Windows to Russia

Vladimir Zhirinovsky: The loyal voice of populism – Age: 65…

Career path:

The enfant terrible of Russian politics, infamous for slogans such as “a guy for every broad, a bottle of vodka for every guy,” his Liberal Democratic Party led the 1993 parliamentary vote with 22 percent. Zhirinovsky’s career has since encompassed many a brawl with opponents on camera and incendiary statements. But his party never developed a wider following – though retaining a presence in all five Dumas since – and Zhirinovsky’s presidential campaigns in 1991, 1996, 2000 and 2008 fared no better.

Many Russians see that Zhirinovsky’s image and rhetoric contrasts sharply with his acquiescence with the political status quo. Though he excels in lambasting the authorities, his party has always sided with the Kremlin on all important issues. The party acts as a lightning rod for popular nationalism: the Liberal Democrats are the only mainstream political force allowed to flirt with it, but their campaign slogan for the December parliamentary elections, “LDPR for Russians,” was not backed with any legislative action. Zhirinovsky’s policies will win votes with many “boot-wearing” Russians, especially among the poor and uneducated, but he is likely to find few friends among the growing number of middle-class voters seeking change.

Zhirinovsky is the least likely of the five candidates to offer any surprises during the campaign and he has no new tricks to sway voters outside his usual constituency. The fatigue factor is also there: like Putin and Zyuganov, he has probably been around too long to inspire new voters.

Gennady Zyuganov: Eternal contender – Age: 67…

Career path:

A Party man to the bone, Zyuganov has been a career Communist since the 1970s, and did not quit even when the party no longer was in power. The head of the Communist Party of Russia for 19 years, Zyuganov’s hour of glory came in 1996, when he was a hair’s breadth away from defeating Boris Yeltsin in the presidential race – but he lost. He has remained a fixture of the Russian political scene since, and lost two more presidential elections, in 2000 and 2008, to no one’s great surprise.

The Communists are the most powerful political force in the country not directly controlled by the Kremlin. They have learned to accommodate the system, however, and critics have often accused Zuyganov and his party of covertly coordinating their actions with the Kremlin. Perhaps a more serious concern, however, is the party’s reluctance to modernize by embracing a European-styled social-democratic stance that might have wider appeal. The Communists stick to the past, resolutely touting Soviet-era slogans including even Josef Stalin, impressing only their ever-shrinking hardcore of grey-haired supporters.

If the public is tired of Putin, the same goes double for Zyuganov, who has been in impotent opposition for two decades without any real responsibility. But he, along with Mikhail Prokhorov, is one of the two candidates most likely to pick up the votes of those who just want to vote “against Putin” (not an option directly available on the ballots). He may find it hard going in a runoff against Putin, with many older Russians unlikely to want a return to the past, and younger voters not connecting with his tired image.

Sergei Mironov: The undecided one – Age: 58…

Career path:

A friend of current Prime Minister Vladimir Putin from their St. Petersburg days in the 1990s, Mironov got the cushy job of speaker for the Federation Council, the parliament’s upper chamber in 2001. In 2006, he was also made the head of the newly created A Just Russia, a Kremlin spoiler for the Communists, which is where his troubles began.

A Just Russia gradually discovered the only way to political survival was to target the ruling United Russia, not the opposition Communists, but the party in power took offense when its own ratings started to sag. Mironov struggled to balance his attacks on the ruling party with his personal loyalty to Putin – who heads United Russia – but found it increasingly hard to do, especially after United Russia ousted him from the Federation Council job, pushing him toward an opposition stance he has struggled to clearly embrace.

Most of A Just Russia is decidedly anti-Kremlin, with party leaders co-staging anti-government protests in Moscow this winter, but Mironov is seen by many voters as the notable exception. If the party had fielded anyone else for the presidential race, the “stalking donkey” could have had a good run at carrying the protest vote. But candidate Mironov, who ran in 2004 even while professing support for Putin and winning 0.75 percent of the vote, will put off the malcontents.

To his credit, Mironov has made some bold statements, being the only candidate on the ballot who supported the opposition’s demands for the next president to implement political reforms and resign within a year or two. But it will take more than a few daring promises to undo the reputation of a Kremlin yes-man that Mironov spent years cultivating. Pro-government voters, meanwhile, have no need for him because they already have Putin.

