Build up to WW3 - OBAMA Announces SANCTIONS to be Imposed on RUSSIA Amid UKRAINE CRISIS

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Americans may not believe in going to war over Ukraine, but if a recent CNN poll can be taken at face value nearly 60 percent think sanctions are doable. Nearly six in 10 of those questioned say they support economic sanctions against Moscow by the U.S. and its allies in an attempt to force Russia to remove its forces from the Crimean peninsula, and try to prevent Russia from sending forces to other parts of Ukraine. Nearly four in 10 oppose economic sanctions. Last week the Obama administration laid the groundwork for sanctions against Russia.

Secretary of State John Kerry, during an interview with the wife of a former Federal Reserve boss, expressed incredulity when asked about Russian President Vladimir Putin's claim there are no Russian troops in Ukraine. Putin said the armed men are Ukrainian volunteers and security personnel from a Russian version of Blackwater. Russia has a naval base in Crimea.

The U.S. has around 1,000 military bases around the world. The Pentagon, however, puts the number at 662 in 38 different countries.

Kerry's outrage and the corporate media manufactured opposition to Russia's supposed invasion of Ukraine would be far less hypocritical if Americans were not so oblivious to the bases their government maintains in foreign countries.

CNN and Fox talk endlessly about the opposition by Ukrainians to the presence of Russian troops, but you never hear about the fact over 90 percent of Okinawans oppose the presence of U.S. troops in Japan's southernmost prefecture.

In addition to hypocrisy on bases, the American people are woefully ignorant about the number of transnational corporations based in Russia.

Danny Vinik, writing for New Republic last week, says transnational corporations are "scared" of sanctions on Russia. Sacred? More like adamant about not losing a red cent to the self-righteous hyperbolic soundbites of Obama and crew.

A large number of corporations would be impacted by the measure, including but hardly limited to PepsiCo, Coca-Cola, General Motors, Ford, Caterpillar, IBM, Microsoft, Procter & Gamble, ExxonMobil, Chevorn, Boeing, ConocoPhillips, and many others doing business in Russia.

If Russia imposes retaliatory measures, you can bet sanctions cooked by the West will fizzle in short order. Obama and Congress may rant about the evil Vladimir Putin and the aggressive Russian bear, but that's all hot air and rhetoric.
Transnational corporations and international banks own Congress. They get Congress critters elected and re-elected and write Obama's teleprompter script. They are not about to let billions of dollars slide down the tubes because of troubles in Russia's backyard.

A Kremlin economist, Sergei Glazyev, told RIA Novosti the Russian government may not repay loans owed to the financial cartel if the United States imposes sanctions on the country in response to the Crimea intervention.

"If sanctions are applied against state structures, we will be forced to recognize the impossibility of repayment of the loans that the US banks gave to the Russian structures. Indeed, sanctions are a double-edged weapon, and if the US chooses to freeze our assets, then our equities and liabilities in dollars will also be frozen. This means that our banks and businesses will not return the loans to American partners," he said.

Additionally, Glazyev said, Russia would likely dump the dollar to reduce its dependence on the U.S. financial system and switch to other currencies. "We have wonderful economic and trade relations with our Southern and Eastern partners," he said. "We will find a way not just to eliminate our dependence on the U.S. but also profit from these sanctions."

In addition to battering the banking system, Russia has the ability to inflict serious economic damage on Europe. As noted in a report issued by the Capital Economics research group, Russia is a major supplier of oil to Germany, the Netherlands, and "Western Europe generally." The market share of the Russian gas giant Gazprom is expected to grow in the years ahead.