This week’s twin suicide bombings on Moscow’s busy Metro system shocked all of Russia. Is this a return to the bad old days of the 1990s and early 2000s, which witnessed one terrorist attack after another? Has the Kremlin miscalculated in its own domestic “war on terror” against regional separatists?
Some in Western media appear almost gleeful that the March 29 Metro attack occurred. It is as if Russia deserved to be punished for its domestic anti-terror policies initiated by former-President Vladimir Putin, and carried on by his successor Dmitry Medvedev.
For the most part this criticism is unwarranted. There have been successes, missed opportunities, and poorly thought-out policies throughout Moscow’s anti-terror campaign. However, there is no reason to believe the actions of indigenous terrorist groups (with foreign assistance in some cases) will cause a rise of popular discontent against the current ruling political elite. The exact opposite is true—the average man on the street supports Putin's and Medvedev’s words of uncompromising retribution against anti-Russian terrorists. If the objective of the terrorists was to mobilize public opinion against the authorities, then they failed in their mission during the planning stages of the attacks.
Chechen rebels are now taking responsibility. But the Western mainstream media is pushing the line that they are “separatists,” and they argue further that the Chechens are in some way “freedom fighters.” The argument is that the Kremlin’s handpicked “strongman,” Ramzan Kadyrov, rules like a dictator (even at Moscow’s peril). The facts on the ground tell a very different story. I have been to Chechnya. Indeed, security is very tight. And the rule of law remains challenged.
But, for the most part, there is peace in Chechnya. There is now a focus on building civil society and the economy. This is a far cry from the cruelties of two armed conflicts and governance by Chechen nationalist and religious extremists.
Kadyrov is not another Thomas Jefferson, but then again the Chechen Republic is not Sweden. There’s no reason we should expect it to become so in the near future. The North Caucasus is a region which has experienced social and economic turbulence for centuries—and the area’s recent enthusiasm for Islamic fundamentalism has made things even more unstable.
Unfortunately for Moscow, the relative success seen in Chechnya has been at the expense of the neighboring republics in the region. Dagestan, long a refuge of peace and stability—especially when compared Chechnya a few years back—is now a boiling cauldron. Ingushetia, too, is experiencing severe societal pressures and a brutal cycle of violence. What Kadyrov expelled from Chechnya has found a fertile breeding ground elsewhere.
Dagestan and Ingushetia are under siege. The lack of economic opportunities is obvious to anyone familiar with the Caucasus. This is an issue the Kremlin has acknowledged and which has prompted new, long-term approaches to the region. The days of Chechen independence fighters are in the past. And Dagestan and Ingushetia aren’t seeking independence from the Russian Federation. What both want (and Chechnya is slowly experiencing) is justice in every sense of the word.
It is simply untrue that Russian federal security forces are wreaking havoc in the North Caucasus. It is far more complicated than that. Russian personnel are there to keep the peace, but have found themselves doing so in the face of warring elites and clans, while being deemed outsiders by the local population.
Russia may not deserve any compliments for its treatment of the North Caucasus since the collapse of the Soviet Union, but it certainly does not deserve international condemnation. Though Western and Russian liberals like to endlessly talk about what is wrong with Russian policy in the region, they have very few concrete ideas to offer in response. Moral indignation is never enough when the facts on the ground are complicated and seemingly hopeless.
Have mistakes been made? Yes. Have some of these errors made the situation worse? Yes, they have. But the presence of central authority is essential—and crucial to Russia’s territorial integrity.
Then there is the issue of a foreign involvement in the Moscow attacks. Many in the West dismiss this prospect as a factor in the Kremlin’s low-intensity conflict in the North Caucasus, particularly if it includes Islamic fundamentalists from outside Russia. This is an error made out of obvious political expediency. There is undeniable evidence of foreign funding of terrorist and extremist groups in Russia. The West ignores such evidence at its peril.
The Russian people have suffered still another terrorist attack. All of humanity should grieve with them.
(Originally published on National Interest online).
There is a growing wave of commentary about the rise of new and competitive players in the global English-language media sphere. Traditional outlets in the US, UK and Canada are scrambling for market share like never before; they are scared, and with good reason.
The Russians, Chinese, French, the Emir of Qatar and even the Iranians are giving the native English speakers in the news industry a run for their money. Great - competition is good and healthy! Yet many in the US and the UK are calling the new kids on the block upstarts for challenging the status quo, being anti-American and being anti-Western in general.
Russia has been singled out more than others and RT television, my employer, has been harshly criticised for reporting that has been less than kind about America's domestic realities and foreign policy. This is unwarranted: RT and other new English-language outlets are merely providing the Anglosphere with new and different voices.
Since the end of World War II and particularly after the Cold War, the US has seen itself as the beacon of good in the world. This is the narrative Americans are taught early on, and it is reinforced incessantly.
Sadly, the vast majority of Americans get their news from US media only, especially domestic television. These outlets limit and control public debate and devote precious little time to foreign news. In fact, it is exceptional when an American media outlet does not mirror an editorial line established from above.
The charge that Russian media is anti-American is quite overblown. Russian English-language media, including RT, do indeed report stories rarely found in the US mainstream - and often from a viewpoint rarely found there as well. No one should be surprised by this. Why should the definition of free speech be determined by a Western capital?
The US badmouths the entire world when it suits its own purposes. In the American mainstream Israel has long been protected, Iraq was once the world's enemy, and now Iran is. Russia refuses to kowtow to western geopolitical and economic interests, so it is covered in the worst possible light. Meanwhile, American-sponsored autocrats and dictators are given a free pass.
For decades Washington and America's media establishment have dumbed down political debate at home - and expected the rest of the world to follow. When this does not happen, it is called anti-Americanism.
This is the standard hypocrisy of a country that habitually lectures others about media freedoms. While this isn't new, the fact that it is now drawing multi-viewpoint commentary in English is.
It is a pity when critique is only understood as criticism. America and the West generally must learn that their sense of humanity-saving exceptionalism is only a myth, and a very dangerous one. No peoples or countries have a monopoly on the truth.
This article was first published at www.mn.ru
23 July, 2010, 15:48
Your current programme about the Burqa : NOBODY mentions that wearing the full face cover is traditionally done by adherents of Wahhabi Sect that is prevalent in Saudi Arabia but has been adopted by adherents of the Wahhabi Sect in Bangladesh for instance.
31 March, 2010, 14:06
To: mbach
I happen to have similar issues with Alex Jones, David Icke, etc. My attitude is not to buy all, but to select. Even if the source becomes discredited or he discredits himself, it does not automatically discredit the information. Same as with food: I do not eat everything that is put in front of me. When I finish I normally leave there most of potatos and sauce, as well as the plate, fork and knife ;-)
31 March, 2010, 12:02
I hope my previous comment gets posted as it is important.
In regards to democracy and Russia.
