Posted on 07/27/2007 4:49:07 PM PDT by NormsRevenge
MOSCOW - Former President Mikhail Gorbachev said Friday that the fall of the Soviet Union, which he helped bring about, ushered in an era of U.S. imperialism responsible for many of the world's gravest problems.
Gorbachev is lauded in the West for ushering in democratic reforms but widely despised in Russia for paving the way to the economic free-for-all of the 1990s, which brought fabulous wealth for a well-connected few while plunging much of the country into humiliating poverty.
He has since became a supporter of President Vladimir Putin's assertive foreign policy and resistance to American power — calling occasional news conferences to praise Putin's policies — but his criticism of the United States on Friday was especially harsh.
"The Americans want so much to be the winners. The fact that they are sick with this illness, this winners' complex, is the main reason why everything in the world is so confused and so complicated," he told the packed news conference.
Instead of ushering in a new era of cooperation with the West, the USSR's collapse put the United States into an aggressive, empire-building mood, the former leader said. Ultimately, he said, that has led the U.S. to commit a string of "major strategic mistakes."
"The idea of a new empire, of sole leadership, was born," Gorbachev said.
"Unilateral actions and wars followed," he added, saying that Washington "ignored the Security Council, international law and the will of their own people."
Gorbachev, 76, shared Putin's strong opposition to the U.S. war in Iraq.
Russia has fallen out with Washington on a host of other issues, pushing relations to a frosty state that some commentators have likened to the Cold War.
The Kremlin says the Bush administration's plans for a missile defense system in eastern Europe to guard against Iranian and North Korean missiles could spark a new arms race. It has refused to back Washington's draft Security Council resolution on Kosovo's independence and has suspended its participation in a key treaty on arms reduction in Europe.
Gorbachev, who won the 1990 Nobel Peace Prize for his role in ending the Cold War, echoed Putin's frequent endorsement of a so-called "multipolar world," without the perceived dominance of the United States.
"No one, no single center, can today command the world. No single group of countries ... can do it," Gorbachev said. "Under the current U.S. president, I don't think we can fundamentally change the situation as it is developing now ... It is dangerous. The world is experiencing a period of growing global disarray."
Gorbachev also claimed that Putin's recent decision to suspend Russia's participation in the Conventional Forces in Europe Treaty was aimed at "encouraging" a dialogue on the amended version of the document which Russia has ratified but the United States and other NATO members have not.
He called for calm in the bitter diplomatic squabble with Britain over Russia's refusal to extradite a suspect in the radiation poisoning of former KGB agent Alexander Litvinenko. The case has seen expulsions of diplomats by both countries.
And with parliamentary and presidential elections approaching, Gorbachev bemoaned the absence of a major liberal party in Russian politics, which is dominated by the pro-Kremlin United Russia. He dismissed Russia's main opposition group, Other Russia, as only "about making a bit of noise," and riding on the star power of its leader, former chess champion Garry Kasparov.
"It's a very weak opposition," he said.
Former Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev points, while speaking at a news conference in Moscow on Friday, July 27, 2007. Gorbachev laid the blame for the current low in Russia's relations with the West squarely at Washington's door on Friday, saying that the U.S. was guilty of committing 'major strategic mistakes' that had thrown the world into a period of 'global disarray.' (AP Photo/ Sergey Ponomarev )
When will he be extradited to Lithuania?
http://www.mikhailgorbachev.org/present/gorbachevusa.html
The Gorbachev Foundation/USA
The Gorbachev Foundation/USA, in San Francisco has been working for many years. The former Secretary of State George Shultz and Senator Alan Cranston were very active in its establishment. The main project by the Foundation is holding The State of the World Forums. The latest State of the World Forum was held under Gorbachev’s chairmanship in New York in September 2000. This assembly of nongovernmental organizations was held parallel to the UN Millennium Summit. It was a high-profile event. Its participants spoke in favor of “globalization with a human face” and discussed new initiatives in the fields of environment, disarmament, democratization, and human rights.
Not soon enough
"Show me just what Mohammed brought that was new, and there you will find things only evil and inhuman, such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached." - Manuel II Palelologus
If he likes us so much, maybe he should just leave.
btw,
The Gorbachev Foundation of North America is based in Boston. Its research projects and conferences deal with two major areas - economic globalization and the prospects of Russian-US relations.
PWN3D
More Americans have died liberating countries. America hasn’t been imperialistic for over a hundred years.
What about that other guy... whats his name?
New Lies For Old
Go back to hell, gorbie.
Russians are still angry and frustrated over their humiliating Cold War defeat at the hand of the great Ronald Reagan, with a lot of help from God Almighty.
Russia now suffers from "loser complex."
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