Moscow Diary: Cold War echoes !

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Medvedev says Putin should be PM
Russian President Vladimir Putin should become prime minister after stepping down next year, his chosen successor Dmitry Medvedev says.
Mr Putin named Mr Medvedev on Monday as his favourite for the presidency. Mr Putin's own popularity is likely to ensure he is elected, analysts say.

Mr Putin steps down in March but is expected to retain political influence.

Mr Medvedev was Mr Putin's chief of staff and is currently a first deputy PM and chairman of gas giant Gazprom.

"I appeal to [President Putin] with a request to give his agreement in principle to head the Russian government after the election of the new president," Mr Medvedev said on Russian television on Tuesday.

"It's one thing to elect a president - it's no less important to maintain the efficiency of the team," he said.

Uncharted territory

Mr Putin is constitutionally obliged to quit after his second presidential term ends next year.


Many are sure that he will win the elections in the first round
Commentary in Vremya Novostey


It is not clear how the president will respond to Mr Medvedev's offer. Mr Putin's spokesman says only that he will continue to work as president until the day his term runs out.

In post-Soviet Russia, the president has always been more powerful than the prime minister.

If Mr Putin were to become prime minister, that could change, according to the BBC's Moscow correspondent, James Rodgers.

But, he says, this has never been tried before and it raises the risk of a conflict unless there is a clear understanding of how powers will be divided between the two posts.
Hot favourite
Mr Medvedev said on Tuesday that he wanted the benefits of economic growth to reach all sections of Russian society.
"Now we need to convert all the successes achieved in the past eight years into real programmes," he said.

If elected president, he said, he would pay the greatest attention to social issues.

Mr Medvedev was addressing leaders of the four pro-Kremlin parties backing him, including United Russia, the party which won a landslide victory in parliamentary elections earlier this month.
The 42-year-old former lawyer managed Mr Putin's election campaign in 2000.
As first deputy prime minister he has overseen national programmes in the areas of health, housing and education.
Russia has made huge economic gains as a result of soaring international oil prices.
The government has been facing demands to channel energy revenues into pensions, benefits and parts of the country's infrastructure that have been decaying since the collapse of the Soviet Union.
Pressure for continuity
Mr Putin has made it clear he will retain a significant national leadership role after he leaves office at the end of his second term.
He has said he expects Mr Medvedev to provide continuity.
"We have the chance to form a stable government after the elections in March 2008. And not just a stable government, but one that will carry out the course that has brought results for all of the past eight years," Mr Putin said on Monday.
United Russia leader Boris Gryzlov highlighted Mr Medvedev's role in managing national projects aimed at raising Russian living standards.
"Dmitry Anatolyevich [Medvedev] oversees national projects," he said.
"He oversees the demographic programme and we believe that it is precisely the issues to do with raising standards of living that are the most important issues for the forthcoming four-year period."

Story from BBC NEWS:
BBC NEWS | Europe | Medvedev says Putin should be PM
Published: 2007/12/11 19:13:24 GMT

© BBC MMVII

 

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Putin puts young ally in pole position
By James Rodgers
BBC News, Moscow



The greatest riddle at the heart of contemporary Russian power has been solved.
President Vladimir Putin has named Dmitry Medvedev as his chosen successor.

Mr Putin's support puts Mr Medvedev in the strongest possible position ahead of March's presidential election.

Mr Putin's popularity means that that whoever he nominates is likely to win.

The announcement brings to an end years of speculation about who might come next.

Mr Medvedev has long been listed among the possible front-runners.

The choice of a young, energetic candidate - Mr Medvedev is 42 - is also likely to dampen suggestions that Mr Putin was somehow planning to stay in power.

No KGB background

Mr Medvedev is one of the circle of powerful people in Russia today who began their careers in St Petersburg.

He is a long-term ally of Mr Putin. He ran Mr Putin's election campaign for his first term as president in 2000.

Mr Putin referred to this long working relationship during a televised meeting with political leaders to announce the decision to endorse Mr Medvedev's candidacy.


"I have known him very closely for more than 17 years and I completely and fully support this proposal," Mr Putin said.

Mr Medvedev is seen as being on the liberal wing of the current administration.

He is not one of the Kremlin figures with a KGB background. The fact that he is not one of the more hawkish figures previously linked with a future presidential bid is likely to be privately welcomed by Western governments.

He has combined his current post of first deputy prime minister with the chairmanship of the Russian gas giant, Gazprom.

Mr Medvedev's most prominent role in recent months has been as the man responsible for Russia's "national projects".

These are schemes designed to spend some of the country's new wealth on improving healthcare, housing, agriculture, and the arts.

Putin's plans

This may have provided the launch-pad for his presidential ambitions.

"National projects have been hugely successful for him," says Yaroslav Lissovolik, chief economist at Deutsche Bank in Moscow.

"He passed Putin's test."


Mr Lissovolik describes Mr Medvedev as the most liberal of the possible candidates - both economically and politically.

He predicts that under a Medvedev presidency Russia would integrate further into the world economy.

The announcement appears to have solved one riddle, and focused attention very sharply on another: what are Mr Putin's plans?

