"Russia ousts opposition legislator; Loses immunity to prosecution" by Kathy Lally | Washington Post, September 15, 2012
MOSCOW — Another step toward silencing criticism of President Vladimir Putin....
Serious opposition parties have been kept out of Parliament through manipulation of election laws, and until recently the Just Russia party operated more as a Kremlin ally than opponent. But last winter, as demonstrators took to the streets to protest vote-rigging and limits on democracy, Gennady Gudkov, a 56-year-old former KGB officer who emerged in recent months as an advocate for the rule of law and freedom of speech, unexpectedly took up their cause.
Those protests, the first serious demonstrations against Putin since he took power in 2000, clearly rattled him. First he blamed the United States, claiming it financed the marchers, who he said were called out by a signal from Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton.
Sigh. It reaches the point where I don't even want to comment on the innuendo, slanted reporting, and all the other crap. I doubt Putin was rattled, and his charge is correct. But I've got a paper that is basically an intelligence operation masquerading as a newspaper, so....
If the protest angered Putin, it awakened something in Gudkov. He began speaking at protest rallies, embracing free elections and more robust democracy. But, as Putin’s critics saw it, even the rare public gadfly was one too many....
Translation: the guy thought he could be next-in-line for power had Putin been overthrown by these weak attempts at the agenda-advancing, coup-inciting protests.
--more--"
Related:
A Russian tycoon who has financed a newspaper critical of the Kremlin and supported the opposition has been charged with hooliganism and assault for punching a businessman during a television talk show. He dismissed the criminal case as politically motivated. Alexander Lebedev, whose net worth was reported by Forbes magazine to be $1.1 billion, made his money in banking."
And he was also a former KGB agent?
The arrest of Sergei Udaltsov, the buzz-cut, black-clad leader of the Left Front, a radical socialist group, seemed to accelerate the government’s efforts to bring serious criminal cases — with the prospect of long prison terms — against critics of President Vladimir V. Putin.
Udaltsov poses a particular threat to the Kremlin because his views are popular among members of the Communist Party, which retains a strong nationwide infrastructure and often finishes second to the governing party, United Russia, in major elections."
Or at least get you out of a Russian jail:
"Russian dissenter charged, released" Washington Post, October 27, 2012
MOSCOW — Opposition leader Sergei Udaltsov was charged Friday with plotting mass disorder, part of a clampdown by Russian authorities on public dissent, but was unexpectedly allowed to remain free on his own recognizance.
The decision to release him surprised Udaltsov, a 35-year-old socialist, and his attorney, who had predicted Udaltsov would join two associates in jail. One supporter suggested that the authorities were hoping Udaltsov would flee the country, which would discredit him and deprive his Left Front bloc of its leadership. If convicted of plotting mass disorder, he would face up to 10 years in prison.
Udaltsov and the other two activists were accused based on allegations contained in a documentary that was broadcast Oct. 5 on a Kremlin-friendly television station.
One of the jailed associates, Leonid Razvozzhayev, said he was abducted last week in Ukraine, where he was asking a UN refugee agency for asylum. He said he was spirited into Russia, bound and chained, and threatened and deprived of food and water until he signed a confession. He disavowed the confession Thursday, as soon as he saw a lawyer.
What do you know, Russia has its own rendition program. As an American I feel I have no right to criticize.
The Ukrainian Security Service said in a statement Friday that it was investigating Razvozzhayev’s claim, which has attracted the attention of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, European officials, and the United States.
Uh-huh.
‘‘We are quite concerned about allegations that he was forced to confess, that he may have been subjected to torture,’’ State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland said in Washington.
Oh, the State Department is worried about that, huh?
Un-f***ing-believable.
I suppose all those confessions from the 9/11 patsies waterboarded (and worse) down at Gitmo need to be thrown out.
She said the United States is also uncomfortable with Russia’s investigation of a number of activists who took part in a May 6 demonstration, on the eve of Vladimir Putin’s inauguration as president.
Udaltsov opposes capitalism and private ownership of property.
Then I can't imagine he's one of ours.