RT clearly states that it is state funded on its YouTube channel like AL Jazeera so it does not make it a secret unlike the western media with all the mass media controlled by frontman or companies either initially funded or aligned with the intelligence/military community which off course extends to internet companies.
Putin appointing people in the former KGB in position of power is due to the fact that the previous colonial Oligarchical regime appointed all there people to positions of power and virtually controlled every aspect of the country which the liberal opposition groups totally backed Yeltsin.
And the former KGB people are the only opposing power block as no new elite group were allowed or able to develop under the previous regime.
And it is hard to run a democratic country when you finance and support over 600,000 and an international crime and terror network of foreign governments and organisations trying to destabilise the country and overthrow the government especially when they finance the overthrow of anti-Russian governments in neighbouring countries of Ukraine and Georgia
Say what you want against Putin but the fact is everything has improved since he took power.
31 March, 2010, 08:26
Hi there:
I believe that recent inhumane bombing oraganized by gerorgian+ Cechem link with secret Mossad/Cia misson in backgraound to bring russia someform of civil war and get Ok form russia war against Iran...
very sneakyu and smart operation. I beleive they shopud capture those guys and interigate then first about this issue.I beleive that Mossad part will be very secret but Its Mossad ooperation if Georgian ever involved in this operation......
31 March, 2010, 07:52
Are we finally going to have a discussion of international terror network and there western and foreign backed connections?
What is happening now is exactly what I predicted would happen with this Brzezinki/Obama regime which is so obvious given the history and track record of Obamas appointed staff.
The metro bombing is just the tip of the iceberg.
When are we going to have make this an issue which I have been commenting and post comments with links of evidence and like Yugoslavia this is the force they are using to destroy Russia and the entire Eurasia
The declassified 1998 Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) Intelligence Information Report (IIR) of foreign terrorists networks in Russia and the Crimea and central Asia from Afghanistan and Pakistan through Turkey and Azerbaijan from a 2000 Freedom of Information act request from Judicial Watch admits that there intention is to capitalise on an economic recession activating sleeper cells in Russia’s main Muslims republics and cities to acquire and use chemical and biological weapons.
http://www.judicialwatch.org/story/2004/nov/defense-intelligence-report-details-al-qaedas-plans-russia-chechnya-and-wmd
This issue is your specialty Peter and you more than anyone else knows the real history and what is going own as well as Professor Robert Bruce Ware who have more authority on the issue who visited and covered the region during the de facto independent state so why is RT interviewing other people who are not full time experts on the issue like the number 1 expert Paul Murph who runs Russia Eurasian Terror Watch Analysis.
His book Wolves of Islam is still the best resource on the topic.
Interesting in the case of this attack of reports of Muslim militants from Russia. Uzbekistan and China running flights in Pakistan/Afghanistan for training and preparation of attacks in there host nations.
Unsurprisingly the western mass media and commentary has taken the view of how the effects Putin and the Russian government standing the dead people are a non –issue and the constant canard of the desperate “black widow” which has been debunked in an interview with Paul Murphy in December 2004 posted on the retwa site.
http://www.retwa.com/interviews.cfm
31 March, 2010, 03:23
One fairly effective way to go about solving a murder case is by asking the question “who benefits most from the crime?” Although not a hundred percent method, its efficiency has a good track record.
Hence, I would disagree with Mr. Lavrov at pointing the finger at the Afganistan- Pakistan region (or rather the grey border area between the two); I don’t see how the extremists from this region would overall benefit from these terror acts. On the other hand if Mr. Lavrov is aiming at ‘relaxing’ the real criminal by giving the impression they’re after the wrong lead, then it’s a different scenario.
Again, one thing I dislike a lot is to make statements/half-accusations before any concrete facts/proofs are available. Pls, it will be a much better world if no finger pointing is made at all, even in the most suspecious of directions, before a complete investigation is made (even if it takes years) and proofs gathered. Going for the quick solution/kill to satisfy a public outcry is a gamble to say the least.
On the other hand, once the organisers are found (and hopefully they will), decisive action must be taken. This does not mean declaring wars on whole regions or countries of course, as group punishment has nothing to do with justice but is rather used as an excuse for agression to go after certain goals; this means targeting these particular individuals in a manner that corresponds to the nature of their crime, and there should be no time limit – one can only learn from the Israeli state here going after criminals all the way from the second WW period, and going after them in a manner that corresponds to the nature of their crime.
BR
Aleks
30 March, 2010, 22:58
Free Thinker,
It is interesting that you mention America democracy vs Russian democracy, and what you say about them. I am curious as to how you feel that your rights are guaranted ad inifinitum. During the cold war, being labelled a communist would entail ostracision from society. Freedom of association did not exist. American presidents physically bullied Canadian prime ministers. Time and time again, people vote for whomever has an overwhelmingly high amount of media coverage. Ron Paul has time and time again been shot down as not being recongised as a contender, and on top of that, being forced to work with a significantly smaller budget than candidates from the republicans and democrats. So you have a "democracy" where people chose the best of the richest candidates. Stephen Harper in Canada attempted to completely remove government payments to political parties based on votes received. His party has the best donation base, so he would immediately cripple all the other political parties, and essentially guarantee majority wins due to near monopoly of media coverage. This is the style of democracy you pit as superior to Russian democracy.
Regarding RT being state funded, it is of concern if the government starts to strongarm the news agency into talking about only certain stories. I have yet to see you provide anything more than speculation, and your own personal beliefs on the matter, so I will presume you have no proof of this actually occurring. RT does speak on many sensitive issues, and I regularily read articles on reforms Medvedev making and it being mentioned they are far from the final perfect solutions. Could Rt be talking more about it? Sure. Western media could be talking more on the plight of Christians in the Middle East. On the plight of non-Albanians in Kosovo. On what happened in Katrina. Black people looting food from stores were reported as "looting food" while white people were reported as "finding food" from stores. I find it interesting you ignore the negatives of American media and government.
With regards to Putin, you see him putting in numerous former KGB members into power. Putin came into power because Yeltsin put him in. He then won the elections. Twice. Putin put in people I presume he sees as competent and the right people for the job. I do this because that is what the very little evidence (or rather their performance in their positions) points to. You presume he does so because he wants his friends in power. You do this on pure conjecture and what I see as Russophobia that's been prevalent in Western nations for centuries. Having a different style doesn't automatically make you wrong.
Having said that, I see negatives in Russia. I also see a general improvement trend.
30 March, 2010, 01:04
Quick thoughts on this day’s events.
Posible goals of today’s terror attacks in Moscow subway:
1. Attention diversion: that is, maybe the country’s attention has to be kept off some other major event that is about to happen or is already under way. I’d be checking other surprising news.. .
2. Creation of Islamophobia in the country: this could have local distabelisation effect and also make the gouvernment change its stand on few international issues..
