Thoughts on the disturbing murder of a scumbag, apparently by Russian Intelligence.

2015-01-21 | Dangus

[dangus]

Over the past few years, I've argued that Russia was in much better shape than most people realized. While urgently avoiding praising Putin, I defended his Russia from several attacks. The thrust of my comments was simply that Russia was much more complicated than the "simply evil" narrative that was being woven by perhaps the most diverse coalition ever assembled:

Has-been cold-warriors "neocons" eager to have a simple enemy;

Protestants angry that Russia doesn't make it very easy to proselytize by negativity;

liberals who detest Russia's anti-homosexual and anti-abortion movement;

one-world-religion types, who opposed Russia's strong opposition to Islamic terrorism;

Catholic leaders (who I respect) who want their pre-Soviet churches back;

European media outlets which have been compromised by Russian oligarchs who stole hundreds of billions from the Russian common-folk.

My purpose was not to be an apologist, but to provide some balance to the negativity by such a broad array of opinion-makers.

Therefore, I feel obliged to present an under-reported, very troubling news story from the other side of the ledger: the apparent assassination of Alexander Litvienkov by the FSB, the successors to the KGB.

Litvienkov was a conspiracy peddler of the lowest type, turned Islamicist. But free societies cannot tolerate the murder of even the slimiest creatures. And while the British court's finding yesterdat that Putin "probably" personally approved Litvienkov's murder is laughable by American standards of jurisprudence, and comes surrounded by silly levels of bias, there is little evidence that Putin did anything in response to his murder other than breathe a sigh of relief that a pest had been gotten rid of. The FSB works for him, and even the agents who killed Litvienkov had gone rogue, it was Putin's responsible to bring them to justice.

I personally have doubted that Putin was behind the waves of murders of journalists in the first part of last decade; the most troubling cases were largely of journalists taking the side of Chechnyan terrorists, which certainly could have inspired mere vigilantes, militiamen and even simply victims of the terrorism to want them dead.

But the inaction of Putin to adequately respond to Litvienkov's murder has to be interpreted in that context. Failure to even attempt to bring Litvienkov's killers to justice was a signal to such vigilantes and militiamen that they might be doing Putin a favor.

Again, I never intended to be a Putin apologist, so don't read me as "disillusioned." I certainly never intended to dismiss the dark side of the ledger vis-a-vis Russia, only to help strike a balance. And I think it's foolish that there is such a broad coalition dedicated to keeping Russia an "enemy." But it is disturbing to me to see the dark side exposed.

[dangus]

I hate that I only see typos after I post.

“The FSB works for him, and even the agents who killed Litvienkov”

should read, “The FSB works for him, and even if the agents who killed Litvienkov”

[Parmenio]

In the future, please mark your vanity posts as “vanity”. Thank you.

[PJBankard]

What is sad, is that we focus on the problems/concerns of foreign countries that don’t directly affect the US, instead of focusing on fixing our own problems first.

[BenLurkin]

Great post. Very well written.

Now we know that Putin considered his victim to be a scumbag.

[BeadCounter]

http://www.breitbart.com/national-security/2015/02/04/poisoned-ex-kgb-agent-accused-vladimir-putin-of-being-a-pedophile/

Breitbart even reported on Litvenko alleging Putin is a pedophile talking about scumbags. Enjoy your cocoa puffs.

[DesertRhino]

Judge Owen did not provide any direct evidence linking Mr. Putin or any other high-level Russian officials to the killing, and he acknowledged that he had based his findings on “strong circumstantial evidence of Russian state responsibility.””

Basically the shady and dishonest British said Putin had a motive.

Litvinenko was a journalist, supporting an oligarch billionaire who was challenging Putin. Litvenenko was a former KGB man himself who had turned and was now working for MI-5. He was also exploring Italian mafia/kgb/italian politician ties. And the day he fell ill, he met with a couple of current kgb/fsb agents. Afterwards he met an Italian shady guy connected to everything evil who is also ...a nuclear expert... found to have been exposed to the Polonium and who also had ties to Columbia.

There are about 20 plausible explanations for this guy getting dead, of which the Russian government is only one.

[beaversmom]

I hate that I only see typos after I post.

Happens to me all the time. Still, good post.

[BeadCounter]

Good post comrade,

and there are about 20 plausible explanations of Nemtsov being killed.

and there are about 20 plausible explanations of one of the co-founders of RT being found dead.

and there are about 20 plausible explanations of the head of Military intelligence being found dead...

and we get the picture.

Cheers for the UK, the Kleptocracy of Russia is exposed.

Their puppet Assad likewise, has as much to do with ISIS as anyone. At least, ISIS’s power.

