Posted on 04/12/2010 6:06:15 AM PDT by shortstop
Has anyone thought that maybe the Russians did it?
This plane crash over the weekend, the one that killed the Polish president and decapitated the Polish government, are we completely sure it was an accident?
Because, if it was, it was an accident that did the Russians a lot of good. And if it wasn’t an accident, it fits right in with Russian ambitions for renewed empire.
No, I’m not a conspiracy nut and, yes, I did grow up during the Cold War and, yes, I do believe Reagan got it right when he called them an Evil Empire.
And, yes, if I was the president of the United States, or of some European nation, I would be nervous.
Here’s the history and the situation.
Russia has been a nation and culture bent on conquest for centuries. It has repeatedly through time dominated, invaded or conquered any number of peoples and countries across portions of Europe and Asia. The Soviet Union, the last such Russian empire, collapsed less than a generation ago because of pressure from the United States, inherent defects of socialism and communism, bankruptcy and a thirst for independence among its chattel states.
With Poland in the lead.
It was the Poles who first effectively stood up to Russian communism. That resistance was one point in a long and savage history of Russian oppression of Poland. Ironically, but maybe not coincidentally, the Polish leaders flying to Russia over the weekend were doing so to commemorate the anniversary of a Russian attempt to decapitate the Polish government and society. Allied with Hitler early in the Second World War, the Russians gathered together more than 20,000 officers of the Polish army and systematically killed them all. It was an attempt at cultural and national genocide, hoping to strip Polish society of its leaders and thereby render Poland easier to conquer.
It worked, and there’s a part of me that wonders if Russia has tried it again.
Because Russia clearly wants back the nations it held captive during the Soviet era. And it is engaged in violent conflict to get them back.
In Krygystan within the last week, for example, mobs many believe were armed and goaded by the Russians have toppled a pro-West president, trapped more than 1,000 American airman at a U.S. air base, declared alliance with Russia and called for the closing of the American base – an important military supply route to Afghanistan.
Russia is also involved in ongoing military tensions with the Republic of Georgia, tensions which include a Russian military invasion and occupation of parts of Georgia.
And then there’s Ukraine, where the president was the target of an assassination attempt – he was poisoned with dioxin – that many believe was arranged by Russian agents.
Notice the trend. Ukraine, Georgia and Krygystan were friendly to the United States. They all were once in the Soviet Union. They all have been in the targets of Russia.
Which brings us to Poland and its president.
Lech Kaczynski was pro-American. He rejected the influence of both the European Union and Russia in favor of alliance with the United States. He actively sought membership in NATO and he very much wanted to be under the umbrella of an American anti-missile shield. He wanted to be out from under the threat of Russian nuclear attack.
Kaczynski was embraced by George W. Bush but rebuffed by Barack H. Obama, and the nuclear arms-reduction treaty that Obama signed just last week with the Russians came with the public proviso that the Russians would abandon the treaty if America developed any technology to protect itself or anyone else from Russian nuclear bombs.
And now Lech Kaczynski is dead. With him are the senior commanders of the Polish military, the leader of the nation’s central bank, leaders of parliament, top businessmen and social leaders.
Poland is decapitated.
In the same town where it was decapitated 70 years before.
Poland’s pro-American leadership has been wiped out. As the last major former-Soviet vassal to want friendship with the United States, Poland’s government is gone. Like Georgia and Ukraine, it has met misfortune.
In a plane crash that was, before any sort of investigation, immediately declared the result of pilot error. The Russians have said that the Polish pilot repeatedly ignored the advice of Russian air traffic controllers and flew into trees and the ground.
That seems unlikely.
Pilots obey air traffic controllers, pilots avoid flying into the ground, it is extremely rare for a plane to crash.
And it has been more than 50 years since fog has been an impediment to modern instrument aviation.
And to top it all off, Vladimir Putin is in charge of the crash investigation. That’s the same Putin who was a career officer in the KGB and who ordered Russian troops into Georgia, and who would have ordered any attack on the Ukrainian president.
So forgive me for being suspicious.But Russia won big this weekend.
And history teaches us that that’s not usually an accident.
Ummmmmmmmmmmm. As far as I can see, everyone thinks the Russians did it.
The guilty dog barks first. I thought it interesting how quickly Putin said “I’ll personally lead this investigation”.
http://lamecherry.blogspot.com/2010/04/polish-assassination-in-theory.html
http://lamecherry.blogspot.com/2010/04/not-polonium-210-this-time.html
two cents and all that....
I never saw this reported - did I miss decent coverage, or has it been ignored?
Poland is a member of NATO, but the poles have this great admiration for the Russians, they love the Russians because the Russians have always treated them with kindness. LOL, kidding of course. If Poland’s population was like 300+M, they would invade Russia for the fun of it.
No, I seriously doubt it was.
Of course, the Russians were behind it...but I feel SO much better because Putin is leading the investigation. sarc/on
I would think that if the Russians are capable of sabotaging the plane and making it crash then they’d do it on the return flight when it was in Poland rather than in Russia.
But a crash location in Russia gives them the ability to control the evidence and the pattern of the investigation.
Neither was shooting down the airliner over Sakhalin? with a strong anti-communist Copngressman ,among other people,in the 1990s.
and now with an ally in the white house, the russians can move ahead. Moogly the man cub must go
Doubt it highly. Sounds like the crew was pressured to land to meet their passengers’ schedule(s). Happens.
I bet when all is said and done, they’ll find that the crew did a classic “duck under” in their failed attempt to land in fog. I flew out of the central valley of CA for years; the fog there was unbelievable (especially in winter). Pretty familiar with such conditions.
Add to that...the reports that they couldn’t use the Russian ILS due to “incompatibilities”, which may or may not be true. IF true, they were attempting to execute a visual approach in heavy fog.
That is suicidal.
Kyrgyzstan opposition forms own new government
Both in breaking news on those days.
They wanted peace with Russia, but in the end, there can be no peace with Russia. Russians wont allow it.
I want to hear the cabin recording from the black box before I decide. But the Russian had motive AND opportunity.
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