3. Economic and social distabelisation as more obvious.. .
To get to the end of it and find the ones actually responsible for these acts is the Best Strategy. Maybe the terrorists are not islamic; I think investigation has to comes first, then conclusions.. . I hope the findings are made public.
BR
Aleks
29 March, 2010, 12:16
Americans seem very sensitive at the moment. The American middle classes have been wiped clean in financial terms. There is deep scepticism at all levels about the wars in progress. Older Americans wanted to avoid foreign adventures. But its geo-political spread continues when its economy can no longer afford these missions of mercy. Other cultures do not endorse western influence. That message was also lost on the British until the penny finally dropped. Empire building has its limitations. Thats where America is today. RT is not makingup stories...its trying to asemble the facts. There is no subliminal message. America was bush-wacked by neo-cons. How can you disguise that fact by mincing words. Killing the messenger is no escape clause. The American Tea Party shows a new level of anxiety and fear of the future.
29 March, 2010, 05:44
The thing I don't understand is why Russia does not highlight the fact that there is direct proof since 89 of massive western support of organised crime and terrorism in Russia which threatens the very stability of Russia as a state.
There is 100% proof of involvement and organisation of the Nord Ost theatre attack and by extension links to the international jihadist terror network which proves they are sponsoring terrorism in Russia and although not conclusive as it has never been investigated good evidence of planning and foreknowledge of the Beslan school massacre potential smoking gun in Bosnia in Autumn of 2004 which I would really wish Russian investigators, journalists or RT would investigate.
I think actually the recession would be a good thing for Russia as the major industries created by Soros and the IMF colonisation of Russia and Ukraine after the fall of the USSR were state assets and resources where monopolised into companies of individuals linked to the Rothschild’s if it can create genuine new business sectors and companies and with the debt paid off truly independent.
Putin could not go after all the Oligarchs because they would ship there financial resources overseas just like Khoderkovsky in line with his master Lord Jacob Rothschild tried to do before the oil boom due to the Iraq war and collapse the economy.
If they are smart Medvedev/Putin create new genuine Russian business elite unfortunately Medvedev’s modernisation scheme is hampered as he appoints and listens to the very same people like Kudrin and Chubais.
The way things are going now it is an exact reply of history which you can see the tragedy coming a mile away.
29 March, 2010, 03:42
Mr Lavelle, there is a difference between alternative perspectives and letting the lunatic fringe run rampant in your broadcasts.
I believe that there is a valid complaint about RT's coverage of US issues. Alex Jones is interesting in an interview, but have you taken a closer look at his beliefs? Sit through The Fall of the Republic to the very end, and, you'll get a surprise. In my case, my stomach churned. And he is one of the more reasonable and moderate voices being tapped by RT.
Personally, I won't take anything from Wayne Madsen without a heaping dose, not just a grain, of salt. Danny Schecter, likewise.
The general impression that I get from RT's coverage of US issues is that it is intentionally trying to make the US look like a bunch of poorly educated buffoons. It's either that, or that it is intentionally trying to support a fifth column of neo-fascists inside the US. If some of the people that appear regularly on RT are ever allowed to attain power in the US, I guarantee you that it would be turned into a state very like the one my parents grew up in in Germany. You know the state I'm speaking of; the one that used the 'stab-in-the-back' legend to undermine the legitimacy and authority of the Weimar Republic and bring itself into power. The tactics, fear and paranoia-mongering methods being used are identical, and RT is being used as their platform.
Now, if Al-Jazeera can get reasonable, sane and balanced alternative commentary, why can't RT?
29 March, 2010, 03:07
Hi Evgeny,
I’ve got exactly the same story :). Only it took me ten instead of your twenty years to smarten up. I’m afraid though it took my parents twice longer to finally do the right thing as well.
What you describe is the wild, no-limits, Anglo-American style capitalism which has proven to be as disasterous as the socialist system (known in the West as communism) we used to have in Eastern Europe up until twenty years ago.
I’d aim at success by coping success stories: the social democracies of Scandinavia, Germany, France, Japan, where capitalism-yes, but the-state-the-biggest-player (eg. France) plus in total control plus keep the income gap as small as possible as part of people-our-greatest resource phylosophy, should be the path to follow in my opinion. Also, the German free education at all levels as part of ‘the young people are our future’ line of thinking is something we must focus on very seriously.
If I have to put forward priorities I’d go with two big ones:
One – Order: Order at any cost that is, for chaos is even more costly. Example in place: look at China. They are having now thirty years of steady development after turning to capitalism, because of not allowing themselves to slip into the abyss of anarchy so desired by the West; true, they achieved it thanks to the one-party system (at least honest about it unlike some in the West which only give a pretence of choice..), but the results are now available for the world to see. Compare this to the ‘Western sponsored’ Russian democracy of the 1990’s.. . Need I comment further. Result is not only merely ten years now of normal development for Russia, but also worst economic and social consecuences during previous ten: something the Chinese avoided altogether.
Two – Education: cost free at all levels and available (plus compolsary till certain grade) for all. Also quality of education should be at equal high level no matter if you’re in the center of Moscow or in the middle of Siberia, and this is of particular importance as a historical check can prove.
@Free Thinker,
I could go sentence for sentence addressing your comment, but know it will be of no use to you. Provided I find time though I’ll still do it for myself one day.. . More than that I cannot promise, nor want to.
BR (another Free Thinker)
Aleks
28 March, 2010, 05:48
Hi again Peter,
Here is an update on the economic recession (depression?) in the U.S. Last year personal income in California (my home state) declined by 2.5%. This is the worst decline in eighty years (since the Great Depression of the 1930's).
On the bright side, rent for my apartment decreased by $80 US dollars per month. I live economically and within my means. I choose not to drive a car and use public transportation all the time. I do not own a home and rent my apartment. I rarely "eat out" at restaurants because of the expense. By U.S. income standards, I live "in poverty".
However, I do not go hungry and live in clean, safe building. The neighborhood is a lively mix of people from all parts of the world, very interesting and entertaining. Plus, San Francisco is a fantastic city. I consider myself lucky indeed.
This will be my last post for awhile. I should be quiet and listen to others' viewpoints. What better way to learn new things? We were given "TWO EARS" and only "ONE MOUTH" for a reason.
Keep up the great work. Though we may not agree on everything, I consider RT and your blog in particular, an excellent source of information. Your friend as always.
Gene H.
San Francisco
28 March, 2010, 01:03
Peter,
As you can tell, I am feeling "talkative" today. I love my country, but it just occurred to me how arrogant we can be. We are just one country on the North American continent yet we call our country "AMERICA". This is sort of a verbal slap at every other country in North and South America. That would be like Russians calling their country "EURASIA". Just an idle thought.
Gene H.
