Russia’s Humanitarian
‘Invasion’
Official Washington’s war-hysteria machine
is running at full speed again after Russia
unilaterally dispatched a convoy of
trucks carrying humanitarian supplies to the
blockaded Ukrainian city of Luhansk.
Ray McGovern
Consortiumnews.com
August 23, 2014
President Barack Obama meets
with his national security advisors
in the Situation Room of the
White House, Aug. 7, 2014.
Official White House Photo by Pete Souza
Before dawn broke in Washington on Saturday, “Ukrainian pro-Russian
separatists” – more accurately described as federalists of southeast Ukraine
who oppose last February’s coup in Kiev – unloaded desperately needed
provisions from some 280 Russian trucks in Luhansk, Ukraine. The West
accused those trucks of “invading” Ukraine on Friday, but it was a record
short invasion; after delivering their loads of humanitarian supplies, many
of the trucks promptly returned to Russia.
I happen to know what a Russian invasion looks like, and this isn’t it.
Forty-six years ago, I was ten miles from the border of Czechoslovakia when
Russian tanks stormed in to crush the “Prague Spring” experiment in
democracy. The attack was brutal.
Once back in Munich, West Germany, where my duties included substantive
liaison with Radio Free Europe, I experienced some of the saddest moments
of my life listening to radio station after radio station on the Czech side of
the border playing Smetana’s patriotic “Ma vlast” (My Homeland) before
going silent for more than two decades.
I was not near the frontier between Russia and southeastern Ukraine on
Friday as the convoy of some 280 Russian supply trucks started rolling
across the border heading toward the federalist-held city of Luhansk, but
that “invasion” struck me as more like an attempt to break a siege, a brutal
method of warfare that indiscriminately targets all, including civilians,
violating the principle of non-combatant immunity.
Michael Walzer, in his War Against Civilians, notes that “more people died
in the 900-day siege of Leningrad during WWII than in the infernos of
Hamburg, Dresden, Tokyo, Hiroshima and Nagasaki taken together.” So the
Russians have some strong feelings about sieges.
There’s also a personal side for Russian President Vladimir Putin, who was
born in Leningrad, now Saint Petersburg, eight years after the long siege by
the German army ended. It is no doubt a potent part of his consciousness.
One elder brother, Viktor, died of diphtheria during the siege of Leningrad.
The Siege of Luhansk
Despite the fury expressed by U.S. and NATO officials about Russia’s
unilateral delivery of the supplies after weeks of frustrating negotiations
with Ukrainian authorities, there was clearly a humanitarian need. An
International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) team that visited Luhansk
on Aug. 21 to make arrangements for the delivery of aid found water and
electricity supplies cut off because of damage to essential infrastructure.*
The Ukrainian army has been directing artillery fire into the city in an
effort to dislodge the ethnic Russian federalists, many of whom had
supported elected President Viktor Yanukovych who was ousted in the Feb.
22 coup.
The Red Cross team reported that people in Luhansk do not leave their
homes for fear of being caught in the middle of ongoing fighting, with
intermittent shelling into residential areas placing civilians at risk.
Laurent Corbaz, ICRC head of operations for Europe and Central Asia,
reported “an urgent need for essentials like food and medical supplies.”
The ICRC stated that it had “taken all necessary administrative and
preparatory steps for the passage of the Russian convoy,” and that, “pending
customs checks,” the organization was “therefore ready to deliver the aid to
Luhansk … provided assurances of safe passage are respected.”
The “safe passage” requirement, however, was the Catch-22. The Kiev
regime and its Western supporters have resisted a ceasefire or a political
settlement until the federalists – deemed “terrorists” by Kiev – lay down
their arms and surrender.
Accusing the West of repeatedly blocking a “humanitarian armistice,” a
Russian Foreign Ministry statement cited both Kiev’s obstructionist
diplomacy and “much more intensive bombardment of Luhansk” on Aug. 21,
the day after some progress had been made on the ground regarding customs
clearance and border control procedures: “In other words, the Ukrainian
authorities are bombing the destination [Luhansk] and are using this as a
pretext to stop the delivery of humanitarian relief aid.”
‘Decision to Act’
Referring to these “intolerable” delays and “endless artificial demands and
pretexts,” the Foreign Ministry said, “The Russian side has decided to act.”
And there the statement’s abused, plaintive tone ended sharply – with this
implied military threat:
“We are warning against any attempts to thwart this purely humanitarian
mission. … Those who are ready to continue sacrificing human lives to their
own ambitions and geopolitical designs and are rudely trampling on the
norms and principles of international humanitarian law will assume complete
responsibility for the possible consequences of provocations against the
humanitarian relief convoy.”
Despite all the agreements and understandings that Moscow claims were
reached earlier with Ukrainian authorities, Kiev insists it did not give
permission for the Russian convoy to cross its border and that the Russians
simply violated Ukrainian sovereignty – no matter the exigent circumstances
they adduce.
More alarming still, Russia’s “warning” could be construed as the Kremlin
claiming the right to use military force within Ukraine itself, in order to
protect such humanitarian supply efforts – and perhaps down the road, to
protect the anti-coup federalists, as well.
The risk of escalation, accordingly, will grow in direct proportion to the
aggressiveness of not only the Ukrainian armed forces but also their militias
of neo-fascists who have been dispatched by Kiev as frontline shock
troops in eastern Ukraine.
