Russian President Lashes Out at West

Russian President Lashes Out at West

www.breitbart.com

Vladimir Putin called his critics foreign-funded "jackals" and accused the West of meddling in Russian politics in a scathing speech Wednesday meant to drum up support for the main pro-Kremlin party.
The thunderous attack came as Russia heads toward Dec. 2 parliamentary elections that have turned into a plebiscite on Putin and whether he should retain power after stepping down as president next year after two consecutive terms...chants urging Putin to remain Russia's "national leader."

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Related News Links:
www.reuters.com
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This should be interesting. There have been other threads claiming Russia will start WW3 and that the 'Cold War' era has ended...

Two superpowers again? China is not the weakling it once was either...

It isn't clear what formal title he might hold, but he heads the ticket of the dominant United Russia party and has suggested he could become prime minister. Opinion surveys suggest the party will win two- thirds of the votes and a crushing 80 percent of the lower house of parliament's 450 seats.

With approval ratings exceeding 70 percent, Putin cast the election as a black-and-white choice between the current economic boom and the poverty and political chaos of the 1990s—doomsday rhetoric clearly aimed at getting his supporters to the polls.

"Nothing is predetermined at all," a grim-faced Putin said. "Stability and peace on our land have not fallen from the skies; they haven't yet become absolutely, automatically secured."

www.breitbart.com
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[edit on 11/21/2007 by biggie smalls]

People do not get it, China, Russia, Iran and other countries are forming their own union they will be a force to be deal with in the future.

The same way I said for a long time that China was going to take over economically and now look where they are at I predict that this new union with their own world bank system will be challenging US and allies in a war of will.

Beware this is not a cold war anymore now is about supremacy. We may see more lashing to US policies from now on a daily basis.

A few more sources:


Putin lashes out at West AND political opponents


Its been repeated over and over... Time.com forbes.com guardian.co.uk bla bla everyone is covering this story...Although several stories have verified its existence does not necessarily lead to its credibility...However, Putin is no coward so I could very well see the alliance of the East to be very strong...Don't forget about Africa and South America my friends.

[edit on 11/21/2007 by biggie smalls]

I think that one of the reason is been played over and over is to get America citizens reaction and to build animosity toward Russia.

After all they are playing devils advocate for Iran.

Marg, as usual, you're spot on. I saw this coming right after 9/11, when Bush started talking about not caring what the rest of the world thought of us. He didn't think it was important. But this situation illustrates perfectly why we SHOULD care about our image abroad. The rest of the world hates us, hates our ignorance, arrogance and our govt. We have pissed them off, and it was only a matter of time before other countries got together to stand against America's aggressive war stance.

The PNAC paper, on which our foreign policy is based almost word-for-word, stated that America would attack ANY country they saw as a threat, or even suspected of being threatened. Considering how crazy and paranoid our present govt is, it's a very short stretch for other countries to fear that the U.S. might aggress on them.

I understand Putin and I appreciate where he is coming from. I wouldnt be too pleased if our liberals in America decided to accept Chinese money to run their campaigns either. The domestic affairs of a country should be free from external machinations to preserve the best interests of the country. Putin is trying to do the same. I think he has stifled them so much that they dont have any money.

Instead he should allow them some concessions like free commercials on TV, or a fixed election fund for each party etc. You cant tie a mans legs and ask him to run.

reply to post by biggie smalls



good for Putin... while America is prosecuting wars in Iraq, Afghanistan...
and trying its darnest to head-off a expected Pakistan quagmire...
Putin is helping the world to realise that the USA, Hawkish administration
is the bad-seed on the world stage. Like it or not !

I think all this countries have finally get it. The only way you are going to defeat the US for good is to disrupt their level of influence around the world and to put us on a bind economically.

The variables for that equation are already taking shape and the U.S. need to act quick to at least by the country some time to figure out how to get out of this mess. If countries like China and Russia keep gaining ground like they are as power brokers around the world and tilt the balance by adding some european countries to their list of allies is all downhill from there for the U.S. IMO.

