NP - Russian Sanctions

[Thomas Eckhardt]

Am 18.03.2014 18:22, schrieb Heikki Raudaskoski:
>
> On the other hand, the composition of the Ukrainian government bears a
> strong resemblance to that of Putin's government, which e.g. is a more
> or less open supporter of more or less fascist hate groups etc. So, *in
> principle*, these two governments should get along well... People like
> Putin who most eagerly play the fascist card are often genuine fascists
> themselves. (My views are undeniably somewhat partisan as the woman I
> love is an active member of the anti-Putin opposition in Moscow.)

I do, unfortunately, not know too much about Russia except what seems to 
be common ground: an autocratic regime, no or almost no freedom of 
press, overly hard measures against the opposition, homophobia and yes, 
of course, propaganda. I know that there are nationalist, xenophobic, 
murderous thugs and even, strangely enough, neo-Nazis. And although I 
wouldn't know about government support for these groups, I believe you 
when you say that this is more or less the case. Also, I suspect at 
least some kind of tacit approval of the killing of journalists critical 
of the regime.

This said, with regard to foreign policy Putin seems to act rationally 
and with restraint given western meddling along Russia's borders 
(Georgia, Ukraine). For all the cold war hysteria in the western media, 
events in the Crimea have until now been largely non-violent 
(yesterday's murders, for which one of those mysterious snipers seems to 
be responsible, suggest that someone, somewhere, is hellbent on 
escalating tensions, though). Also, nothing Putin has said on this issue 
has been as blatantly deceitful as what the US and Great Britain claimed 
re Iraq.

All this might change, of course...

My anger is mainly directed at western and especially German propaganda. 
I hate Nazis, and I hate being treated like an idiot.

Thomas

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