US portraying Russia as "rogue state,” says Duma deputy
Published: 06 September, 2011, 17:53
(RIA Novosti / Ilya Pitalev)
TAGS: Military, Nuclear, Russia, Politics, USA, Robert Bridge
The Liberal-Democratic Party of Russia has proposed reassessing relations between Russia and the West because, as the parliamentary faction claims, the United States is excessively meddling in Russia’s affairs.
Calling the reset between Moscow and Washington “a failure” on a par with perestroika, Sergey Abeltsev, deputy leader of the Liberal-Democratic Party of Russia (LDPR) also warned that Cold War winds are beginning to swirl again between the nuclear powers.
"The 'reset', like 'perestroika' is a failure,” Abeltsev told the State Duma on Tuesday. “The Cold War principles are coming back and the format of relations with the West must be reassessed with an emphasis on Russia’s national interests."
The parliamentary faction deputy leader, who is also a deputy speaker in the Duma, pointed to “alarming trends in international relations,” namely the “militarization of world politics.”
Interestingly, the comments by the Duma deputy echo those made by former US Secretary of Defense Robert Gates, who shocked a home audience in the summer when he warned on the "creeping militarization" of American foreign policy.
"It has become clear that America's civilian institutions of diplomacy and development have been chronically undermanned and underfunded for far too long, relative to what we traditionally spend on the military, and more importantly, relative to the responsibilities and challenges our nation has around the world," Gates warned in July.
"Overall, even outside Iraq and Afghanistan, the U.S. military has become more involved in a range of activities that in the past were…the exclusive province of civilian agencies and organizations," the now-retired defense secretary added.
Meanwhile, according to Abeltsev, the US is playing the leading role in attempting to brand Russia as a “rogue state”, with the ultimate goal of pushing Russia out of big politics altogether, he said.
The LDPR deputy accused the US of interfering with Russian projects, both at home and abroad.
"Seeing the world as the sphere of its national interests, the US continues to interfere [with Russia] in nearly every direction,” he said.
When asked to back up his allegations with concrete evidence, Abeltsev said Washington is “assailing the South Stream project, encouraging subversive activities of…marginal political groups and even openly interfering in our domestic affairs.”
He then specifically mentioned the “Khodorkovsky, Bout and Magnitsky cases,” which have attracted much attention at home and in the US.
In November, LDPR leader Vladimir Zhirinovsky slammed the United States for the "illegal deportation" of Viktor Bout, who is presently sitting in a US prison awaiting trial for arms smuggling. Bout vehemently denies the charges.
"This is what disrespect toward a country is," Zhirinovsky told Interfax.The LDPR has 40 out of 450 total seats in the lower house of the Duma.
06.09.2011, 15:40
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Russia how long is it going to take you to understand that the western imperialist don't like you and and everything you believe , the whole have a wrong mindset about russia , Until you guys wake up and defend your country and your ideology Russia will be a puppet in the eyes and about your nuclear technology you pride yourself so no country will challenge your defence you make us laugh , there is a world these people a creating and Russia its not part part so we want russia to wake up take its position as a global leader who the interest of the world and especially the developing world at heart.
Robert, I didn't mean "crusaders" (as christians, enforcing their religion on other cultures) literally. I said it metaphorically applying their principles (enforcing the ideology and colonizing lands) to Neocons snooping in other countries, and Russia specifically.The US harbors people of different origins (including religious) and allows them in some degree to maintain their original cultures (this is pretty recent trend, though). But, if it allows other religions "to work" -- this is questionable. And it is not necessary, from my point of view. If I came to the US to live, I would become American. This is why I would come their in the first place. Why should I carry my culture with me, the one from which I run away? It doesn't make sense. Unless we are talking about colonization of America, of course...Anyway, working it is when, like in Jerusalem, you could see different cultures having equal control of the city. Or even take Russia. You saw recently pictures of Muslims in Moscow celebrating the end of ramadan. Thousands. I thought they were in charge of Russian capital. I cannot picture any US city allowing that today. And am not even talking about the fact that Russia has regions mostly populated by Muslims and run by Muslims.I think the US is making progress in that direction. Is it good? I don't know -- my observation -- the more poor a country and the more weaker its government, the more multicultural and diverse it becomes. So, this may be an indicator of the "American health".






I'm not well informed about international relations but I'm pretty sure that one huge influence on US policies is the oil industry, affecting taxes and environmental policy as well as international relations. While everyone felt that George Bush was an oil man and Clinton wasn't, it appears that President Obama also is friendly to Big Oil---some think too friendly. I think it would be a good idea to find a different route for a new oil pipeline than the middle of the largest aquifer in the country, for example. Oil and coal may be a reason why the US is not putting much more money into developing alternative energy. Two US oilmen, Charles and David Koch, are extremely rightwing and active in funding thinktanks and politicians. They hate unions, poor people and in effect they hate democracy. And there are quite a few Americans who accept at least some of their views. Much more could be said, but financial elites like the Kochs don't contribute to the US making reasonable domestic or foreign policy.