United Russia's recent, resounding victory in parliamentary elections has confirmed Vladimir Putin as Russia's most popular politician.

The electorate here has largely brushed aside the verdict of Western observers that the poll was not fair.

All eyes will be on Mr Putin's next move - trying to work out what his public role will be, and how much real influence it will carry.

Mr Medvedev can probably expect to be put under pressure from others who saw themselves as a possible president.

Some analysts say a Medvedev presidency is not inevitable.

"It's too early to say Medvedev is the next president - naming him saves enough time for potential other options to appear - so Medvedev could let himself down and someone else would take over," cautions Nikolai Petrov of the Moscow Carnegie Centre.

"That could be both before and after the presidential elections, if he carries out unpopular reforms."


Story from BBC NEWS:
BBC NEWS | Europe | Putin puts young ally in pole position

Published: 2007/12/10 18:06:36 GMT

© BBC MMVII

 

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some information about Russia

FACTS
Full name: Russian Federation
Population: 143.8 million (via UN, 2006)
Capital: Moscow
Area: 17 million sq km (6.6 million sq miles)
Major language: Russian
Major religions: Christianity, Islam
Life expectancy: 59 years (men), 72 years (women) (UN)
Monetary unit: 1 rouble = 100 kopecks
Main exports: Oil and oil products, natural gas, wood and wood products, metals, chemicals, weapons and military equipment
GNI per capita: US $4,460 (World Bank, 2006)
Internet domain: .ru
International dialling code: +7

 

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Putin Backs Medvedev as Next President

Tuesday, December 11, 2007. Page 1.
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Putin Backs Medvedev as Next President

By Nabi Abdullaev and Francesca Mereu
Staff Writers

Itar-Tass / AP

President Vladimir Putin and First Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev heading for a Kremlin meeting in 2006.


President Vladimir Putin said Monday that he backed Dmitry Medvedev, his soft-spoken first deputy prime minister, as the next president, signaling an end to an era of escalating international tensions over an increasingly hawkish Kremlin.

The announcement, made at a Kremlin meeting attended by Medvedev and leaders from four Putin-friendly parties, should also end years of speculation over who will succeed Putin. Given Putin's enormous popularity, his preferred successor is likely to win the presidential election on March 2.

Medvedev's candidacy was welcomed by foreign investors, who see him as the most liberal person in Putin's inner circle. But opposition politicians scorned Medvedev as a weak figure who would allow Putin to continue to hold the reins.

By endorsing Medvedev -- a 42-year-old lawyer with a strong academic background and the chairman of Gazprom -- Putin is seeking to pass the torch to a younger generation that does not have ties to the siloviki, the Soviet-era military and intelligence officials whose hawkish stance has inflamed tensions with the West over the past eight years, political analysts said.

Putin has opted to avoid an escalation of confrontation with foreign countries, which would have happened if he had supported a siloviki contender such as Sergei Ivanov, a first deputy prime minister, said Lilia Shevtsova, an analyst with the Carnegie Moscow Center.

Stanislav Belkovsky, a former Kremlin spin doctor, agreed and predicted that Putin would try to use Medvedev's reputation as a liberal to sell his candidacy to the West.

Officially, Medvedev's nomination was announced by United Russia leader Boris Gryzlov at the Kremlin meeting. Gryzlov told Putin that the party had decided to nominate Medvedev as its presidential candidate at a convention on Monday, and Putin said he endorsed the decision.

"Speaking of Dmitry Anatolyevich Medvedev as a candidate, I must say that I have known him for more than 17 years. We have worked closely through all of these years, and I completely and fully support this choice," Putin said in televised remarks in his ornate office.

Resume

Dmitry Anatolyevich Medvedev


Born: Sept. 14, 1965


Place of Birth: St. Petersburg


Education: Leningrad State University, degree in law, 1987; doctorate in

law, 1990.


Advantages: Close to Putin and his St. Petersburg circle; reputation of

being a liberal intellectual; embraced by foreign investors; has refrained

from hawkish foreign policy remarks.


Disadvantages: No proven record of being effective civil servant because

the outcome of the national projects being supervised by him have yet to

materialize; lacks ability to motivate subordinates; not popular among the

siloviki.


Notable Quotes: "Democracy and national sovereignty need to be together.

But one should not overwhelm the other." Interview with Expert magazine, July

2006.


"I was not born a boss, right? I always liked what I did, in the Kremlin

administration and now in the White House." Interview with Itogi magazine,

April 2007.

"I would like very much for Gazprom to become the most expensive company in

the world." Interview with Vedomosti, July 5, 2007.
There was little question, however, that the decision had come from Putin himself. United Russia has a record of consistently following the president's lead.

The meeting was also attended by the leaders of three other parties, A Just Russia, the Agrarian Party and Civil Force, and they said they supported Medvedev. He is not a member of any political party.

Gryzlov said the priority of the next president should be to improve social conditions and that Medvedev was the right man to lead the effort.

"We believe that he is the most socially oriented candidate and has demonstrated his abilities well in leading the national projects and the demographic program," Gryzlov said, referring to Medvedev's efforts to improve education, health care, housing and agriculture and to tackle a national demographic crisis.

