Open the Blind

“I can’t believe you don’t want to support Ukraine,” he said with a look of astonishment, “This is totally out of your character.”

“My character?” she responded in a calm tone as if she was just asking about the weather, “What do you really know of my character?”

“I think that I am a very good student of your character. It is very uncharacteristic of you not to care about what is happening to the Ukrainian or any people.”

She stopped walking and turned to face him and in a calm but stern tone to match her expression, “What do you mean I don’t care? I do care greatly. Any situation when people are killing people is wrong, very wrong. But you are also very wrong if you don’t think that there is far more to this than what meets the eyes. We are being lied to and manipulated.”

Taken back by her full and direct frontal assault he stumbled over his words at first but gained enough composure to get out, “Wh, wh, uh what, what do you mean?”

“Let me ask you, are you sure the money you are donating is actually reaching anyone who needs it, who is actually a person in Ukraine in the war zone and it is actually helping them?” without a moment’s break she added, “I phrased the question that way because I am sure the organizations which collected your donation thinks they need and are entitled to your donation as well other’s.”

“Well, well, I guess I am not a hundred percent sure of that.”

“Well, do you think that all the western nations sending aid in the form of weapons and other materiel is actually helping and not just prolonging the suffering?”

“What do you mean by that?” he asked with a concerned but horrified expression.

“Think about it,” she started looking directly at him, “If the Ukrainians don’t have the ability to defeat the Russians then the war will be over quicker and so would be the death and carnage. But by sending in more weapons and supplies to keep the war going then the suffering just simply continues.”

“I think that if Putin wins then there will be even more suffering.”

“I have to disagree. Putin has tried numerous times to settle the issues consuming life and liberty in the Ukraine. I haven’t read the actual attempts he has made but by what most say who have, they were realistic and not bad. Even if it hadn’t been a good deal then the Ukrainians could have worked things out.”

“Why would the Ukrainians trust Putin after what he had done to Crimea?” challenged Tim.

“What did Putin do to Crimea?” asked Barbara.

“He invaded and forced them to become part of the Russian Federation.”

“If you had done your work and had dug deeper you would have found that there had been a referendum in which the vast majority of Crimeans voted to join the Russian Federation. The ballots all had the same question asking if you want to remain part of Ukraine or if you want to become part of the Russian Federation. It was clearly written and easily understood. I seem to remember it had been around 82% while only 3% voted to remain with Ukraine. Crimeans wanted to be a part of Russia.”

“I do remember that and I heard there were reports of voter fraud and many countries were against the referendum.”

“Perhaps there was voter fraud. However, even if there had been voter fraud over 85% of Crimeans still say they prefer to be with Russia. And so what if other countries were against it? Are Crimeans allowed to stand in the way of what the people of these countries want?”

“I guess not but still you don’t think that Putin is just trying to reassemble the Soviet Union?”

“I have no idea what is in the man’s mind. I can as you only guess,” she answered, “Let’s go over here and sit a moment while I explain a little history to you,” she motioned to a wooden bench on the side of the park’s trail near them.

“Okay,” he signaled he was ready after sitting.

“In 1902 there was an authorization to buy what would be the Panama Canal Zone for forty million dollars. I think the Colombian Government had asked for twenty-five. Theodore Roosevelt had a different idea. He offered rebels aid and ten million dollars for the proposed Canal Zone if they rebelled for Panama’s sovereignty. He had a gunboat interfere with Colombian troops and gave aid to the rebels. They succeeded in gaining their independence with the help of Roosevelt’s gunboat policy which was a major strategy used by many of the world powers of the time.”

“So, Roosevelt helped people gain their freedom.”

“He helped them to gain their freedom from a democratically elected president and helped to create a constitutional democracy which was basically overseen by a commercial oligarchy which was friendly to the United States just because the Colombian government refused his initial offer. It is almost as if he was saying either you accept my deal or else. Or he is saying United States is everything while Colombia is not.”

“Oh, okay,” he just accepted.

“Let’s move forward a couple of decades. The market crashes and Herbert Hoover blames Americans of Mexican Heritage. When the Southwest had been forcibly bought from the Mexicans the area was already populated with Mexican families which many had lived in their homes up to a century. They were all declared American citizens. Hoover stripped them of citizenship and had them deported to Mexico. He then took their lands and sold them to his speculator buddies.”