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"Opposition leader under house arrest
MOSCOW — A Moscow district court ordered Sergei Udaltsov, a prominent opposition leader, to be placed under house arrest Saturday, in one of the most assertive legal measures to date against a leader of the anti-Kremlin protests that began more than a year ago. Udaltsov, the leader of the radical socialist Left Front movement, faces a charge of conspiracy to incite mass disorder, which carries a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison (New York Times)."
They couldn't get him out, huh?
Now that the opposition is out of the way:
As for the controlled opposition:
"Russian opposition elects its leaders online; Navalny wins, says vote will unify activists" by Max Seddon | Associated Press, October 23, 2012
MOSCOW — President Vladimir Putin has had nothing but mockery for the protesters who have taken to the streets against him in unprecedented numbers. Russia’s opposition, he said, is no more than a gaggle of Internet dwellers with ‘‘no unified program, no clear and comprehensible way of achieving their unclear goals, and nobody who can actually do something.’’
That's what my mouthpiece says about Occupy. The coverage actually tells you a lot.
The opposition has set out to prove him wrong by formally choosing its leaders through an online election that ended Monday night. Nearly 82,000 voted in the election, which was intended to help the opposition present a more united front against the Kremlin and find a way to broaden its appeal as enthusiasm for street protests fades.
That's strange. I was told they were a lot of fun. And if the protests are unprecedented, blah, blah, why would they need to broaden appeal as enthusiasm fades?
Alexei Navalny, a charismatic corruption fighter who is a rock star among the protest leaders, won the most votes, confirming his leadership role among the diverse collection of liberals, leftists, and nationalists who make up the anti-Putin opposition....
Meaning he's one of ours.
Do you really want to be friends with them?
Navalny won nearly 44,000 votes, while a sharp-tongued, larger-than-life poet, novelist, and columnist, Dmitry Bykov, came second followed by Garry Kasparov, the former world chess champion turned opposition leader. Ksenia Sobchak, a glamorous TV host who became a face of Moscow protests, also made a strong performance, finishing fourth.
Kasparov a well-known western agent. You can look it up.
Throughout the weekend, thousands of Russians, many of them middle age or older, stood in long lines on a central Moscow square to register to vote. Those with better Internet skills registered online.
Despite a heavy police presence and occasional visits from pro-Kremlin activists, the event was peaceful and festive, with classic Russian rock songs playing over speakers.
The mouthpiece media operation just exposed its hand as an agenda-pushing piece of propaganda by the way they describe these approved protests.
The voting was supposed to end Sunday night, but was extended for a day after a barrage of hacker attacks took down the servers for most of Saturday.
Ah, a self-serving false flag, for I'm sure the Russian government doesn't give a shit about this sham poll.
Pressure on the opposition has increased since Putin began his third term as president in May. Protest leaders have come under criminal investigation, been called in for questioning, and had their homes and offices searched.
Do they have a sneak-and-peek provision in their Patriot Act?
Over the weekend, a leftist activist accused Russian security officers of kidnapping him in Ukraine and bringing him back to Russia, where he said he was tortured into confessing to organizing riots....
Also Monday, two members of the Pussy Riot punk band were transferred from Moscow to remote prison colonies, their lawyer said. Earlier this month, an appeals court upheld the two-year prison sentences handed to Maria Alekhina and Nadezhda Tolokonnikova for an irreverent anti-Putin protest in Moscow’s main cathedral in February.
Pussy Riot is not funny.
Also see: "Masked men stormed a gay club, injuring three people in what independent monitors say was the seventh violent attack against gay people reported this year."
The court released a third member of the group by suspending her sentence.
--more--"
Have to pay the piper if you want to sing:
Earlier this month, Moscow declared an end to the US Agency for International Development’s two decades of work in Russia, saying that the agency was using its money to influence elections — a charge the United States denied.
The Russians know what the rest of the world knows: AID = CIA
"Critics call Russia’s tougher treason law ‘dangerous’" by Vladimir Isachenkov | Associated Press, November 15, 2012
MOSCOW — After fraud-tainted parliamentary elections last December, an unprecedented wave of protest arose, with some demonstrations attracting as many as 100,000 people. Putin still won the March presidential election handily, but the protests boldly challenged his image as the strongman Russia needs to achieve stability and prosperity.
Related(?): Russia Joined WTO
Maybe that helped.
