Posted on 05/23/2006 11:34:06 AM PDT by Tailgunner Joe
MOSCOW — Its only known address is a half-collapsed abandoned building, and its only telephone number doesn't work. But somehow a secretive lobby group, with reputed links to Russia's intelligence services, has emerged as a possible source of inspiration for President Vladimir Putin's state-of-the-union speech.
When Mr. Putin gave his annual televised address on May 10, military analyst Ivan Safranchuk immediately thought the President's words about national defence sounded different from the rest of the speech.
"That part seemed out of place," the Moscow director of the World Security Institute said a few hours after Mr. Putin's appearance. "Maybe there was a different speechwriter for that section." More observers started wondering who wrote Mr. Putin's remarks, after political gossip websites pointed out the uncanny similarity between the President's text and an essay published by a private organization based in St. Petersburg that calls itself the Public Association of Veterans of Special Services.
If this lobby group did have a role in crafting Mr. Putin's speech, analysts say, it would be a troubling sign because the group also lobbies against democracy and favours a return to rule by emperors.
"It looks very serious," Mr. Safranchuk said. "It means these views have deeply infiltrated the Kremlin."
Mr. Putin's speech made headlines with the assertion that Russia must rebuild its military to resist foreign pressure. The President cited the nationalist writer Ivan Ilyin, saying the job of soldier should be considered an honourable profession. Russia's conscript army should be transformed into a two-thirds professional organization, Mr. Putin added, which would allow a reduction in the mandatory military service to 12 months from 24.
All of these ideas -- along with many of the sentences, paragraphs and the same quotation from Mr. Ilyin -- are contained in an essay on military reform posted at http://www.specvet.spb.ru.
The website claims to represent veterans of Russia's special services from the northern city of St. Petersburg. (Mr. Putin would theoretically qualify for membership, as he was born in the city and served the KGB and its successor agency the FSB.) Google's cached database of Internet sites shows the St. Petersburg site existed at least since February, and some Internet references suggest it was published months earlier, but it's impossible to confirm exactly when the military-reform essay was posted.
The site contains no names or contact details for its owners, and its only external link is to the FSB website. But registry information provided by Relcom Business Network Ltd., the site's Moscow-based host, says it is managed by somebody named Nikolay Petrov. Mr. Petrov did not respond to e-mails and there was no answer at his telephone number last week.
The website's postal address, southeast of downtown St. Petersburg, is a jumble of crumbling red bricks and empty window frames.
Alexander Yermolayev, a former KGB major-general who serves as executive secretary for a group of special-services veterans in Moscow, said he has heard of the St. Petersburg organization and believes it is legitimate. But the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991 splintered the KGB veterans into many sub-groups, Mr. Yermolayev said, and his group has lost contact with the former officers from St. Petersburg.
"Such bodies as the special services present great danger if they are used as political instruments," Mr. Yermolayev said. "But nobody thought or cared about that when they divided and broke the structure." A source familiar with Russia's special services said the St. Petersburg group probably consists of former and current members of the GRU, the military-intelligence unit established in 1918 by Vladimir Lenin. Unlike the KGB, the GRU was never disbanded after the fall of the Soviet Union.
The website argues that Russia should be ruled by one leader who isn't regularly replaced by elections. "Democracy is a trap, and democrats are demagogues," the site says. "For Russia, democracy is as foreign as cannibalism." Instead of democracy, the website proposes a blended model of czarist rule, Communist-era authoritarianism and votes with limited enfranchisement: "Like a democratic Soviet Union, headed by Czar Alexander III," the website says, referring to fierce nationalist emperor.
"There will be elections, but not democratic," the site continues. "Only the elite would be allowed to vote." Under the website's model, all ministers and governors would be appointed by the elected ruler, whose terms might last 20 to 40 years. Leaders of the Russian Orthodox Church would bless the leader and encourage support for the regime. "Thus the ruler will serve God, and people will serve the ruler," the site concludes.
These ideas aren't entirely outrageous in the country's current political climate, in which many Russians associate democracy with the chaos and lawlessness of the 1990s. Leonid Sedov, a senior analyst at the independent VTsIOM-A polling agency, said roughly 80 per cent of Russians dislike the idea of democracy. While only 3 per cent want a return of the pre-revolutionary czars, he said, about 16 per cent think Russia needs an authoritarian ruler such as Stalin.
"that reveal that Yushenko's 19 year old son drives an (unmarked) $120,000 BMW M6, carries a $43,000 Vertu cell phone, lives in a ridiculously expensive apartment, regularly goes clubbing and goes through $1000 bottles of Cristal, "
He is a very successful marketing professional, but your numbers are wildly inflated - the BMW was used when he leased it and there is no cell phone or Cristal in the world that expensive.
Incidentally, this is the same son who was nearly assassinated TWICE by RUSSIAN SCUM that tried to kill his father.
"He is a very successful marketing professional, but your numbers are wildly inflated - the BMW was used when he leased it and there is no cell phone or Cristal in the world that expensive."
BAHAHAHAHAHA That is HILARIOUS. You don't actually believe what you write, do you?