San Francisco
28 March, 2010, 00:46
Re: "Wall",
Hopefully Russia and China will remain good neighbors and respect each other's borders and sovereignty. Perhaps I overstated the problem. There is the real issue of an exploding Chinese population in the Russian far east. The United States is experiencing the EXACT same problem. In the 19th century, we annexed large swaths of land from Mexico. Nowadays, large parts of the American southwest are predominantly Mexican because of the legal and illegal immigration of millions of Mexicans across the border. Russia also annexed land from China in the 19th century. Today, the far east of Russia is becoming increasingly Chinese for the same reason, mass immigration. The problem is not as severe for the United States because our population is not growing smaller and Mexico (unlike China) is not an economic giant and soon to be, a military superpower. Also, Mexico’s population is only one tenth of China’s 1.3 billion.
By the way, if Sarah Palin becomes President here, I will emigrate out of the U.S. I might even move to Russia if they would have me. (at least until a Democrat is back in power). I am an avid supporter of President Obama. Thanks for your very reasonable input.
Gene H.
San Francisco
27 March, 2010, 16:18
To Freethinker...
Your argument is baseless and comments display common fact knowledge but you lack any indepth wisdom.
You actually live in a country that has really one party with two factions of different names to create the illusion of choice when it is just a matter of whose turn it is to do the business.
You are given the choice to vote for bad or worse with not much in between.How in a country of almost 300 m illion can father and son both become president?Sounds a bit like a oligarchy if yu ask me.How is it that you need millions of dollars and commercially backed interests and media coverage to have a real chance at running for office?...Are you going to tell me that this is a fair and balanced system?
In effect the whole world of politics is essentially corrupt through favouritism among the movers and shakers and power based on who you know and what strings you can pull and your country is NO different but just comes with better window dressing.
No offence meant but it really has to be said if anyone wants the truth without all the back and forth.Forget about your qualifications and degrees obtained from trained subjective ideals and speak the truth
27 March, 2010, 01:35
Hello, Peter. Great Insights! RT has been a fresh breeze for a long time in the USA. All your insights are right on target. Last year our whole family has moved to Russia from the USA to work and live because we got sick and tired of the non stop lies and hypocrisy in the US penetrating all mass media, and life itself. The swine flue scam was the apotheosis of the world of cynical lies in which Americans live. It showed that a society where money is the driving force has no values and can kill if the need be. The USA military complex and financial elite have done their best to screen American citizens from any sources that would bring them truth. They have created a world of dull consumption and conformity that is comfortable for US citizens who are too busy consuming, too busy paying off debts for their comfortable lifestyle (their goal of ownership has been achieved - they are up to their ears in debt because they own cars, real estate, and get into more debt using their credit cards, etc.). On top of all that Americans typically have just two weeks of paid vacation (unlike a month or two in Europe) per year and have no time to stop working, consuming and spending, in order to think what the purpose of their lives is. They do not realize that they have no life, no freedom. The "freedoms" they have are in truth financial slavery. This horror of slavery kills freedom and true creativity, and the ability to think on you own. After living in the USA for over 20 years I realized that the American dream is to "OWN" an "CONSUME". The more - the better.
I personally know some Americans who are sick and tired of this artificial inhuman world. But they feel hopeless because they quite well know that Big Money will stifle any kind of effort to change and to reform.
We left the USA because we did not see a future in that country which has unfortunately lost the spirit of freedom that was the corner stone of the USA's Constitution. As a matter of fact I think there is no future in the USA. It is destroying itself by instigating wars in the Middle East, by its involvement in all kinds of schemes around the world to enforce its so called "freedoms". The world is sick and tired and many Americans are sick and tired too. The wake-up call is coming soon!
We have been very happy in Russia where a lot is being done to make life better for the citizens of the country. In addition, the richness and the depth of the cultural and spiritual life, superb education and great opportunities in every field of economy, offers spiritually rich life unprecedented anywhere in the world. Russia shows the Way!
26 March, 2010, 19:46
I will start by saying more grease to the elbows of RT and the likes of it the world over! The Western Media has had it too Good for too long. As Bob Marley put it, "YOU CAN FOOL SOME PEOPLE SOME TIMES BUT YOU CAN'T FOOL ALL THE PEOPLE ALL THE TIME". The time is here when things are starting to turn around and surely for the better of humanity.
26 March, 2010, 17:12
Re: True Democracy and freedom of the press.
I enjoyed following exchange between a RT journalist and Dimitry Peskov, Prime Minister Vladimir Putin's press attache:
"RT: Dmitry Peskov, thank you very much for your time!
Dmitry Peskov: it’s my pleasure.
RT: now, you’ve been with Vladimir Putin for the last ten years. He was a prime minister, then, he became president and is the premier again. What are your team’s plans for 2012?
DP: We don’t have any plans for 2012. We have plans for today, for tomorrow, for next week, for next month. These are plans of very tense work. we are not looking forward to 2012 and what I suggest is let’s not create a false agenda. Let’s look into today’s business.
RT: At the Valdai Forum, the premier said that there will be no Medvedev vs. Putin competition in the next presidential election. He also said that the premier and the president would sit and have a friendly chat and would decide who will run next. So does this inevitably mean that one or the other will run?
DP: No, he never said that they will sit and decide who will run next. They simply cannot. They simply cannot because we are going to have elections in 2012."
Peter, time will tell if this RT journalist is correctly concerned about collusion between Mr. Putin and Mr. Medvedev over who will be the next Russian President. I hope (for the sake of democracy in Russia) it is not true.
Conclusions: The very fact that the journalist asked these questions indicates some freedom of press.
Question: Is the Russian population able to view this interview in unedited form?
26 March, 2010, 14:36
re Free Thinker
“Russia cannot be regarded as a truly democratic state”
Again you seem to be "unconsciously I’m sure" missing the point with respect to the nature of corporate propaganda and democracy in the west. As Norm Chomsky for example points out "the essence of democracy is propaganda"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a4K2uBI61z4&feature=autofb
Were did you say you took your "political science courses" :)
Was it while doing one of these courses that you started calling yourself a “Free Thinker” I wonder if Peter also sees himself as a “Free Thinker”.
I think and I know you will agree Michael Parenti puts it well in this clip on “Paradigms & Perceptions”
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eHYeVd2pi68
In my work presenting RT's CrossTalk discussion program, I am often dismissed as part of a Kremlin propaganda project - sometimes by people who have never even watched the channel. My employer and my work are evidently an affront to the complacent and to those who feel threatened by a different - and I would say more sobering - view of the world.
How many readers of The Moscow News have ever heard of Robert Fisk, Norman Finkelstein, or Seyed Mohammad Marandi? Those who haven't are missing out.
Fisk is probably a known quantity to British readers. But in American media and the mainstream Anglosphere in general he is all but ignored. His extraordinary reporting from the Middle East spanning over 30 years is simply too truthful and distressing for American editors and the powers-that-be. Why is this? Fisk questions and challenges Washington's support of Israel and America's long-misguided approach to Middle East politics, speaking out against taboos that have long been considered off limits.