Medvedev was shown at the meeting as stern-faced, his eyes fixed on a relaxed and smiling Putin. He told Putin that he had held "positive" consultations with United Russia that would continue over the next two days.

Putin gave no indication about what he might do after he leaves office. But he promised that Medvedev would "follow the course that has brought results for all of these past eight years."

Viktor Ilyukhin, a senior Communist official, said the worst problem was that the country needed a new course and that Medvedev was "the worst option."

"Medvedev is insecure, weak. Putin can have full control of him," he said.

The Communists plan to back their leader, Gennady Zyuganov, in the election.

Eduard Limonov, founder of the banned National Bolshevik Party, agreed that Medvedev was not his own man, saying: "Ivanov is called Putin's best friend, while Medvedev is called Putin's son. Putin will always be behind his back telling him what to do."

Boris Nemtsov, a leader of the Union of Right Forces, and Alexei Melnikov, a senior Yabloko official, said voters, not Putin, should choose the next president. "We are against the so-called Operation Successor," said Nemtsov, who has announced plans to run for president. "Putin thinks that Russians are stupid people and that he can do whatever he wants with them."

Speculation that Putin might try to return to the presidency one day is given credence by Monday's announcement, said Vladimir Ryzhkov, a liberal politician who lost his State Duma seat in the recent elections.

"The strategy is as follows: Medvedev is a compromise choice because he will allow Putin to keep a free hand. If Putin wants to gradually leave power, Medvedev guarantees him comfort and security and will continue to listen him," Ryzhkov said on Ekho Moskvy radio. "If Putin wants to return in two, three years ... Medvedev will be the person who will without a doubt give up the path for him."

Garry Kasparov, a leader of The Other Russia, said Putin chose the weakest candidate to support a balance of power. "Putin's backing of Medvedev is the result of a fight between various groups inside the Kremlin. Medvedev's nomination means the defeat of Igor Sechin's group," Kasparov said. Sechin, Putin's powerful deputy chief of staff, is believed to be the head of the siloviki.

An aide to Ivanov said Ivanov was in the Kremlin at the time of Monday's announcement. He said he was not aware of Ivanov's reaction but was not disappointed himself. "They made a decision, and that's good. We just did our job. We didn't promote anybody," said the aide, who has helped boost Ivanov's public profile as handler of his media coverage.

A senior Central Elections Commission official predicted that Medvedev would not win in the first round of voting, despite Putin's popularity.

"Putin, who is called the father of the nation and has become something of a demigod, cannot be replaced easily," the official said. "There will be a second round of the election."

Medvedev has led opinion polls as the most popular politician after Putin for months, thanks largely to the coverage of his activities on state television.

His star dipped, however, after Putin appointed an old ally, Viktor Zubkov, as prime minister in September and then aggressively campaigned for United Russia ahead of the Duma elections.


Staff Writer Anna Smolchenko contributed to this report.


An in-depth profile of Medvedev can be found on The Moscow Times web site at The Moscow Times

© Copyright 2007 The Moscow Times. All rights reserved.

Putin Backs Medvedev as Next President

 

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Islamic Advicehttp://mnweekly.rian.ru/local/20071206/55295249.html

06/12/2007
A new hotline for Muslim women opened in Moscow last month to guide followers of the faith through the complexities of living in secular Moscow. The Russian capital and the Caucasus have the two largest concentrations of Muslims in Russia, where Muslims make up 10 percent of the population.

These numbers are growing with high birth rates among Muslims and as slowly increasing numbers of Russians have exposure to Islam and convert.

The new hotline gives some practical advice to those who are struggling to reconcile the demands of their religion with life in a city where little provision is made for its 2 million Mus­lims.

Many of the people who call are young women who have been drawn to Islam after studying it at University or after holidays to Islamic countries, where they have seen a noticeable lack of criminality (due to harsh penalties) and where they were impressed by the relationships between men and women. Upon their return to Russia, many experience difficulties with their families or at work.

Finding work can be an especially difficult issue, as Director of the project Galina Alshabakh says, "It is very hard to find work if you wear the hijab (head scarf). They shun you when you wear it."

With regard to their relations, worried callers are generally advised to be patient and maintain good relationships with their families as, cites Alshabakh, "heaven is at the feet of our mothers." She says that very often just talking about the problems can be enough.

The operators are all female Muslim volunteers and so can offer experience and understanding. The practical difficulties for Muslims in Moscow are varied and range from observing dietary prohibitions, to obtaining medical advice, to buying a house.

The operators can say where to buy halal meat, where to find women doctors, and can recommend lawyers who are familiar with the restrictions of Sharia; Muslim law forbids making profit on loans and this makes obtaining a mortgage a delicate business.

By Tom Washington

INFORMATION

The hotline is open daily from 3 p.m. - 6 p.m.

The number is (499) 408 64 74

RELATED ARTICLES
20/09/2007 Moscow Wants Muslim Food in Each District

21/06/2007 Islamic Breakthrough

24/05/2007 Tashkent Touts Islamic University

© 2007 Moscow News
Moscow News - Local - Islamic Advice

 

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Why is America Feeling Edgy?Moscow News - Columnists - Why is America Feeling Edgy?

