U.S. Definitely Wants War in Ukraine-Paul Craig Roberts
By Greg Hunter
USAWatchdog.com
March 12, 2014
Former Assistant Treasury Secretary Dr. Paul Craig Roberts thinks the Neoconservatives in the U.S. government want war in Ukraine. Dr. Roberts says, “They definitely want war, of course. They’ve wanted it ever since Reagan was President. The Neocons were always saying we have to attack the Soviet Union, and Reagan said we are not going to win anything, we are going to end it. The Neocons got to where they really disliked Reagan because he wouldn’t take advantage of Soviet weakness to attack them. So, they are war minded. They produce documents that say nuclear war is winnable. So, they are basically crazy people; and, yet, they have determined the course of foreign policy since the Clinton Administration. Under George Bush, they controlled the show; and today, under Obama, the Neoconservatives control it.”
Some say the U.S. wants war so they have something to blame the fall of the U.S. economy. Not so, says Dr. Roberts, “They (Neocons) have been very clear about their ideology of American hegemony over the world. It’s like Adolf Hitler all over again. You know, the Germans are the chosen people and have the right to override others. Neoconservatives don’t use the Nazi language. Instead, we’re (Neocons) said to be the ‘exceptional’ people, the ‘indispensable country.’ They use these adjectives to elevate the United States above law, its own law and international law. So, it’s alright if we commit war crimes with naked aggression. It’s alright if we torture. It’s alright if we kidnap people in foreign countries and take them to other foreign countries. This is all just part of America achieving hegemony. Notice the way we achieve it is not by argument or reason or persuasion or anything like that. It’s by force.”
Roberts goes on to say, “So, why is Ukraine important? Well, there is the Black Sea naval base that Russia has there. They have a lease on it until 2042. You have Eastern Ukraine, which is former Soviet military industrial complex . . . for Washington, they say, look we can really bring a serious strategic threat to Russia here. We can devalue their nuclear deterrent by putting anti-nuclear bases in Ukraine on their border. So, when we put pressure on them, they have to think much harder when they stand up to us because we will have the upper hand. . . . So, that’s the real reason for what they are doing. There are other economic reasons. They want to get their hands on Ukraine. They want to loot it.”
On the economy, and if we are headed for another crash, Dr. Roberts says, “I think what we are headed for is continuous sinking. How fast it would be? I don’t know. Everyone’s running out of savings. People have been living off their savings for 5 years. For example, the elderly don’t get any interest income. So, what people are doing is spending down their capital to maintain their lives. As this capital is spent down, there is nothing left to spend. So, consumer spending and retail spending just gradually fall and fall. I don’t think there is going to be a sudden collapse, but there could be a sudden collapse because of all the money the Fed is pumping into the system. This is inconsistent with the dollar’s value and the dollar being the reserve currency.”
On gold, Dr. Roberts says, “To protect the dollar from Quantitative Easing (QE), the Fed is selling naked shorts in the gold market to keep the gold price from rising so rapidly that it exposes the worthlessness of the dollar. . . . The physical stock of gold in the West to meet delivery demand is diminishing rapidly. So, one day the Chinese will buy 100 tons of gold, and we won’t be able to make delivery. That would crash the system. It would just pop. So, there are things that could crash it suddenly. Regardless . . . the economy is going to gradually sink because there are no jobs, or no good jobs. . . So, there is not a recovery. The U.S. is a busted state. It’s completely busted.”
On the Federal Reserve money printing to prop up the economy, Dr. Roberts, who has a PhD in economics, contends, “I think they realize all the money printing does undermine the dollar, and if they lose the dollar, the game is over. So, they have to protect the dollar.” But what happens if the economy falls hard? Will they crank back up QE? Roberts says, “Suppose the economy does move down fairly fast, then all the pressure will be on them to support the economy. Given the stupidity of the media and stupidity of economists and the stupidity of Congress, supporting the economy will mean more QE. If it gets really bad, you could see the Fed cave in and start printing more money . . . at some point, it’s going to cost them the dollar.”
Join Greg Hunter as he goes One-on-One with Dr. Paul Craig Roberts, author of the new book “How America was Lost.”
(There is much, much more in the in-depth video interview.)
