTube, please click on the video posted below.  As Robert Wenzel recently discussed, this video is solid proof that Obama administration officials were plotting who the new leaders of Ukraine would be several weeks before a violent revolution ousted President Viktor Yanukovych from power…

During the clip, Nuland and Pyatt discuss their desired outcome for the crisis in Ukraine. Now that 3 weeks have passed since the leak and events have developed, it is instructive to listen to the recording once again. (See below.) Keep in mind that this leak was made on February 2, which means the conversation occurred before that date. Viktor Yanukovych did not lose power over the Ukrainian government until more than three weeks later February 24th.
The recording reveals Nuland and Pyatt discussing  whether Vitali Klitschko, sometimes referred to as “Klitsch” in the recording, should be named the deputy prime minister and seems to assume that Arseniy Yatseniuk, sometimes referred to in the recording as “Yats,” will become prime minister. Since that conversation, Yatseniuk has, indeed, become prime minister. Anybody that tells you that the US is not running the “revolution” from behind the scenes is blowing smoke.

Here is the video…
Thanks to the meddling of the United States and the EU, the situation in Ukraine is now a giant mess.  Russian troops have moved into Crimea to protect Russian interests, and Ukraine stands on the brink of civil war.
Sadly, when Barack Obama’s national security team met on Saturday to discuss the crisis in Ukraine, Obama didn’t even show up.
Obama did speak with Vladimir Putin for 90 minutes on Saturday, but that didn’t solve anything of course.
And with each passing day, Obama’s foreign policy is looking like an even bigger joke.
Even U.S. Senators are mocking him.  Just check out what U.S. Senator Lindsey Graham had to say on the matter…

“Every time the president goes on national television and threatens Putin or anyone like Putin, everybody’s eyes roll, including mine.”

Conservative commentator Mark Levin was even harsher when he stated that he “can’t think of anything he [Obama] touches that doesn’t turn to crap!”
But of course Obama has been completely and totally clueless when it comes to Russia for a very long time.
During one of the presidential debates during the last election, Obama made the following statement to Mitt Romney when Romney suggested that Russia is a serious threat…

“The 1980s are now calling to ask for their foreign policy back because…the cold war’s been over for 20 years.”

Who looks like the fool now?
And Obama especially looks foolish since his “democratic revolution” is starting to backfire dramatically.  Just consider the following facts…
-It is estimated that approximately 675,000 Ukrainians have fled into Russia during January and February.  Why would they be going into Russia for protection if Russia is the “bad guy”?
-The head of Ukraine’s navy has defected and is now working with the Russians.
-The flagship of the Ukrainian Navy has switched sides…

Ukraine’s Navy flagship, the Hetman Sahaidachny frigate, has reportedly refused to follow orders from Kiev, and come over to Russia’s side and is returning home after taking part in NATO operation in the Gulf of Aden flying the Russian naval flag.
There has been conflicting information on where exactly the vessel is, but a Russian senator has confirmed to Izvestia daily that the frigate defected to the Russian side.

-A large number of high ranking Ukrainian military officials have switched sides…

A number of high ranking Ukrainian military and security officials in Crimea have sworn their allegiance to the Autonomous Republic of Crimea, as Simferopol pushes for its autonomy from the self-imposed government in Kiev.
The head of the Security Service of Crimea Petyor Zima, Chief of Department of Internal Affairs in the Crimea Sergey Abisov, the head of Service for Emergency Situations Sergei Shakhov and acting Chief of the Border Guards of Crimea Victor Melnichenko all took an oath of allegiance to the people of Crimea.

-It is being reported that many of the Ukrainian troops stationed in Crimea have turned on the government in Kiev…

Crimea-stationed Ukrainian troops have switched sides to join forces with local pro-Russia authorities in the Russian-dominated autonomous republic of Crimea, a source in the region’s administration has said.
The source has stressed the transition was peaceful and without a single shot being fired.
Some of the servicemen reportedly left their posts without prior warning, while others surrendered letters of resignation but the majority went over to the Crimean government.

-The pro-Russian revolution that is sweeping Crimea is starting to spread to other regions as well…

In the economically important eastern Ukrainian city of Donetsk, hundreds of pro-Russian protesters massed Saturday in the main square and took over a main government administration building, and raised the Russian flag, according to local residents and news outlets. It was unclear whether the protesters were local residents. The number of protesters was also unclear; Russian and Ukrainian media had wildly different estimates of crowd strength.
The Donetsk city council issued a statement demanding a referendum over whether the mining region with strong ties to Russia should remain part of Ukraine.
By nightfall, the area around the Donetsk main square was quiet. A reporter from Ukrainian national television said that the protesters remained inside the building, drinking tea and planning new pro-Russia protests for Monday.

And this is probably what Russia is planning to do.
Instead of taking Ukraine militarily, they hope to enable a “new revolution” to swing things back their way.  The following is an excerpt from an NBC News article…

Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev said on Sunday that Ukraine’s leaders had seized power illegally, and predicted their rule would end with “a new revolution [and] new bloodshed.”

Medvedev said that, while Viktor Yanukovych had practically no authority, he remained the legitimate head of state according the constitution, adding: “If he is guilty before Ukraine – hold an impeachment procedure … and try him.”

“Everything else is lawlessness. The seizure of power,” Medvedev said on his Facebook page. “And that means such order will be extremely unstable. It will end in a new revolution. New bloodshed.”

Of course large numbers of Russian troops will be on hand to make sure that this “counter-revolution” succeeds.  Even as you read this, more Russian forces continue to pour into Crimea…

Meanwhile, in Crimea, Ukrainian Defense Ministry spokesman Vladislav Seleznyov told CNN on Monday that up to 12 trucks full of Russian troops have crossed into the eastern Crimean city of Kerch from Russia.

Additionally, Ukrainian Border Service Assistant Chief Colonel Sergei Astakhov described Russian troop movements by ferry from Russia across the Strait of Kerch in a phone conversation. Astakhov said the first two ferries carrying armed men were navigating towards the ferry dock and border post in Kerch. As the ferries approached the port, 10 heavily armed troops from the Russian Black Sea Fleet attacked the border post from land and used force to overwhelm the Ukrainian border guards, Astakhov said.

The upper house of Parliament in Moscow has given President Vladimir Putin the authority to use “the armed forces of the Russian Federation on the territory of Ukraine until the normalization of the socio-political situation in that country“, and even U.S. officials are admitting that the Russian military has “complete operational control of the Crimean Peninsula” at this point.

And this may just be the beginning.  Reportedly, during his 90 minute conversation with Obama on Saturday Putin hinted that Russian military intervention “could go beyond Crimea”…

During his 90-minute phone conversation with President Obama on Saturday, Russian President Vladimir Putin hinted that Russian military intervention in Ukraine could go beyond Crimea, the region now under effectively occupied by Russia.

That’s according to the Kremlin’s brief account of the phone call, initiated by Obama.
“Vladimir Putin stressed that in case of any further spread of violence to Eastern Ukraine and Crimea, Russia retains the right to protect its interests and the Russian-speaking population of those areas,” it said.

So what is going to happen next?
Nobody knows for sure.
But without a doubt, Obama’s strategy of fomenting revolution in Ukraine is backfiring dramatically.