(Graphic) Odessa Ukraine Massacre

Click here if you want to see the picture I’m referring to here.

You can also click here to view other images taken from the scene.

Translation: Bravo, Odessa. Pearl of the Ukrainian spirit. Birthplace of the great nationalists Ivan and Yuri Jul. Let the Devils burn in hell. The best of the rebels is the football fans. Bravo.

All over the internet self proclaimed fascists were hailing this as victory.

A victory over who? There were no Russian citizens among the dead. They were all Ukrainians.

And here with U.S. State Department Diplomat Victoria Nuland:

(That’s the same Victoria Nuland that was caught in the leaked phone call talking about installing Arseniy Yatsenuk to run the provisional government):

Don’t take my word for it. Go read what the BBC said about these people back in 2012. Go look at this article from Reuters which acknowledges that these guys are well positioned in the current government. Then go look at the photos from the crime scene in Odessa. If you do, you’ll understand that what we’re dealing with here isn’t just a few politicians with offensive opinions. These guys are the real deal. These are Neo Nazi fascists, who are willing to murder anyone who gets in their way. The U.S. and the E.U. are backing them, and the corporate media is covering up their crimes.

Why would these guys resort to the kind of brutality we saw in Odessa? It wasn’t very smart. The images and the video of the crime scene have gone viral. That’s a public relations disaster that will have lasting consequences.

Why would they do something like this, because they’re running out of options. There’s a rebellion spreading all across Ukraine and in spite of what the corporate media has been trying to sell you these aren’t pro-Russian protesters. The people don’t trust the coup appointed government and they don’t want to live under its rule.

Kiev has ordered the military to put down the rebellion 3 times already, but only a fraction of the Ukrainian military has been willing to fire on their own people. Not only have the troops refused to fight, but many have switched sides and are now fighting for the resistance. Others are on the fence contemplating turning their guns on Kiev, and are saying so publicly.

“History is written by the winners”.

In several eastern Ukrainian towns over the past week, the military opened fire on its own citizens. Dozens may have been killed in the violence. Although the US government generally condemns a country’s use of military force against its own population, especially if they are unarmed protesters, this time the US administration blamed the victims. After as many as 20 unarmed protesters were killed on the May 9th holiday in Ukraine, the State Department spokesman said “we condemn the outbreak of violence caused by pro-Russia separatists.”

Why are people protesting in eastern Ukraine? Because they do not believe the government that came to power after the US-backed uprising in February is legitimate. They do not recognize the authority of an unelected president and prime minister. The US sees this as a Russian-sponsored destabilization effort, but is it so hard to understand that the people in Ukraine may be annoyed with the US and EU for their involvement in regime change in their country? Would we be so willing to accept an unelected government in Washington put in place with the backing of the Chinese and Iranians?

The US State Department provided much assistance earlier this year to those involved in the effort to overthrow the Ukrainian government. The US warned the Ukrainian government at the time not to take any action against those in the streets, even as they engaged in violence and occupied government buildings. But now that those former protesters have come to power, the US takes a different view of protest. Now they give full support to the bloody crackdown against protesters in the east. The State Department spokesperson said last week: “We continue to call for groups who have jeopardized public order by taking up arms and seizing public buildings in violation of Ukrainian law to disarm and leave the buildings they have seized.” This is the opposite of what they said in February. Do they think the rest of the world does not see this hypocrisy?

The residents of eastern Ukraine have long been closer to Russia than to the US and EU. In fact, that part of Ukraine had been a part of Russia. After February’s regime change, officials in the east announced that they would hold referenda to see whether the population wanted autonomy from the US-backed government in Kiev. The US demanded that Russian President Putin stop eastern Ukraine from voting on autonomy, and last week the Russian president did just that: he said that the vote should not be held as scheduled. The eastern Ukrainians ignored him and said they would hold the vote anyway. So much for the US claims that Russia controls the opposition in Ukraine.

Even though the Russian president followed US demands and urged the eastern Ukrainians to hold off on the vote, the US State Department announced that the US would apply additional sanctions on Russia if the vote is held! Does this make any sense?

The real question is why the US government is involved in Ukraine in the first place. We are broke. We cannot even afford to fix our own economy. Yet we want to run Ukraine? Does it really matter who Ukrainians elect to represent them? Is it really a national security matter worth risking a nuclear war with Russia whether Ukraine votes for more regional autonomy and a weaker central government? Isn’t that how the United States was originally conceived?

Has the arrogance of the US administration, thinking they should run the world, driven us to the brink of another major war in Europe? Let us hope they will stop this dangerous game and come to their senses. I say let’s have no war for Ukraine!

According to German press reports over the weekend, some 400 US employees of the US private security firm Academi (formerly Blackwater) are operating in Ukraine. Who in Ukraine would hire such forces and why? And what to expect after the referenda in eastern Ukraine over the weekend? (Translated from German)