I am an avid reader of Fisk in The Independent. When he appeared on my show, he challenged and embarrassed another guest for claiming the Afghans were happy to be occupied by the US and its NATO allies. Fisk points out the hypocrisy of language that is a staple of Western media reporting.
He has been proven right more times than wrong when it comes to Middle East politics. Western mainstream media need to have a second look at journalists in the know who have a solid record of defying what we have been told. The fact is that terrorism in the Greater Middle East is the result of longstanding Western-backed injustices.
Norman Finkelstein is a hate figure for many of those who know of him in America and for many in the worldwide Jewish community. He is another person who is blacklisted by Western mainstream media for speaking his mind and revealing the frauds of others.
A child of Holocaust survivors - Finkelstein's father was on a death march in Auschwitz and his mother was a survivor of the Majdanek death camp - he challenges anyone who tries to use his deceased parents' memory for geopolitical advantage when invoking the Nazi genocide against the Jews.
I understand where Finkelstein is coming from. I lived in Poland for 12 years and visited every Nazi death camp. To this day I am left speechless by how the human condition can succumb to evil. Thankfully we have Norman Finkelstein to remind us that honoring the memory of the Holocaust does not automatically mean supporting Israel and Washington. As someone aware of how ideologies literally destroy people, Finkelstein is worth listening to when it comes of the suffering of the Palestinian people.
Seyed Mohammad Marandi is a professor of American Studies at the University of Tehran. Western mainstream media teaches its audiences that Iranians are towel-headed maniacs - a gross exaggeration, of course, and Seyed is a perfect example of an opinion-maker who defies hateful stereotypes.
In public appearances he is calm and confident - he knows Washington's armchair neocons are all agenda and no substance when it comes to what Iran is all about.
Marandi is not an apologist for Iran's current political order, but at the same time reflects upon the double-standards placed on Iran by Western powers. It is obvious to him that the West, particularly the US, is looking for still another pretext to wage war against Iran - the only country in the greater Middle East with a public that is actually largely pro-American.
Robert Fisk, Norman Finkelstein, and Seyed Mohammad Marandi are very different people with different points of view. However, one thing binds them - they speak the truth instead of getting along by going along.
Everyone should explore new and alternative media. If you don't, don't act surprised when your opinion is hijacked, once again, by media that does not seek so much to inform as to make you disagree with the Fisks, Finkelsteins, Marandis - and Lavelles - who are out there if you look for them.
This article was first published in the Moscow News newspaper
06 June, 2010, 04:44
Peter!
I am a Middle Eastern from Iranian-Iraqi-Kuwaiti backgrounds and I love your show! You organize serious discussions about the Middle East with serious participants, not like the ironic comedy we see on CNN, MSNBC, and Fox News. News and entertainment on American television are the same thing.
Please invite Rashid Khalidi to your show; he is a professor of Arab studies in Columbia University and he is a well-known critic of the Iraq war and the treatments of the Palestinians.
Thanks again!
24 March, 2010, 20:48
You could be better if you would bring more professionals and specialists on your programs.
Thank you for alternative television.
19 March, 2010, 11:18
Freethinker, i'll disagree with you concerning ex-soviet borders. That's as much a condition of mind, and a political delineation, as anything else. But a real example is Poland, and their obsession with "former Polish Territory", gained for a brief time when they invaded what is now Belarus, part of Ukraine, and of course what was part of Czechoslovakia.
I don't think Russia is as obsessive about former soviet states as you imply, and i'd be somewhat defensive too, if former participants (and they were willing political participants) turned around and tried to blame me for their own contribution into a political system that was perceived as.....wrong. Stalinist borders have nothing to do with modern day realities for modern people, but have everything to do with populism as a political tool to get elected. (Again, see the reign of the poison dwarfs in Poland for details.)
The recognition of South Ossetia, and Abkhazia, might be politically driven for the moment, but it's also important for ordinary people who wish for the same things. Freedom, their own little chunk of the planet, and the quest to determine their own destiny. There are forces at work who don't want the people to have this choice, precisely because it's their choice, and not a political directive, driven by those who lust for ever greater control over others. Then there is the political fear of these actions spreading. Consider what the US might do, for example, if California, or Alabama, decided to become independent, and no longer worshipped the stars and stripes. What would the government, and their backers do? Probably a variant of the same thing the Butcher of Tblisi did, with the same result. "You can't do this, because we know what's best for you."
Stalin's decision to lump tribes together in the caucasus was a mistake, and showed a resounding ignorance in the nature of multiple tribes and traditions in a small space. Where agreements and often blood spilled pacts had been worked out over a long period of time, enabling several different groups of people to each occupy their own space, with the occasional flareup, Stalin shoved them all in the same pot, then used brutalism to keep a lid on everything. This was never going to last, but for a brief period of time, the region had some semblance of peace. This "soviet" border, and region was always temporary, and only succeeded in delaying the inevitable, as evidenced in the current georgian government's attempted genocide in SO.
Larisa is correct in her evaluation of the Caucasus region. Far from being acceptable as a system (Soviet delineation), it's still a fact that for a brief period of time, during the reign of the USSR, this region was stable, and although the method of control was brutal, still stands as a relatively peaceful era in the history of the region.
As it turns out, South Ossetia, and Abkhazia are now legally owned by their people. From a cultural perspective, it's a return to a more natural order of things, where tribal groups are more "region bound" than during the soviet era. It's wrong to suggest that these countries belong to Georgia, for the same reason you cite as "sovietly acceptable." You cannot use this as a hammer to make your point in disagreeing with Larisa, then conveniently ignore the very same evidence when it doesn't suit you. That smacks more of Russia bashing than the province of sound, reasoned, argument. The people of SO and AB need no approval from anyone else for legitimacy, as they've simply returned to historical precedent, emerging from the artificial, and culturally unnatural construct of the soviet system.
Those who wish for a different result, like the Butcher of Tbilisi, and his backers abroad, have little to no concern for the wishes of the people, and every concern for political strategic interest, regardless of the cost in human lives. Whatever wrongs might have been perceived to have been commited by the USSR are being repeated, for the same reasons, by other nations today, hiding under a deceitfully presented flag of democracy, but in reality as brutal, and careless with human existence, as any closed political system. The Butcher of Tblisi is a throwback to the same dictatorial perception people have of Stalin, and his grand soviet vision. The difference is, he's artifically presented as being on the "right" side, by the same people who are arming him, giving him free rein in their media, and phoning him up and telling him when to slaughter human beings.
Truth, like beauty, is in the eyes of the beholder, particularly when it comes to politically driven media, but it's an undeniable fact, that on the eve of the Olympic Games, while the world's attention was turned elsewhere, the Butcher of Tblisi started a brief war with the intent of making South Ossetians extinct.
Nothing, no matter how well presented, or how enthuasiastically warped into a distorted "new truth', can hide this.
