pynchon-l-digest V2 #2096

[Otto]

>
> And for our German friends:
> And Russia is doing its best to sell itself. Putin told a group
> of German industrialists in Essen, Germany, Sept. 26 that "in
> case of regional conflicts breaking out, Russia is prepared to
> supply more oil."
>
> The speech came on the same day that German Chancellor Gerhard
> Schroeder indicated a change in Berlin's stance on Russia's war
> in Chechnya from one of barely concealed condemnation to an
> understanding of Russia's challenges in fighting terrorism.
>
> That's what you get when you get your news/information/intelligence from
> multiple...er, diverse sources.
> TTFN
>
> frodeauxb

Putin is coming out of the KGB. He speaks fluently German and did an
impressive speech at the German parliament stating that the Cold War
really is over.
If this means that we have to be silent about the 40.000 killed Chechens I'd
prefere the old days when it was possible to say this or that guy is a
killer, even if he's the elected president.
Sergej Kowaljow, member of the Duma, says since 1995 that the Russian
Chechnya-policy, that Putin's war is "State-terrorism." Oleg Orlow of the
Russian civil rights organization "Memorial" reports that nothing has
changed: the rebels are attacking the Russians, who are answering with
terror against the civilian population.
How can Russia be a part of an anti-terror coalition if it spreads terror
itself. Is the Chechen terrorism the cause or the effect of that policy?

Schröder is *the* opportunist par excellence. He's a lawyer and the fourth
time married (without religious reasons). So my trust in him is very
limited although I have given him my vote.
He's a little bit in trouble because the Greens are not supporting his
"Realpolitik" like partners in a coalition maybe should. So he's already
preparing the next elections, trying to exchange the Greens by the Liberals:

"Mr. Schröder was even forced this weekend to deny talk that the coalition
itself could collapse over the strains produced by the Sept. 11 attacks, and
that the Greens might be replaced by the always-flexible Free Democratic
Party."
http://www.nytimes.com/2001/10/01/international/europe/01GERM.html

If a politician denies something I'm always tending to take the opposite for
real.

Otto