“The Russian Aggression Prevention Act” (RAPA) was introduced May 1, 2014 and is in the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. The 26 co-sponsors are all Republicans (from 23 states). Passage seems impossible before January 2015. Media coverage has been thin and it seems the act is not yet part of the permanent state’s agenda. Which means it is a good time to resist, according to comment on Abolition Caucus, email list.

Further, emailer Mark Avrum Gubrud offers a different view. He says Bob Corker’s RAPA is unlikely to pass and would be vetoed. According to Patrick, Buchanan, it has the support of only about half of the Republican Senate caucus. Something less extreme might pass, but no administration likes having foreign policy dictated by Congress, especially not in an area as immediately dangerous as this (Israel is another matter).

Steven Starr also speaks out on the issues raised and brings out a thoughtful number of points, as follows:

(1) The ongoing, full-scale assaults by the Ukrainian military on the largest cities in Eastern Ukraine and the horrendous humanitarian consequences (hundreds of thousands of refugees, hundreds of thousands of people trapped in cities without food, water, electricity, medical supplies, and blockaded from even escaping). Lugansk, a city of almost half a million people, is without food, water, electricity, fuel, and medical supplies. Donetsk, a city of a million people, is under constant attack by heavy artillery, rocket fire, and aerial bombardment, and is also approaching the condition of Lugansk.

(2) This creates immense domestic political pressure upon Putin to take some military action to intervene and stop this insane slaughter. Some weeks ago the UN stated there were more than 110,000 Ukrainian refugees who had fled to Russia, the number now must be a multiple of that. To hear a thorough explanation of this, you can listen to the interviews of Stephen Cohen on the John Bachelor show (there has been one every Wednesday evening for many months).

(3) The ongoing complete mobilization of the armed forces of Ukraine, which is occurring as the military equipment of the Ukrainian army is being brought out of storage and made operational (this includes more than 1400 tanks and also military aircraft). It is hard to get information about this, but Putin is being told that Ukraine will have as many as 500,000 troops by the end of 2014.

(4) The US is moving quickly to make Ukraine, Georgia, and Moldova all “major non-NATO allies.” This is part of “The Russian Aggression Prevention Act” (RAPA) now being pushed through Congress. RAPA will immediately send more than $200 million in military equipment to Kiev, including anti-tank and anti-aircraft weapons, as well as armored vehicles, high-tech surveillance equipment and radar, and all types of small arms and ammunition. RAPA will bypass German oppositions to effectively make Ukraine, Georgia, and Moldova NATO member states. RAPA encourages the pre-positioning of NATO forces so they can be injected in these nations, and will provide the legal basis for moving US forces *into* Ukraine.

(5) RAPA also states that the US does not recognize Crimea as part of Russia, and levels penalties against any nation that does. This supports Kiev, which is on record as planning to retake Crimea with military force. The new defense minister of Ukraine made a speech to the Ukrainian parliament (the Rada) in which he announced that Ukraine would have “a victory march in Sevastopol”, where the Russian naval base resides.

So what happens when the Ukrainian army numbers half a million, and is equipped with the latest US weaponry, and Kiev decides to “take back Crimea”? This is what Putin is being warned will happen, see

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nWT5HM_NMlI

I corresponded with Stephen Cohen and he confirmed that Putin is being told he must act now in Eastern Ukraine, in order to prevent a war in Crimea.

This is what I think we should be intensely worried about, the continued escalation of the military conflict in Ukraine to the point where Russia is drawn into the conflict. The downing of the airliner has certainly played a role in this matter, but events are rapidly moving beyond this tragedy.

I think the passage of “The Russian Aggression Prevention Act” will fully institutionalize a “new” Cold War, as well as move us towards a direct military conflict with Russia. I would give full priority to mounting a campaign to preventing its passage.

I fully admit that I regard the full-scale military operations being waged against the peoples of Eastern as a war crime, and I am ashamed that my government is fully supporting this massacre. If that makes me a “Russian sympathizer” then so be it.

I think we can kiss “arms control” goodbye if this process continues with the passage of RAPA and the continued support of the US for the extreme nationalists running the government in Kiev. But I don’t see much debate or questioning of the process in the US. It is all demonization of Putin as the new Hitler, as we march steadily on towards World War III.

As stated by Steven Starr – nuclearstarr@gmail.com and released on [abolition-caucus]

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