“Any speculation as to why?”
It’s election year for them (parliamentary in December 2007 and presidential March 2008). Putin is going to try to handpick his successor and to make sure there aren’t any surprises (due to a sudden, catastrophic international situation opening the door to an extremist dark-horse candidate), he is “playing to the base” - - which in Russia ranges from the merely nationalist, to the ultra-nationalist, to the imperialistic neo-communists and neo-fascists. The democratic elements in Russia have for all practical purposes self-destructed (as they have in Iraq) because the totalitarian regimes that destroyed their countries in each case made certain that there is no culture of democracy remaining in either. Elections do not make for a democracy. Putin or a successor in his mold is about the best one can hope for from Russia. Better than a Russian Hitler with nukes.
Sometimes you have to pick your poison.
http://www.reuters.com/article/worldNews/idUSL1545447420070815
Russian nationalists likely train bombers: report
Wed Aug 15, 2007 10:19AM EDT
MOSCOW (Reuters) - Radical Russian nationalists are the most likely culprits in a bombing which derailed a Moscow to St. Petersburg express train, Interfax news agency reported on Wednesday, citing a source close to the investigation. “Detectives and investigation staff are working on several angles, however the priority lead is that representatives of extremist nationalist organizations were involved in this terrorist act,” Interfax quoted the source as saying.
A bomb laid on the tracks derailed the train traveling from Moscow to St Petersburg on Monday night, tipping over several carriages and wounding dozens of passengers. No one was killed. The route is one of Russia’s busiest. Radical nationalists are most commonly associated with street attacks on dark-skinned migrant workers, but they have been linked in the past to bomb attacks. Two nationalists were convicted of blowing up a train in 2005 that was traveling to Moscow from the southern Russian region of Chechnya, which has a majority Muslim population.
.........”Elections do not make for a democracy.”.......
Hugo Chavez is a prime example of this. Thanks for your reply.