Jim Hoagland: Rooting for cynicism in Russian-American relationship
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posted by zaina19 on September, 2007 as ANALYSIS / OPINION
From: MSN NicknameEagle_wng (Original Message) Sent: 9/7/2007 5:44 AM Sept. 6, 2007, 8:27PM Jim Hoagland: Rooting for cynicism in Russian-American relationship By JIM HOAGLAND Washington Post Russian prosecutors say that the separate grisly murders of two of the Kremlin's most vocal opponents during the past year have a common motive: They were committed by enemies of Vladimir Putin to frame and embarrass his government. A similarly sinister hidden agenda lies behind U.S. plans to create anti-missile sites in Poland and the Czech Republic, Russian officials are telling Western diplomats. The silos that the Americans say are needed to defend against Iranian missile attacks will, in the Russian version, be stuffed with multiple-warhead offensive rockets aimed at Moscow. These "explanations" of murders and missiles raise a chilling question about Putin's Kremlin: Is it worse if the Russians are cynically offering up blatantly implausible tales as propaganda — or if the Russian president and his aides actually believe their own accounts? Americans should root for cynicism. Hostile governments run by self-delusional fantasy are far more ... >> full
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Bin Laden as a fantasy figure
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posted by zaina19 on as ANALYSIS / OPINION
Prev Discussion Next Discussion Send Replies to My Inbox Reply Recommend Message 1 of 1 in Discussion From: MSN NicknameThe_Cama1 (Original Message) Sent: 9/7/2007 9:42 AM September 2007 Bin Laden as a fantasy figure Riches beyond belief Most of the factoids that have become canon about Osamabin Laden and the financing of terror were estimates,guesstimates or simply made up, as in the case of hispresumed $300m personal fortune. But these fantasieshave driven real and dangerous actions. By Ibrahim Warde Michael Lewis, in Liar's Poker, his classic portrait ofWall Street in the 1980s, described how he invented"logical lies" as an investment banker to explainotherwise inexplicable events to nervous clients. Askedwhy the dollar fell, he would confidently say: "SeveralArabs had sold massive holdings of gold for which theyreceived dollars. They were selling those dollars formarks and driving the dollar lower." In his words: "Mostof the time when markets move, no one has any idea why.A man who can tell a good story can make a good livingas a broker. And ... >> full
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Russia: Beyond The Duma Vote, Presidential Succession Looms
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posted by zaina19 on as ANALYSIS / OPINION
From: MSN NicknameThe_Cama1 (Original Message) Sent: 9/7/2007 9:50 AM Friday, September 7, 2007 Russia: Beyond The Duma Vote, Presidential Succession Looms By Robert Coalson Russia -- St. Petersburg's Governor Valentina Matviyenko with President Vladimir Putin at a meeting at the Smolny Institute, St. Petersburg, 24Oct2006 St. Petersburg Governor Valentina Matviyenko is seen as one of several possible successors (file) (TASS) September 7, 2007 (RFE/RL) -- Despite the flurry of activity in recent days surrounding the December elections for the State Duma, the March 2008 presidential succession remains firmly at the center of Russia's political agenda. Indeed, the Duma vote has repeatedly been described as merely an opening act for the main bit of political theater looming in the spring. Much of the analysis of the party positioning as the Duma campaign was officially launched this week focused on who would feature at the top of the party lists for the pro-Kremlin Unified Russia and A Just Russia parties. If the two seeming front-runners at this point -- First Deputy Prime Minister Sergei Ivanov ... >> full
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Musco byte: Tatiana Shaumian
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posted by zaina19 on as ANALYSIS / OPINION
From: MSN NicknameEagle_wng (Original Message) Sent: 9/9/2007 2:16 AM Sunday, September 09, 2007 The grand cover-up Musco byte: Tatiana Shaumian Ten months after the brutal murder of crusading journalist Anna Politkovskaya, Russian police late last month announced the arrest of 10 suspects and a solution to the mystery of who ordered her death. But, as often happens when Russian officials announce the results of their work, there are more questions than answers. Politkovskaya, who would have turned 49 last week, was gunned down in the lift of her apartment building last October 7. She was Russia's best-known investigative reporter, a harsh critic of the Kremlin and an uncompromising chronicler of corruption and human rights abuses in Russia's twilight war against separatism in Chechnya. Her death set off an international wave of recrimination, with many in the West blaming President Vladimir Putin for fostering an atmosphere in which Russian journalists are routinely harassed and persecuted. On his part, Putin pledged to use all the resources of law enforcement to bring Politkovskaya's ... >> full
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posted by zaina19 on as ANALYSIS / OPINION
rom: MSN NicknameEagle_wng (Original Message) Sent: 9/9/2007 2:37 AM © MN 06/09/2007 Skinhead Russia Few things can shock society today. One of them was a video recently posted on the Internet that appears to show the execution of two men. The three-minute clip, posted by a LiveJournal.com user, signed "antigipsyone," on August 12, shows a Dagestani (from the North Caucasus) and a Tajik (from Central Asia) kneeling on the ground with their arms and legs tied up. A swastika is displayed in the background. "We were arrested by Russian national socialists," they say in voices trembling with fear, after which one of them is beheaded and the other is shot in the back of the head. Police investigators are currently examining whether the video showed a real or staged execution. Preliminary examination suggested that it was probably staged. Whatever the case, the video highlighted the neo-Nazi threat in Russia. A Strange Legacy Russia's skinhead movement appeared in the early 1990s, amidst that era's social and economic turmoil. As often happens, a ... >> full
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