Mikhail Prokhorov: “Not a Kremlin project” – Age: 46…

Career path:

Prokhorov is the only new face on the ballot, and the center of this election’s intrigue. A mogul who made his fortune in metals with an estimated fortune of $18 billion, he was best known for his glitzy playboy lifestyle and high-profile business ventures such as purchasing the New Jersey Nets basketball team. Then he suddenly dived headfirst into politics, heading The Right Cause, a failed Kremlin project to win the middle-class vote from the late 2000s. But when Prokhorov rocked the boat by launching a vigorous campaign bordering on populism, he was promptly ousted from The Right Cause in what he called a government-orchestrated coup, orchestrated, he claimed, by former deputy Kremlin chief of staff Vladislav Surkov. In December, he announced his presidential bid and was the only one of three independents to be accepted by the Central Elections Commission – reviving suspicions from critics that the Kremlin was sanctioning his role.

Most voters are convinced Prokhorov is a Kremlin project, but for many, it would not matter: a large part of the populace just wants to vote against Putin, and on that basis, any candidate will do. Though the old and the poor would prefer Communist Gennady Zyuganov, many in the middle class are likely to opt for Prokhorov, who braved street protests this winter (getting pelted once by snowballs from anarchists). He has made the right political noises for the middle class and young, setting out an admittedly populist program of reform, promising political freedoms, improving the economic climate and reining in the bureaucracy – in essence, dismantling the legacy of Putin, who is the main target of protesters. But Prokhorov also flirted with the ruling establishment, saying he would not mind being a prime minister under a victorious Putin, or even keep him as the head of the government if Prokhorov himself ascends to the Kremlin.

Vladimir Putin: Comeback hopeful Age: 59…

Career path:

A mid-level KGB officer in the 1980s and a City Hall official in St. Petersburg in the 1990s, Putin was catapulted to the ranks of the world’s most powerful men after President Boris Yeltsin endorsed him as his successor in 2000. Putin traded the Kremlin job for the top seat in the government after two presidential stints in 2000-2008 because the Constitution prohibits more than two consecutive presidential terms, but installed in his place Dmitry Medvedev, his loyal retainer who meekly agreed last fall not to seek reelection and trade places with Putin after the March 4 vote.

Putin’s supporters credit him with bringing stability to the nation after the “turbulent nineties,” reviving the economy and ensuring that teachers, doctors and other state employees no longer live below the poverty line, mainly thanks to Russia’s vast windfall from oil and gas revenues. But critics say Putin ushered in a bureaucratic regime, giving state officials unchecked powers in exchange for loyalty, which resulted in political stagnation, skyrocketing corruption and dismal economic performance. Russia ranked 143rd of 183 countries in Transparency International’s latest corruption rating, and capital outflow in 2011 stood at $84 billion.

The main question is whether the biggest figure in Russian politics can avoid a runoff, which he has never faced before. A second round would undermine his claims of being a national leader and the legitimacy of his policies are questioned by a growing number of malcontents, and would mean he faces a united, rather than split, opposition vote. Putin’s core constituency is very broad, including the huge number of state employees, the low-paid residents of small towns, and the vast number of Russians who crave stability rather than change.

Putin has been around for 12 years now, however, and fatigue is beginning to set in among many voters who want to see more. The fledgling middle class, meanwhile, vehemently opposes Putin: it already rallied against him in the tens of thousands after his party, United Russia, won the parliamentary elections in December, accusing the authorities of foul electoral play.

In his recent statements to the media, critics see little that promises anything except more of the same in a future term. Or maybe two. His supporters will vote for just that.

Windows to Russia!