Under the new law, anyone who without authorization possesses information deemed a state secret — whether a politician, a journalist, an environmentalist, or a union leader — could potentially be jailed for up to 20 years for espionage.
While the previous law described high treason as espionage or other assistance to a foreign state that damages Russia’s external security, the new legislation expands the definition by dropping the word ‘‘external.’’ Activities that fall under it include providing help or advice to a foreign state or giving information to an international or foreign organization.
I don't see the problem here. I wish the US would be as tough with all the Mossad moles crawling around this country.
The definition is so broad that rights advocates say it could be used as a driftnet to sweep up all inconvenient figures.
Not so much of a concern here in AmeriKa, and if you do raise questions you are considered some sort of unpatriotic threat or a terrorist.
‘‘I believe this law is very dangerous,’’ said human rights council member Liliya Shibanova, according to the ITAR-Tass news agency. Shibanova also heads Golos, Russia’s only independent elections watchdog group.
Which is US funded, I might add.
‘‘If, for example, I pass on information about alleged poll violations to a foreign journalist, this could be considered espionage,’’ she said.
‘‘It’s very broad and it’s very dangerous,’’ said Rachel Denber, deputy director of Human Rights Watch’s Europe and Central Asia division.
She said it’s not clear yet how vigorously Russian authorities will enforce the bill, but says it recreates a ‘‘sense of paranoia and suspicion and uneasiness about foreigners.’’
My government is a master of that s***!!
Putin has repeatedly dismissed opposition leaders as pawns of the West and once accused US Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton of instigating protests to weaken Russia.
He's right. It's a shame when the "enemy" is the one telling the truth in my newspaper.
The law, which was drafted by the Federal Security Service, the primary KGB successor agency known by its Russian acronym FSB, also introduced a punishment of up to eight years for simply getting hold of state secrets illegally even if they are not placed in foreign hands.
I imagine its our version of the FBI. I wonder how many patsies Russian authorities frame, if any.
Did they frame those guys, too?
The FSB said in a statement run by ITAR-Tass news agency that the new clause better protects confidential information. It said the previous law, which dated back to the 1960s, failed to provide efficient deterrence against foreign spies.
‘‘Tactics and methods of foreign special services have changed, becoming more subtle and disguised as legitimate actions,’’ the spy agency said. ‘‘Claims about a possible twist of spy mania in connection with the law’s passage are ungrounded and based exclusively on emotions.’’
--more--"
Now for the criticism:
"Clinton fears oppressive efforts to ‘reSovietize’" by Bradley Klapper | Associated Press, December 07, 2012
DUBLIN — Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton warned Thursday about a new effort by oppressive governments to ‘‘re-Sovietize’’ much of Eastern Europe and Central Asia....
I'll bet they are glad she's gone.
Speaking to a group of lawyers and civil society advocates on the sidelines of an international human rights conference, Clinton took aim at what she described as a new wave of repressive tactics and laws aimed at criminalizing US outreach efforts.
Hers will be the completion of turning US embassies into CIA cover stations.
The trends are indicative of a larger reversal of freedoms for citizens of Russia, Belarus, Turkmenistan, and other countries that emerged from the breakup of the Soviet Union two decades ago.
‘‘There is a move to re-Sovietize the region,’’ Clinton lamented.
‘‘It’s not going to be called that. It’s going to be called customs union, it will be called Eurasian Union and all of that,’’ she said, referring to Russian-led efforts for greater regional integration. ‘‘But let’s make no mistake about it. We know what the goal is, and we are trying to figure out effective ways to slow down or prevent it.’’
But the EU and North American Union and all the other fancy names they come up with for the EUSraeli empire's economic centralization and integration for the benefit of private central banking is fine. You know what, I'm glad she's gone.
In a windswept tent outside the Dublin conference center hosting the annual meeting of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, Clinton heard tales of struggle from 11 human rights advocates.
Andrey Aranbaev, an environmentalist from Turkmenistan, accused Western nations of forsaking his compatriots.
We do it all the time. I'm sorry you were naive about such things.
‘‘My country Turkmenistan is world-famous for two things: one of the largest gas supplies and gross human rights violations,’’ he said through an interpreter. ‘‘Almost all international actors are talking about Turkmenistan’s gas. But almost no one is talking about the gross human rights violations.’’