I'm not predicting doom and gloom to the U.S., the U.S. could take some emergency measures that can stabilze what ever this other countries might throw out there, but the fact is that we are far too dependant from other countries right now for everything and thats just going to bring trouble in the future.

It is sad that in our nations name our politicians are doing the worst mistakes in the world tarnishing our name.

It seems that Is just no Russia lashing out to our nation but about any other nation that their policies are not cooperating with our nations present administration goals.

Now is a war of will but when it will turn in a military war.

What is this war everyone keeps talking about. Why does everyone here think that Russia (or for that matter Iran or China) wants a war or conflict, or a cold war with the West? I can tell you than nearly no one in Russia is concerned with such war or cold war rumor - mostly because nobody thinks Russia is able to, or has any reason to engage in such conflict.

All these speeches by Putin given in Russia (as opposed to speeches given on his foreign visits) are meant for local consumption. Putin's party wants to make sure the pro-Western oligarchs are kept away from power, which they held under Yeltsin. Are the opposing candidated directly financed by the West? Probably not. But their businesses are, so in a sense they are backed by the West.

There is no conspiracy or evil intentions in these speeches. In fact most of the stuff is bull****. Its just propaganda. Oligarchs that stood a chance against Putin, like Berezovsky or Khodorkovsky have all been rooted out, either arrested or in exile. They still have puppet political candidates working for and with them within Russia, and this is the group that Putin is targeting in these speeches.


But yeah - Russians are aware of what happened in Ukraine and Georgia, where pro-Western political puppets brainwashed the population into electing them via a coup in disguise. Now these pro-Western governments are already failing, and this makes Russians even more aware of outside influence. Thus calling someone a political puppet of the oligarchs or the West (which is what Putin is doing in this speech), is probably the worst blow against them in terms of popular support.

Unlike Ukraine and Georgia though, Russian ministries are now careful to prevent such pro-Western coups. FSB monitors all election and candidacy activities very closely, and for a good reason. Yeltsin's presidency was mared by this very problem - outside influence on domestic policies, and Putin is determined that this does not take place again.



[edit on 21-11-2007 by maloy]

I see the world's most favoured champions of geo-political tennis have returned to center stage.

The ball is in America's court, i believe.

I don't think we need to worry about WW3 or anything from these two countries, they're both powerful enough in their own right to operate in a stand-alone environment, neither of which have any real use of war in the name of their respective flags.

It may be the case that WW3 will be fought with the pen, as opposed to the sword.

I'm more worried about the younger players on the world stage and their perspective of the cold war - pakistan and india have their own version of what the superpowers of the last century went through, and Isreal and Iran have another example of this particular 'mini-cold war'.

There are numerous factions in the world that are in direct opposition with each other, and only a few seem to be working towards a constructive future.

In a strange, almost surreal sense - the middle east has become another super-power, but one based on the number of weapon-bearers as opposed to the size of it's war-chest.

reply to post by maloy


I agree too that it has a degree of that too. Is like here a politician saying that Putin is heading Russia back to communism? That is just for local comsumption, that can not be possibly happening there.

Originally posted by marg6043
People do not get it, China, Russia, Iran and other countries are forming their own union they will be a force to be deal with in the future.

How do you think they felt when we formed NATO?

This seems to be an attempt to flex Russian might. The US has been the moral underdog for a long time now..I don't think any other country will ever take that reputation away.

We need to act responsible as a whole nation. We can't let our politicians speak for us as they do not represent the majority of America. The majority is civil, compassionate, tolerant, and at least somewhat educated. However, we have been hijacked.

If Iran, China, Russia, (North Korea?), and several other powerful nations ally with each other versus a NATO-type force...Let's hope no ground wars start, but 'pen' wars as a previous poster stated.

I would tend to have a more bleak outlook on this situation, but I do see humanity overcoming its nationalistic, cultural, and religious differences. However, when that occurs is based on how we behave the next several years.

I feel right now, with the rise of new powers in Asia, the resurgence of the Russians and the decline of the Euros. The power balance in the world is shifting and with this shifts there are bound to be tensions. Each power will try to stretch his legs as far as they can go but in the end they are all share the same space. In the end, these powers will be accepted for what they are and governments will treat them as such. But now initially, any assertive move is seen as a grave threat and the need to assert oneself seems important to be acknowledged.

