John Batchelor interviews Stephen F. Cohen about the Ukraine imbroglio

"We are at a serious turning point."
This is almost too depressing to discuss. Washington support for Ukraine continues on several fronts. Washington, Kiev, and NATO all seem comfortable with supporting each other about everything from re-writing Russia's history in WW2 to looking positively on NATO military support for Kiev against the Eastern rebels and Russia. Poroshenko has even vowed to retake the Crimea once the Donbass is dealt with effectively by a NATO bolstered Kiev military.
Cohen firmly states that the understanding in Russia and to any thinking person is effectively the escalation of a civil war in Ukraine to a proxy war with Russia and the West. Again he emphasizes that all this is going on virtually no press treatment or discussion in the United States. This effectively means that Washington will be going to war without its own population ever being really aware of any real facts behind the conflict. Was the average German citizen in pre-war Germany any better informed?
Of additional interest, the Russian economy was discussed; the repercussions of what would happen if Russia was denied access to the SWIFT system were looked at in detail. Cohen has looked into this in similar detail as Paul Craig Roberts and other notables (China would help if necessary) but with the caveat that should Russia be isolated financially, it would be seen as an act of war and that a Russian response could involve confiscation of Western assets with Russia. Again we are reminded that although Russia is hurting, it is far from out for the count and its blow back efforts would hurt the West severely. From my perspective Putin is trying to avoid war with Washington that shows every sign of having war as a goal or is simply too incompetent to deal with the situation. Cohen states that Obama apparently has passed the baton to V.P. Biden and wonders why?

This post was published at John Batchelor Show