06/12/2007
The last few days in America have resembled a nightmare inside of a carnival freak show, as several desperate individuals show that something is seriously out of kilter in the land of the free.

Last Friday, for example, while much of the western world was hand-wringing over the fate of Russian democracy, Special Weapons and Tactics (SWAT) teams were taking up strategic positions outside of Hillary Rodham Clinton's campaign headquarters in Rochester, New Hamp­shire. Inside the office, disgruntled voter Leeland Eisenberg was demanding to speak with Mrs. Clinton about America's sick health care system, an issue the former first lady unsuccessfully nursed in 1993.

Unfortunately, Mr. Eisenberg borrowed a page from the fanatic's political playbook to make his grand entry into the political fray: he strapped some road flares to his chest in the hope of increasing his chances of meeting with a member of the Washington elite. So what followed was an edgy standoff as rubber-necking locals had their Fords and Chevies re-routed around the hostage scene and an ordinary afternoon in an ordinary American city actually registered something resembling a pulse for six tense hours. In the end, Mr. Eisenberg released his hostages, tossed his useless road flares aside, and surrendered to the authorities. End of the story? Not quite.

First, this guy at least deserves an honorable mention in the "political-theater category" of the Looney Galle­ry, especially at a time when the American political scene is starting to resemble, well, the American political scene. Actually, Eisenberg's crazy stunt could start a harmless trend: All those 50 million people in the U.S. of A. who have been bereft of medical insurance and cheap drugs for 300 years could attach road flares to their bodies, light them at the same time, and spell out the following message on a clear night: DEAR EXTRATERRESTRIALS! PLEASE VISIT OUR RICH NATION. WE ARE BEING HELD HOSTAGE BY A BAND OF GREEDY THUGS WHO REFUSE TO PROVIDE US WITH A NATIONAL HEALTHCARE PLAN. NOW THE MENTALLY DERANGED HAVE TAKEN TO THE STREETS. YES! WE WILL TAKE YOU TO OUR LEADER!

Excuse me, I like to fantasize on occasion. Okay, back to tense Rochester.

What originally seemed to be a cut-and-paste story of a desperate American Psycho losing his Boy Scout knife has morphed into something that still defies explanation. In the 24 hours following the "dramatic" (yawn) showdown, our protagonist has assumed truly Hannibal Lecter-ish proportions as bizarre and wildly conflicting reports continue to surface about his heinous life.

Listen to Eisenberg's neighbor Lucie Sukduang describe this trailer-park monster: "Eisenberg and his friends kept to themselves, but sometimes yelled at each other... They had their barbeques. He'd cook outside. He'd always let his kitties out and then call them back,"' Sukduang said, as quoted by AP.

Yes, very sinister indeed. Better increase that dosage, doctor.

In the opening minutes of the hostage crisis (with Hollywood writers still on strike, America will take its minimum daily requirement of Entertainment whenever it can), Fox News jumped out of the starting gates a bit early and wrongly identified the hostage-taker as Troy Alan Stanley, apparently another "paranoid schizophrenic" from nervous Rochester. Stanley's poor wife even confessed to Fox News ace reporter Carl Cameron that her husband always forgets to take his lithium pills. Oops!

Eventually, CNN came through in the clutch and gave Leeland Eisen­berg his due credit for a mighty fine un-medicated performance, roughly describing the hostage-taker as a crackpot looking for some federal assistance to conquer his mental infirmities.

But the hyperactive media seemed unanimous on one point: Eisenberg had been "binge-drinking" for three weeks before carrying out his dastardly deed. However, at the moment of his arrest, Eisenberg was sporting meticulously combed hair, clean white shirt, straight tie and eyeglasses. Unless the SWAT team had a rare moment of compassion and granted their target time to bathe and change clothes before taking their target practice, this was not the picture of a man who had been wrestling with a whisky bottle for 21 days. Actually, Eisenberg more resembled pent-up William "D-Fens" Foster, the character who Michael Douglas played in the 1993 film Falling Down, which portrayed "an ordinary man at war with the everyday world," according to the film's tagline.

Video footage showed Eisenberg fully cooperating with the police during his anti-climatic arrest. Later, he told a CNN reporter during an interview from his new high-security home that he was "disappointed" the police did not kill him.

Another strange detail of this made-for-television mini-drama is that our defendant displayed credible hostage etiquette for being a drunk, depressed, divorced, sexually de­praved animal with no healthcare package, all during an American presidential campaign cycle, no less. And as I already mentioned, Hollywood writers are on strike. These are desperate times for a lot of desperate people!

Nevertheless, at the very beginning of the standoff, Eisenberg released a mother and her infant child, as well as an 18-year-old man because of his age. The remaining three hostages were duly released as the afternoon wore on. Not bad for a drunken maniac with road flares taped to his chest.

