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Vladimir Putin in firing line after the shot that could change the world
heraldsun.com.au ^ | July 20, 2014 | PATRICK CARLYON

Posted on 07/20/2014 1:10:29 PM PDT by Tailgunner Joe

RUSSIA’S President, Vladimir Putin, the little man with the big stare, has always been in control. It starts with those chameleon eyes and what, at least one observer assumes, must be decades of practice. Does Putin ever blink?

He has never bothered with charm. No need. Newspapers that write the wrong thing? They close. Naughty rock singers? They go to jail. As for Western powers united in condemnation? So what?

Until Thursday afternoon, that is, when a plane fell out of the Ukraine sky and Putin, a master manipulator and (sometimes shirtless) man of action, sensed it at once. A student of history, he recognised a turning point.

The MH17 disaster was a coincidence of timing, a tick over a century to the day since a crazed Serbian nationalist, Gavrilo Princip, shot dead the heir to the Austro-Hungarian throne, Franz Ferdinand.

The Archduke’s assassination was terrorism at its clumsiest, a blunder in a heightened time of tension. Comparisons are tempting. Putin seemed to know that the downing of MH17, too, would be a shot “heard around the world”.

He blinked. He had lost control.

For the first time in months, if ever, Putin feigned care for Western attitudes. First, he told US President Barack Obama about the MH17 blast in a (previously scheduled) phone call. There was a cabinet meeting, with a minute of silence (photographed), and his (published) declaration that such acts were “absolutely unacceptable”.

Then, the real work, the kind of shameless propaganda for which Putin owes his popularity at home — despite an economy hurtling into recession — could begin.

He stopped playing at Ivan the Terrible and started playing at Bob the Builder. There must be peace, he proclaimed, despite the many months he had surreptitiously sponsored war.

If his backflip seemed absurd, it also showed the depth of Putin’s dilemma.

As did Ukraine’s decision yesterday to publish a photo of a dead infant in a field. Accompanying it was an accusation against Putin, the glib kind that sticks: “Damn you for centuries.”

By then, as the numbing details grew, Putin had been promising transparencies that conflicted not only with his leadership, but with a personality type that loathes scrutiny or small talk. Putin promised a thorough investigation. Subsequent reports that local military chiefs could not agree to a ceasefire, and therefore allow access for investigators, seemed truer to Putin’s disingenuous styling.

One report says the Russian separatists were using the confusion to destroy incriminating evidence.

For months, Putin had denied connections with Russian separatists. The US, meanwhile, had tightened sanctions against Russia’s biggest companies for those connections — this was the original point of Thursday’s phone call with Obama.

At first, Putin had sought to offload responsibility, to smudge any association between himself and the suspected perpetrators. They are ragtag zealots — some armed with sophisticated weaponry originally designed for World War III, some wielding sticks. They constitute what have been labelled in America as “Russia’s Taliban”.

For Putin, the opening gambit went like this — the Ukrainians were to blame.

If there was no war, he argued, the tragedy would not have happened. No matter, it seemed, that Ukraine broadcast audiotapes, apparently of separatists describing the crash site. The speakers sounded disappointed at an absence of weapons amid the body parts.

No matter, too, that a Russian separatist fighter, Igor Girkin, had apparently imitated drunken sports stars everywhere, and taken to social media to boast of the downed plane. They had been warned, Girkin posted, before someone in his camp thought the message might be best deleted.

GIRKIN had form. In late June, he wrote on social media about acquiring “Buks”, the type of rocket launchers almost certainly responsible for MH17’s destruction. Back in April, Girkin, a figure almost as nebulous as Putin himself, nominated one-third of his fighters as non-Ukrainian: soon afterwards, he said it was 10 per cent. His materialisation at the time — he is thought to be a Russian intelligence officer — bolstered the case for Russian involvement.

Girkin said most of his men had followed from battles in Crimea, which was annexed in March and led to a massive poll surge for Putin. It was only in April, with typical opaqueness, Putin admitted that insurgency had involved Russian troops.

Girkin has a prim moustache and a thirst for nationalist military causes in former

Soviet states. He has been variously described as “wildly Messianic” and “delusional”, and is fond of donning old uniforms to re-enact nationalistic military scenes.

On Friday, The New Yorker’s David Remnick offered views of Putin and Girkin from a former Putin adviser, Gleb Pavlovsky.

The adviser said Putin was no Joseph Stalin, who bent public opinion to his whims by contriving of a healthy nationalist majority against a “pathological” liberal minority.

Putin certainly has strategic interests in Ukraine — a Black Sea warm water port, and Russia’s concerns about a spread of Kiev’s increasingly Western perspective. Yet Pavlovsky spoke of Putin’s continuing menace in Ukraine as a political ploy aimed at a home audience.

“Today, 40 per cent of Russia wants real war with Ukraine,” the adviser told Remnick.