Sure looks like he woke up fast, and I think I $ee the rea$ons and connection$. Do you?
‘‘Human rights and democracy in Turkmenistan was sold for gas,’’ Aranbaev added.
Igor Kochetkov of the Russian LGBT Network said authorities were trying to prohibit discussion of discrimination based on sexual orientation. And Olga Zakharova, a journalist with Freedom Files in Russia, said use of social media was becoming more restrictive....
The problem is compounded by America’s limited influence with some governments.
In Belarus, ‘‘we have struck out so far,’’ Clinton said.
Ukraine, she said, is ‘‘one of our biggest disappointments.’’
Related: Ukraine's Elections
Tilting even more towards Russia despite the centuries of bad blood and genocide.
And in Turkmenistan, the United States raises human rights issues all the time. ‘‘We get no response,’’ she said.
Why should we? We are the biggest violators on the face of the planet.
Speaking later to the 57-nation OSCE, Clinton offered more muted criticism of Russia....
Two-faced Clinton?
"Merkel, Putin clash on human rights at Kremlin meeting" by Ilya Arkhipov and Patrick Donahue | Washington Post, November 17, 2012
MOSCOW — German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Russian President Vladimir Putin clashed over human rights and democracy Friday as they struggled to show a united front amid rising criticism from Germany.
Merkel, speaking alongside Putin in the Kremlin, said she was irritated by Russian laws clamping down on political groups and condemned the sentencing of members of the band Pussy Riot.
What arrogance. It's their country, remember?
Putin countered with accusations of gender inequality in Germany and discord in the European Union.
Still, both leaders sought to see beyond the tensions even as the meeting exposed fissures between Germany, which is bankrolling the European debt crisis as the region’s largest economy, and Russia, the world’s largest energy exporter.
‘‘My plea is not to see every criticism right away as destructive,’’ Merkel said at the German-Russian Petersburg Dialogue. ‘‘Our friendship won’t be better, our economic cooperation won’t be better, if we sweep everything under the carpet and only say when we’re of a single opinion.’’
She is in Moscow for the first time since Putin returned to Russia’s highest office in May. The trip follows a resolution passed last week in Germany’s lower house, or Bundestag, which criticizes Putin’s handling of opposition groups.
‘‘Our relations cannot be said to be in a dark atmosphere,’’ Putin said. ‘‘We have different views, we argue, we look for compromises, but this not a gloomy atmosphere.’’
That's good.
Lawmakers from five of the six parties in the Bundestag voted to condemn treatment of opposition figures and civil- society groups in Russia, such as this year’s prison sentences for members of Pussy Riot. Merkel did not shy away from addressing the issue alongside Putin.
‘‘If we look at something like Pussy Riot, which has played a big role in the public sphere — then we say, OK, that would also launch a big discussion if something like this happened in a church,’’ Merkel said.
The fact that the group has received so much ink and discussion proves it is a western provocation.
‘‘But if somebody has to end up as a young woman for two years in a labor camp, I don’t — it wouldn’t have been that way in Germany at least.’’
Well, not now, but my papers keep reminding me of that long ago period when Germany had those.
Putin accused a band member of participating in an anti-Semitic protest in the Russian capital, saying that Merkel knew too few of the details.
Oh, I LOVE HIM TURNING the TABLES on her!
The German leader, a Russian speaker who grew up in Soviet- dominated communist East Germany, insisted that the two sides should be able to take constructive criticism. Putin, who served as a a KGB officer in the East German city of Dresden during the Cold War, speaks fluent German.
Yes, Putin may be a lot of things but stupid is not one of them.
--more--"
"Putin orders change in Russia’s parliamentary elections" by David M. Herszenhorn | New York Times, January 03, 2013
MOSCOW — At Russian President Vladimir Putin’s direction, half of the 450 seats in the State Duma, the lower house of Parliament, would be filled using a proportional system based on votes for parties, with each party then filling its allotted seats.
The other half would be filled by direct election of individual candidates, creating a potential opening for independent campaigns.
