Where Is Stalin When You Need Him?

Putin tries to gain any kind of support in the West

President Putin has been persistently tryint to convince our “European friends and colleagues” of the things that the Russian people realized very well during the recent hostage crisis in the Moscow music theatre. Putin was trying to make the Europeans understand what Chechnya and the Caucasus means for Russia, who the “Russian Bin Laden” is, and so on and so forth. He was doing his best, trying to explain those things to foreigners. However, the Europeans did not hurry to listen to what Moscow had to say about those issues. They just kept on smiling, shaking hands, and nodding their heads.

Russians and Europeans can not find a common language in this respect. European human rights are written only for them and for Americans. As they believe, Russians don’t have any human rights, only violations of human rights.

The foreigners remember Putin’s past. Their perception about the Russian people is basically the same: the nation that is going along another direction, so to speak. This direction is different from the road of the so-called “civilized community.” These are the reasons of their attitude towards Russians and their conclusions.

The latest sign of came from Denmark. A Copenhagen court prolonged Akhmad Zakayev’s arrest. The terrorist Chechen president’s emissary is now going to stay under arrest for two more weeks. The Danish government does not hurry to deliver the terrorist to Russia. On the country, there are too many occasions of “human rights violations.”

Vladimir Putin had a meeting with German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder in the Norwegian capital Oslo yesterday. Putin said: “Yes, Russia will listen and react to all well-wishing suggestions from those who really want to help. Chechnya is Russia’s internal issue. Russia and the Chechen people must solve this problem in an independent way, in the interests of the whole of the Russian Federation. This is a problem of the Russian Federation, and we must solve it. I am sure that we will do this.” Russia has already suspended the withdrawal of its troops from Chechnya after the recent act of terrorism in Moscow.

Putin had to speak in a more forceful way after the press conference that was devoted to the results of the summit between Russia and the European Union. Media outlets reported that Putin gave a very harsh and rude answer to a question from a French journalist. This is far from the truth. Putin’s answer to that question was a reaction of the Russian president in return to a provocative attack against him.

Putin repeatedly stressed that Russia was fighting international terrorism in Chechnya. The president added that international terrorism has its own definite goals. One of them is the establishment of an Islamic state on the Russian Federation.

Answering the question from a Danish reporter Putin said: “If I am not mistaken, you belong to the allies’ representatives. You are in danger too. They talk about setting up a worldwide Islamic state and the need to kill Americans and their allies. They talk about the need to kill all...non-Muslims, or 'crusaders,' as they put it. If you are a Christian, you are in danger. If you decided to abandon your faith and become an atheist, you also are to be liquidated according to their concept. You are in danger if you decide to become a Muslim. It is not going to save you anyway because they believe traditional Islam is hostile to their goals. If you want to become an Islamic radical and have yourself circumcised, then I invite you to come to Moscow. I would recommend that he who does the surgery does it so you'll have nothing growing back, afterward,” said the president. (Vladimir Putin's angry remark was translated by AP).

“Russia supports the political process, but we suggest to consider the issue of terrorism and the issue of regulation separately from each other. Those who want to have peace in Chechnya have a right to take part in the regulation process,” said Putin at the press conference. “The Western media are supposed to present objective reports to their readers and viewers if they report on the events in Chechnya. They are supposed to treat the Chechen issue carefully and objectively.”

Well, as a matter of fact, we should not care about these people think about us on this or that issue. We are able to heal our ulcers ourselves. We will definitely talk an to Europe and then we will decide everything ourselves. It will be possible to do that if Russia has one single team of people that go together after one leader. So far, there is nothing of the kind, unfortunately.

The split has started from the top. A letter defending Akhmad Zakayev was handed over to the Russian Internet – all those things are like spokes put in the wheels of those who come together, dreaming of the day when Russia becomes a world leader.

Eighty-year-old Russian priest, Dmitry Dudko, said: “I hope so much for Vladimir Putin now. It seems to me that he is like Joseph Stalin. I treat Stalin with respect, and I think that he was a very wise leader. It is Stalin who established such a powerful country. Russia has never been that powerful since, and there was no tsar in Russian history who was able to accomplish the things that Stalin did. He managed to overcome and sacrifice so much for the sake of the country’s greatness. I hope that Putin will follow Stalin’s path. It is hard to understand him sometimes, and there are a lot of bad things happening in the country. Well, Stalin did not get become so decisive and resolute at once either. There is the fight for the television, the fight with oligarchs, and fight for the nations’ health, and the fight four our Russian children. I would not say that Putin is Russia's enemy. I would not say that he does not want to make Russia rise. He is the president of a broken country; let’s not denounce him after just two years of his presidency. We need to understand him. His milieu is all alien, and the government is all alien; Stalin would not have been able to handle all of this either. Putin's only helper at the moment is Sergey Ivanov, the Defense Minister, as well as three or four other men. All of the rest are the destroyers. Putin is forced to make them work for Russia. However, they just keep on deceiving him. German Gref (the Minister for Economic Development and Trade) is a great deceiver. His words do not match his actions. Anatoly Chubais (a well-known Russian oligarch, the head of the Russian energy monopoly, RAO UES of Russia) is a demonic figure for Russia. He is a 100% betrayer. I think that he still has his power with the help of some considerable forces abroad. Those forces exert pressure on Putin as well. This is what I think as a priest. We just need to be patient, to help Putin in his deed of saving Russia. God help him. Like anyone else, I have my doubts about him at times. Sometimes I ask myself – will he manage to come through?”

Maybe, that is why Putin keeps on looking for allies everywhere. He just keeps on explaining things about Russia and its problems to foreigners, telling them over and over again. He is trying to gain some support. Anyone’s support would be good.

Sergey Stefanov PRAVDA.Ru

Translated by Dmitry Sudakov