Ain't that Putin Something?
Once a KGB agent, always on the lookout for ways and means. Vladimir Putin is some guy. He's certainly no Gorbachov. Gorbachov brought a new dawn to the Soviet Union, did he not? United no more, that tight cordon wrapped so selflessly around Russia's neighbours which made of a large country a giant self-sustaining United Soviet Socialist Republic, a kind of octopus that controlled all it surveyed and then a little. Did I ever in my lifetime expect to see the fall of the Berlin Wall? Never, you bet. I winced when I first heard Ronald Reagan intone "the evil empire"; talk about Hollywood-speak. Still, he is now credited with helping to bring about the fall of an empire. Wave that good old Hollywood wand and presto! it happens.Not to everyone's satisfaction, obviously. Oh yes, those Russian nouveau-riche, the oligarchs, even that emerging and eventually mollified Russian middle class. Once the drunken clown departed after giving his blessing to Putin, something sinister began to happen. State-owned enterprises given away to lusty new entrepreneurs as worthless began to render untold riches for those enterprising visionaries. All of a sudden those giveaways looked really good, so Putin, no shrinking violet he, decided to yank them back under state control. And imprison the entrepreneurs who so handily milked them, so much for unfettered greed on either side.
And it doesn't sit well with covert types with power to spare to have former satellites think they can make the coveted break, just like that. Elections, so what? Democratic reform, so what? The hardest nut to swallow though, was that big one, the acknowledgement that the USSR was no more, leaving in its wake only one super-duper power. Life just ain't fair.
Russia also knows all about what it's like to be mired in an invasion they felt compelled to initiate then didn't know how to extricate themselves from. They coulda told the U.S. not to embark on that mission, now they're stuck in Afghanistan, never mind Iraq. Chechnya was always a thorn in Russia's belly, look at the 19th century Russian writers and their observations about vicious war-mongering Chechens. Oh yes, Russia knows what it's like to harbour vipers close to its chest.
Do you suppose it will reflect well on Russia, and most particularly its fearless leader, should their overtures to Hamas bear fruit? Well, they will bear fruit, since these new ties will assist Hamas to bear arms of Russian manufacture. Oh, it's not just a straight business-for-profit deal, after all, don't think of it that way. No, it isn't true that Israel has been supplying the Chechens with not-for-profit military hardware, and Israel hasn't been training Chechen guerillas; they don't need the help.
Oh right, the idea is a kind ear to listen to Hamas's complaints about Israel. Israel doesn't belong on Arab land. It wasn't a deal they made, it was a European venture, a guilt-deal, a United Nations inspiration in memory of the millions no one made an effort to save. Hell, we know the Arabs didn't murder all those Jews. Too bad, so sad, historical precedence and all that. Live and let live? Compromise? Assist one another commercially? Just a teeny, tiny bit? General Baluyevsky will offer you arms if you desist... Say it, just say it, it will only stick in your craw the first time, and then you'll get used to it.
Say after me: Israel has a right to exist. Go ahead, say it. No, not moved to Central America, that's not what we said. Now, come on, pretty-please; remember all those shiny new rifles and mortar launchers, eh? Let's hear it: We'll accept Israel's right to...get back to the original borders, and WE WANT JERUSALEM. And what's so wrong with living under Arab rule? the Jews can stay, we'll treat them nice-nice, but they've got to give up that land, and the Palestinians have to return.
Okay, all right, that's a private conversation. Let's have one for publication, so repeat after me...
posted by Pieface @ Monday, February 20, 2006
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