The new system, which the Central Election Commission is expected to unveil in coming weeks, replaces a system of strict party-list voting. It would be the second major change to the parliamentary voting process in less than a decade and essentially amounts to a return to a system that had been in place until 2003. The proposal also comes just a year after allegations of fraud in the parliamentary elections in December 2011 set off a wave of huge street protests in Moscow.
But while the prospect of individual candidacies suggests a liberalizing of a political system often criticized as heavily tilted in favor of Putin and the governing authorities, history shows that they can actually have the opposite effect.
You know, my first impression was more democracy. Leave it to my agenda-pushing pos to splash water on that.
This is because individuals endorsed by the majority party tend to have an advantage in name recognition and resources in local races, and because candidates who run as independents can often be enticed to join the majority party when the new Parliament is formed, using perks offered by the presidential administration.
Like the DEMOCRAPS and REPUGLICANS here in AmeriKa?
In neighboring Ukraine, the adoption of a mixed electoral system like the one proposed by Putin helped President Viktor Yanukovych’s Party of Regions win more seats in elections this fall, despite public opinion polls — and even election results — that showed support for the party had dropped....
We call it redistricting.
Russia’s next parliamentary election is scheduled for December 2016 and would be followed by a presidential election in March 2018.
Putin, in a speech to Parliament last month, described the proposed change as a continuation of liberalization efforts that began last year with an easing of restrictions on creating political parties.
Critics of that process say it is now too easy to form a party, effectively splintering the opposition like a shattered pane of glass.
‘‘We had seven political parties at the beginning of this year, and now we have 48, if I am not mistaken, plus there are over 200 organizing committees working to establish their own political parties.’’ Putin said. ‘‘The authorities must strive to ensure that all of them enjoy equal rights.’’
But election specialists said there were reasons to be skeptical. Arkady Lubaryev, the director of a project on developing Russian election law for Golos, the country’s only independent election monitoring group, said the organization supported a mixed voting system but not the one proposed by Putin.
U.S-funding not mentioned.
Yeah, we know.
‘‘We stand for a mixed closed system similar to the system of elections used for the German Bundestag,’’ Lubaryev said, meaning that each party would receive only as many seats as its proportion of the national vote. ‘‘But we are opposed to restoring the mixed open system, which was in effect before, because it allows United Russia — and any party that has more than 30 percent support — to receive overrepresentation through victories in the single-member districts.’’
Lubaryev said Golos was also concerned about the possibility that independent candidates would encounter obstacles to registering their candidacies.
--more--"
"US denies Russian charge of political meddling" by Lynn Berry | Associated Press, September 20, 2012
MOSCOW — Russia explained its decision to end the US Agency for International Development’s two decades of work in Russia by saying Wednesday that the agency was using its money to influence elections — a claim the United States denied.
The US State Department announced Tuesday that Russia has demanded USAID leave the country, a culmination of years of resentment about what Moscow sees as American interference aimed at undermining President Vladimir Putin’s hold on power....
That is true of just about every country in the world.
--more--"
Time to clean the Cabinet:
The shuffle has shed light on simmering disagreements within the military, which is about to receive an infusion of around $634 billion to be spent on new weaponry. President Vladimir Putin is known to dislike internal dissent."
Who likes it? I mean, really?
"Russian ex-defense minister’s confidant charged" November 24, 2012
MOSCOW — A close associate of a former Russian defense minister was placed under house arrest on Friday on charges of defrauding the country of millions of dollars.
I wish bankers would get at least that.
Yevgeniya Vasilyeva, the 33-year-old former head of the Defense Ministry’s property department, is accused of stealing more than $11 million through a scheme that involved the sale of the military’s prized real estate, Russia’s top investigative agency said....
They said that Defense Minister Anatoly Serdyukov angered his powerful father-in-law, Viktor Zubkov, a one-time prime minister and current chairman of the state-controlled Gazprom natural gas company.
The military corruption probe began abruptly last month with a predawn search of Vasilyeva’s apartment in a prestigious building where Serdyukov also lived. Russian news reports claimed that Serdyukov himself opened the door to investigators who knocked on Vasilyeva’s door.
It was a "romantic relationship."
--more--"
"Russia puts a dead man on trial" by Andrew E. Kramer | New York Times, January 29, 2013
MOSCOW — Russia took the unusual step of attempting to put a dead man on trial Monday, when it initiated posthumous proceedings against Sergei Magnitsky, the whistle-blowing lawyer who died three years ago in a Moscow jail cell.