Dmitry Medvedev with his wife Svetlana will arrive at the same polling station number 2634, where they voted for the last few years…

Wouldn’t you like to know who he voted for? I do! I also wonder what he is thinking? This has to be strange for him, as he has been the president of Russia for 4 years now and has made a lot of changes. But it sounds like Putin will put him in as Prime Minister so I do not think that he will suffer much…

Russians are out in droves today and they are voting. The babushkas are everywhere and that means don’t get in their way… 🙂

Updates will be on the Russian News From Russia website. (Link to Russian News From Russia)

Kyle Keeton
Windows to Russia!

http://webvybory2012.ru/#81132

The link above is the polling station that Sveta will be voting at! It is really cool here in Russia, as I can look at any polling station in the country. The ones in Siberia are really neat to watch. Sveta is going to let me know when she is going in and I am going to try to catch her on video. I think that is neat…

Sveta has to travel all the way across Moscow to vote and will meet her mom in a hour or so. Then they will have dinner and tea, to talk about politics for awhile…

600,000 people have volunteered to watch the whole day to make sure that no one cheats. It looks like Putin implemented everything in time and now the West will have a real hard time to play games, because even you sitting in America can watch the voting going on. Got issues with trust? Looks like it is all out in the open here in Russia. Nothing electronic, all paper ballots…

Hard to cheat the system when you can’t make a simple software implement to corrupt it. Like it is done in America…

So maybe I can get Sveta on the screen while she votes. I will try and or I hope I found the correct polling station for her. Looks like we will find out… 🙂

I just wish I could vote in Russia!

Kyle Keeton
Windows to Russia!

MOSCOW, March 4 (RIA Novosti) – Russians began voting on Sunday in the Kamchatka Region in Russia’s Far East to elect a president for the fifth time in the nation’s post-Soviet history, the first in which the president will serve a six-year term, and not four years as previously.

Five candidates – Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, Communist leader Gennady Zyuganov, nationalist Liberal Democratic party head Vladimir Zhirinovsky, A Just Russia party leader Sergei Mironov and the only independent, billionaire Mikhail Prokhorov – vie for the Russian presidency in the March 4 vote.

Windows to Russia!

Mraovich Dragan (Dragan Mraovic), March 2, 2012:

U.S. President Obama it is still argued that the Nobel Peace Prize has got into the wrong hands. In his February 22 speech, he (Obama) proclaimed “the expansion of American influence around the world.” In other words, he announced the new wars, new killings of civilians and the occupation of the new, yet free from the oppression of Washington. Putin’s answer followed immediately in his speech on February 23, the day after Obama’s address to the nation: “We will not allow anyone to impose their will on us … We are a nation of winners … “.

So, you heard the drumbeat of war. At the moment, to continue the occupation of small countries, rich, however, natural resources and occupy important strategic positions, which cause the appetite of the new colonizers. Members of the Atlantic Alliance continues to invent a sickening excuses about “human rights” and “democratization” in order to arrange the slaughter around the world, destroying lives everywhere where there is minimal resistance to their claims. The reason for this was determined by a great writer Ernest Hemingway in one of his statements, which we do not get tired of repeating: “One cat just leads to another.” Sooner or later this situation will lead to the final confrontation, the end of this civilization and the planet. It seems that the only salvation lies in returning to a bipolar world, the two political and military blocs, none of whom could not “outweigh” the other. It seems that Russia and China and India in the shadows begin to think about it, because it is only able to quell the fear of the demon in man.

Putin’s answer was not only in words. With him Russia has made great progress in the military field. A new proof of Russian weapons – a new “invisible” Russia’s fifth-generation multirole fighter Sukhoi PAK FA T-50, submitted by the commander of the Russian Air Force Gen. Alexander Zelin said. This aircraft is superior to its American rival the F-22 Raptor and the aircraft of this type, built by the Chinese. Russian “stealth aircraft” can reach speeds up to 2600 kilometers per hour, while American fighter can reach 2410 kilometers per hour, and the Chinese is limited to 2000 kilometers per hour. Russian plane may be in free flight range of 5,500 kilometers, the U.S. – only 3400 km. Russian aircraft runway is needed is three times shorter than that necessary for the American “robber.” It can detect targets at a distance of 400 km, and an American plane – only at a distance of 220 km. In a direct clash with the American plane is not the slightest opportunity to discover Russia until it was destroyed. Russia also continues to upgrade its aircraft observations. The new model aircraft airborne warning and control A-100 is much better able to “see” the target than the present American planes Avax.

