Posted on 11/27/2006 12:33:08 AM PST by Zakeet
MOSCOW--Until a week ago, Alexander Litvinenko, a former colonel in the Russian Federal Security Service, the FSB, was virtually unknown outside the murky world of Russian intelligence. With his death in London from a massive dose of the radioactive element polonium 210, however, his fate may lead to a fundamentally different relationship between Russia and the West.
Beginning with the Yeltsin era, two U.S. administrations have muted their criticism of Russia. This was the case even in the face of a series of political murders in Russia. But if Litvinenko, a British subject, was murdered by Russian intelligence on British soil, self-censorship is no longer an option. Unless we want to give the Putin regime carte blanche to dispose of its enemies on our soil, we now have no choice but to react.
Russian television has given an explanation for the murder of Litvinenko as surrealistic as any offered by the Soviets during the Cold War. It attributed his death to intrigues in the entourage of the exiled Russian oligarch, Boris Berezovsky. An announcer on the evening news said Litvinenko was "a pawn in a game whose significance he did not understand."
Mr. Berezovsky, however, had no reason to kill Litvinenko, whose views he shared and whom he had helped since his arrival in the U.K. in 2000. In November 1998, Litvinenko revealed a plot to kill Mr. Berezovsky who, at the time, was the deputy head of the Russian security council. The evidence points instead to Litvinenko having been murdered by the FSB, which, together with the other "force ministries," has become the dominant political force in Russia today.
(Excerpt) Read more at opinionjournal.com ...
...and should avoid sushi bars in the future!
A rat is a rat. Putin never was anything but a staunch
commie. Glad we've a new congress that will stand
up to this bully!
You are kidding I hope?
You can't expect this congress to stand up to anything.
Mr. Berezovsky, however, had no reason to kill Litvinenko, whose views he shared and whom he had helped since his arrival in the U.K. in 2000. ==
Berezovskii has all reasons to kill Litvimemnko just to implacate And frame Russia and Putin. Rassia wanted him for many crimes during Yeltsin times. He knows it and this scandals may help his cause against extradiction to Russia.
After all notice that those killing of Politkovskaya and Litvinenko happened just during Putin vists in Eu? Why it didn't happen during his visit to Asia recently?
You should go after those who had motives. It is not Putin because his approval rate in Russia is near 75%.
I think you forgot the /s switch.
I keep hearing this, but I don't get it. Putin will suffer nothing from this. The West will do nothing. I think it is more likely that Putin intends to become a dictator. Time will tell. If that is the case, this is exactly what one would expect. He sends a very obvious public message that anyone who challenges him will die. Nobody is safe anywhere in the world.
You must be a very brave man :)
And Stalin's was, what, 95%? Higher? Lenin's was easily as high. Heck, wasn't it under Brezhnev's administration that there was no crime at all?
Yeah, Soviet Russian leaders never overstate their popularity.
"It is not Putin because his approval rate in Russia is near 75%."
And Stalin's was, what, 95%?==
Putin' rate is from the popular opinion research and polls. It calculated with same technology as Bush approval rate.
I'm not a Russophobe. It was my great hope that Putin would be our allie and promote liberty and democracy in his country. However, his actions suggest to me that he wants to recreate the empire. Are you pleased with his actions regarding Iraq, Iran and North Korea? He has chosen to compete, rather than cooperate with us. Maybe I am wrong and I am just misinterpreting his actions. If so, it is not because of Russophobia. Attempting to invalidate an opinion by using terms like Russophopia, homophobia, racist, sexist etc. is weak.
Goldfinger.
He for sure knows who George Soros is and what he does for living.
A masterful PR campaign by Bell Pottinger Communications.
Mr. Comrade "theprodigy" what other FR name were slithering under posting pro-Kremlin disinformation prior to this new FR name?
"I am inclined to believe that these killings are either the work of Chechens or Berezovsky, or maybe some other party interested in discrediting the current Russian government."
"The Comrade Club" strikes again!
Putin may go for 100 percent voter approval...like Saddam did.
/s
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