Posted on 02/24/2015 12:57:51 PM PST by Tailgunner Joe
Vladimir Putin was regularly violent to his ex-wife Lyudmila during their marriage, a German documentary on the Russian leader has claimed.
Putin the Man, made by ZDF television and shown this week, claimed to have been given access to the unseen files of an unidentified Western intelligence agency. They included details of Mr Putin’s time as a young KGB officer stationed in Dresden in the Eighties, as well as his rise to power in Russia.
A secretary inside the Dresden office code-named “Lehnchen”, who befriended Mrs Putin, told how he used to beat his wife regularly.
Far from his image as a fitness fanatic today, the young Mr Putin was overweight and a heavy drinker, according to the documentary.
“He was depressed, fat, lazy and disillusioned,” Mahsa Gessen, an author and activist told the documentary. The files included the testimony of a woman identified as “Mrs H” who said Mr Putin groped her at a party, and that his colleagues blamed it on alcohol.
It was the collapse of his KGB career, caused by the fall of the Soviet Union, that made Mr Putin turn his life around and fight his way back to the centre of power, according to the documentary.
It presented new evidence that he has misrepresented an incident from 1989, when anti-Communist protesters tried to storm the KGB office in Dresden before the Berlin Wall fell. Mr Putin has always claimed that he talked the protesters down while posing as an interpreter. But Siegfried Dannath, one of the demonstrators, told the film-makers that Mr Putin had appeared in full uniform and told the crowd his men had orders to shoot.
That version was corroborated by Sergei Bezrukov, a former KGB colleague of Mr Putin’s.
(Excerpt) Read more at news.nationalpost.com ...
NATO does include the U.S. and 27 other nations.
Are you saying that you want a more Reagan/Cruz reaction to Putin’s invasion, or that you prefer Obama’s weakness and not taking a strong stand against Russia?
Do you approve of the actions so far?
“NATO does include the U.S. and 27 other nations.”
So what? How hard is it to understand that only one of those nations is a threat to Russia? Take away the U.S., and all the other nations in NATO combined are not enough to make the Russians flinch.
“Are you saying that you want a more Reagan/Cruz reaction to Putin’s invasion, or that you prefer Obama’s weakness and not taking a strong stand against Russia?”
I’m just making the common sense observation that as long as Obama is CIC, he won’t do anything to seriously oppose Russia. He’s a red diaper baby, for crying out loud. Without us leading the way, NATO won’t do anything either, because they know very well that they are no threat to Russia without us.
“Do you approve of the actions so far?”
Whose actions?
First, that isn’t the case, Russia is not as strong as you think it is, and two, you cannot pretend that NATO doesn’t include it’s most powerful and founding member, the United States.
Why are you unwilling to say whether you want Obama to be stronger or weaker?
It seems pretty weird to be so angry without telling us what you are angry about (too weak, or too strong), and why are you so passionate if you aren’t even paying attention to the actions already taken and being taken?
“First, that isn’t the case, Russia is not as strong as you think it is...”
It’s the number two military power in the world. Only the U.S. is stronger. The other members of NATO, even combined, do not come close to matching Russia’s strength. Those aren’t my opinions, they are facts, go do some research.
“two, you cannot pretend that NATO doesn’t include it’s most powerful and founding member, the United States.”
I’m not pretending anything. I’m flat out stating that Obama won’t do anything to seriously oppose Russia, and I haven’t heard you say anything that dissuades me of that notion. So how will the West “strongly oppose” Putin if the U.S. refuses? You are the one who keeps bringing up NATO, as if they can somehow offset the lack of will in our own leaders.
“It seems pretty weird to be so angry without telling us what you are angry about...”
Who is angry? I’m slightly annoyed that you seem to keep missing the point, no matter how clearly I spell it out, but I’m not angry.
Yes, NATO is stronger than Russia.
Don’t confuse Russia alone being ranked second, as being stronger than a military alliance of the enemies that they would be facing if they tried to invade NATO, including half of the nations that flesh out the top 10 military powers.
Also don’t ignore that Russia has other threats both internal and external to face, and they would not like to see us wipe out their military.
What is bizarre is that you are raving, but at what? Why do you refuse to say if you are angry because you want a tougher response against Russia, or one even weaker than Obama’s?
“Consider the situation today. East Germany no longer exists, while Poland, the Czech Republic, Slovakia and every one of Russia’s other erstwhile Warsaw Pact partners are now members of NATO. So are Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, which in 1989 were parts of the Soviet Union itself. In 1989, the Red Army had almost a half-million troops and 27 maneuver divisions (plus enormous quantities of artillery and other units) on the territory of its three main allies. Today, it has a total of seven divisions in its entire Western Military District, all of which are based on its own territory. Indeed, the entire Russian army today boasts about 25 divisions, fewer than it had forward deployed in its Eastern European allies during the waning days of the Cold War.
Today, Poland, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, and Germany alone field more divisions than Russia has in its Western Military District. These countries are backstopped by the rest of NATO, including, of course, the United States.”
“Yes, NATO is stronger than Russia.”
That’s nice, but it’s completely immaterial with Obama leading the U.S., since he won’t do anything serious to oppose Putin’s ambitions. How many times do I have to say that? It seems you just ignore it, no matter how many times I say it, then ramble on as if it is a mystery what my point is.
Let me spell it out for you in small words:
Obama is a communist. Communists love Russia. Communists don’t oppose Russia. Obama won’t oppose Russia.
Got it?
Do you want NATO/Obama to react more aggressively against this Russian invasion?
What does it matter what I want? Obama is going to do whatever he wants, he has never consulted me and I doubt he ever will. You seem more worried about what I want than what the only person who could conceivably oppose Putin wants to do.
LOL, you don’t want Obama to be stronger against Putin, you want him to be weaker.
So far everyone of you guys have been exactly the same, you actually oppose being Reagan/Cruz like.
“LOL, you don’t want Obama to be stronger against Putin, you want him to be weaker.”
Huh? I didn’t say that, now you’re just making stuff up. You’re a strange one.
No, when you jump on a thread that is negative information about the Russian leader Putin, in an effort to hijack it by pretending that Obama is too weak to stand up to him, but refuse to state whether you want a stronger or weaker reaction from Obama and the U.S., then it is clear what you support.
It was clear many posts ago, you support Putin.
I’m pretending Obama is too weak now? Are you serious? You seriously want to make the case that Obama is a strong, Reagan-like leader who will strongly oppose our country’s enemies?
Sorry, I’m not going to live with you in that land of make believe.
As for supporting Putin, you claim is simply moronic and isn’t worth even acknowledging.
Yep, Putin is scum, and if allowed a free hand, he will come to threaten not only his own people and the areas he has invaded to date, but America and the rest of Europe as well.
Hmmm. The internet lied to me? I had seen a pic of two young ladies eating at a table, said they were Putin’s girls. Neither looked like this muppet.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.