Recall that the planes – “Invisible”, “invisible” for the radar, but not to the eye. However, when their eyes says it is too late. The famous American aircraft “invisible» F-117 for the first time in its history, was shot down by Serbs in 1999, and he was not alone, because the Serbs managed to hit four of the six aircraft that participated in the aggression against Serbia. The second plane crashed in Bosnia, his pieces have been photographed agency AP. Once it was done in a third plane hit, he is in “technical” flight flew to California, where he fell, unable to land at a military airport, broke into pieces. The fourth had suffered damage, but he was able to land at the airport in Zagabrii. During the ten years of military flights over Iraq in F-117 never had a problem, but keep in mind the fighting qualities of soldiers, not only the quality of arms, because the Iraqis were better armed than the army of Serbia. The Americans later learned by the new Serbian government Atlanticist put to them in 2000, the secret that allowed the Serbs to discover the “invisible” American planes. Maybe they have improved then their new aircraft models in this regard. But the “tricks” the defenders can also be improved. The human imagination than any technology. It is almost universally known military secret that part of the American F-117 aircraft shot down by Serbs and crashed near the Serbian village Ladjevci, were in the hands of the Russian and the Chinese, making it easier for them to study the achievements of American technology. And a decade later, Russian and Chinese planes were able to implement these in part because of the Serbs, who helped them in technical espionage, providing fragments of a downed American F-117 aircraft.

But things are moving on the ground. The new Russian anti-aircraft missile system large and medium-range S-400 has a radius of 400 km and is able to shoot down ballistic missiles. Normal squadron of 20-24 military aircraft, such as those used during the NATO aggression on Serbia, and was accompanied by the F-117 flying squadron in the center and leaving a large empty space illogical on the screen of modern radar systems, will inevitably lose more than 80% of the aircraft after launch S-400 missile, which is in the air “split” into many smaller rockets. The latest S-500 system will be able to knock down targets flying in space, for example, military satellites and spy satellites. It will be taken up by the Russian army in 2015. Of course, the Americans now turn to balance the benefits of the Russians, and they certainly will not be idle. Thus, the arms race continues, while cynical politicians talk about peace. No one dares to state explicitly that at the moment of human history, the greatest threat to peace lies in the NATO led by the Americans and their claims to dominate the world, clearly expressed in the above quoted Obama’s speech, which is a guide for EU policy. However, the Atlantic “world” has led to a unique result in the whole world, wherever set foot soldiers of the coalition, the war raging, killing civilians and destroying created. There is no progress. People are worse off than before, and not schaditsya or their culture or their religion or their history.

Destroyed their productive capacity, leading to starvation. All this in order to force citizens to accept the new owners for a bowl of soup. But it affects the lives of the people of the united Europe, because as a result of the price of gasoline skyrockets, dramatically reduced revenues and taxes rise to unimaginable levels. In Europe we are seeing the financial bankruptcy of Greece, this development can not be excluded for Portugal, and for Italy. If the financial meltdown threatens a country like Italy, which recently was the fifth or seventh of the world economic power, at least among the ten most powerful economies in the world, then, for small countries such as Serbia has no hope at all. Effect of democracy has been suspended in Italy and Greece, with the creation of governments, not elected by the people, but the banking sector and raised more capital in order to save the rich and the international megabanks, and not the citizens and the middle bourgeoisie, without which there is no economically healthy society. Here it is the result of a grand warlike and greedy politicians from Brussels bureaucrats and dictators from Washington. If it is not surprising that policymakers continue to create these problems led to the bankers, because their minds are corrupt without any hope of correction, it should be surprising silence of most of the intellectuals in the world. Most of them are corrupt, depending on the publication of their works, from a handful of money from the vanity, which dies with them “tvorenitsami” as soon as they themselves go to another world.

Anyone who does not want to be corrupt, does not publish their works in the big publishing houses do not appear on television, not print his articles in the pages of newspapers and weeklies known, at least, more worthy of respect because he is fighting for the good of humanity .