It's also highly amusing that you seek to imply some duplicity on the part of the Russian government, as if this behaviour is somehow exclusive to Russia. I could be mildly sarcastic, but i think you're worthy of pity more than scorn, given your enthusiasm for such a narrow and hopelessly inaccurate perspective.
10 March, 2010, 15:16
Any chance of getting ADAM CURTIS on your show. His BBCTV doc: The Power of Nightmares
10 March, 2010, 15:06
Larisa
'Euroman" in all probability is from one of those Euro countries that idolizes my USA and imitates it's brainwashed and uninformed countrymen's way of communicating, that is by incoherent "soundbites".
Fred....Oregon USA
05 March, 2010, 08:00
@ Free Thinker: I never said that Stalinist borders were acceptable. Stalin re-designed, re-divided or re-joined together parts that didn't belong together at will, based on his own whims and imperial vision. He, for example divided one republic, called Ossetia and left North Ossetia as part of Russian Federation (where it origianlly belonged) and gave South Ossetia to Georgia, just because he could. So did Khruchev, who gifted Crimea to his native Ukraine, also on a whim.
So did European powers and the US throughout history. They colonized Asia, Latin America and Africa. Territories, tribal lands were divided, joined and generally "reinvented" based on their own greed and expediency.
One shameful epizode from a relatively recent past was a sellout of Chechoslovakia to Hitler. Paricipants: UK, France and the honorary mention goes to Poland, which was happy to gets its own chunk of the neighboring country.
Another interesting epizode is very recent indeed, when Kosovo was created out of thin air on the land that belonged to Serbia, and its independence was promptly recognized by the very consistent and very democratic EU and US.
In history, my friend, these things happened routinely, the point today is to recognize what happened and make peace with the past in order to be able to move into the future.
And by the way, I know very well how far the issues between Abhasians, Georgians and Ossetians go. Caucasus, where lands are fertile and where many small nations and tribes live very close together ahs always been a hotbed of rivalries and armed conflcits, exacerbated by the hot blood of its inhabitants. These are very old conflicts, and so far only USSR had been successful in keeping them under control.
Speaking of which, if you do know about these old conflicts and are pretending that you care about those nations, how hypocritical it is of you to say that S. Ossetian and Abhasian lands belong to Georgia. What about people living there, people who have been mistreated by those Georgians under the slogan "Georgia for Georgians"? What about S. Ossetians' and Abhasians' long term aspiration to be free of Georgian dominance? In your opinion all these people don't count and they should have no say on how they live on their own land, land that belonged to them for thousands of years?
With all due respect, it is you who is inconsistent here.
05 March, 2010, 07:22
@euroman: Generally speaking, your statement makes no sense to me, since I have no idea what Sky News is, what relation it has to the EU, and how you arrive at a conlcusion that I heve no idea what EU is? And who is "we" that is not buying the "lies", not to mention what lies exactly are we talking about?
By the way, I am not paid by anyone, although it appears you might be.
05 March, 2010, 03:56
I began watching RT with interest, thought it would be a true news source from Russia especially( not just places to eat in Moscow and museums to visit- I can read guide books for that) but find it is propagandistic. What about crimes against correspondents, corruption, the oligarchs? All news about Russia is positive and news about the U.S. especially, negative and bordering on glee when anything upsetting to the American economy occurs. It is evident and clear. Please!
05 March, 2010, 00:11
RE: Larisa
It's rather funny how Stalin's "borders" are unacceptable to Russia in the case of Georgia and then in other situations, in the case of Eastern Europe for example, Stalinist borders that today define much of Poland, Romania and Estonia, are deemed to be Ok. I think that some consistency in in order here, but then again Russia has never had a problem with pursuing two different contradictory and hypocritical policies in order to further it's aims.
As for the history bit, I suggest you do some impartial research on the matter. You might just find that the Georgian/Ossetian/ Abkhazian issue goes back a long way, even before the time of uncle Joe.
Notwithstanding Georgia's historical claim on these territories, with all due respect, pre-1991 history is irrelevant. Legally speaking, south Ossetia and Akhazia belong to Georgia and Russia lacked capacity to act in this instance. Firstly, by giving citizenship to those people it compromised its UN mandate, secondly through its behavior in the pre- and post war period it ceased to be regarded and accepted by the global community as an impartial actor and thirdly its response was totally out of proportion. Russia does not care about the Georgians, Abkhazians or the South Ossetians, it only cares about advancing its own imperialist aims.
04 March, 2010, 15:43
Larisa is paid by Sky News and has never heard of the EU.We are not buying the lies though.
04 March, 2010, 07:06
I just read a statement by Free Thinker and I am amazed at its ignorance and misplaced riteousness. I would have thought that by now even a five year old knows that georgia started the S. Ossetian war and that some Russian peacekeepers were killed by them in the process. That Russia was obligated to respond to Georgian aggression based on the UN mandate. That S. Ossetia and Abhazia never belonged with georgia but were forced into it by Stalin (born Jugashvili, a bonified georgian, who was freely doling out lands that didn't belong to him to his fellow georgians).
And that it were Georgians (who could never have been a majority in Ossetia and Abhasia, since they were not a native popluation there) who started ethnic cleansing of the native Ossetian and Abhasian populations in these republics in 1990s, which was the reason for the Russian peacekeepers' UN mandate in the region in the first place.
I wonder what is the source of the "Free Thinker's" info? CNN? BBC? Or perhaps Washington Post? Same "free thinking" press - same difference.
04 March, 2010, 04:09
Good article.
04 March, 2010, 01:09
On a happier note:
Today, already yesterday :), is the 3rd of March, Bulgaria's National Liberation Day, and as a Bulgarian I would like to say:
"Thank You Russia and Thank You Russians for giving us this day!"
In all fairness, also "Thank You" to the people of Romania and also Finland, for You too sacrificed a lot for our freedom.
BR
Aleks
04 March, 2010, 00:50
@Newfoundlander,
Evidence!?
I can't stop smiling :). Have you been living on a space station for the last twenty years.. . We live in the age of cheap media stunts, where any statement, even if 100% lie, can be shoved down our throats with absolute minimum effort.
Anything from the so called "wars" in Yugoslavia, Iraq, Afganistan, where agressor is represented as the saviour of the world and the victim as pure evil, to data manipulation on history, economy, climate change, health.. you name it.
We've been worked upon to be passive observers of how everything human in our lives is taken away from us, and that with out consent; to work a few jobs, have 0 free time, not to think (God forbid), to bye staff 90% of which we absolutely don't need (otherwise we're backward and not keeping up with "progress"/''our time''), to watch as if in a trance how freedoms and rights that took centuries to achieve are taken away from us in a decade, to watch how people die on TV as form of entertainment.
To be asked to present Evidence today, is a sign that you're weak. The strong can make any statement, charge anybody with any crime, no Evidence neccessary, and we must take it, or otherwise we're "extremists" or "mentally unbalanced."