The effort to prosecute — postponed when Magnitsky’s legal team refused to participate — stoked tensions in a case that has damaged Russia’s image abroad and strained relations with the United States.
A judge delayed the trial until Feb. 18 so the Moscow bar association could appoint public defenders for the dead man and an absent codefendant.
Magnitsky was 37 when he died, having been held for nearly a year. Authorities said he was detained on tax-evasion charges and died of a heart attack. His advocates say he was jailed for investigating hundreds of millions of dollars possibly taken by the authorities in a tax case, and that he was beaten and denied medical care.
Last month, US Congress passed a law barring anyone linked to Magnitsky’s imprisonment or the initial fraud from entering the United States. In retaliation, Russia’s Parliament prohibited Americans from adopting Russian orphans.
The empty-chair prosecution drew an immediate rebuke. Critics said it was an attempt to intimidate Magnitsky’s family and a clear indication of rising prosecutorial overzealousness under President Vladimir Putin.
In the past year amid political protests, critics note, Russian courts have tried members of a punk band, Pussy Riot, sending two of its members to prison for an anti-Putin performance; dozens of street protesters; and Madonna, for a performance officials said violated a local law against propagandizing homosexual behavior.
Monday it was unclear who or what, exactly, went on trial....
Posthumous criminal cases are rare in international practice, most often allowed only when relatives want to clear the name of a suspect, and rarely at the behest of the police, criminal law experts say. If a suspect dies, the question of guilt or innocence is usually moot....
I think of all those allegedly lone-nut assassins and gunmen that end up dead. Sure saves investigators a pile of work, huh?
--more--"
And talk about traveling back in time:
"Stalingrad gets name back on days marking battle" by Vladimir Isachenkov | Associated Press, February 01, 2013
MOSCOW — The southern Russian city where the Red Army decisively turned back Nazi forces in a key World War II battle will once again be known as Stalingrad, at least on the days commemorating the victory, the regional legislature said Thursday.
The city was renamed Volgograd in 1961 as part of the Soviet Union’s rejection of dictator Joseph Stalin’s personality cult. But the name Stalingrad is inseparable with the historic battle, which was among the bloodiest in history with combined losses of nearly 2 million people.
Regional lawmakers’ decision to use the historic name in city statements on Feb. 2, the day of the Nazi defeat, as well as several other war-related dates each year, has angered many in Russia where Stalin’s name and legacy continues to cause fiery disputes nearly 60 years after his death....
Nikolai Levichev, a senior federal lawmaker with the leftist Just Russia party, condemned the restoration of the old city name, saying ‘‘it’s blasphemous to rename the great Russian city after a bloody tyrant who killed millions of his fellow citizens.’’ Levichev added that the country won the war ‘‘despite rather than thanks to’’ Stalin’s leadership, whose errors multiplied the Soviet losses.
True.
Stalin led the Soviet Union from 1924 until his death in 1953. Communists and other hardliners credit him with leading the country to victory in World War II and making it a nuclear superpower, while others condemn his brutal purges that killed millions of people.
Related: Secret Facts - Soviet & Jews
Why would Jewtube say "This video may be inappropriate for some users," and ask you to sign in?
I suppose you will have to go somewhere else to see it.
You didn't know the biggest mass-murderers in history were Jewish, did you?
But everyone knows who Hitler was.
--more--"
The Hitlers of today from the Russian (and world) point of view:
"NATO rejects Russia’s missile defense worries" by David Rising | Associated Press, February 03, 2013
MUNICH — NATO’s secretary general said Saturday the alliance has no intention of backing down on its plans for a European missile defense system, despite ongoing criticism from Russia.
Anders Fogh Rasmussen told reporters on the sidelines of the Munich Security Conference that in dealings with Moscow ‘‘this question of missile defense remains . . . the big elephant in the room.’’ But he said NATO’s decision has been made and he hopes Russia will work together with the alliance on the issue.
‘‘We have made clear from the outset that NATO has made the decision to establish a NATO missile defense system because it’s our obligation to ensure effective defense of our populations,’’ Fogh Rasmussen said.