Today’s “great” poets write poems to content emasculated that nobody reads, novelists write history at the school level such as Luisito, philosophers and sociologists, politicians cater to justify their actions, instead of protecting universal human right to life and freedom, university professors to keep their seats with payment in 3000-4000 euros per month, close their eyes to the alarming and destructive situation. It arose as a result of the Bologna agreement in all the countries that joined him, because now the problem is not thinking in shaping the future of young people, the challenge is to turn our children into obedient robots, destroying thus the foundation for education people of the future. None (the exceptions are rare) from the intellectuals did not oppose the apparent decline of modern society. If you think people behave this way, it is easy to imagine that the decline of modern society is irreversible. Twenty-first century, of course, will be the century of progress, but the era of the decline of the human race. Do not forget that the Roman Empire did not collapsed under the onslaught of the barbarians, but because it is weakened from within by moral and social decline.

It will be played out, the future of Europe and the world.

http://inosmi.ru/usa/20120302/187390244.html

Windows to Russia!

Interesting e-mail was sent to me and I will answer it right here in the website:

Dear Kyle and Sveta,

I wondered why, being that news is usually different on your side of the world as in conjunction with my news on this side of the world. My side is the US! My question/statement is or are?

We are over in their (Afghanistan) country to save them! We have shed our blood in their behalf to make their life better! Why would they turn on our men and kill them after all we have done? Aren’t (Afghanistan) they supposed to be our allies? We try to bring them freedom, liberty and rights! Why are they against us?

Mary ********

———————————————————

Well Mary this is very simple. First, we are not and have never been in Afghanistan to save the Afghans. Second, the blood we shed has destroyed their lives as well as ours. Third, What exactly have we done? With the exception of destroying their country and that could be a good really reason to hate us. Fourth, they were and have never been our allies. Except maybe in the minds of a few sick people like McCain and of course the media. Fifth, we have brought them hate, depression and destabilization. Sixth, this I will answer below to answer all of the above in a summery…

Why are they (Afghanistan) against us? To those that think that we are in Afghanistan to plant roses and apple trees of delight and joy, then people you need to toss the TV out the window and get a life…

Afghans have just had it up to the top of their head with their foreign occupiers. Yes, occupiers! That is what we are in Afghanistan. We are not loved! We are not wanted! We are not needed! We are not being good little Americans there! We are not treating anyone with respect! We are arrogant! We are “Rulers”! We use force to make our point! We kill at will! We invaded! We were not there to get Osama bin Laden! (We knew he was not part of 9-11!) We were not there because they (Afagans) caused 9-11! We – well we simply are very wrong and should never have ever stepped foot in Afghanistan…

I personally think that the Afghans are extremely patient and good people! If someone tried to invade America do you think we would allow them to blow up half our country or do you think that most people would die trying to protect our homes?

My grandma use to say, “Put the shoe on the other foot!” Other words she meant to look at things from the others point of view and not from your little, secure and blinded point of view…

The real answer is: We lost the war against a very proud and tough people! They will never give in to a country like America that thinks they can bully their way in the world. They are not afraid of America and the statement: “Graveyard of Empires!” is as true now as it was many moons ago, when they took the Britain’s and Russian’s down a notch or two in the world standings. Afagans are now making it clear that it is time to pack our (USA) bags and go home!

We have lost the war and are in the process of running with our tails between our legs as the others have done in the past…

It is hard to look good while you run away, but oh wait, the Western media says: ” A consensus is emerging that America has done what it needed to do in Afghanistan, and now it is time for the locals to start looking out for themselves.”

Okay, I believe! No, I really do! Excuse me, I really do believe! Hey, I do… 🙂

Besides Obama has an election to worry about and he needs some extra push from the love of leaving Afghanistan…

Kyle Keeton
Windows to Russia!

PS: I feel sorry for all the Americans that really think that we are doing good in all these wars around the world. But it does tell me that the MSM is way too powerful of a commodity in America. Time to wake up people…

Recently, a resolution was passed in the US Congress to divide Pakistan and carve out an ‘independent Balochistan’. With this, an old neocon dream was revived. This time the so-called globalists and propagandists, masquerading as human right activists, are the cheerleaders. Against this backdrop, Colonel Ralph Peter’s map of the ‘New Middle East’ truncating, balkanising every country – Turkey, Saudi Arabia, Iran, Pakistan and Afghanistan – was reproduced. Despite the fact that it was scorned and reviled even at the time of its earlier exhibition.

