← Autodidact Archive · Original Dissent · Hilaire Belloc
Thread ID: 10979 | Posts: 8 | Started: 2003-11-07
2003-11-07 20:19 | User Profile
[url]http://english.pravda.ru/main/18/88/350/11228_econimist.html[/url]
Russophobia - 11/07/2003 13:58
The outcry in the west at Khodorkovsky's arrest was audible inside the Kremlin's walls
"The Economist" likens Putin to Dracula after Khodorkovsky arrest The sheer credibility of The Economist magazine makes its lead feature "Vlad the Impaler", which compares the Russian President to Vlad Tepes, aka Dracula, the more shocking in yet another clear demonstration of the western media's Russophobia.
The title of the piece in this week's Economist magazine conjures up images of a Transylvanian castle with heads impaled on posts, while Vlad tucked into his dinner, a surrealistic and fantasy world which only exists as a figment of the imagination. Even more surrealistic and pie-in-the-sky is the Economist's leader, complete with sentences such as: "Everybody knows that, in Mr. Putin's Russia, the taking of such a big fish has nothing to do with business misdeeds, still less with justice, and everything to do with politics and the Kremlin's control".
The outcry in the west at Khodorkovsky's arrest was audible inside the Kremlin's walls. However, what has the west to do with Khodorkovsky? And what business has the western media to run offensive and slanderous stories about the Kremlin's policies? The three main issues were missed by The Economist, such was the frenzy to take a shot at Vladimir Putin's Russia, the first being the way in which Khodorkovsky gained control of YUKOS and the way the distribution of shares has been managed. The second main issue is that Vladimir Putin's government is putting Russia back into the hands of the authorities after a decade of lunacy under Boris Eltsin. The third is to put a damper on the assault on Russia's resources by US companies - Exxon Mobil and Chevron Texaco were vying to acquire a large part of YUKOS' shares.
This is what the west does not like. Under the chaos of the Eltsin years, financial, industrial and real estate empires could run riot and gain huge swathes of property inside Russia. Now that the Kremlin is making business accountable for its actions, there is less space for such speculation. Now that Russia is slowly but surely being given back to the Russians, the foreign financial marauders are seeing the danger lights flashing. These are the real issues behind Khodorkovsky's arrest. However, the western media is not interested in real issues. The only time one finds stories about Russia in the western media is when there has been an accident in a mine (followed by stories about how dangerous Russian mines are, when in fact they are among the safest in the world and have the highest standards of safety) or when an aircraft crashes (followed by stories about how unreliable Russian aviation is, when in fact the statistics show clearly that Russian aviation is far safer than the USA's) or when Chechen terrorists down a helicopter (followed by stories about how inept are the Russian Armed Forces, when the British never defeated the IRA, neither has the USA subdued Afghanistan, not to mention the nightmare they have started in Iraq). What the western media would like, echoing the desires of their political masters, is a return to the chaos of the Eltsin years, with a Russian President who was the laughing stock of the international community with his ludicrous drunken acts in public, and an easily-corroptable echelon at the top of society who will willingly sell their grandmother for the right price.
With Vladimir Putin, this is not going to happen. The Kremlin has every right to protect the interests of Russia and preserve its resources for the Russian people. This was the promise that Vladimir Putin made when he was elected and true to his word, as always, it is exactly what he is doing. The fact that the Russian economy is growing, that the standard of living is rising, that Russia donates more and more to international relief organizations, that Russia's financial markets are strong and that Russia offers excellent investment opportunities is missed by the Economist and the other publications which call themselves "serious press". After Time magazine's lead article on prostitutes in a Portuguese provincial town, not The Economist speaks about Dracula. What next?
Timothy Bancroft-Hinchey Pravda.Ru
2003-11-07 20:30 | User Profile
Good commentary piece, Perun!!! These days, I find myself closely following the news from Russia.
2003-11-07 21:19 | User Profile
[QUOTE=AntiYuppie]There is a potential silver lining to the endless Russophobia, Germanophobia, and Francophobia in the neocon media. It underscores the need of the neos to drive a wedge between their American host-puppets and "old Europe," because they realize that any affinity between fellow white westerners would be deadly to their broader agenda. I am hoping that neocon propaganda will lead to an alliance between the main neocon targets of hatred: Russia (see above), France (see FR) and Germany [url]http://forums.originaldissent.com/showthread.php?p=65247#post65247[/url] [/QUOTE]
We may see that sometime soon. The divisions within NATO are still pretty strong! I certainly hope this alliance comes about pretty soon!
2003-11-08 01:54 | User Profile
[QUOTE=perun1201] [url]http://english.pravda.ru/main/18/88/350/11228_econimist.html[/url ]These are the real issues behind Khodorkovsky's arrest. However, the western media is not interested in real issues. **The only time one finds stories about Russia in the western media is when there has been an accident in a mine (followed by stories about how dangerous Russian mines are, when in fact they are among the safest in the world and have the highest standards of safety) or when an aircraft crashes (followed by stories about how unreliable Russian aviation is, when in fact the statistics show clearly that Russian aviation is far safer than the USA's)
Timothy Bancroft-Hinchey Pravda.Ru[/QUOTE]
The Russian situation is complex, but I'm not sure based on what I'm reading here the Pravada.Ru is the right group of people to straighten us out. Russian coal mines and aviation the safest in the world? I think not. I certainly don't trust western technocrats at the Economist, and I do think the true story of Russian betrayal by the oligarch's and their westerm compadres needs to be told, but if this is the best Pravada can do, I don't think they're it.
2003-11-08 04:06 | User Profile
[QUOTE=Frederick William I]The Russian situation is complex, but I'm not sure based on what I'm reading here the Pravada.Ru is the right group of people to straighten us out. Russian coal mines and aviation the safest in the world? I think not.