BR
Aleks
03 March, 2010, 05:55
I looked at the Sochi article Mr Hockney pointed out. Quote "The entire region of southern Russia and the eastern Black Sea region "is also plagued by poverty, corruption and organized crime," she wrote in her essay. "It is both a source and a route for trafficking people, drugs, and weapons -- including documented instances of radioactive materials -- into Europe.". I would call it drivel too. Where is the evidence for this statement?
02 March, 2010, 22:12
M. Hockney wrote: "I do not see Russian news services abusing the hospitality of their UK hosts when they visit by reporting relentlessly on alcohol abuse, poverty, homelessness, drug abuse, political corruption etc…."
We-ell, when RT journalists come to London do you expect them to have tea at Buckingham Palace and write silly articles about the nice clothes the Queen is wearing or how lovely Green Park looks in the spring? I don't think so. Only last week, bless me, there was an item on .. alcohol abuse in the UK. And quite right too. If you think it was wrong for RT to do that then you have a strange idea of journalism; if you think it was OK, and yet wrong for foreign news media to highlight problems in Russia, then you run the risk of being branded a bit hypocritical.
As for the Canadian item on Sochi, I agree it was questionable, but only insofar as it called into question Sochi's suitablility to host the next Winter Olympics on the basis of its proximity to a war zone. That is a matter of opinion and the opinions presented were of tabloid simplicity. The facts leading to this questionable opinionating, however, are not "drivel".
I'd also respectfully remind you of the huge negative publicity attached to Vancouver by the - shock horror - Western media before and during the recent games. That's the nature of the beast of journalism I'm afraid though. Artistic photography it ain't.
02 March, 2010, 08:51
Hopefully RT obliterates Western media hegemony over the next 5 years. The state of media in New Zealand is horrible. I was watching 3news tonight, which is owned by Mediaworks, and the nonsense they spout is unbelievable; tonight they had a story about a nude cyclist as the second news item, then they drifted onto some nonsense about Lady Gaga. Everything is entertainment now. It started with sourcing stories from the states, and now its gone to pure garbage.
Our media never questions the global war on terror, nor do they show you the reality of what's going on. Words like "Blackwater" and "military-industrial-complex" baffle most kiwis. No surprises there.
I don't care about the so-called "reporters" who are losing their jobs in the US; if their quality is sub-par and they do a horrible job then that's their fault.
02 March, 2010, 05:44
I am delighted to watch the Peter's shows. It is always entertaining and humane. Some of his guests acting like wicked brainless barbarians despite the files and rankes in the society. From evolutionary perspective the visual processing, not language carries more weight in human perception. Subconscious face recognition takes only 150 milliseconds and occurs way before semantic analysis!
02 March, 2010, 04:26
All Free Thinker was doing was listening to Western media and believing it.Hence "Russia invaded Georgia". It dos not matter what the facts are, what matters is that Russia is made to look dangerous and aggressive. As recent history has taught us truth is a dispensable commodity when it comes to the interests of resource politics.
02 March, 2010, 03:59
I know Russia is going to totally blow this opportunity like it did every other one the last one being the Georgian conflict and connections to NATO and how it was pre-planned and the leads you could have followed but I hope RT does extensive reporting and live broadcast reports of the Karadzic’s trail in The Hague when it is revealed that US and western intelligence worked with Islamic terrorists and Osama Bin Lain in the Balkans and disprove the now debunked genocide lies.
@Free Thinker
You are wrong about your history Georgia started the conflict in the regions under the first nationalist government and president abolished the autonomous status of the region, language and voting rights under the slogan “Georgia for the Georgians” and sent in troops in the regions to perform ethnic cleansing of native Abkhazians and Ossetia’s along with CIA UNO-UNSCO Ukrainian mercenaries which in retaliation was done to the native Georgian populations.
Since then using Georgian forces and Chechen and foreign mercenaries have repeatedly launched attacks on the border regions.
And the regions were never part of Georgia proper they were part of the Russian empire and later under Stalin incorporated in Georgia as autonomous regions.
Where is the evidence of Georgians being the majority if they were not the native inhabitants?
And Russian was authorised there under a UN mandate and have a right to respond which under the UN agreement they did to respond to an assault.
And the purpose of the assault was not simply to take back the regions but to ethically cleanse them just like they did to the Serbs in the Krajina in fact it is the same MPRI forces that trained the Georgians with refugees fleeing into Russia proper so they had a right to intervene.
Russian only intervened about 12 hours later when US and Britain reject a Russian UN emergency council proposal calling for an immediate ceasefire if they had not done so Russia would have had to intervene.
02 July, 2010, 02:10
Has Peter quit bloging?
30 June, 2010, 05:26
@Babeuf
What nonsense are you talking about?
Basayeav has commented on it with a pro-Chechen angle for ITN here in Britain and ABC in the US mixed with misinformation and lies.
The captured Chechen terrorist the only one to survive was an ethnic Chechen as well as Chechen terrorists releasing a video of them in the woods planning the attack.
And they were not all ethnic Chechens there were reported to be Arabs a Kazakh as well as militant cells from neighbouring Ingushetia.
So if you are indicting that Russians staged it themselves to justify Chechen/Muslim brutality your flat wrong.
And there connections to international terrorism are well established even US court documents and 9/11 commission report itself acknowledge this.
28 June, 2010, 22:49
Why is it that the "Chechen terrorists" who were interviewedfollowing the bombing of the Russian school in Belsan spoke Russian and could not speak the native Chechen language?
22 June, 2010, 23:51
@Edward Slagle
Security of voting data is certainly a concern, whether electronically or paper. The security of electronic voting machines is not isolated to the USA, but, some attention to this is called for where ever these types of machines are used.
19 June, 2010, 00:58
Why not have a segment on rigged elections in the U.S.--particularly those rigged via voting machines. The timing would be most appropriate, in view of the fact that there appears to be evidence that there was voting fraud via machine manipulation in the Democratic primary for a U.S. Senate seat in South Carolina. In that election a political novice named Alvin Greene, who had no funds and no web site, won that primary contest against the party favorite amid allegations (and some evidence) of voting irregularities. The American media barely mentioned the possibility of machine tampering. In Virginia, I understand, the machines are fixed in such a way that a recount of actual votes is not possible. The documentary Hacking Democracy has provided proof that a voting chip (in at least one case) has been implanted in voting machines that flips a vote for one candidate to that for another.
The near-absence of comment about this problem by the media and by politicians suggests that the votes in American elections are very probably in danger throughout the nation: and a democracy in which the vote is stolen is, by definition, not a democracy.
17 June, 2010, 07:00
I watch the news all the time here,and not heard of any finger pointing at Russia on this?There was only news that Russia had been victimised by terrorist attack on subway.We feel about the same as you when it comes to terrorism.
