What Ursula von der Leyen's goof says about Ukraine corruption
Are Europeans victims of corruption? Who besides Russia and Ukraine are corrupt?
When EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen announced the EU wanted to set up a one-sided court (that Russia would obviously reject as biased) and seize all Russian assets, she also made a startling and controversial claim. It was quickly retracted. She said that 100,000 military officers of Ukraine had died and 20,000 civilians.
Note it was not soldiers but military officers. That mistake is surprising in itself. Von de Leyen was for several years German Minister of Defense. She should have known that the entire Ukrainian army does not have that many officers.
But what about 100,000 dead soldiers? She was pushing a very specific number. That too is entirely wrong, as the Ukrainians themselves were quick to point out. Their figure is around 9000. The Commission figure is miles out.
So where did the figure of 100,000 come from? The Commission spokesperson, Dana Spinant, says it came from ‘external sources’.
Even as casualties, it seems exaggerated and hard to verify. The excuse seems to make matters worse. Two separate figures are also given: one for ‘officers’ and the other for civilians.
So who was the external source? Why was it not checked? Why was the figure taken as necessarily correct?
A look at Reuters files shows that the figure 100,000 came from USA. And not just some backstreet source or a despised blogger. The ‘coincidence’ of finding another source with such a gross error seems unlikely.
But news reports point to a top-level ‘external source’ citing 100,000. It is striking.
It came from General Mark Milley, America’s highest ranking general, the chairman of US Joint Chiefs of Staff. Ukraine had 100,000 dead and wounded soldiers, similar to Russia, he said.
Milley said the conflict so far had turned anywhere from 15 million to 30 million Ukrainians into refugees, and killed probably 40,000 Ukrainian civilians.
"You're looking at well over 100,000 Russian soldiers killed and wounded. Same thing probably on the Ukrainian side." Milley said.
If Milley is the source in EU- US administration conversations/ arm-twisting sessions then this raises a much bigger question. Why is the EU with its huge bureaucracy and intimate contacts with Ukraine relying on propagandist US statistics? What are US goals?
This question of interest is most pertinent when it comes to the extraordinary demand of von der Leyen’s speech. That was to seize the frozen assets of Russian central bank and Russian citizens already frozen within the ice-cold grasp of European and US fists. Russia and its oligarchs would have to pay for the reconstruction of Ukraine, she said. The amount? Some €600 billion. ‘We have blocked €300 billion of Russian central bank reserves,’ she added. Tens of billions of oligarchs’ money is frozen. ‘We could create with our partners, a structure to manage and invest these funds.’
Big, big money is involved, some cloaked in grey money operations.
But then there is the question of law. Seizing people’s money without law is theft. Theft, even if you do not like the people. In an honest Court, the innocent may in fact turn out to be the guilty. Those supposed to be guilty can defend themselves and expose facts others want to hide.
The EU Commission president admits that the International Criminal Court is not fit for judging her task. Both sides could argue their case in public. That is why she suggested creating a separate court where Russia will be absent. The EU wants a ‘realistic’ route, as the spokesman called it, to grab the money by gang justice via the UN if necessary.
Flagging loyalties
The EU is not officially at war with Russia but takes sides against it, as distinct from conflicts in other parts of the world.
Russia would not willingly submit to a Court created specifically to be partial, and hostile to Russia. Its main aim is money. Would the judges wear Ukrainian badges like von der Leyen and other Commissioners do, to the detriment of the European flag? The 12-star European flag represents reconciliation of former enemies.
A court where defendants are not allowed to defend themselves against propaganda, lies and false charges would stand no chance of being acceptable if it came before the European Court of Human Rights. A civil war and vicious bombardment has been conducted in the Donbass for a decade. What are the facts? Who is to blame that peace was not obtained with Russia after the USSR collapsed?
A one-sided money-grabbing court dubiously constructed on the shaky scaffold of United Nations votes won’t measure against honest European law. The European Court has already ruled that the UN cannot dictate to Europeans, and trash Community law and Human Rights.
Ukrainians have shown that they were capable of attributing to Russians one of their own missiles that landed in Poland. An attack on a NATO member like Poland would have escalated the war to one between NATO and Russia and its allies.
Before the war broke out, Ukraine was considered the second most corrupt country in Europe. The most corrupt? Russia.
So why is the EU involved in such a conflict of two criminal regimes? Why has the Commission reversed its very purpose pledged at its creation in 1950-1? That was the reconciliation of warring States, peace and justice under law for all.
The Ukraine badge is a clue. The EU is fighting for the corrupt underdog!
Who is doing the gaslighting?
But there is more to the story. Ukraine has been the black hole of American corruption. And we should look at such geo-strategic questions as who implemented a criminal act that changed the face of the planet?
The sabotage of the two Nord Stream pipelines makes it certain that German growth and its economic dominance will be castrated for the foreseeable future.
Who was behind this? After all the different NATO investigations, nobody is saying or offering substantial denials. Russia can be ruled out as it had already switched off the gas supply. If it wanted to destroy their own investment they could have done it on land or in the Gulf of Finland nearer St Petersburg, rather than the most protected area of NATO naval operations.
German is now forced to import Liquid Petroleum Gas, LPG, from USA at four times the price it had been used to. The installations were constructed in USA well before the Ukrainian war.
Washing out the Dirt
Are European democracies facing up against the obvious corrupt States? The evidence begins to mount. The US Administrations and technocracy are involved many dubious operations. Hunter Biden’s laptop that shows millions of dollars flowing into his account from Ukraine energy oligarchs, Russia and of course the Chinese communists and intelligence services.
And now there is the FTX crypto operation scandal that crashed after making absolutely huge donations to US political parties. (99% Democrat). That money laundering operation will be investigated. Was it used for recycling Ukraine aid funds (including billions in ‘aid’ from USA and EU), moving them into crypto via the Ukraine’s Ministry of Crypto Transformation black hole and then making massive donations to political parties in USA with this taxpayers’ money?
The Hunter Biden laptop loaded with masses of compromising information and emails from Ukraine, Russia and China was suppressed from public discussion by the Tech oligarchs. But now Elon Musk has taken control of Twitter, much of this behind-the-scenes political censorship will be published and come before Congress.
A US prosecutor and investigator, Kash Patel, says the USA is ‘facing the largest criminal conspiracy in US history.’
How many corrupt States will come to exposure in 2023? And what has been their connections with the European Commission?