“Putin himself doesn’t want war with Ukraine. But people are responding to this media machine. Putin needs to lower the temperature.”

Putin’s problem is that all threads of blame, ultimately, lead to him. On the ground, the troops are considered Putin’s “proxy” fighters, given their ideological bent, regardless of how directly Russia has armed them. He was already isolated politically; earlier this year, Prince Charles dispensed with the usual niceties, and compared Putin’s incursions in Ukraine to the work of Hitler.

If, as assumed, the MH17 attack was a deliberate strike on a mistaken target, the argument goes Russia should never have allowed such unprofessional troops, with primitive radar systems, access to such sophisticated weaponry.

After all, this was the third plane strike in recent days — the first two were against Ukraine military craft. Michael Desch, from University of Notre Dame, argues that in such circumstances, such a tragedy might have been anticipated.

Obama offered a surprisingly muted opening response. Other American representatives openly assumed the separatists launched the MH17 attack. They lined up to denounce Putin for reneging on de-escalation agreements.

Senator Lindsay Graham hinted of a wide sense of residual bitterness.

“I don’t even need the airliner incident,” he said. “I would go ahead and arm the Ukrainian military so that they could better arm themselves, and I would push the international community to get behind the new round of sanctions. (Putin) doesn’t need to shoot down an airliner to be in my bad graces.”

Putin would be mindful of the consequences of the 1983 shooting down of Korean Air Lines Flight 007, when 269 passengers died. That error upset the Soviet Union’s Cold War priorities.

His Ukraine ambitions appear to be scuttled, lest he buck a torrent of condemnation from Europe, the US, as well as Australia. He chose to ignore sanctions from the start of this year. The tragedy of MH17 redefines him and his plans.

From now on, every time his government closes a business, or is accused of murdering a journalist, he will stand to be scrutinised with an attention he has never before received.

The chameleon has lost his camouflage. For now, he is being told to end a war. As the Wall Street Journal wrote yesterday: “This isn’t a neighbourhood autocrat trying to redress local grievances. He’s a would-be czar ... This has been obvious for years for those willing to look.”

PUTIN is due to attend the G20 summit in Brisbane in November. Those who encounter him will be surprised to find that, like so many powerful men, he is surprisingly short.

He bows to his country’s former greatness, and the little favours his ancestral history turned his way. Putin’s grandfather, a chef, served Rasputin, Lenin and Stalin. In his office, Putin sometimes turns to the collection of Stalin’s books. He shows off the red crayon scribbles in the margins to visitors.

Putin has wielded superpowers for decades, but little is known about his private pursuits — he once admitted, begrudgingly, a fondness for Brahms and the fact he does not do email. His spy past is credited for his air of secrecy. When a reporter asked about his marriage in 2008, her newspaper closed soon afterwards. Such methods are effective; Putin has two daughters, but no photos have been published of them as adults.

Members of Pussy Riot, an all-girl rock band, were jailed in 2012 for subversiveness (among other things, their lyrics were critical of Putin), despite the worldwide bemusement. Gays are bad and empire-building is good; Putin has never cared much about world opinion, certainly not when populist politics play well to traditionalist voters.

“I think there’s going to be hell to pay,” said John McCain, assuming Russian-backed involvement. Other Congress representatives spoke of acts of “war” and “terror”. Putin, much like the Malaysians discovered with MH370, cannot control the intensity or direction of the worldwide media gaze.

He is the first leader to extend Russia’s borders since World War II. In 2007, he lamented to Time magazine the dissolution of the Soviet Union as a “tragedy”, mainly because 25 million ethnic Russians were stranded in “foreign” lands.

In the same interview, he expressed suspicion foreigners cast Russians as savages so they could better meddle in its internal affairs.

Now, internal savageries have exploded as a global scandal.

Russia’s chameleon leader has lunged for territories with a sudden and sharp flicks, much like the reptile gathers food with its tongue. His gaze, it seems, will now be forced to cast further than the aloof disregard he has normally shown for realms beyond his troubled patch.

Putin’s snappy response suggests a keen awareness a single rocket launch on Thursday on Thursday afternoon could be empire changing. As was a bullet fired by a crazed nationalist in a Sarajevo street a century ago.


TOPICS: Editorial; Foreign Affairs; Russia
KEYWORDS: mh17
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To: elhombrelibre

I think the rest of your analysis in the previous post was right on target.

There are people in the US who have been spiritually devastated and economically destroyed by Obama and they had to look and maybe even hope for a strong world leader.

However, Putin is simply a product of the Russian mindset, Russian paranoia and Russia’s demand for a dictator.

One day Putin will be gone, but the Russian paranoia will live for a thousand more years.

We cannot drag Russia into the 21st century when they refuse to leave the 17th century.


21 posted on 07/20/2014 1:45:13 PM PDT by Oliviaforever
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To: GeronL

Yup.