02 June, 2010, 20:43
My sincere hope that Pat (I am an Irish Catholic like him) will rally around our President during our worst crisis since Pearl Harbor. This oil spill catastrophe is MUCH LARGER than anyone knows. If the public knew everything, there would be panic.
24 May, 2010, 00:25
Where is my comment?
@Sierra Nevada
I don’t seeing how western pundits stance on the latest Metro bombing by “rebels” is in any way constructive seeing how they do not head there own advice by waging global war against a fictitious “war on terror”.
That it is Russian military presence in the region not the over a billion dollars worth of foreign financing, training and military and other aid which the also seem to neglect the fact that during the period before the first war and de facto status after it that under both terrorist/fascist Chechen regimes they started a campaign of mass rape, murder and ethnic cleansing of the entire Russian population 200,000+ the North of which was historical Tesek Cossack territory incorporated in Chechnya under Khrushchev and a base for criminals across Russia to operate freely threatening the stability of the entire region causing a Russian military intervention in the first place.
They never use the same logic or self critical evaluation in regards to the London bombing or 9/11 or terrorists attacks in Israel.
H for hypocrisy.
23 May, 2010, 21:40
Does Peter LaVelle ever take any "constructive" criticism? It amazes me that a man such as Peter does not welcome comments that go against his viewpoint. Sometimes, people develop traits which inhibit logical thinking and I think that Peter is completely "brainwashed" when it comes to Russo-American relations. Peter often calls it
"pragmatism", however, I believe it is called being very naive'.
20 May, 2010, 18:15
I used to watch Peter Lavelle's comments/programme avidly when I could get RT on my telly. No longer, unfortunately as I moved.
I was wondering whether Peter is still commenting, as there seems to be little on his blog? Hope he is still going strong.
Best regards, A. Kessler
09 May, 2010, 14:00
Hello,
I am very happy that we people of Serbia could watch Russia today and can hear informations from other side.
This means we are tired of Western point of view. We Serbians dont have capacity to stand against tirany of our common historic enemies. In our perspective same forces are doing same things and what has been happening in 1990ies in Yugoslavia is identically whith what was happening in 1940ies. Germans satelites Croats fascist came on power and with same mathods and ideas use agresive methods against Serbs and outcome is that they expuld Serbs, what have left of them in Croatia after Genocide in WW2 where they were more than 35% of population. All this offcourse whith german and Vatican assitance and unfortunately USA assistance. Now they are only 2%. in Croatia!!! Same is in Bosnia and same about Kosovo and Albanians fanatics. Vatican took great part in Genocide in WW2 and Katolik church in Croatian supported massive horrible way of execcution of elder man Serbs and convertation of little children in Katolicism. Estimately both in Croatia and Bosnia more than 1 million Serbs were brutally killed. Civillians and very often children and women. Can You please make your own investigation and cover this stoty and pay more attention on Kosovo issue and Criminal activites of Western countries against Serbian population and our south province Kosovo and Metohija which they have took from us.
Best regrads,
Vladimir
06 May, 2010, 03:23
Why is RT not covering the Karadicz trial?
05 May, 2010, 03:31
"Decisions are of value only when they are made freely. When it is done under pressure by a power, it is naturally undemocratic."
What do you think of this statement?.. Pls don't try to find out who said that before you give an answer.
Why is it that anybody who makes sense today has to be presented to the greater public as 'evil' or 'not making any sence'? And, really, are we people, the human race, so easily controllable, so ready to give up our most basic right - to think for ourselves?
If I sound too negative It's just because it is a great disappointment for me to watch how the vast majority of people nowdays are so easily manipulated into believing this or that.
BR
Aleks
(just thinking aloud..)
03 May, 2010, 05:38
Russia is in the situation it is in now because for reasons that totally escape me it refuses to mention the fact which it must have plenty of evidence that these are manoeuvres against Russia and Eurasia especially in regards to this terrorist threat and with US led operations in Afghanistan the have billions of dollars in financial capital from heroin trade to engulf the whole Eurasia region and Russia into a disastrous civil war with use of biological and chemical weapons for the destabilisation of Russia.
1917 redux.
This would be revealed if Russia put a full effort and outstanding issues like the like the Litvenenko affair that would put Britain on the spot of involvement with Berezovsky and MI6 of Plutonium smuggling scheme to name but one instance.
Yet Russian commentators and RT can even admit that all these groups are financed by foreign states and backers. European mosques are revolving doors as far as Chechnya goes.
03 May, 2010, 00:27
no,no,no.. He's not just anti-american He's communist friendly Ex-KGB junior informator :)
26 April, 2010, 15:47
You are good presentator, but just too much anti american, do you have other topic than just anti american issue???
25 April, 2010, 04:08
If there is foreign investment in the terrorist group that are responsible for the latest metro attack in Moscow, then it should be bought to light. Because they are also responsible and accountable for the carnage.
24 April, 2010, 18:27
Why has Poland been left to deal with this catastrophe on its own?
Merkel could have at least attended the funeral, she would have been there in a couple of hours by helicopter. The country is virtually leaderless and getting no support from its EU or NATO allies!
22 April, 2010, 02:46
It is very sad that the western politicians couldn't attend the funeral of the Polish president, the one who was swaying the fraud gold currency system. The unvisible ash cloud prevented to fly to Poland, and the western politicians weren't able to use other means (train, ships) to get there...
And how convenient to certain, soon Europe will be full of cheap air route businesses and cheap countries on the brink of bancruptcy, just ripe to be harvested...
This is hypocrisy. This is lame.
20 April, 2010, 01:55
Peter,
I was just reading all the 'thank you Russia' comments from all the Polish people regarding the article "Polish president killed in air crash near Russia's Smolensk" (Published 10 April, 2010, 21:40), when my wife (proud Westerner - French) peaks over my shoulder and says: "What, they're thanking the Russians for killing their president?" ..
I was first stunned for a few seconds, then pissed!..
You see, she does not care at all about politics (like a tipical French really) and hates, and knows very little about history, but I've been watching and commenting this story at home for a while now.. and this is still her natural, off-the-top-of-her-head, without-thinking, first reaction to a "Thank you Russia" comment from a Polish person.. .
If anything it only shows how well you've chosen the topic here; Western media (even French, which is much less Russophobic) has done a very good job of totally brainwashing its own people. They cannot think for themselves anymore, but just spit in the open preprogrammed behaviour. Sure I've met some exceptions, but they only confirm the rule: the general population, which form the image, are just poor lost souls. It's like they managed to build a 'Berlin wall' into the heart of every single one of these 'chosen ones' and no matter how heard you try, you cannot penetrate it.
Do I believe in miracles? I mean, if Polish people managed to wake up because of this huge tragedy, maybe Westerners will manage one day too?!.. I'm not so optimistic. I hope I'm wrong.
BR
Aleks (from Bulgaria)
ps. ..fighting this virtual 'Berlin wall' every day of my life.. :)