“That is just poor.”

“There are actually numerous incidents of the U.S. Government doing shady deals or being used to keep labor in its place for the benefit of the rich and powerful. But let’s just stick with some major events to illustrate the point I am trying to make about the Ukraine.”

“Okay, you’re the history buff,” he smiled.

“Moving ahead, following World War II many colonies sought to gain independence from their European Masters. Which the timing was great because these European Masters had just basically imploded themselves fighting two World Wars and had been greatly weakened. What most people don’t realize is that most colonies were controlled at gunpoint.”

“I remember reading about this in school,” he acknowledged while looking down the trail watching people walking.

“One of the colonies seeking independence was Vietnam. Ho Chi Minh and the Viet Minh launched a war to gain independence from both the French and the currently occupying Japanese in 1941. After the war Ho Chi Minh and his group did gain control of the northern half of the nation while the Allies gained control of the southern half. Vietnam had been divided at the 16th parallel. Vietnam was supposed to have nationwide vote to decide which way the nation desired to go—with the North or with the South. When America realized there was a great possibility that Ho Chi Minh might win it immediately cancelled the election. War develops from the Vietnamese desire to rule themselves the way they wish and to get rid of all foreign puppet masters. Millions die and many more suffer to keep Vietnam under control and what the West desired.”

“Sounds like a fair synopsis.”

“In 1949, Mohammad Mosaddegh had launched a peaceful protest to get the Shah of Iran to have honest elections. He was later appointed as the Prime minister of Iran by the Shah after winning the election in 1951. He was a progressive and had great plans for the Iranian people. One of the major parts of his initiative was to nationalize Iran’s oil resources. He thought that he could use the money from the sell of Iranian oil to benefit the Iranian people with a new infrastructure, hospitals, schools, and many other possibilities instead of all of the money going to the Anglo-Iranian Oil Company, which would later become known as British Petroleum, or the money going to the top Iranian elite.”

“Actually sounds like it could have been something great for his nation.”

“It could have, except the AIOC was very upset about it. They were supposed to be in control of the oil resources until 1993. They wanted their control and their profit margin. Mosaddegh also developed other great ideas such as landlords were required to put a percentage of their rents into a fund with developed public baths, housing, and helped to control pest.”

“He definitely did sound like a progressive guy.”

“Unfortunately, in 1953 newspaper articles started to circulate about corruption and conspiracy in Mosaddegh’s administration. There were articles which created and generated fear. Eventually protests started and eventually they became violent ousting Mohammad Mosaddegh and his government. This was all orchestrated by the CIA at the urging of the British Prime Minister Winston Churchill. He claimed that Mosaddegh was going to cuddle up with the Soviets but I think it was all about British Petroleum. He and the Eisenhower Administration bought off the Shah and Mosaddegh was removed from office.”

“This of course had a lot to do with the Iranian protests which led to the hostages being taken with the storming of the U.S. Embassy in Tehran.”

“I’m sure that it did play a part but the Shah was an incompetent leader and it was so obvious that he was a puppet of the United States Government and other Western entities. I understand that the money which would have gone to help the average Iranian was now being spent on lavished parties for the Shah as well as his appetite for young women.”

“Why not just make a deal with Mosaddegh?”

“I think they needed to send out a message. You are to stay in your place and be subservient to our demands. You see the same thing with unions. It would make sense for the employer to work closely with their employees and work through issues to make a safer and happier place to work. But unfortunately, most want total control especially over the business and its revenue. Workers need to be told they are not the bosses. They need to know that this person owns the company and not the employees.”

“Seems like it is far more trouble than what it would be worth.”

“Agreed,” she smiled and looked around before beginning, “Patrice Lumumba became the first Native Prime Minister of the Congo. Until that time the Congo had a horrible, nightmare of a history. Well, in truth, before Leopold II of Belgium gained control of the area which would become known as the Congo it had been a very nice place then Leopold gained control and in his thirst for wealth and dominion the Congo became a living nightmare on earth. Millions were slaughtered and many millions more were displaced and horribly maimed both physically and mentally. Troops loyal to Belgian control were often tasked with killing villages which were not making their quotas in gold, ivory, or whatever they were tasked to produce. These troops in turn would prove that they did their job by collecting the hands of those they slaughtered. In some cases they didn’t kill, they just collected hands. Over nine million would perish.”

