"Fuck The EU" - US State Department Blasts Europe; Revealed As Alleged Mastermind Behind Ukraine

[BelgianMadCow]

unrest. From zerohedge, interesting. Compare the clips. I've posted here about Victoria Nuland handing out cookies in a weird place.

A leaked recording of a telephone conversation allegedly between US assistant secretary of state Victoria Nuland and the US envoy to the Ukraine, Geoffrey Pyatt discussing who should be in Ukraine's next government has, according to The FT, threatened to fuel east-west tensions over the troubled nation's future. In apparent frustration with the EU – which has failed to join the US in threatening sanctions against Ukraine’s leaders if they violently crush the protests – the voice resembling Ms Nuland at one point exclaims "Fuck the EU". As the two US diplomats decide whether "Klitsch" or "Yats" should be 'in' or 'out', listeners will be reminded (uncomfortably) that the governments of Ukraine and Russia previously alleged that the protests are being funded and orchestrated by the US.

The authenticity of the recording has not been confirmed (though comparisons to Nuland's recent media appearances provide some confidence) - the FT reported that the US embassy in Kiev declined to comment, which is a tacit admission: if the clip was a fake, the US would immediately make it clear.

Needless to say, as the FT adds, "[this clip] could also bolster a propaganda campaign by the governments of Ukraine and Russia alleging that the protests that erupted against Ukraine’s President Viktor Yanukovich last November are being funded and orchestrated by the US." Its release ahead of the day the Sochi Olympics start is also somewhat disturbing.

[BelgianMadCow]

1. US diplomat apologizes for cursing ally

http://www.democraticunderground.com/1014720745

so that's confirmation.

[Fumesucker]

2. K&R for "Fuck the EU"

[Jesus Malverde]

3. It's impressive cyber warfare..

Another failure for General Alexander...

[Blue_Tires]

4. Salty language from an assistant SOS...

I at least have to ask: WHO recorded the call, and WHO leaked it to the media??

[Stargazer09]

6. A better question would be...

Why were those two diplomats talking like that over an unsecured line?

[Blue_Tires]

9. Yeah, that was definitely mistake #1

[sabrina 1]

10. Why were they talking about the Sovereignty of another nation as if they

had any right? THAT is most revealing thing to me. 'Who should be in and who should be out'? Isn't that up to the people who actually OWN the country?

It does confirm how the Western Imperialists are up to their old tricks.

[KoKo]

30. I asked that question on another thread about this...

I shall see how the answer goes...

[Comrade Grumpy]

5. What's important is not the language, but the implication that the US is instigating the protests.

And what's up with ragging on the EU, anyway? They're the ones who have to deal with the Ukraine, not us. Looks like another sign of imperial hangover.

[BelgianMadCow]

7. that was my take

the US embassy in Kiev was encircled by thousands of protesters against US meddling, russian media reported.

[SolutionisSolidarity]

12. No, surely this mass unrest is spontaneous. Just like Syria.

I can always tell which countries our spooks are having fun in. Governments all over the world have cracked down on protest movements, including ours. For some strange reason, our government cares a great deal about that when it involves places we've always viewed as enemies, such as Libya, Syria, and the Ukraine (aka Russia).

[pampango]

21. And the right thinks our Occupy protests are fomented by foreign enemies.

?.. such as Libya, Syria, and the Ukraine (aka Russia).

There was "mass unrest" in Tunisia, Egypt, Libya and Syria (among other countries) - all of which had dictators who had been in power for many years, supported by the usual array of armies and secret police.

Do you believe that the mass unrest in Tunisia and Egypt was "spontaneous" but was not genuine in Libya and Syria? Who gets to decide which are the "good" dictators and which are the "bad" dictators? Do their citizens get a voice? If so, how do they express that voice? Or do we judge the legitimacy of mass unrest by the role the dictator plays on the world stage?

Who views Russia as an "enemy" any more other than a few old Cold Warriors? Most worry more about China than they do about Russia.

There was no mass unrest in Ukraine until the president went back on his campaign pledge for closer relations with the EU. (His opponent in the second round in the presidential election had a similar campaign position so it must have been perceived to be popular with Ukrainian voters.)

Some here have posted that their president had no choice given the state of the Ukrainian economy and the size ($15 billion) of the Russian aid offer. Fair enough. But we all know that voters can be more than a little suspicious when a politician suddenly reverses himself and declares that "realistically" things are so bad that we have to do things that he said he would not do.

"Put away your dreams. Forget what I said in the last campaign. We have to be realistic about how bad things are and what our big, strong neighbor wants."

[SolutionisSolidarity]

25. Did the right have audio tape of Russian diplomats coordinating Occupy?

This is a time of global turmoil - people are unhappy everywhere. The difference is that Western peoples movements have been ruthlessly crushed, while our government has been taking advantage of the ones that occur in areas where they'd like to expand their sphere of influence. The consequences have been predictably awful for the people who live there. Libya and Syria were/are being destabilized intentionally by outside forces. This tape is pretty damning that this is true for Ukraine as well.

[BelgianMadCow]

27. Spot on.

Thanks for pointing out the obvious in such a succint way!

[jberryhill]

13. What, in that conversation, suggests US "instigation" of them?

[BelgianMadCow]

16. BBC world news called this "revealing for the extent of US involvement"

whether that involvement includes instigation, isn't clear at this point.

