Calculating the True Cost of US Foreign Policy
Renee Parsons Once the American public wake up to the fact that the attack at the Crocus City Hall in Moscow is one element in the instigation of WW III, it would not be unreasonable for a substantial number of those Americans to experience their own level of distress and panic; especially as thousands of undocumented immigrants continue to flood; more accurately, shove their way past the National Guard across the southern border and into the continental US.
The Moscow attack has provided an opportunity to corroborate that the US State Department is not only where US foreign policy originates as it conducts diplomatic missions but that its personnel can frequently be found deeply embedded in the gamesmanship of creating political turmoil and social insurrection.
In considering the attack in Moscow and its multi-layered components has raised the question of State Department involvement with just 0.5% of the Federal budget and when its costs are calculated, coupled with CIA interventions and its advanced technology added to Pentagon weapon and warfare expenditures – thereby creating one tangible calculation of the true worth of US international efforts as it defines foreign policy. Where and when does the Federal government factor in all those costs to create the true, authentic fiscal costs for US foreign policy – excluding the human costs.
Since the CIA is beyond public accountability, either by their actions or financially – what are the true costs of US foreign adventures and who is responsible for auditing those as operating expenses? Where does Congress have an established, coherent role in assimilating all that information into one credible foreign policy statement?
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Victoria Nuland, Assistant Secretary of State in charge of Foreign Affairs is one example who has spent the last decade fomenting a proxy war between Ukraine and Russia by her very presence in Kiev on multiple occasions as well as her bureaucratic efforts to garner military support. There is also little denial that the Moscow attack reeked of those masters of diabolical sorcery, the CIA.
The Crocus was still burning when White House National Security Advisor John Kirby stated “there is no indication” that Ukraine was involved in the attack as the US State Department also doubled down. Hours later, ISIS released a statement taking credit for the attack as US intelligence reiterated that ISIS had been planning an attack on Moscow.
In Tucker’s interview with Putin, the Russian president took the opportunity to let the Biden Administration know that the Russians were well aware of the CIA’s disreputable presence in Ukraine and its importance in continuing the war. The NY Times soon followed with an article confirming Putin’s insinuations.
However, at no point did the Times mention that the conflict began in 2014 against the predominately Russian-speaking Donbass and Luhansk regions or any mention of Putin’s rational for the 2022 Special Military Operation to protect the Russian border from NATO encroachment.
“The Spy War: How the CIA secretly helps Ukraine Fight Putin” revealed a decade worth of closely guarded secrets as it confirmed the existence and details of a secret intelligence network that provided state of the art technology and training to Ukraine in close collusion with US authorities.
The Times began identifying a “discreet pathway that descends to a subterranean underground bunker, built to replace the destroyed command center in the months after Russia’s invasion, is a secret nerve center of Ukraine’s military.” The Times added “There is also one more secret: The base is almost fully financed, and partly equipped, by the CIA” and that the “CIA is a linchpin of Ukraine’s ability to defend itself” and that the “partnership is no wartime creation, nor is Ukraine the only beneficiary.”
The Times piece goes on to state that the CIA/Ukraine relationship took root a decade ago which would be the approximate time when Victoria Nuland first came to public attention as Assistant Secretary of State in charge of European and Euroasian Affairs. Prior to providing Ukraine with a backbone of weaponry and Intel technology, Nuland had been identified with US foreign policy disasters including Iraq, Syria and Libya.
What deserves more than a passing notice is the level of Nuland’s commitment in a ‘democratic’ Ukraine which could have acted as a trigger, prior to and initiating Putin’s Special Military Op in February, 2022.
In December 13, 2013 before the National Press Club, Nuland announced she was just back from her third visit to Ukraine in five weeks as she provided an ”update on the situation” and the government’s position.
She went on to announce that the US had provided $5 Billion ‘promoting democracy’ while justifying why ‘that great country’ deserved the political and financial support predicting the imminent ouster of its democratically elected President Yanukovych who “did not take them to Europe.”
Within the same time frame, the late Senator John McCain stood on the stage in Kiev on December 15, 2013 encouraging the neo-nazi Banderista followers to continue their protests in favor of the European Union promising “the free world is with you, the US is with you, I am with you.” Newly elected Sen. Chris Murphy (Conn.) stood at his side.
On May 6, 2014, Nuland was testifying before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee on “Ukraine – Countering Russian intervention and supporting a Democratic State.”