Though many Russian citizens have crossed the border in support of their
brethren in eastern Ukraine, Moscow has denied dispatching or controlling
these individuals. But now there are Russians openly acknowledged to have
been sent by Moscow into Ukraine – even if only “pilots” of “Russian
military vehicles painted to look like civilian trucks,” as the White House
depicted the humanitarian mission.
Moscow’s move is a difficult one to parry, except for those – and there are
many, both in Kiev and in Washington – who would like to see the situation
escalate to a wider East-West armed confrontation. One can only hope that,
by this stage, President Barack Obama, Secretary of State John Kerry and the
European Union realize they have a tiger by the tail.
The coup regime in Kiev knows which side its bread is buttered on, so to
speak, and can be expected to heed the advice from the U.S. and the EU if it
is expressed forcefully and clearly. Not so the fanatics of the extreme
right party Svoboda and the armed “militia” comprised of the Right Sector.
Moreover, there are influential neo-fascist officials in key Kiev ministries
who dream of cleansing eastern Ukraine of as many ethnic Russians as
possible.
Thus, the potential for serious mischief and escalation has grown
considerably. Even if Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko wants to restrain
his hardliners, he may be hard-pressed to do so. Thus, the U.S. government
could be put in the unenviable position of being blamed for provocations –
even military attacks on unarmed Russian truck drivers – over which it has
little or no control.
Giving Hypocrisy a Bad Name
The White House second-string P.R. team came off the bench on Friday, with
the starters on vacation, and it was not a pretty scene. Even if one overlooks
the grammatical mistakes, the statement they cobbled together left a lot to
be desired.
It began: “Today, in violation of its previous commitments and international
law, Russian military vehicles painted to look like civilian trucks forced
their way into Ukraine. …
“The Ukrainian government and the international community have repeatedly
made clear that this convoy would constitute a humanitarian mission only if
expressly agreed to by the Ukrainian government and only if the aid was
inspected, escorted and distributed by the International Committee of the
Red Cross (ICRC). We can confirm that the ICRC is not escorting the vehicles
and has no role in managing the mission. …
“Russian military vehicles piloted by Russian drivers have unilaterally
entered the territory controlled by the separatist forces.”
The White House protested that Kiev had not “expressly agreed” to allow the
convoy in without being escorted by the ICRC. Again, the Catch 22 is
obvious. Washington has been calling the shots, abetting Kiev’s dawdling as
the supply trucks sat at the border for a week while Kiev prevented the kind
of ceasefire that the ICRC insists upon before it will escort such a shipment.
The other issue emphasized in the White House statement was inspection of
the trucks: “While a small number of these vehicles were inspected by
Ukrainian customs officials, most of the vehicles have not been inspected by
anyone but Russia.” During a press conference at the UN on Friday, Russia’s
UN Ambassador Vitaly Churkin took strong exception to that charge, claiming
not only that 59 Ukrainian inspectors had been looking through the trucks on
the Russian side of the border, but that media representatives had been able
to choose for themselves which trucks to examine.
Regardless of this latest geopolitical back-and-forth, it’s clear that Moscow’s
decision to send the trucks across the border marked a new stage of the
civil war in Ukraine. As Putin prepares to meet with Ukrainian President
Poroshenko next week in Minsk – and as NATO leaders prepare for their
summit on Sept. 4 to 5 in Wales – the Kremlin has put down a marker: there
are limits to the amount of suffering that Russia will let Kiev inflict on the
anti-coup federalists and ethnic Russian civilians right across the border.
The Russians’ attitude seems to be that if the relief convoys can be
described as an invasion of sovereign territory, so be it. Nor are they alone
in the court of public opinion.
On Friday at the UN, Russian Ambassador Churkin strongly objected to
comments that, by its behavior, Russia found itself isolated. Churkin claimed
that some of the Security Council members were “sensitive to the Russian
position – among them China and the countries of Latin America.”
(Argentina and Chile are currently serving as non-permanent members of
the Security Council.)
The Polemic and Faux Fogh
Charter members of the Fawning Corporate Media are already busily at work,
including the current FCM dean, the New York Times’ Michael R. Gordon,
who was at it again with a story titled “Russia Moves Artillery Units Into
Ukraine, NATO Says.”* Gordon’s “scoop” was all over the radio and TV news;
it was picked up by NPR and other usual suspects who disseminate these
indiscriminate alarums.
Gordon, who never did find those Weapons of Mass Destruction that he
assured us were in Iraq, now writes: “The Russian military has moved artillery
units manned by Russian personnel inside Ukrainian territory in recent days
and was using them to fire at Ukrainian forces, NATO officials said on Friday.”
His main source seems to be NATO chief Anders Fogh Rasmussen, who
famously declared in 2003, “Iraq has WMDs. It is not something we think;
it is something we know.” Cables released by WikiLeaks have further shown
the former Danish prime minister to be a tool of Washington.
However, Gordon provided no warning to Times’ readers about Rasmussen’s
sorry track record for accuracy. Nor did the Times remind its readers about
Gordon’s sorry history of getting sensitive national security stories wrong.
Surely, the propaganda war will be stoked by what happened on Friday.
Caveat emptor.
Ray McGovern works for Tell the Word, a publishing arm of the ecumenical
Church of the Saviour in inner-city Washington. He served thirty years as an
Army officer and CIA intelligence analyst; in the 1980s he chaired the
National Intelligence Estimates and prepared the President’s Daily Brief. He
holds an M.A. in Russian from Fordham and in 2003 co-founded the Veteran
Intelligence Professionals for Sanity.*
Article source:
http://consortiumnews.com/