22 posted on 07/20/2014 1:45:40 PM PDT by Obadiah (None are more hopelessly enslaved than those who falsely believe they are free.)
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To: elhombrelibre

Dude... you don’t want to see the pics, trust me. I am sure you can google it but you might as well loo for pics of that naked fat girl on “Girls”


23 posted on 07/20/2014 1:45:55 PM PDT by GeronL (Vote for Conservatives not for Republicans)
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To: GrandJediMasterYoda

Obama thinks the world is all better and quieter than it was.

Just like he thinks the economy is going gang-busters.


24 posted on 07/20/2014 1:46:54 PM PDT by GeronL (Vote for Conservatives not for Republicans)
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To: Tailgunner Joe; All

Gollum from LOTR’s reminds me of Putin:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gollum


25 posted on 07/20/2014 1:47:06 PM PDT by Biggirl (“Go, do not be afraid, and serve”-Pope Francis)
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To: Biggirl
I think he looks like Dobbie from Harry Potter


26 posted on 07/20/2014 1:48:22 PM PDT by GeronL (Vote for Conservatives not for Republicans)
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To: GeronL

You mean they had orgies in state-owned, Putin-approved churches and there is no news link to this? I’ll look for that. I agree that his critics are vile and vulgar, but I won’t agree that he’s leading a free nation. He allows no criticism, and if the vulgar underclass strikes back at him with their gross manners I’m not surprised.


27 posted on 07/20/2014 1:49:51 PM PDT by elhombrelibre (Against Obama. Against Putin. Pro-freedom. Pro-US Constitution.)
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To: elhombrelibre

I did not mention Obama and am in no way an Obama apologist.

To a larger extent, my point that was touched on in a previous post is that to understand Putin, one must understand the Russian mindset.

Obama has failed in that respect as did Bush and every American president for the last 100 years, except Reagan.


28 posted on 07/20/2014 1:50:25 PM PDT by Oliviaforever
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To: GeronL

I guess because Putin like Gollum, have both been obsessed with something, the former with having a new Russian empire, the later with a good ring.


29 posted on 07/20/2014 1:51:12 PM PDT by Biggirl (“Go, do not be afraid, and serve”-Pope Francis)
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To: Oliviaforever

I’m pretty sure you’re wrong. Truman was the first president to confront the Russians in a direct and honest way. Nixon, whom I’m no fan of, did too. Kennedy talked a good game, but was feckless in the implementation. Naiveté about Russia and communism was not true of all US leaders. On the world stage, Churchill was right from day one. He wanted to strangle communism in its cradle. As for Obama, the number of things he’s wrong on are so numerous as to be impossible to count.


30 posted on 07/20/2014 1:55:59 PM PDT by elhombrelibre (Against Obama. Against Putin. Pro-freedom. Pro-US Constitution.)
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To: Tailgunner Joe

Wishful thinking. Putin still holds all the cards.


31 posted on 07/20/2014 1:56:56 PM PDT by Timber Rattler (Just say NO! to RINOS and the GOP-E)
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To: GeronL

For you!

http://www.theguardian.com/film/2003/jan/30/harrypotter.news


32 posted on 07/20/2014 1:58:12 PM PDT by Biggirl (“Go, do not be afraid, and serve”-Pope Francis)
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To: Tailgunner Joe

33 posted on 07/20/2014 1:59:32 PM PDT by Fear The People (When the government fears the people, you have LIBERTY.)
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To: Biggirl

lolz


34 posted on 07/20/2014 1:59:53 PM PDT by GeronL (Vote for Conservatives not for Republicans)
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To: Tailgunner Joe

Wow — this article skewered this son of a chef.


35 posted on 07/20/2014 2:00:04 PM PDT by Uncle Chip
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To: GeronL

Making my case for Gollum of LOTR:

http://www.madmagazine.com/blog/2013/06/18/proof-that-vladimir-putin-stole-the-super-bowl-ring


36 posted on 07/20/2014 2:00:27 PM PDT by Biggirl (“Go, do not be afraid, and serve”-Pope Francis)
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To: GeronL
...or he looks like a meerkat or ferret...

Putin Spies His Look-Alike...

37 posted on 07/20/2014 2:01:20 PM PDT by Fear The People (When the government fears the people, you have LIBERTY.)
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To: Biggirl

lol

That could work too


38 posted on 07/20/2014 2:01:29 PM PDT by GeronL (Vote for Conservatives not for Republicans)
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To: Fear The People

hahahaha


39 posted on 07/20/2014 2:01:50 PM PDT by GeronL (Vote for Conservatives not for Republicans)
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To: Tailgunner Joe
This is what happens when a power punching brawler gets a preening ballerina (Obama) on the ropes in the ring.

We should pray that Obama resigns and that the Russians accept our unconditional surrender - this isn't going to end well

40 posted on 07/20/2014 2:02:14 PM PDT by atc23 (The Confederacy was the single greatest conservative resistance to federal authority ever)
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