By February, 2014, Nuland, already acknowledged as the mastermind of regime change, was on the Maidan engineering the selection of a new President as democratically elected President Viktor Yanukovych fled for his life to Russia.
On June 23, 2016 Nuland met in Kiev to discuss full implementation of the Minsk Agreement with then President Porochenko although it wasn’t until 2022 when former German Chancellor Ursula Merkel revealed that Minsk had always been a stall to allow Ukraine an opportunity to rearm.
On the second year anniversary of the Russian Special Operation in Ukraine, she reiterated that “With the $60 billion supplemental that the Administration has requested of Congress, we can ensure Ukraine not only survives but thrives.”
On her January 31, 2024 departure from Ukraine, Nuland predicted that “I also leave with greater confidence that, even as Ukraine strengthens its defences, Mr. Putin is going to get some nice surprises on the battlefield, and Ukraine will make some very strong success this year” and “there will be solid successes”.
In addition, Nuland told reporters that Congress will “vote for additional aid to Ukraine, given its importance if the country is to “survive and thrive” as well as the curious link that “this supplemental funding will ensure that Putin faces some nasty surprises on the battlefield this year.”
In an oddity of timing with the Moscow attack, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken released a press statement entitled “On the retirement of Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs Victoria Nuland” on March 5th that she ‘has let me know she intends to step down in the coming weeks as Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs.”
On March 6th, Columbia University’s School of International and Public Affairs (SIPA) announced that Ambassador Nuland will join its faculty and direct SIPA’s International Fellows Program for its graduate students.
There is no way on God’s green Earth that with Nuland’s inside track she has not been a cheerleader for the CIA domination in Ukraine or well primed for ‘nice surprises’ for the Russian people and the real reason for her impeccable timing to retire is that she had the inside scoop of an imminent explosion. Her glee has been so irresistible, she simply could not contain herself and cool her jets or keep from crowing a satisfaction of triumph.
In a curious appearance on March 18th, just prior to the attack, former President Barak Obama made a quick in-and-out puzzling visit with Prime Minister Runak responding “I’m tempted” as reporters asked for a comment.
A few samples from the Times piece:
A CIA-sponsored listening post network was established at a dozen secret locations along the Russian border and by July, 2014 a new paramilitary unit was created ‘behind enemy lines’ to gather intel. In 2016, a specialized CIA trained elite commando force captured Russian communication gear to crack Moscow’s encryption code.
As Republicans argued to deny funding to Ukraine, CIA Director Burns made ten trips to reassure Zelensky’s government since the 2022 Russian operation. Former CIA Director Brennan explained that the Ukrainians had to ‘prove’ that they could provide intelligence of value to the Americans.
Prior to Russia’s SMO in February 2022, Putin was informed that the CIA, with Britain’s MI6, were controlling Ukraine and creating a “beachhead for operations against Moscow.”
As the relationship between Ukrainian officers and US agencies solidified since February 2014, the CIA station chief was nicknamed “Santa Claus.”
As Trump pursued peace with Putin, hawks in his administration undermined his efforts as Mike Pompeo as CIA director and John Bolton as national security adviser visited Kyiv to express their full support for the secret partnership which expanded to include more specialized training programs and the building of additional secret bases.
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Even in the aftermath of the worst terrorist attack in recent Russia history, spokesman for the Kremlin Dmitry Peskov reiterated that the Russians remained open to negotiations and dialogue with the Americans but only as a “comprehensive discussion on issues of concern.” Peskov said last month that there has been no evidence of “political will” from Washington to engage in meaningful talks.
Since the Times article was published on February 25th, let’s take a head count of how many members of Congress have read the Times Ukraine revelations, especially those Members of relevant foreign affair committees who consistently vote to fund the war.
If Elon Musk, owner of Tesla, X and multiple and sundry other companies understands that “there is no way in hell that Putin is going to lose”, how is that Members of Congress who have colossal staffs to do their work, don’t get it – as they continue to squander Ukrainian lives and American taxpayer funds.
Renee Parsons served on the ACLU’s Florida State Board of Directors and as president of the ACLU Treasure Coast Chapter. She has been an elected public official in Colorado, staff in the Office of the Colorado State Public Defender, an environmental lobbyist for Friends of the Earth and a staff member of the US House of Representatives in Washington DC.