A war just to sell chocolates.

Ukraine's President, Petro Poroshenko is in Washington asking for " military equipment, both lethal and no-lethal ". " Blankets and night-vision goggles are important," he said," but one cannot win a war with blankets." What war is he talking about? If he wants to fight Russia he cannot win, regardless of the amount of weapons he gets from the US. Unless NATO gets involved. If that happens we are talking about destruction of large parts of Europe and Russia, a collapse of the global financial system and, God forbid, the possibility of nuclear weapons. Thankfully, the US and Europe have their hands full with the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria and so will huff and puff but will not blow the house down. If, on the other hand, Poroshenko wants lethal weapons to fight the rebels in the east of the country, who are as much citizens of Ukraine as he is, he is no different from Bashar al-Assad. " Just like Israel, Ukraine has the right to defend her territory - and it will do so, with all courage of her heart and dedication of her soul," said Poroshenko. Stirring words, except that they are completely false. Israel does not kill its own citizens. In fact, it ferociously defends them against attacks by far more numerous Arabs and it has signed peace treaties with its one time enemies, Egypt and Jordan. The Ukrainian parliament has just ratified an EU association pact which is no different from the one rejected by former president Victor Yanukovych, because it does not address Ukraine's national debt of $73 billion whereas Russia offered a no-strings $15 billion loan and 33% reduction on natural gas. Without gas from Russia Ukraine will not be able to afford heating this winter. With fears of deflation biting at its heels Europe cannot afford any help. All it can offer is austerity, which has already pushed Spain, Portugal, Greece and Cyprus into deflation, with Italy and Slovakia joining them. Instead of killing his own people Poroshenko could have offered them a referendum to decide on whether they want to join the EU and NATO or take the Russian offer. Even if the east of the country voted for Russia they would accept a majority decision of the entire nation. So why is Poroshenko so keen on joining the EU? It is certainly not for the good of the country but what does he stand to gain personally? He is a billionaire businessman, known as the ' chocolate king ', who stands to gain from a large prosperous market that the EU offers. Apparently he wants to sell his chocolate business and being in the EU would definitely increase its valuation. US help to the Afghan mujahideen against the Soviet Union created the Taliban. Now it is supporting extreme right wing neo-Nazis in Ukraine against Russia. It will rebound. But how? We shall see.