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<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial">----- Original Message -----
<DIV style="BACKGROUND: #e4e4e4; font-color: black"><B>From:</B> <A
title=tanstl@hotmail.com href="mailto:tanstl@hotmail.com">David Sladky</A>
</DIV>
<DIV><B>Sent:</B> Wednesday, April 02, 2014 7:51 AM</DIV>
<DIV><B>Subject:</B> The West’s Looting of Ukraine Has Begun</DIV></DIV>
<DIV><BR></DIV>
<DIV dir=ltr><A
href="http://www.counterpunch.org/2014/04/01/the-wests-looting-of-ukraine-has-begun/">http://www.counterpunch.org/2014/04/01/the-wests-looting-of-ukraine-has-begun/</A><BR><BR><FONT
style="FONT-SIZE: 16pt" size=4>Shackled by the IMF</FONT><BR><FONT
style="FONT-SIZE: 20pt" size=5><B>The West’s Looting of Ukraine Has
Begun</B></FONT><BR>by PAUL CRAIG ROBERTS<BR><BR>It is now apparent that the
"Maiden protests" in Kiev were in actuality a Washington organized coup against
the elected democratic government. The purpose of the coup is to put NATO
military bases on Ukraine’s border with Russia and to impose an IMF austerity
program that serves as cover for Western financial interests to loot the
country. The sincere idealistic protesters who took to the streets without
being paid were the gullible dupes of the plot to destroy their
country.<BR><BR>Politically Ukraine is an untenable aggregation of Ukrainian and
Russian territory, because traditional Russian territories were stuck into the
borders of the Ukraine Soviet Republic by Lenin and Khrushchev. The Crimea,
stuck into Ukraine by Khrushchev, has already departed and rejoined Russia.
Unless some autonomy is granted to them, Russian areas in eastern and southern
Ukraine might also depart and return to Russia. If the animosity displayed
toward the Russian speaking population by the stooge government in Kiev
continues, more defections to Russia are likely.<BR><BR>The Washington-imposed
coup faces other possible difficulties from what seems to be a growing conflict
between the well-organized Right Sector and the Washington-imposed
stooges. If armed conflict between these two groups were to occur,
Washington might conclude that it needs to send help to its stooges. The
appearance of US/NATO troops in Ukraine would create pressure on Putin to occupy
the remaining Russian speaking parts of Ukraine.<BR><BR>Before the political and
geographical issues are settled, the Western looting of Ukraine has already
begun. The Western media, doesn’t tell any more truth about IMF "rescue
packages" than it does about anything else. The media reports, and many
Ukrainians believe, that the IMF is going to rescue Ukraine financially by
giving the country billions of dollars.<BR><BR>Ukraine will never see one dollar
of the IMF money. What the IMF is going to do is to substitute Ukrainian
indebtedness to the IMF for Ukrainian indebtedness to Western banks. The
IMF will hand over the money to the Western banks, and the Western banks will
reduce Ukraine’s indebtedness by the amount of IMF money. Instead of being
indebted to the banks, Ukraine will now be indebted to the IMF.<BR><BR>Now the
looting can begin. The IMF loan brings new conditions and imposes
austerity on the Ukrainian people so that the Ukraine government can gather up
the money with which to repay the IMF. The IMF conditions that will be
imposed on the struggling Ukraine population will consist of severe reductions
in old-age pensions, in government services, in government employment, and in
subsidies for basic consumer purchases such as natural gas. Already low living
standards will plummet. In addition, Ukrainian public assets and Ukrainian
owned private industries will have to be sold off to Western
purchasers.<BR><BR>Additionally, Ukraine will have to float its currency.
In a futile effort to protect its currency’s value from being driven very low
(and consequently import prices very high) by speculators ganging up on the
currency and short-selling it, Ukraine will borrow more money with which to
support its currency in the foreign exchange market. Of course, the currency
speculators will end up with the borrowed money, leaving Ukraine much deeper in
debt than currently.<BR><BR>The corruption involved is legendary, so the direct
result of the gullible Maiden protesters will be lower Ukrainian living
standards, more corruption, loss of sovereignty over the country’s economic
policy, and the transfer of Ukrainian public and private property to Western
interests.<BR><BR>If Ukraine also falls into NATO’s clutches, Ukraine will also
find itself in a military alliance against Russia and find itself targeted by
Russian missiles. This will be a tragedy for Ukraine and Russia as
Ukrainians have relatives in Russia and Russians have relatives in Ukraine. The
two countries have essentially been one for 200 years. To have them torn
apart by Western looting and Washington’s drive for world hegemony is a terrible
shame and a great crime.<BR><BR>The gullible dupes who participated in the
orchestrated Maiden protests will rue it for the rest of their
lives.<BR><BR>When the protests began, I described what the consequences would
be and said that I would explain the looting process. It is not necessary
for me to do so. Professor Michel Chossudovsky has explained the IMF looting
process along with much history here.<BR><BR>One final word. Despite
unequivocal evidence of one country after another being looted by the West,
governments of indebted countries continue to sign up for IMF
programs.<BR><BR>Why do governments of countries continue to agree to the
foreign looting of their populations? The only answer is that they are
paid. The corruption that is descending upon Ukraine will make the former
regime look honest.<BR><BR>Counterpunch<BR><BR></DIV></BODY></HTML>