[jberryhill]

17. You can read the words yourself, right?

1. Expressing a preference in a conversation about an election abroad is not any kind of involvement.

2. Seeking support for sanctions in the event of disproportionate actions to restore civil order is also not any sort of involvement in the protests themselves.

Please to explain me how either term accurately characterizes the conversation, which you are every bit as capable of reading as is a headline writer.

[BelgianMadCow]

19. You failed to mention tone

as a carrier of content. The world just sees american exceptionalism. From this morning's reading in the press, it's front page all over. YMMV, obviously.

[jberryhill]

22. What the does "tone" have to do with whether the US is "instigating"

The discussion is about responses in the event the government violently clamps down on the people in the street.

Am I upset that our sympathies lie with the people in the street? No.

Does that mean that the movement is somehow a US puppet acting at the direction or material support of the US? No.

[malaise]

8. Shaking head

Hmmmmmmmmmmm

[steve2470]

11. so amazing this conversation got recorded

I would think they would be on a private encrypted line.

[Jesus Malverde]

15. They would be ...right...

I'm going with the Russians now have access to the NSA's intercept capability or someone within the NSA leaked this.

Or someone with access to NSA intercepts like Israel.

My last choice would be that the Russians intercepted and decoded the conversation.

It's the cyberwar of the new era.

[riderinthestorm]

28. They were on an unsecured line. nt

http://www.democraticunderground.com/10024462442

[steve2470]

29. blows my mind they would do that

*shakes my head*

[KoKo]

33. They don't take Snowden's Revelations Seriously!

That's kind of hard to believe since he can't come back into the USA because they consider him a Criminal.

Something more to this than meets credibility in the eyes of the "inquiring minds."

[BelgianMadCow]

14. Carney suggests Moscow behind leaked Ukraine call

in LBN

[msanthrope]

18. I'm sure Moscow Eddie will get right on that. nt

[KoKo]

35. The Strange Appointment of Victoria Nuland........

The Strange Appointment of Victoria Nuland........

Thursday, 19 May 2011
The strange appointment of Victoria Nuland as State Department Spokesperson
By Patricia H. Kushlis

Update: 7/12/2013 - Toria grilled about Benghazi role at Senate Foreign Relations Committee confirmation hearing today for her next high level position: Assistant Secretary of State for Europe
.
Is Hillary asleep at the switch? What is going on here?

Earlier this week, Josh Rogin at FP and Eric Martin at Progressive Realist both flagged the curious appointment of Victoria Nuland as the next State Department Spokesperson to fill P.J. Crowley’s shoes.
Martin questions whether this has foreign policy implications, in particular the replacement of an anti-torture appointee with someone who served as Principal Deputy National Security Advisor to Vice President Cheney.

Rogin doesn’t directly raise potential administration policy shifts but does point out that once upon a time Nuland was Strobe Talbott’s Chief of Staff when he was Deputy Secretary of State during the Clinton Administration and that Talbott had thought very highly of her at the time and still does. In fact, he, according to Rogin, praised her to the hilt in an interview about the pending appointment. So the seemingly amoral Nuland, we’re led to believe, can and will do anyone’s bidding and do it well – in short, a consummate career diplomat.

Why?

But why would Hillary Clinton and the Obama administration agree to appoint to this politically sensitive position someone who willingly served such a controversial figure in suppporting and implementing the “war on terror” and all the baggage that comes with it? Furthermore, how reliable is a Talbott reference anyway? After all, I understand that he just helped his friend Robert Kagan, Nuland’s neocon husband, get a job at Brookings and Talbott is also a friend of neocon writer Marc Gerecht, the husband of Diane Zeleny who also just latched onto a likely sweetheart deal sort of appointment as Head of External Relations and Congressional Affairs at the Broadcasting Board of Governors (BBG). Whether Zeleny deserves or is qualified for the position or not.

From what I know about the Department, an FSO doesn’t just get detailed to the staff of a highly charged and ideological Vice President unless that detailee agrees to follow the boss’s dictates. Cheney’s were all too often forceful and odious. Furthermore, does anyone really think that Cheney –with his penchant for super loyalty and secrecy - would have ever accepted Nuland (or anyone else) for the position without some kind of loyalty test?
Surely the State Department under Hillary Clinton could have found equally (or likely even better) qualified career candidates who do not carry Nuland’s political baggage.

Behind the scenes trade off?
......Continued at the Link.....

http://whirledview.typepad.com/whirledview/2011/05/the-strange-appointment-of-victoria-nuland-as-states-spokesperson.html

[Cali_Democrat]

20. Just heard the phone call

Meh.

Blasts?

Nah.

[jberryhill]

23. Good use of the word "Mastermind" in the title though, eh?

I mean, the way that these two are "masterminding" what otherwise looks like a popular protest movement.

[Nuclear Unicorn]

24. I thought we wanted to get away from the cowboy diplomacy.

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

26. We did, until the new sherriff arrived in the White House.

[BelgianMadCow]

31. Marketeer Award Winner Sheriff

nothing a little branding can't solve. So you're re-branding

[malletgirl02]

32. Don't feel bad for Her

Rank in file government employees are always told that when they use government systems that they have no expectation of privacy, because the local IT department will be monitoring everything they say or do on the phone or the internet. While the phone call was recorded and leaked by an outside entity the same thing applies, she should have watched her language.

I just wanted to add if Joe regular employee was caught doing this he would have been long gone. I guess there are different rules for people at the top than regular employees.

[sabrina 1]

36. It may not have been an outside entity. n/t