Posted on 01/08/2014 12:03:23 AM PST by Olog-hai
Since Vladimir Putin’s official return to power in 2012, the Russian President seems to have set his mind on teaching the rest of the world a few simple lessons. First, that he shall not be underestimated on the international stage; second, that Moscow will keep reasserting control over what it considers to be its legitimate sphere of influence for Russia; and finally, that he shall do whatever he pleases at home. […]
When it comes to the honorable title of Bully of the Year, the Russian President surely triumphed in 2013. But all too often bullies fail with their homework. Russia’s economy is crumbling. Moscow revised downward its economic outlook in December, the fourth time it did so last year. Growth, investment and industrial output are all below previously set targets, while inflation has risen to above 6%. […] Crony capitalism and the heavy hand of the state has led to steady brain drain among the educated Russians needed for any real economy to thrive. …
(Excerpt) Read more at ideas.time.com ...
The Bully of the Year Award should go to Obama, hands down. Anyone who sues The Little Sisters of the Poor is far worse than Putin....and not half as intelligent.
I didn’t say I admire him. I was making reference to our Pansy in Chief. Don’t read what I don’t write. A tyrant is a tyrant but a man is not a pansy. Go pedal your crap elsewhere since I have no desire to converse with you further. I have to head for work now. Good day.
When you say someone is “A MAN” it implies they’re upstanding and honorable.
...if you didn’t mean it that way you should have phrased it differently.
“It’s good to be tsar.”
Beginning to wonder if some of the really anti Putin stuff posted on here is because of Putin’s and Russia’s refusal to bend over for the Homosexuals?
Everybody knows Putin is not a friend to the US...but he seems to be more protective of his nation than many on FR are supportive of their own.
Wonder how many of Putin’s critics are big supporters of Free Trade with Communist China? Anyone who still supports Free Trade w Communist China is a bigger statist and dupe than anyone saying positive things about Putin
You do realize, that, Free Trade with Communist China helps keep that NutWad Kim Jong Un in power in No Korea? It is Communist China, not Russia, that keeps No Korea around. Communist China is the only real trading partner of No Korea...and by proxy...via our stupid insistence to continue Free Trade w Communist China...the US supports NoKo
Did you just join FR today? Either that or you've had your head up your butt for the past 6 or so years. How could you possibly think I could support the freaking ChiComs when I've been posting numerous lengthy pieces on both them and the Russians just about every day I've been here. As for supporting the homosexual BS, again, you have your head up your rear. I've slammed them here everyday as well. You seem to have the same problem as some others on here: you simply can't think very well. You have near zero capacity to put 2 and 2 together. And that's a shame, because it's difficult enough dealing with all the a-holes there are on the left.
Where the hell did you get the stupid friggin idea that I support free trade with China??
From April 22, 2012 (Lenin's birthday)...
China-Russia Yellow Sea naval drills begin
AP via Yahoo News ^ | April 22, 2012
BEIJING (AP) — China and Russia launched joint naval exercises Sunday that highlight warming ties between their militaries and growing cooperation in international affairs.
[snip]
"It's an excellent exchange for China to be able to drill jointly in such sensitive areas," Yin told CCTV.
[snip]
Much of that cooperation takes place within the confines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, a grouping of Central Asian states that seeks to check U.S. influence in the region and began holding joint drills in 2005.
Formerly Cold War rivals for leadership of the communist world, China and Russia have since found common ground in countering liberal democratizing trends across Asia and Eastern Europe and frequently vote against Western initiatives in the United Nations Security Council. ..."
(Excerpt) Read more at news.yahoo.com ...