While it goes without saying that Mr. Eisenberg has a lot of personal issues, I could not help wondering while reading the details of this story how America's chintzy system of medical coverage may have contributed to the downfall of this one man (who once staged a successful protest on the steps of his local courthouse against the police who he claimed were invading his constitutional rights).

Furthermore, were Mr. Eisenberg's extreme actions more the symptom of an unresponsive political system, as opposed to simply a case of an individual who was in dire need of medical attention?

Consider the "Three I" subjects that are now topping the charts in the ongoing political yawners between the Democrat and Republican Party presidential wannabees: Illegal Immigration, Iraq and Iran. And on Wednesday, the top political story in the U.S. was - guess! - yes, the revelation that Republican runner Mitt Romney had fired his landscaper for hiring illegal immigrants to tend to his garden (Several days earlier, political rival Rudy Giuliani ridiculed Romney for the oversight). What an excellent metaphor for American politics: Screaming headlines about who the pompous politicians are employing to spread the horseshit on their precious estate lawns. Just hope all that manure is pushing up some nice grassroots movements - without being converted into golf courses, of course.

The one issue that is blatantly missing from the mind-numbing debates is the American people themselves and the policies that directly affect their lives (healthcare, gun control, education, for example). This unforgivable oversight could at least partially explain the collective nervous breakdown that seems to have hit the American Heartland.

Until more Americans truly feel that their voices are being heard in the halls of power, I am afraid we will be seeing more stories like Mr. Eisenberg's in the future, like this one:

On Wednesday, Robert A. Hawkins, 19, entered the Westroads Mall in Omaha, Nebraska with an assault rifle, killing eight people before turning the gun on himself.

If the U.S. wishes to remain a superpower worthy of the name, it must bring the political spotlight onto the reasons behind these truly insane acts. Until then, America and its people will never know the true meaning of the word freedom.

RELATED ARTICLES
29/11/2007 Coffee with Putin: Decaf Now Available

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08/11/2007 Train Wisdom

© 2007 Moscow News
Moscow News - Columnists - Why is America Feeling Edgy?

 

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What Kiev Could Teach America (If Only America Would Listen)Moscow News - Columnists - What Kiev Could Teach America (If Only America Would Listen)

15/11/2007
Last week, in the middle of an unexpectedly long trip to Kiev, I stumbled upon a unique memorial to Ukraine's so-called "orange revolution" of 2004, the moment when thousands of protesters assembled on Maidan Nezalezhnosti (literally, Independence Square) and lifted Viktor Yushchenko to power. The memorial I found to those heady days of camaraderie and urban camping was not carved from marble, nor was it engraved in a bronze plaque and bolted to the side of a building. No, this tribute is nothing more than the political graffiti that was scrawled, painted and scratched into a square column that supports the portico on the Ministry of Transportation building near Independence Square. Today, that graffiti - which includes a stenciled portrait of Yushchenko, poems, as well as a few words in favor of Viktor Yanukovych, his opponent - is forever enshrined behind plates of thick glass as testimony to those smoldering days of upheaval and change. Most importantly, the memorial is from the heart of the people, not a commissioned artist.

Everybody should get a chance to see this protected piece of political history, but since only about 20 percent of American citizens, for example, own passports to travel abroad, most of them will never see Kiev's "graffiti column," or many other features of this incredible city of 3 million people.

What else will about 290 million or so Americans never get to experience from the Ukrainian capital?

They will never get to experience perhaps the most dynamic urban center for any city comparable to Kiev's size. The sidewalks that run the length of Khreschatyk, Kiev's main street, are electrified with human activity day and night, winter through summer. And as is almost de rigueur for most European cities, the sidewalks of the Ukrainian capital are huge, big enough to handle the landing of a small airplane (incidentally, on a side note, although the adventurous German Mathias Rust may have humiliated Russia's military when he landed his plane on Red Square, the fact that Rust found a place to land at all says something about European urban design, and is to Moscow's credit). In some sections of Kiev, there are two separate levels of sidewalks to handle the pedestrian traffic. Moreover, there seems to be no nervousness over the site of people "loitering;" rows of park benches line the streets precisely for such activity.

Khreschatyk Street snakes along the bottom of a long valley, where at one time a river once ran. From the hilltops above, near the towering St. Sophia's Cathedral, is the spring from where six cobbled streets roll down and unite almost at a single point on Independence Square. This large open space, complete with fountains and massive statues, is a beehive of urban activity, with a constant flow of people moving in every direction. The sprawling Globus shopping center, much like Moscow's Okhotny Ryad at the foot of Tverskaya Street, lies buried beneath the square. And not even Moscow can boast a perekhod (underground pedestrian zone) that rivals the size of the labyrinthine underground passage at this pulsating epicenter of pure energy. Unlike many American cities, Kiev does not evacuate at quitting time.