"Incidentally, this is the same son who was nearly assassinated TWICE by RUSSIAN SCUM that tried to kill his father."
Oh yah? How about a link to some legitimate sources with that information? What's that you say? You can't provide the info? Oh, that's right.
Vertu cell phones (one of their models): "USD 88,300 Vertu cell phone that features eight carats worth of pavé set diamonds)
Kristal: Roederer Cristal Rose-Limited 750ml 1999 $1100
The ultimate imported French Champagne. For connoisseurs the world over, there is nothing finer. Aromatic, with mid-palate richness as well as density to the honey and white chocolate flavors. The overall impression is a tightly wound Champagne, with very good concentration and length.
Yushenko's son claimed it was his "friend's car" - his dad said he leased it. No 19 year old in the WORLD has a part-time consulting job that earns that much money. Unless, of course, his dad is a corrupt president.
Well stated and I fully agree. You are correct Kosovo was part of the Serbian Empire up until 1389 when the invading Ottoman horde forced many of the population to 'submit' or be put to the Islamic sword.
"And the west is making sure that he Muslims in Kosovo have no problems when the blow up the remaining churches, and behead the remaining Christans."
I know. In terms of Iranian Revolutionary Guards (killers) exported by oil rich OPEC's Iran, to incite the Yugoslavian Muslim to fanaticism during the continuing WWII Yugoslav wars of the 1990's and still smoldering, do not forget Russia, although interlinked ethnically and religiously with the Serbs continued supplying Arabs nations which in turn were supporting 'jihad' in the former Yugoslavia.
All sides in Yugoslavia committed unspeakable war crimes during the worst of the various slaughters from the Balkans wars, WWI, WWII through the 1990's. Nobody had clean hands - nobody.
Today Putin is the best friend to the most vial of the Islamic murderers in Iran, Syria and their jihadic proxies in the likes of Hizballah and Hamas.
"We cannot mount a complaint against foreign governments attitudes towards islamic terror when we aid it in some cases ourselves. It's blatant hypocrisy and hypocrisy makes no allies."
As Americans it is our duty support our own nation against all enemies both foreign and domestic. When our own elected leaders coupled with the unelected political hacks at the State Department commit grievous acts of openly siding with the Islamic enemy as was the case in Kosovo and Bosnia knowing hardcore jihadists had made substantial inroads among the population, it is also our duty not to remain silent.
The former Yugoslavia remains a tinder box with a short fuse.
The Serbs had Russian mercenaries fighting on their side. What if the Serbs had one under the remaining communist tyrant in southern Europe, Moscow would have regained more influence in an area they did not fully control in post WWII European in part due to communist Tito playing his version of the maverick. Imported Islamic savages or Putin's Russian moles with key footholds in the Balkans. What a choice...
In relation to Putin, the Trans-Caucusus' are boiling over with Islamic madness, in part due to Moscow's historical viciousness which has an elongated dark history of brutality towards the non Russian native population. While on the other hand Putin arms Iran with all the military hardware to kill Americans and Israels in the upcoming showdown. Putin is arming dictator Assad's Syria who arms Hizballah. Putin was arming Saddam right up until we began the ground war to take out his brutal Ba'athist pro-Soviet régime Talk about hypocrisy, that sly KGB fox may have fooled some on the Hill, the E.U. & beyond, but in the real world Putin is just as much an enemy of freedom as the crazed jihad-o-holics he supplies with advanced weaponry, the same ones which have sworn to wipe US off the map along with Western civilization, only if we appease the enemy though our inactions.
In the end we will have to fight Iran and the Russians - sooner or later.
I think that depends a lot on when we need to fight China.
I would expect China to attack the Russians first (they have much needed oil, and easy to expand to space to the north), and I don't imagine we'd turn a blind eye to China invading Russia...
"All sides in Yugoslavia committed unspeakable war crimes during the worst of the various slaughters from the Balkans wars, WWI, WWII through the 1990's. Nobody had clean hands - nobody."
Well stated.
In terms of IRBM cheating, here is something to ponder. The typical Chinese, Paksitani or soon to be, Iranian TEL deployed IRBM could easily roll onto any number of "former Red Air Force" transports now in the command of Victor Bout. So let us suppose that, one fine morning, that is exactly what happens. The planes then fly to somewhere such as, oh, lets say, Kaliningrad, or the eastern tip of Siberia, or perhaps, the edge of the Crimean Penninsula. I cannot think of a more dashing way to break the INF with sudden wild abandon. Perhaps, the first hint of the treaty's demise would be missiles in the air. Given our performance on 9/11, I must seriously wonder, how, in reality, NORAD and NATO would actually respond. How long would it take them to move from being dumbfounded dip@&@&$ to being strategic nuclear defenders? Consider the flight times, given the scenario I've set forth. QUICK! HEADS UP! DECIDE NOW!
Thank you Sir.
And Russia is dancing with a Tiger on that too.
China needs lots of oil and gas.
Siberia has lots of oil and gas.
Russia has practically no one living in Siber.
China has excess folks to put there.
China will strike one day, and they'll want resources up front of other aquisitions, no help feed their military for future endeavors.
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