[ctdonath2]

I appreciate your stance on Russia. Methinks the USA’s relationship has turned to...professional courtesy, earning respect on many fronts but still an adversary in many normal ways.

Yes, we cannot simply ignore what seems a state-sponsored murder of a high official (Litvienkov). At the same time, one must understand that Russia has a long established history of “disappearing” problematic officials; be careful of which reprehensible internal sociopolitical practices & instances you choose to take a stand on regarding diplomatic relations. They’re not going to change the practice, and they’re not going to take kindly to being told how to deal with their own internal problems - told by another country who has their own serious issues.

[BeadCounter]

Yes, Comrades, our Muslim heavy, Ramzan Kadyrov is threatening opposition in Russia, but we know, it all has to do about the West and homosexuality! What a hoot.

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-35357238

Comrades, Maybe next, we can talk about the great triumphs of North Korea.

[PGR88]

your assertion “don’t believe the simple MSM, black and white narratives” is well taken. I don’t believe any of them.

I respect Putin for stabilizing Russia, realizing that its inherent Christian culture is the base upon which the country will develop. He prevented Russia from being torn apart by corrupt oligarchs, Western banks, and Western “new world order” types and American empire builders peddling soulless progressivism - the likes of George Soros.

I also don’t believe for a second that US Presidents are above political assassinations and greed. exhibit 1A are the Clintons.

Can Putin be a friend? Or is he an enemy? I can not judge. As of now, we certainly have more to fear from the delusions of people like Obama and Merkel.

[Slyfox]

I tend to notice the little stuff people do.

A friend of mine doing research in Russia for a book was visiting an Orthodox chapel. She looked at all the elaborate candle holders hanging from the ceiling. She read the names of those who had them specially made for the chapel and every one of them were from royalty from all over Europe over centuries. She spotted one that looked more modern and was actually quite plain compared to all the others. She got close and read that it was donated by Mr. and Mrs. V. Putin.

I thought that was something.

[dangus]

>> Now we know that Putin considered his victim to be a scumbag. <<

My words, not Putin’s. But do read up on the guy; I’m sure you’ll concur. And the point of acknowledging that he was a scumbag was to prevent people defending Putin’s inaction by pointing out what a villainous wretch this guy was. It doesn’t matter. Government agents don’t get to decide who is a good guy and who is a bad guy, and kill the people they don’t like.

[DesertRhino]

Go ahead, believe what comes out of the UK. I head they have done some good climate work too. Useful idiot. Shouldn’t you be in school?

[BeadCounter]

Predicting a Muslim Majority Russia - Daniel Pipes

That's why Russia attacked a much more Christian nation in Ukraine.

[DesertRhino]

A coup only lets you rule what you can physically get control of. A coup does not let you fall legitimate heir to everything the old government possessed.
People in the east, mostly orthodox, did not support the Kiev coup and organized against it.

Refusing to go along with it and getting external help is exactly what the Kiev kids did. Fair game.

[dangus]

See, that’s the kind of crappy reporting I was talking about.

Which enemies of Putin did he threaten? People who are concerned about journalists being murdered? Muslim bombers who massacre innocent children? Did he fail to say who? Or did the journalist find that the people he actually mentioned didn’t fit his hate-Russia narrative?

Given the Soviet history of using psychiatric hospitals for dissidents, his comments certainly seem tasteless. But this is a website filled with people who love Donald Trump, so I’m not ready to condemn all of Russia based on one politicians sick joke.

[Yollopoliuhqui]

Thanks for posting. Conservatives really need to get out of the obsolete Cold War mentality and understand that the actual enemy, as was well understood by the John Birch Society 60 years ago, is the globalist debt farm banker aristocracy run out of Wall St. and the City of London. As republicans, any form of arisocracy and unmerited privilege should be in our cross hairs. Why we have been suckered into rubber stamping any insane “creative” investment instrument Wall St. comes up with is beyond me. It is high time that we acknowledge that any accumulation of personal wealth beyond what is necessary to live comfortably is a PATHOLOGY and a mental illness. Kill the IMF and the World Bank. Support the BRICS development bank. Reinstate Glass-Steagall now!

[Boogieman]

“The FSB works for him, and even the agents who killed Litvienkov had gone rogue, it was Putin’s responsible to bring them to justice. “

Sorry, but them “going rogue” just doesn’t wash, due to the ridiculous method of murder that was chosen. Polonium 210 is not something one can just pick up at the corner druggist. Only state governments, and a pretty short list at that, would have access to that material.

That, combined with the fact that the murderers were KGB agents, and the fact that they fled back to Moscow, where they were shielded from justice, and further combined with the fact that the KGB is pretty much the only organization on the planet with a history of this method of assassination... well, let’s just say I have a bigger chance of winning the Powerball than the probability that the Russian government didn’t order this hit.