“Wow, Hitler had six million Jews killed and you never hear of this Leopold person?”

“Hitler was nobody who had come into power and was killing Europeans and threatening the elite hierarchy of the time. Leopold was a member of the European Elite killing Africans. Both were monsters but that is probably the reason you hear about Adolf and not so much about Leopold.”

Looking as though he was still trying to come with terms with the horror he had just heard about, “That is just horrible.”

“Well, Leopold was found out by a whistleblower and his rule ended.”

“No jail for him?”

“Of course not,” she responded without hesitation, “The Congo was then taken over by the Belgian Government and they still demanded production quotas in gold, ivory, and many other resources. Though no one was being killed, they were still treated as subservient. Only Belgians living in the Congo were allowed to be in positions of authority. All the Congolese were allowed to do was to work and for basically a barely subsistence income. But again, following World War II here was another colony screaming for independence and they did gain it. Patrice Lumumba was democratically elected the first Prime Minister.”

“I’m going to guess he tried to make changes the Belgians didn’t care to have made.”

“Yes, he was very progressive and he wanted the Congolese to run the enterprises which the Belgians had created. He wanted the profits to profit the Congolese. Instead, again, newspaper articles started to appear which portrayed Lumumba as a corrupt would be dictator. He was overthrown and murdered. Congolese who were more willing to sell out their nation to European powers were placed in power. At the center of all of this was again, the CIA.”

“This is getting to be their signature move.”

“They became very good at overthrowing governments which didn’t bend to the will of what would be called the Western Elite—basically United States, Great Britain, and France,” she stopped for a moment to think and started, “One thing you have to remember was Hitler came to power because the German People were scared. They felt that they needed a strong person to help them to a brighter future. People don’t turn to Hitlers, Husseins, Tojos, Mussolinis, or other strongmen because things are great. They don’t give up freedoms and pile all the authority on a dictator because things are wonderful. They do it because there is fear and what appears to the people to be a very real threat. At the heart of every dictator coming to power as a mandate of the people it was from fear not because everything was running smoothly. In fact in the 1920’s Germany started to rebound and its economy was doing great and Hitler had absolutely no chance of winning. It was only after the global economic collapse he had a true shot.”

“That makes sense,” he concurred.

“In 1973, the CIA strikes again. Some people refer to it as the original 9/11. This time the target would be Salvador Allende. He had been democratically elected as the President of Chile. He too would make the mistake of putting people first which threatened the profit margins of the incredibly wealthy…,”

“Let me guess, suddenly there were news reports of corruption and such and protests formed which became violent?”

“Very violent, Allende ended up dying while fighting attackers or insurrectionists in the Presidential Palace or ‘La Moneda’. There are various reports on how he had died including being shot or by suicide. He was found still holding the AK-47 Castro had gifted him. He would be replaced by Augusto Pinochet, a military dictator.”

“Okay, so what does all of this have to do with Ukraine’s invasion?”

“Viktor Yanukovych, the former Governor of Donetsk-Oblast, and former Prime Minister of the Ukraine was democratically elected the Ukrainian President. In his own words in looking for trade alliances which would benefit his nation the most he had been approached by the European Market and by Putin. Putin offered a much better deal and he decided that was the way to go. Of course there was some disagreement with this. Problem is there are parts of the Ukraine such as Donetsk. Luhansk, Crimea, and some other spots where Russian is spoken as the preferred language and these people do more closely identify with Russian Culture and Russia itself.”

“Those are the places which desire to become independent republics while the Crimea voted to become part of the Russian Federation?”

“Yes, but I think they too would prefer to be part of the Russian Federation but autonomous republics.”

“Okay, got you.”

“Meanwhile in the majority of the nation to the west of these two break away provinces the majority of the people speak Ukrainian and do identify as Ukrainians.”