So at this time I have two questions: On December 26, 2004, the Ukrainian Supreme Court ordered a revote in the presidential election between Ukraine's two favorite Viktors. Now consider how the U.S. Supreme Court handled a similar decision four years earlier in the presidential showdown between Al Gore and George W. Bush. The Republican-leaning court ignored the huge protests on the streets, denied the American people a revote (remember, Gore had won the popular vote, while the Florida vote was flawed), and thus "elected" the least qualified politician to the highest seat in the nation. So given these less than glowing democratic credentials, what gives my otherwise great country - or any country, for that matter - the right to interfere in the election process of outside nations? It is already ancient history that the United States had no small influence on the Ukrainian elections. But that is dirty water under an old bridge. My real question is: why are sidewalks of New York City - a metropolis of 12 million people - smaller than the sidewalks of Kiev, a city of less than 3 million? No connection, you say? Non sequitur? I beg to differ. Actually, I believe it serves as a perfect metaphor for our modern days: As the private sector devours the power that was once the dominion of the people, public services for the people continue to get stiff armed.

Where are America's wide, panoramic public squares where "we the people" can gather in peace or protest? Moscow has its Red Square; Beijing has its Tiananmen Square; London, its Trafalgar. Where are America's great places of assembly? Some may answer the National Mall in Washington. However, the massive reflecting pool smack in the middle of the lawn has a way of extinguishing any parade passions. Thus, the people from the land of the free and brave are today corralled into remote "freedom speech zones," tightly controlled areas that came into existence following the Seattle riots of 1999, and away from the media spotlight.

Speaking of media, here is another example of a "public sidewalk" no longer serving the interests of the people. Actually, to speak of a "free media" today has become the greatest oxymoron.

In America, where we slap ourselves on the back daily for not tolerating a "state-run media," we receive our highly filtered morning news from five corporate monsters. As Paul Krugman, the columnist for The New York Times summarized it: "There are now five major sources of TV news and... all five sources are now divisions of large conglomerates - you get your news from AOLTime­Warner­General­Electric­DisneyWestinghouseNewsCorp."

For those who think there is no danger in this concentration of media power need only reflect on how the media towed the line in the run-up to the Iraq War. The only person I can remember who was ballsy enough to challenge the madness of the Bush administration was Natalie Maines, the feisty lead vocalist for the country/rock band Dixie Chicks. Did Maines get her Purple Heart for bravery in the War on Terror? No. But her band did lose millions of dollars when Rupert Murdoch, head honcho of Fox News and over 1,000 radio channels, pulled the plug on her band. So much for the freedom of speech.

As Michael Moore showed in his shockumentary film Fahrenheit 9/11, no media outlets dared to challenge the prevailing notion at the time that 1. Saddam Hussein was stockpiling weapons of mass destruction, 2. Iraq was aiding and abetting Al Qaeda, and 3. Iraq had some responsibility for what transpired on 9/11. As the United Nations was going to great lengths to prove before the mother of all mayhem was let loose, none of the above charges proved true. So now we have no defense left but to say that we are promoting democratic values in a foreign land, while our own present behavior at home and abroad only reinforces the belief that we Americans are a bunch of preachy hypocrites.

So getting back to Kiev. My hat goes off to this incredible city, the birthplace of Kievan Rus - for providing a truly energized downtown venue that gives people the freedom to congregate and deliberate on crucial events. The center of Kiev is truly a place for the people. American cities should take note.

By Robert Bridge
© 2007 Moscow News
Moscow News - Columnists - What Kiev Could Teach America (If Only America Would Listen)

 

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Gorbachev Worries About Missile Planhttp://mnweekly.rian.ru/world/20071129/55293408.html

29/11/2007
BUDAPEST, Hungary (AP) - Former Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev said Wednesday that he viewed a U.S. plan to deploy a missile defense shield in Central Europe as targeting Russia, not Iran.

"(On Tuesday) Milos Zeman, the former Czech prime minister, said, ‘What kind of Iran threat do you see? This is a system that is being created against Russia,'" Gorbachev said. "I don't think Zeman is alone in seeing this. We see this as well as he sees it."

The United States wants to place a radar station in the Czech Republic and intercepter missiles in Poland, saying the components would defend European allies against a possible Iranian strike.

Gorbachev, 76, whose policies of glasnost and perestroika - openness and restructuring - helped end communism in the Soviet Union and its satellites, criticized the high level of military spending by the United States.

"Does America intend to fight the rest of the world, does America need to build a new empire? They will not succeed," Gorbachev said at the close of a meeting of the World Political Forum, a group he founded in 2003 that includes many former high-ranking politicians.

Gorbachev, who won the 1990 Nobel Peace Prize, said negotiations with Iran needed to continue with the involvement of the International Atomic Energy Agency, the U.N. nuclear watchdog agency, to ensure Iran did not produce nuclear weapons.

Gorbachev said he hoped the United States would not attack Iran during the remainder of the term of U.S. President George W. Bush.

"There still one year that President Bush has on his hands. Let's hope that he will not take the risk... of military action against Iran," Gorbachev said, adding that such an attack "at the very least" could provoke increased terrorist attacks, an energy crisis and "even result in a big war."

Asked about Russian President Vladimir Putin, Gorbachev said that, while he initially had doubts about Putin being able to lead Russia, he now supported him.

"Putin is a very capable person, a wise person, a man of strong character, of few words but with good management skills," Gorbachev said. "Now he is more than just a manager, he has become a credible political leader."