Originally posted by malganis

How do you think they felt when we formed NATO?

Did they made such a stink like our nation's leaders are doing now?

Remember our nation can tag them axis of evil for being uncooperative.

Originally posted by malganis

Originally posted by marg6043
People do not get it, China, Russia, Iran and other countries are forming their own union they will be a force to be deal with in the future.

How do you think they felt when we formed NATO?

Nato was formed in an attempt to show the USSR that it's imperialist actions didn't go unnoticed, nor would they go unanswered if they pushed any further.

And for the question "what war" we are already in the midst of an economic soft war with China. They are flooding our markets, aggresivley buying up our debt, and maybe I'm just paranoid but it seems very much as if they are trying to poison us with lead!

I say it is time to reinstitute some of our old trade tarifts and tighten up on the ones that we did keep in order to level the playing field this way we will have our old power status back.

We no longer have a multifasited power base to back up any of our policy and we can only use the threat of force as a reprisal. This is shown out in our war sit. today and is only causing more hatred.

If we got our economic stability back then our Dollar would far surpass the Euro and all else. We still have the most lucrative consumer market in the world.

The threat of China and other newley modernized industrialist countries loosing that consumer market would be the best "BIG STICK" that we could carry, and our policies would be received very well.

Some how nobody seems to see this, or else nobody seems to care????

Forgive any mistakes I'm in a rush.

reply to post by lazy1981

We no longer have a multifasited power base to back up any of our policy and we can only use the threat of force as a reprisal. This is shown out in our war sit. today and is only causing more hatred.

Unfortunately, this is par for the course in the post-modern world. As Martin van Crevald and William S. Lind have noted, the state is in a decline, and our vulnerability to terrorism and our dependence on Blackwater USA is evidence of that. Despite force being our only credible tool, we are even declining in terms of that. This is a very severe crisis, indeed. The only remedy is form international communities, strengthen the U.N., or, at least in Europe, form the European Union, creating the confederation. However, nobody wants to do that.

We should not put too much stock into Putin's harsh words, nor should we resent him for it. Putin is simply doing that the mainstream public wants him to do: talk tough. Many Americans love a leader that talks tough, even if tough talk is highly unadvisable.

This is pure geopolitics, nothing more, nothing less. As the world order changes, and peak oil dawns upon us, the energy giants of Russia and Iran are taking whatever measures necessary to ensure their own survival. If denying us of resources is the way to do it, then the U.S. is clearly in real trouble. Just as we ensured our survival, then our dominance by allying with Saudi Arabia, Russia is seeking to do the same, only this time they've got enough resources to make things stick on their own. As a foreign policy political realist, I find no difference between the U.S. support of Saudi Arabia and what appears to be burgeoning Russian support of Iran.

Let me end by saying that I am convinced more than ever that while the USSR lost, the Russians won.

Originally posted by maloy
What is this war everyone keeps talking about. Why does everyone here think that Russia (or for that matter Iran or China) wants a war or conflict, or a cold war with the West? I can tell you than nearly no one in Russia is concerned with such war or cold war rumor - mostly because nobody thinks Russia is able to, or has any reason to engage in such conflict.

Canadian bacon is a great movie. It jokes that the American president invites the Russian president to the whitehouse to eat KFC and discuss a mutually beneficial war between their two countries.

Of course that wouldn't happen, or at least we hope not. But there's plenty of excuses to waste bullets and humvees in false wars. The people who produce those bullets and hummers get rich, in fact wasn't it George Bush's brother or something who owns the hummer factory which was set up in Iraq? One of the reasons they wont armour those humvees is so they keep getting destroyed, each one the factory makes for the military gets them a lot of money.

Just pointing out that in some cases, sabre rattling isn't always about reinforcing your hard man image to the public. In this case i've started to have doubts that all Putin cares about is getting an "unconsitutional third term in office" A bit of sabre rattling in this case allows both Russia and America to develop their own defenses, star wars stuff, global strike capabilities.

[edit on 22-11-2007 by unnamedninja]