“I see.”

“There were Ukrainians which hoped to be more aligned with the European Market and they were protesting the President’s decision. They were peaceful protests and there were numerous attempts at dialogue. But…,”

“Let me guess, there were reports of corruption and abuse of power and the protests became violent.”

“Yes, it wasn’t only that. There was a constant feeding of the fire per se. Something with the resources was enticing the people to spend a considerable amount of time in these protests and helping to fuel the protests with chants, food, entertainment, all to keep the people protesting. John McCain and Hillary Clinton were involved with personal appearances and urging the people to keep up the fight. In all of this the President continued to try to help the people understand and open a conversation.”

“Then for some reason it turned violent,” he inserted.

“It did turn violent. Far-right, even neo-Nazi groups started to show up in support of the protests. Weapons appeared and people were killed. There was even a report of snipers shooting people. Possibly these snipers were used to incite the people to all out violence. It did get very ugly and Yanukovych had to leave. Things were now going to be run the pure far-right Ukrainian way with no tolerance for dissention. I think this is where the Crimea, Luhansk, and Donetsk got the idea to leave was from this far-right only Ukrainian way or else ideology which was growing. There were cases of violent attacks on people in the predominately Russian areas and these people were pleading for help.”

“Is this when Putin started making offers to the Ukrainian government about these areas becoming independent?”

“I believe so. I understand that there were a lot of attacks on these Russian aligned people and finally Russia started supporting them. This grew into the Donbas War in 2014. That is when these protests and the coup occurred as well—in 2013/2014.”

“I see, but you have no proof of the CIA involvement in this.”

“Look, I don’t know what is actually going on in Ukraine. I do know that this has all the signs of CIA Modus Operandi and western arms companies are making a bundle on this. I do know that it would be nice for the West to get rid of Putin. I also know it has given us, in this country a new boogeyman to scare us enough to cling to our leaders. I do know that this is all very horrible but at the same time I do not believe Putin is the only monster or even the main monster in this. There are many people being played and distracted by this. Our history is full of very shady actions.”

“I’ll say from you have shared with me. You do know I will be looking all of this up?”

“Please, by all means. Research the hell out of it. Become very informed. I will give you a fair warning though.”

“What is that?”

“As you search you will find many other shady things such as President Polk ordering United States Military units to harass Mexican forces in an effort to get Mexico to fire the first shot of what would become the War with Mexico. There was even a naval captain who jumped the gun and followed orders to capture what would become San Francisco. He did it a couple months before the War started. Or how Andrew Jackson would look for reason to fight Native Americans in order to steal their lands and make himself the richest man in America at the time. He would later author the Indian Removal Act which led to the Trail of Tears. Or how Lincoln’s Administration sold permits to his business buddies allowing them to continue trading with the South until Grant and Sherman threatened to go to the press. I think they weren’t silenced the way other of Lincoln’s critics were with a suspension of a Writ of Habeas Corpus and imprisoned because they were heroes. You may find how Thomas Jefferson’s supporters were attacked by far right voters because there were fears of French infiltrating and destroying our government. There is actually a lot out there not even touching all the violence used in keeping labor in its place.”

“Sounds mind boggling. I guess I really have my work cut out for me. I will start after we are done with this walk.”

They got up and started to walk down the trail.

Tim Asked, “Do you have a bibliography I could use to get started?”

Barbara replied, “I’m not going to do that. If I spoon feed you, you will more than likely just come up with what I have found. Just start with some of the names I have mentioned and let’s see what you find and compare notes.”

Tim looked forward down the trail as they walked, “I guess freedom is a very tricky thing. If people can be easily manipulated with fear and by clinging to leaders then it is not truly a democracy anymore. It is just this thug with his followers forcing others to accept his way.”

Barbara nodded her head in agreement, “Thing is, our government was designed for people to present ideas and bounce them around in the hopes of creating better ideas. It is designed for cooperation not competition. It is a forum for opposing ideas to come together with the intent of creating mutually beneficial ideas for those affected. But two gangs have taken it over and there is nothing but fighting and competition to get the numbers they need to force their agendas down each others throat.

“This country will only become great when the people realize that the answer lies within the people.”