Gorbachev added that he supported the Russian president because Putin's policies were consistent with his own social-democratic positions,

"Putin is pursuing policies that benefit the majority of the Russian people," Gorbachev said.

RELATED ARTICLES
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© 2007 Moscow News
Moscow News - World - Gorbachev Worries About Missile Plan

 

[genmirajborgza786]

Russian Navy Returns to the High Seashttp://mnweekly.rian.ru/news/20071206/55295359.html

06/12/2007
Russia's navy has resumed military presence in the Mediterranean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean, Russian Defense Minister Anatoly Serdyukov reported at a Wednesday meeting with President Vladimir Putin.

The minister, quoted by the RIA-Novosti press agency, reported that a naval fleet was heading to the northeast Atlantic and the Mediterra­nean Sea, where they will remain till early February of next year. The expedition is aimed at bolstering Russia's naval presence and increasing the security of Russian navigation.

The minister said an aircraft-carrying heavy cruiser, two anti-submarine ships and a tanker departed for the Mediterranean on Wednesday, where they will be joined by a Black Sea Fleet missile cruiser and a tanker.

Serdyukov said a total of four warships and seven other vessels of Russia's Northern, Black Sea and Baltic fleets, as well as 47 planes and 10 helicopters, have been dispatched for the mission. Three exercises, involving the vessels and aircraft, are being planned.

Earlier this year, naval chief Admiral Vladimir Masorin called for restoring a permanent Russian presence in the Mediterranean, saying it was a vital zone for the Black Sea Fleet.

In the Soviet era, navy ships were based at Syria's Mediterranean port of Tartus, and Russia still maintains a technical base there.

The naval expedition represents the latest effort by Putin - bolstered by a torrent of oil revenues pouring into government coffers - to breathe new life into Russia's armed forces.

Earlier this year, he ordered the military to resume regular long-range flights of strategic bombers. In recent years, Russia's bombers have resumed flights to areas off Norway and Iceland, as well as Russia's northeast corner, across the Bering Strait from Alaska several years ago.

Still, it was unclear how much of a presence the Russian ships would have, either in the Mediterranean or elsewhere. Like other branches of military, the navy, particularly its surface fleet, suffered in the aftermath of the Soviet collapse, as a lack of funding resulted in ships and submarines rusting away in docks and berths.

In mid-August, Putin announced the resumption of strategic patrol flights, saying that although the country halted long-distance strategic flights to remote regions in 1992 with the collapse of the Soviet Union and the ensuing economic and political chaos, other nations had continued the practice, compromising Russian national security.

Russia's strategic bombers have since carried out over 70 patrol flights over the Pacific, Atlantic, and Arctic oceans, as well as the Black Sea, a senior Air Force official said Tuesday, adding that NATO interceptor aircraft had escorted Russian bombers during all their patrols.

Combined report - Ria Novosti, AP

RELATED ARTICLES
09/08/2007 Rusting Hulls for the Navy

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© 2007 Moscow News
Moscow News - News - Russian Navy Returns to the High Seas

 

[genmirajborgza786]

Putin says Russia will not tolerate NATO military build up

20/11/2007 14:47 MOSCOW, November 20 (RIA Novosti) - President Vladimir Putin said on Tuesday that Russia would not ignore NATO's military build up near its borders and would provide an adequate response to any "muscle-flexing."

"In violation of previous agreements, NATO members' military resources are being built up next to our borders," Putin said at a Defense Ministry meeting with senior military staff. "Certainly, we cannot allow ourselves to remain indifferent to this obvious muscle-flexing."

He said Russia had been forced to impose a moratorium on the Conventional Forces in Europe treaty as the majority of other signatories had failed to ratify an adapted version of the cold war-era agreement.

In a widely anticipated move, both houses of the Russian parliament have unanimously supported Putin's initiative to suspend Russia's participation in the CFE treaty, which the Kremlin calls discriminatory. The measure becomes effective on December 12.

"I would like to emphasize that it is a forced, but necessary measure," the Russian president said. "We will not observe anything unilaterally."

At the same time, Putin said Russia would consider resuming its participation in the CFE treaty if other signatories fulfilled their obligations under the arms control accord.

"Russia will consider renewing its commitments after our partners join an adapted version of the treaty and, most importantly, observe it," Putin said.
12:42 13/11/2007 U.S. missile shield in Europe aimed against Russia - army chief
© 2005 RIA Novosti



www.rian.ru

 

[H2O3C4Nitrogen]

EVERY BODY HAS THE RIGHT TO PROTECT ITS INTERSTS. AND IN CASE OF MISSILE SHEILD RUSSIA SHOULD TAKE INIATIVE TO COUNTER SUCH THREATS BY USA.
+
RUSSIA CAN MAKE ITS BLOCK IN MUSLIM COUNTRIES WHO HATE UNITED STATES MORE THAN ANYTHING.
IRAN IS AN EXAMPLE BUT RUSSIA SHOULD LOOK FOR MORE..
CURRENTLY PAKISTAN IS THE STRONGEST MUSLIM COUNTRY . MANY PEOPLE HERE HATE USA.
ANY SUCH ACT FROM RUSSIA WILL TRUELY BE WELCOMED BY THOSE WHO FACED THE BULLY BEHAVIOUR OF USA.

