Posted on 04/12/2010 9:50:27 AM PDT by neverdem
BISHKEK, KYRGYZSTAN -- Less than a month before the violent protests that toppled the government of Kyrgyzstan last week, Russian television stations broadcast scathing reports portraying President Kurmanbek Bakiyev as a repugnant dictator whose family was stealing billions of dollars from this impoverished nation.
The media campaign, along with punishing economic measures adopted by the Kremlin, played a critical role in fanning public anger against Bakiyev and bringing people into the streets for the demonstrations that forced him to flee the capital Wednesday, according to protest leaders, local journalists and analysts.
"Even without Russia, this would have happened sooner or later, but . . . I think the Russian factor was decisive," said Omurbek Tekebayev, a former opposition leader who is now the No. 2 figure in the government.
Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin has denied that Moscow played any role in the uprising, and leaders of the movement to oust Bakiyev insist they received only moral support. But the Kremlin had made no secret of its growing displeasure with Bakiyev, and over the past few months it steadily ratcheted up the pressure on his government while reaching out to the opposition.
The strategy was a sharp departure from Russia's traditional support for autocratic leaders in its neighborhood. It paid off quickly and dramatically, and it appears to have delivered the Kremlin a rare foreign policy victory.
Not only has Moscow served notice on other wayward autocrats in its back yard -- many of whom also govern Russian-speaking populations that watch Russian television -- it also appears to have gained a greater say over the future of the U.S. air base here, which is critical to supplying the NATO military surge in Afghanistan...
(Excerpt) Read more at washingtonpost.com ...
Seriously folks, was anyone under the impression that Russia wasn’t involved?
Say it! Say it!
That is a shocker! NOT!
They’ve been very busy decapitating governments lately, haven’t they. I guess O’s treaty was an ‘all clear’ to recreate the CCCP.
My main concern right now is that Obama is figuratively inviting foreigners into our nation to measure the drapes and see if they could picture their own government living here.
“It’s a real bargain right now, since I’ve made some changes..., and if you don’t like the price, just let us know. Nothing is cast in granite. We can always go lower.”
Perish the thought! I think you just helped me understand what he’s up to. God help us! He’s selling America! His job is to get the price lower for his benefactors. It truly is over, democracy has failed.
His goal is singular. He wants to end the influence of the United States on world affairs.
In his mind, Islam, China, Russia, and any other despotic entity deserves equal or better influence, and damn the United States for standing in their way.
He wants our nation to be a third world nation irrevocably the time he leaves office.
That is the action of a traitor, whether it fits the on the record definition or not.
It was the Russians who changed the Kyrgyz government (the leader pissed off the KGB)
It was the Russians...Er Soviets who caused the Polish plane to crash. I wonder what happened to the plane over Belarussian airspace.
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