‘‘Having said that, we have invited Russia to cooperate and . . . now it’s up to Russia to engage in that,’’ he added.
The comments came after Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov told the gathering of top diplomats and defense officials that NATO’s missile defense program and eastward expansion have caused undue friction reminiscent of the Cold War.
‘‘Officially we have abandoned the mindset of the Cold War — Russia and NATO countries say that they do not see each other as adversaries . . . but we should admit that we should still come a long way to match our words with deeds,’’ Lavrov said.
The United States and NATO say the missile defense plan is aimed at fending off an Iranian missile threat, but Moscow has rejected the claim, saying the system may eventually grow powerful enough to threaten Russia’s nuclear deterrent.
I think the Russians are right.
Fogh Rasmussen flatly rejected the criticism, saying. ‘‘I clearly denounce these allegations.’’
‘‘There is a clear link between what we say and what we do,’’ he said.
Vice President Joe Biden’s office said he met with Lavrov later behind closed doors and ‘‘emphasized the importance of the two countries working together in the interest of international peace and security.’’
Then back of Iran, Joe.
During the conference, Fogh Rasmussen urged cash-strapped European nations not to use the alliance’s drawdown of forces in Afghanistan as an excuse to cut defense spending.
But you are getting austerity over there -- which is why the people are in the streets.
He noted that since 2001, the US share of NATO defense spending has risen from 63 percent to 72 percent, while most European nations have cut their defense budgets.
US Deputy Defense Secretary Ashton Carter noted that American officials speaking at the conference have in the past often exhorted allies to ‘‘provide the necessary resources for defense.’’
‘‘This time . . . I have to add my own country to this exhortation,’’ Carter said, pointing to the prospect of across-the-board cuts as politicians in Washington wrangle over the budget.
Yeah, save that defense budget.
Carter said there is ‘‘the very real prospect of huge and reckless additional cuts of a size and magnitude and manner that I, as the Department of Defense’s chief management officer, cannot tell the president will do anything other than devastating damage to the military.’’
Wah, wah, wah, he cries to the nearly $700 billion budget.
‘‘It can be avoided and it can be reversed,’’ he said. ‘‘In that regard I used to be hopeful and optimistic, and now I’m just hopeful.’’
Fogh Rasmussen said that, instead of cuts, European NATO countries should use funds saved from Afghanistan troop withdrawals to invest in capabilities where they have found themselves lacking.
While you are getting austerity, citizen.
--more--"
Also see:
While he looks outward:
Russian activist may be sent to Siberia
Not much has changed. Anybody remember who the last guy was?
"Russia’s Medvedev defends erosion of his legacy" by Max Seddon | Associated Press, December 08, 2012
MOSCOW — Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev on Friday defended the enactment of new laws, a series of draconian laws — introducing Internet censorship, hiking fines for unauthorized protests, recriminalizing slander, and other laws branded nongovernmental organizations with foreign funding as ‘‘foreign agents,’’ that rolled back his own liberal agenda as Russia’s previous president, a tacit admission of how little influence he has now that Vladimir Putin is back in the Kremlin....
The language used in the laws recalls Soviet-era spy mania, when the vast majority of foreigners were treated and viewed with suspicion.
And now that is you, AmeriKa.
Putin blamed foreign governments, especially the US State Department, of meddling in domestic affairs and protests....
Because they have.
--more--"
Not much has changed. Anybody remember who the last guy was?
"Russia’s Medvedev defends erosion of his legacy" by Max Seddon | Associated Press, December 08, 2012
MOSCOW — Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev on Friday defended the enactment of new laws, a series of draconian laws — introducing Internet censorship, hiking fines for unauthorized protests, recriminalizing slander, and other laws branded nongovernmental organizations with foreign funding as ‘‘foreign agents,’’ that rolled back his own liberal agenda as Russia’s previous president, a tacit admission of how little influence he has now that Vladimir Putin is back in the Kremlin....
The language used in the laws recalls Soviet-era spy mania, when the vast majority of foreigners were treated and viewed with suspicion.
And now that is you, AmeriKa.
Putin blamed foreign governments, especially the US State Department, of meddling in domestic affairs and protests....
Because they have.
--more--"