All I can say is that they're of not the :dung: quality that you constantly hear about in the Western media. As the article said, the only time you hear about Russia in the West is when something goes bad and how incompetent the Russians are.
2003-11-08 06:42 | User Profile
[QUOTE=AntiYuppie]There is a potential silver lining to the endless Russophobia, Germanophobia, and Francophobia in the neocon media. It underscores the need of the neos to drive a wedge between their American host-puppets and "old Europe," because they realize that any affinity between fellow white westerners would be deadly to their broader agenda. I am hoping that neocon propaganda will lead to an alliance between the main neocon targets of hatred: Russia (see above), France (see FR) and Germany [url]http://forums.originaldissent.com/showthread.php?p=65247#post65247[/url]
Together, these nations would be strong enough to serve as a united front against Zionism and neocon hegemony. Without such political unity, they will either be pariahs (in the case of Russia) or be bullied into submission to the NWO (as has always been the case with Germany).[/QUOTE]
I agree.
I would only add that this desire to separate European Americans from Europe is completely at odds with the practical necessity of waging this present war. Israel must conquer in effect that entire Muslim world or face annihilation (Pakistan already has the bomb, and Iran is not far from it). Israel controls America completely, but America can't do it on its own - this is becoming clearer by the day as the Rags bring down helicopters with RPG rounds.
That means European assistance. In a broader sense, it means that they're going to have to "go Christian." They're going to have to turn this into a War of Civilizations, and they're going to have to tell Christians exactly who they are and what they're fighting for - and most importantly why it's all worth saving.
Their emotions drive them to the Culture Destruction, while the reality of Israel's survival entails a resurgent Christendom.
Think Sergei Eizenstein and "Alexander Nevsky." In order to save their own skins from the Nazis, the Jewish Bolsheviks had to hide behind Great Russian nationalism. They'll have to do it again, IMHO.
My Elder Brothers in Faith are mostly in denial about this terrible contradiction between their visceral emotions and their practical needs thus far, but note their olive branch to Judeo Christians (oxymoron!).
Walter
2003-11-08 08:24 | User Profile
[QUOTE=Walter Yannis]I agree.
I would only add that this desire to separate European Americans from Europe is completely at odds with the practical necessity of waging this present war. Israel must conquer in effect that entire Muslim world or face annihilation (Pakistan already has the bomb, and Iran is not far from it). Israel controls America completely, but America can't do it on its own - this is becoming clearer by the day as the Rags bring down helicopters with RPG rounds. That means Europe. That they're going to have to "go Christian." They're going to have to turn this into a War of Civilizations, and they're going to have to tell Christians exactly who they are and what they're fighting for.
Think Sergei Eizenstein and "Alexander Nevsky." In order to save their own skins from the Nazis, the Jewish Bolsheviks had to hide behind Great Russian nationalism. They'll have to do it again, IMHO.
My Elder Brothers in Faith are mostly in denial about this fact thus far, but note their olive branch to Judeo Christians (oxymoron!).
Walter[/QUOTE]
There is a marked contrast on how Putin's battle with the oligarchs were received in Europe (minus UK) and in the US.
For example, Putin's recent visit to Italy went extremely well. The Italian PM Silvio Berlusconi (speaking also as EU's president) strongly supported Putin's actions against the fat cats by stating that he was "acting as Putin's defense lawyer, even though he did not ask me to." EU comission president Romano Prodi made similar remarks, and most of the European media stories centered on how Khodorkovsky and co. made their ill gotten fortunes (along the lines of 'behind every big fortune there is a big crime') rather than shedding tears over their current fate (unfortunately, few, if any, mentioned the oligarch's Jewish background).
On the other side, after a brief period of complete silence, the media in the US (especially Wall Street Journal and co.) went into a frenzy over the Khodorkovsky's arrest, defining it as an attack on 'democracy', 'property rights' etc. with the traditional Jewish toady John McCain even going so far as to ask for sanctions to be imposed on Russia...
2003-11-08 11:30 | User Profile
[QUOTE=Rudel]There is a marked contrast on how Putin's battle with the oligarchs were received in Europe (minus UK) and in the US.
For example, Putin's recent visit to Italy went extremely well. The Italian PM Silvio Berlusconi (speaking also as EU's president) strongly supported Putin's actions against the fat cats by stating that he was "acting as Putin's defense lawyer, even though he did not ask me to." EU comission president Romano Prodi made similar remarks, and most of the European media stories centered on how Khodorkovsky and co. made their ill gotten fortunes (along the lines of 'behind every big fortune there is a big crime') rather than shedding tears over their current fate (unfortunately, few, if any, mentioned the oligarch's Jewish background).
On the other side, after a brief period of complete silence, the media in the US (especially Wall Street Journal and co.) went into a frenzy over the Khodorkovsky's arrest, defining it as an attack on 'democracy', 'property rights' etc. with the traditional Jewish toady John McCain even going so far as to ask for sanctions to be imposed on Russia...[/QUOTE]
Putin has an eye for symbolic statement.
He emphasized Jewry's defeat by exiling Gusinsky and them replacing him with Boris Jordan, scoin of Russian Orthodox White emigres.
He put a finger in the eye of the Jewish-dominated Yeltsin Crime Family by appointing German-Russian Alexei Miller to the head of Gazprom.
I suspect that he'll do something similar to Yukos. I would venture the guess that Tribesman Simon Kukes is temporary, and that when the dust has settled Yukos management will be purged of ethnic minorities and replaced with ethnic Russians. In fact, I'll roll the dice and predict that he'll make some pointed gesture, like appointing somebody very closely linked to the Russian Orthodox Church over the behemouth oil company.
I know I'm sticking my neck out, but that's my guess.
Time will tell.
Walter