NP - Russian Sanctions

[Heikki Raudaskoski]

Thomas, thanks for the fine and admirable presentation of your point of
view. The last part of my message mostly concerned Russia's domestic
policy - or policies in plural, as it is the Putinian doublespeak that
most infuriates, and sometimes manages to paralyze, the people I know in
Moscow. Or, more precisely, the nonstop business of saying one thing and
doing/allowing another. Admittedly, this kind of policy is by no means
restricted to Putin on this globe. Anyway, the situation in Russia has
been getting uglier and uglier, especially during the last 18 months.
The Sochi Olympics provided a short intermission in this respect though.


Totally agree with what you say about the level of the US's and UK's
deceitfulness re the war in Iraq.


Heikki


On Wed, 19 Mar 2014, Thomas Eckhardt wrote:

> 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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