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From the Sino-Russian Joint Statement of April 23, 1997:
"The two sides [China and Russia] shall, in the spirit of partnership, strive to promote the multipolarization of the world and the establishment of a new international order."
http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Central_Asia/HI29Ag01.html
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"Joint war games are a logical outcome of the Sino-Russian Friendship and Cooperation Treaty signed in 2001, and reflect the shared worldview and growing economic ties between the two Eastern Hemisphere giants."
http://www.heritage.org/research/commentary/2005/09/war-games-russia-china-grow-alliance
Xinhua | 2013-8-10
A Chinese helicopter hovers the field for drill as Chinese armored forces advance during the Peace Mission-2013 China-Russia joint military drill in Chelyabinsk, Russia, on August 9, 2013. The 20-day Peace Mission-2013 China-Russia joint military drill began in Chelyabinsk on July 27. (Xinhua/Xian Yunqiang)
53 Comments
By J.R. Nyquist
In discussions with former KGB and GRU officers you will run across two apparently contradictory statements. Sometimes you will hear them say that the former USSR is still run by Communists, suggesting that the rulers there believe in Communism. On the other hand, they will tell you to forget about the Communist label; that the rulers of the USSR never really believed in Communist ideology, which was a deception used to manipulate large numbers of unintelligent people.
Former KGB Lt. Col. Victor Kalashnikov recently wrote several paragraphs on this subject, and it is worth presenting. Kalashnikov’s key point is that Communism is strategy, not ideology. Useful idiots believe in Communist dogma, while Communist strategists do not. Here is what Kalashnikov had to say on the subject:
Ideology as such has not ever been the real driving force guiding Russia’s rulers, from the Bolsheviks until the present. Ideological explanations are irrelevant. Consider the deeds of the Bolsheviks rather than the explanations or justifications given by them. Don’t forget that criminals may be very eloquent and even well educated, and are capable of offering convincing-sounding rhetoric. The real problem is located elsewhere. A lot of people, those ‘useful’ ones, will take that rhetoric … seriously, giving it attention and respect, and even protection. Yet if we rely on ‘Occam’s razor,’ we may remove the superficial misunderstandings caused by taking rhetoric seriously.
The Bolsheviks were basically nothing but professional gangsters and terrorists, killers and robbers, and that is unquestionably more relevant than all the ideological explanations provided by them. They were part of a broader terrorist spectrum which spread across Russia since the late 19th century and grabbed power and national wealth UNDER COVER of Marxist and Leftist-sounding slogans. They did so to mislead the Russians themselves and the foreign public – the latter often longing for ‘real’ socialism or communism.The slogans of the gangsters have varied substantially over time, according to the changing needs up until our day. Compare the types of Marxism preached and practiced under various general secretaries, even during different parts of their respective tenures. Marxism-Leninism was used in the USSR rather as a DECEPTION TOOL; whereas, in reality, the regime was a gangster-run state with all the unmistakable features of organized criminal activity.
I can only confirm what Viktor Suvorov once told me about the GRU as applying to the KGB: namely, that if any faithful communists happened to penetrate the intelligence staff by chance, they would be filtered out. ‘You may not entrust serious matters to the people believing in all that rubbish,’ Suvorov said. Take ‘proletarian solidarity’ for example. When and how did it work? Or take ‘pauperization of the imperialist states,’ or ‘inter-imperialist wars,’ etc. What really remained untouched among all the ‘Marxists’ in state power [was] the ever present and aggressive anti-Americanism. Why? – Because the United States is reasonably regarded as an INHERENT OPPONENT of ‘Leftist’ rule and policies. All of this also implies more power for the secret police to suppress dissent and opposition, along with the crucial role of BUREAUCRACY and all its perquisites like nepotism, corruption, etc. That’s where the COMMON DENOMINATOR with Russia is to be found. Such regimes are incompatible with normal countries and doomed to seek conflict rather than cooperation.
Anti-Americanism would probably be the most distinct and unifying feature among them – so that you may take it as the only workable and articulated ideology of substance that they espouse. And, of course, Moscow supplies all anti-American forces worldwide with arms, training, secret police and subversion know-how, plus diplomatic and political cover. Clearly, the KGB and GRU have laid down firm foundations for such international alliances on institutional, material, financial and personal levels. The General Staff of the Russian armed forces has definitely integrated those Leftist regimes of Latin American into its strategic planning, including subversion, terrorism and various forms of soft power, targeting the United States and its allies. As already noted, the ‘Marxist’ or so-named ‘liberation’ ideology rather plays an operational role for the purposes of propaganda and deception.
