Press TV has interviewed former American intelligence linguist Scott Rickard to get his perspective on the current events unfolding in Ukraine and Russia’s position regarding the situation. Below is a rush transcript of the interview. Press TV: Your take, sir. Our guest in Washington basically said that Russians absolutely have no right to be in Ukraine. Your take, Mr. Rickard. Rickard: Well, it’s typical coming out of Frederick Peterson. He’s obviously had a lifetime of supporting the [US] State Department rhetoric, you know. No doubt there were some referendums in the early 90s that did cause a major change in the Ukraine that was a benefit to the people there. At the same time, a lot of the individuals that were living up in the Russian sort of central area that were really moved as a part of World War II were also allowed to return to the Crimea and Ukrainian regions. Now, you have to take a look at the Ukraine, its 50 million people that live in this country, and about 60 percent are Russian, and outside of that, there is probably only about maybe 12 to 20 or 15 percent that are in the Crimean sort of Tatar range. So this is a small minority of the individuals in the Ukraine that did actually have some small protests in Kiev that were very violent. These protests were extremely violent. They were lots of Molotov cocktails, a lot of activity going on that was being supported by the outside, by the West. You know the West has invested over five billion dollars in - the US government alone - alongside of what Victoria Nuland was talking about and got caught talking online with the ambassador from the Ukraine. The US has been orchestrating this overthrow in the Ukraine for quite some time. And you have an individual, you know, the founder of eBay; you’ve got Pierre Omidyar who has invested money alongside George Soros. So, this is a scenario that has been played out here for several years in creating what they call an uprising that has been fabricated by the West. Now the reason for doing this is purely economic and geopolitical. The West has been trying to pull the Ukraine, as well as other former Soviet states, into NATO. At the same time, they are also trying to pull them into the European Union (EU). And many people in the EU don’t even want the Ukraine in. It’s actually a legacy for them because they are getting another IMF-failing state. Press TV: Well, let’s look at that, Mr. Rickard, you just brought up something. You said that many people in the European Union really do not want them in the European Union, because of the economic situation in general in the EU. In general, why is the West, not only the Europeans but also we see the Americans as you’ve just talked about Victoria Nuland and that leaked conversation… though the Americans continue to deny that they have anything to do with the situation in Ukraine. However, why is it so important for Washington to be so involved in a situation in Ukraine? Rickard: That’s a great question. What you have here is you have… The Ukraine has been taking quite a bit of loans from the IMF. The gentleman that they have running as the “prime minister” now, their man in office, he’s been basically the finance minister, orchestrating a lot of very unhealthy and very criminal-based loans coming out of the IMF. So they are going to have to implement some sort of austerity plans. So, that’s what they’re looking to do. They can financially cripple Russia and at the same time and also create another payment state for the failed IMF global financial debacle. What they’re looking at as well is this strategic area. I mean this area is heavily strategic. You look at the port where you just had your first reporter coming out of. That port is the most strategic port for the Russians in the south of Russia and taking away that port also weakens Russia, whereby it is a good distraction for Russia. They are actually having some pushback from Russia in Syria and this would be a great distraction. It would weaken Russia even further and make the West more successful in their endeavors against both Syria and Iran. So it’s strategic from both a military perspective and an economic perspective. Press TV: Mr. Rickard, your take on our guest in Washington’s resigns on regional hegemony, talking about Russia and yet as you had mentioned earlier the US is very much involved in this situation. Your perspective on Russia and why Russia’s doing what it is. Is it because actually the proximity to its own country and as far as looking at it from a security perspective or… how do you see it? Rickard: Well, obviously it’s a national security perspective, both from a commercial perspective. Many of the actual pipelines for taking gas to Europe, as well as transportation lines and from a military perspective. Crimea has been… because of its nature of its geography, has been an extremely strategic military location for centuries as Mr. Peterson just described. But the more important thing is we talk about hegemony and you talk about responsibility, I mean the Americans march through Afghanistan and basically militarized jihad in the 80s and have been dealing with that ever sinse and they have taken no accountability for that. In fact, they have taken advantage of that to expand their hegemony, not just in that region but in other regions throughout Africa and the Middle East. So, talk about expanding hegemony, I think take a look in the mirror Mr. Peterson, there’s a quite a bit that you have not noticed and talked about. At the same time, there’s a whole lot going on from the criminal perspective. You have to look at guys like Semion Mogilevich, who is on the FBI’s most wanted list and I highly recommend that you look at this, Mr. Peterson. I’ll be in Washington on Friday next week and I’d be happy to sit down in your office and show you what it’s all about. This guy, Semion Mogilevich… he was our number one arms dealer when we were going to war against the Russians in the 80s and Semion Mogilevich is from the Ukraine. He actually runs the mafia that is basically across Russia and the Ukraine. So, take a deep look into what the Americans have been doing in that region for well over 30 to 40 years and let’s have a real discussion on the actual corruption that has been going on in that region, because from what you’re talking about, it’s very unclear as to where it’s going. Press TV: Mr. Rickard, your take. If we look at the situation, for example, if we had the Occupy Movement that are taking place in the US and if we had had some Russian politicians going out there in various cities in addressing these protesters who were in the United States, what type of reaction do you think we would have seen from Washington? Rickard: That is a great point. What if you had Russian influence here in the Occupy Movement, here in the United States and you had Russians over here funding billions of dollars to the Occupy Movement? Give me a break, Mr. Peterson. I mean the facts remain that you have a society, look at the Krugerrand. The Krugerrand was created back in the 70s that was manipulating not only that area that we’re talking about today but the same guys that we’re dealing with today, the result of those Nicolas Deak and his son Leslie Deak, who work as CIA think tanks downtown Washington DC. I’d love to come and educate you on how incredibly corrupt your government is today and has been for the last 40 years. Take some responsibility. Of course you can’t defend [US Secretary of State John] Kerry. It’s indefensible. SZH/HJL
Posted on: Wed, 05 Mar 2014 20:13:25 +0000
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