Still alive, Boris Yeltsin says Latvians should forget word "occupation"

Marathon Pundit ^ | September 4, 2006 | Marathon Pundit

[Land_of_Lincoln_John]

Simply because of its location next to the Soviet Union, Latvia was forcibly annexed by the Soviets and brutally occupied for fifty years. But don't call it an "occupation," says former Russian President Boris Yeltsin.

Denial is a common symptom for alcoholics, as well as megalomaniacs. Yeltsin, who somehow has manage to dodge the grim reaper, is probably both of those, so what he says shouldn't be taken seriously. Yeltsin visited Latvia last week, and his visit was undoubtedly another reminder to Latvians as to why they should be grateful they're an independent nation again.

From Mosnews.com:

Latvia should forget the word "occupation," and then its relations with Russia will improve considerably, former Russian President Boris Yeltsin said in an interview with the Latvian daily Neatkariga, quoted by the Baltic Times.

"You are blaming Russia for Latvia's occupation. Do you have any brain? Are you able to look at things in an objective way? Where was Russia at that time? There was no Russia. There was the Soviet Union. There was this monster. The Soviet Communist regime, which we were all fighting, said Yeltsin.

No. Yeltsin was not fighting the Soviet Union. He was nothing but an opportunist who saw Gorbachev's "Glasnost" as his chance to move up the ladder in Moscow. For decades, Yeltsin was a member of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union.

Oh, check out the URL for this story: http://www.mosnews.com/news/2006/08/25/latvianobrain. Yes, "Latvia no brain."

[Tax-chick]

I had no idea Yeltsin was still alive.

[Cheburashka]

Boris Yeltsin is a man with flaws. And he was at one time an appartchik, something he glosses over in this story.

Yet he resigned from the Politburo in 1987 on a matter of principle. Note that in 1987 It was hard to believe that the Soviet Union would not outlive everyone then alive. I certainly believed it would outlive me. To resign from the Politburo was to resign from the Soviet aristocracy and further meant dragging all your family down with yourself. And no one can forget his actions in August 1991 as President of Russia in opposing the coup, which brought the freedom to all of the Soviet Union's citizens, not merely the Russians.

One can dispute his opinions, one can't dispute his right to express them.

[JimSEA]

Too bad Yeltsin was an alcoholic and thus a failed leader. I am afraid that Yeltsin may be fondly remembered by the Russians after Putin completes his effort at turning the clock back. My conspiracy fantasy involves Putin taking advantage of a WMD attack on USA to complete his return to a police state and his quest for an open dictatorship.

[The_Reader_David]

Hey, cut Yeltsin some slack.

He was the one who killed the Soviet Union, by, of all things, having Russia secede! We, the Russians, and the Latvians (among many others) should be grateful to him.

His point is that there is neither an identity nor a continuity between the Soviet Union and Russia as it exists today. Moreover that the Communist ideology was a foreign import, not indigenously Russian, infecting the half-Westernized intelligentsia first, so in some sense, Russia, too was occupied. Besides, it was a Georgian, not a Russian, at the helm of the Soviet state when it occupied Latvia.

[Sergei_DV]

Without help of Latvian gunmen emigrant communists could not occupy Russia in 1917. Communist ideology was sort of religion, exploiting some Christian commandments. But words of leaders diverged with deeds, as it is often occurs with politicians.

[Thunder90]

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[lizol]

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[1rudeboy]

Without help of Latvian gunmen emigrant communists could not occupy Russia in 1917.

Not exactly sure what your point is . . . are you suggesting that Russians are incapable of occupying a country themselves? How embarassing.