The West seems to live with a self-made, or partly imposed from the outside, fairy tale about Russia. I’m really getting tired of continually explaining this wherever I can. Probably, the Western culture and the overall state of mind are in need, for the sake of inner balance and comfort, of an alternative to a decadent Western society. This alternative is somehow thought to be Russia, which still belongs to the European realm with all its great writers and composers of the 19thcentury. This artificial idea about a Russia that never really existed, and by no means is Putin’s ‘Russian Federation’ anyway, is eagerly supported in Moscow. In fact, the present-day Russia is engulfed by CULTURAL REGRESS which is increasingly apparent if you look straight at arts, literature, architecture, media or public life. However paradoxically, this regress may become an effective survival strategy for Russia. Remember that a mollusk can outlive every other thing on earth because of its simple adaptive abilities. That makes Putin’s Russia even more dangerous, and requires a truly fresh look at an ominous phenomenon.
Here we discover, in Kalashnikov’s analysis, the keys to the whole puzzle. Not all Communists believe in the sense of religious belief. Their Communism boils down to a set of strategies. In practice, they are gangsters and terrorists. Their strategy was (and is) to destroy the United States in order to lay the entire world open to plunder. As Lenin once said, “Communism is nothing more than the scientific management of human affairs.” Of all sciences, strategy involves the mass manipulation and management of people. For a criminal, this manipulation signifies mass murder and mass robbery.
It is beyond doubt, of course, that the Cold War did not end in 1991. Inside the former Soviet Union we can discern criminal totalitarian structures at work behind the scenes. These structures appear to control the large Russian corporations, media and, at minimum, maintain a veto power over government agencies in former Warsaw Pact countries and former Soviet republics. If these structures are not Communist in a strict sense, they are Communist in the sense that their actual ideology is anti-Americanism (as stated by Kalashnikov).
In terms of global strategy, these structures aim at the elimination of American power. Furthermore, these structures no longer require Marxist-Leninist ideology to function (though they do require anti-Americanism). At the same time they successfully make use of those Marxist true-believers in the West who still dream of socialist revolution.
When we look at Russian support to Venezuelan arms production, or to Russian support for Nicaragua’s new military preparation, it appears that global communist revolution is still supported as part of this anti-American strategy. Kalashnikov would say that this is “part of the deception.” Effectively, it doesn’t matter whether the FSB/KGB and the Russian General Staff believe in Marxism-Leninism or not. Their behavior is objectively the same as Marxist-Leninist behavior – only without the attending ideological clichés.
What does Putin actually believe? Since Marxism itself is a deception aimed at a specific audience, Putin must sound like a Marxist when speaking to Marxists, but must sound like a non-Marxist when interfacing with Western leaders. In the year 2000 Vladimir Putin was asked by Larry King about the cross he wears around his neck. Putin was evasive and refused to acknowledge a belief in God. When King pressed him for an answer, he said, “I believe in the power of man.” He had to give this answer because true-believing Communists in dozens of countries were listening, and he could not let them down.
When Putin first visited Cuba a journalist asked if he was still a Communist. Putin said, “Call me a pot, but heat me not.” The thing that is most difficult to understand and to relate to readers is that Marxism is two things with regard to two sets of people. Marxism is a lie – a deception strategy – for the strategists. At the same time, it is a religion to the true believers.
When a Communist revolution succeeds, the regime organizes everything around the concept of maximizing strategic power. Society itself is transformed into a tool of strategy. The true-believer always finds that the final end is not Communist revolution but strategic dominance to the point of universal tyranny. This produces the actual phenomenon of so-called “Communist states.” And this is, in fact, what Communism actually signifies in practice.
http://www.trevorloudon.com/2013/09/explaining-global-communism-today/
The exercise involves about 3,000 Russian and Chinese servicemen, nearly 300 units of army military equipment and over 40 fixed-wing aircraft and helicopters. Photo: BMP-86A infantry fighting vehicles of the People's Liberation Army (PLA) of China.
http://en.rian.ru/photolents/20090724/155604547.html
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[2009] Russia, China plan new joint military exercises
By MARTIN SIEFF, UPI Senior News Analyst
Published: March 26, 2009
WASHINGTON, March 26 (UPI) -- The continuing tensions over Russia's refusal to sell its state-of-the-art land warfare advanced weapons systems to China hasn't interrupted the rhythm of major joint military exercises between the two major land powers on the Eurasian landmass. The latest in the regular, biennial series of exercises between the two nations has been confirmed for this summer.