 

[H2O3C4Nitrogen]

AND THANKS genmirajborgza786 . MAN YOU PROVIDED SO MUCH KNOWLAGE THAT WILL EFFECT THE VIEWPOINT OF SINGLE SUPER POWER . RUSSIA IS TRUELY A SUPERPOWER IN THIS MULTIPOLAR WORLD.
CAN YOU ALSO PROVIDE THE GROUND REALITIES ABOUT MILITARY OPERATIONS IN KOSOVO..

 

[Neo]

Dude, turn off the caps...there's no need to shout...we hear you!

 

[genmirajborgza786]

AND THANKS genmirajborgza786 . MAN YOU PROVIDED SO MUCH KNOWLAGE THAT WILL EFFECT THE VIEWPOINT OF SINGLE SUPER POWER . RUSSIA IS TRUELY A SUPERPOWER IN THIS MULTIPOLAR WORLD.
CAN YOU ALSO PROVIDE THE GROUND REALITIES ABOUT MILITARY OPERATIONS IN KOSOVO..

thank you i appreciate it may peace be with you sure i ll try to get the information regarding the military operations which took place in kosovo.

 

[genmirajborgza786]

Russia ships nuclear fuel to Iran
Russia has delivered its first shipment of nuclear fuel to a reactor it is helping to build at Bushehr in Iran.
The two sides reached agreement last week on a schedule to finish building the plant after years of delays.

Some Western countries fear Iran is trying to build nuclear weapons but Tehran says its programme is for peaceful power generation only.

The UN has demanded that Iran halt uranium enrichment but has approved the Russian nuclear fuel deliveries.

Timetable agreed

The Russian company building the Bushehr plant, Atomstroiexport, said the delivery of the enriched uranium fuel began on Sunday.

The head of Iran's atomic energy agency, Gholam Reza Aghazadeh, later confirmed that the first delivery had arrived, according to Iran's state-run Irna news agency.

Enriched uranium is used as fuel in nuclear power stations. When it is more highly enriched, it can be used to make nuclear weapons.

There are two pressurised water reactors at the Bushehr site, one of which is reportedly near completion and likely to be the first major Iranian reactor to begin generating electricity, possibly by mid-2008.


BUSHEHR NUCLEAR PLANT
Begun in 1974 with German assistance
Work halts after Iran's 1979 Islamic revolution
Resumed in 1992 with Russian help
13 Dec: Russia and Iran agree to finish plant after numerous delays
Two pressurised water reactors
One believed near completion, could begin operating in eight months
Cost: $1bn


Russian officials have previously said the plant could be operational within six months of fuel being delivered.

Iran first planned a reactor near the south-western port of Bushehr with German assistance in 1974.

Those plans were abandoned after the Islamist revolution in 1979 but the Russians picked up the project in 1992.

On 13 December, Russia and Iran agreed on a schedule to finish construction on the Bushehr plant after repeated delays.

Russia had said Iran was behind on payments. But many analysts believe Moscow delayed over Tehran's resistance to international pressure to be more open about its nuclear programme.

Enrichment row

The United States has been leading a drive in the UN Security Council to pass a third round of sanctions against Iran.





Russia and China have co-operated with the previous two votes but a US intelligence report two weeks ago said Iran had stopped trying to develop nuclear weapons in 2003, taking some of the steam out of the American pressure.

The latest report on Iran from UN's nuclear watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), concluded that Tehran was being more open about some aspects of its programme, but there remained unanswered questions and uranium enrichment had not been halted despite the UN's demands.

The delivery of the nuclear fuel has removed one of the most significant practical sanctions against Tehran, says the BBC's diplomatic correspondent, Jonathan Marcus.

Diplomatic tensions

Atomstroiexport said the containers of fuel had been inspected and sealed before delivery by the UN's nuclear watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency.

The company said the first delivery of 163 canisters of uranium-235 arrived at Bushehr on Sunday.


The full delivery will take up to two months, Atomstroiexport said. The fuel is lowly-enriched uranium which Russia says cannot be used in a nuclear weapon.
The US has said, however, that spent fuel from a reactor can be reprocessed into plutonium for a weapon.

Russia's foreign ministry said it had received assurances from Tehran that the fuel would not be used anywhere but at Bushehr.

The foreign ministry statement urged Iran to stop enriching uranium, saying there was no longer any need.

But a senior Iranian official said his country would not halt uranium enrichment under any circumstances, Reuters news agency said.

Iran has always insisted it has the right to develop the full nuclear cycle, including making the fuel for reactors.

Russia has played its Bushehr card skilfully, says our diplomatic correspondent, but risks significant additional tensions with Washington.

Iran has now been added to the top of a list that includes disagreements over a US missile defence plan, conventional arms control in Europe and the political future of Kosovo.

Story from BBC NEWS:
BBC NEWS | Middle East | Russia ships nuclear fuel to Iran

Published: 2007/12/17 11:27:29 GMT

© BBC MMVII