The next in the now well-established series of exercises called Peace Mission 2009 will be carried out in northeastern China, the Russian Defense Ministry announced March 18, according to a report carried by the RIA Novosti news agency.
The first bilateral Peace Mission maneuvers -- described at the time as counter-terrorism exercises -- were held in Russia and the eastern Chinese province of Shandong in August 2005. As we reported at that time, they were a lot bigger than mere counter-terrorism exercises. Warships, squadrons of combat aircraft and more than 10,000 troops were involved carrying out landings against hypothetically hostile shores. The maneuvers also involved large-scale paratroops drops. The scale and nature of those exercises suggested a trial run for a possible Chinese invasion of Taiwan with Russian support. ..."
http://www.upi.com/Security_Industry/2009/03/26/Russia_China_plan_new_joint_military_exercises/UPI-25021238094858/
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Russia, China flex muscles in joint war games
August 17, 2007
CHEBARKUL, Russia (Reuters) - Russia and China staged their biggest joint exercises on Friday but denied this show of military prowess could lead to the formation of a counterweight to NATO.
"Today's exercises are another step towards strengthening the relations between our countries, a step towards strengthening international peace and security, and first and foremost, the security of our peoples," Putin said.
Fighter jets swooped overhead, commandos jumped from helicopters on to rooftops and the boom of artillery shells shook the firing range in Russia's Ural mountains as two of the largest armies in the world were put through their paces.
The exercises take place against a backdrop of mounting rivalry between the West, and Russia and China for influence over Central Asia, a strategic region that has huge oil, gas and mineral resources.
Russia's growing assertiveness is also causing jitters in the West. Putin announced at the firing range that Russia was resuming Soviet-era sorties by its strategic bomber aircraft near NATO airspace.
http://in.reuters.com/article/worldNews/idINIndia-29030120070817?pageNumber=1&virtualBrandChannel=0
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War Games: Russia, China Grow Alliance
September 23, 2005
In foreign policy it’s critical to “know thine enemy.” So American policymakers should be aware that Russia and China are inching closer to identifying a common enemy — the United States.
The two would-be superpowers held unprecedented joint military exercises Aug. 18-25. Soothingly named “Peace Mission 2005,” the drills took place on the Shandong peninsula on the Yellow Sea, and included nearly 10,000 troops. Russian long-range bombers, the army, navy, air force, marine, airborne and logistics units from both countries were also involved.
Moscow and Beijing claim the maneuvers were aimed at combating terrorism, extremism and separatism (the last a veiled reference to Taiwan), but it’s clear they were an attempt to counter-balance American military might.
Joint war games are a logical outcome of the Sino-Russian Friendship and Cooperation Treaty signed in 2001, and reflect the shared worldview and growing economic ties between the two Eastern Hemisphere giants."
What does that have to do with the question I answered?
Lighten up, Francis.
I can’t find that definition in my dictionary. You’re getting annoying.
Annoying and boring. Shoo fly.
I have New Lies for Old in my personal collection. One of my prized books, and a must read for every American.
Well, for one thing, you could have added with the "he loves his country" at least one thing negative about the guy. Otherwise, it makes it sound like you really have no problem with him ("well, at least he loves his country"). And when, as you can see on most of these Russia-Putin threads, these more than a few misguided FReepers who continually come to his defense, those of us that know better should help enlighten those that don't know very much about him, not help contribute to their ignorance by leaving out the bad stuff.
I was making a joke. I don’t need a nitwit like you to edit my posts. Get lost.
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