It seems that the neocons and influential globalists of America desperately want to initiate World War III. Former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger’s interview, If you can’t hear the drums of war, you must be deaf, with Alfred Heinz on November 27, 2011, is a clear expression of this desire.

The neocon-globalist geopolitical wish list – the rationale for the so-called ‘independent Balochistan’ – is as under:

§  Cripple Pakistan by separating Balochistan (46 percent of its territory with large mineral resources, besides the future global port of Gwadar).

§  Balkanised Pakistan forced to give up its nuclear arsenal.

§   Establish India’s hegemony over Pakistan.

§  Leftover US forces in Afghanistan and US controlled ‘new Balochistan’ to act as strategic central position for multi-regions.

§  US controlled Afghanistan-Balochistan to link the Central Asian energy oil and gas pipelines with Gwadar.

§   Delink Pakistan and Iran by carving out Balochistan and obviate the Iran-Pakistan energy/gas pipelines.

§  Establish US military presence in Balochistan for upcoming US-Israeli war against Iran.

§  Block Russia-Pak cooperation with Gazprom (Russian Gas Company) reaching Gwadar.

§  Balochistan and Kurdistan to be artificially created to have imperialist bases in the heartland of Islam.

§  ‘Independent Balochistan’ – a prelude for Kurdistan to break away from Turkey; separate Xinjiang and Tibet from China; Siberia from Russia; and separate Makkah and Madinah from Saudi Arabia.

§  US military presence in Gwadar to control the Gulf. To use the port as an alternative for USA’s 5th fleet based in Bahrain or another fleet if brought near the Gulf.

§  Use Gwadar as a military base for intervention in the Saudi Peninsula.

The rationale of these ill-intentioned pseudo thinkers is absolutely absurd. According to them, since the Pakistani elite is exploiting Balochistan, so it should be balkanised. Those who believe that Balochistan should not be a part of Pakistan are geopolitical imbeciles. Indeed, the propagandists making these claims are clueless about regional realities because:

§  Pakistan: It will fight a war, even a nuclear war of national survival to defend itself.

§  Iran: The Iranian Seistan is part of Balochistan, which the imperialists want to carve out. Therefore, Iran will fight a war in unison with Pakistan to defend Balochistan against the US threats.

§  Afghanistan: The Taliban are winning; the Americans are leaving. No Afghan – not even Karzai – will cede the Afghan territory to become ‘greater independent Balochistan’. Nor can landlocked Kabul take up fights with both Islamabad and Tehran.

§  Turkey: The Turks will support Pakistan and oppose independent Balochistan. Those who are plotting Balochistan also support Kurdistan to balkanise Turkey. Turkey will oppose Balochistan splitting by Nato, even if Nato is foolhardy to play the diabolical game of neocons.

§  Saudi Arabia: The Saudis, too, will support Pakistan and oppose the Balochistan movement.

§  India: It has been supporting the destabilisation of Balochistan and will continue to do so. But for India to overtly support Balochistan can lead to a nuclear war with Pakistan. Besides this can also trigger freedom movements in Kashmir, Khalistan, Assam, Tamil Nadu and a dozen other places. Playing the US-Israel game will spoil its relations with Iran, Russia and China.

§  China: It will support Pakistan. USA’s aim in Balochistan is to block China from Gwadar. Balochistan today, Xinjiang tomorrow! China’s defence begins from Pakistan.

§  Russia: It is Pakistan’s new friend. Besides, the Pak-Iran link is supported by Moscow.

So, the geopolitics of the region negates any viability of an independent Balochistan. In addition, anti-Americanism in Pakistan has a complex dynamic. The US meddling in Balochistan will not create an ‘independent Balochistan’, but will initiate a war, perhaps, leading to World War III.

The situation in Balochistan certainly demands immediate attention. Out of 150 Baloch tribes three major ones Marris, Bugtis, and Mengals have had problems or are in conflict. The issue of Bugtis is greatly linked to the murder of Nawab Akbar Bugti. A fair trial of those responsible is their demand. The Mengals can be communicated with. Some of the Marris leaders are more adamant and would need to be worked on. Pakistan needs to accommodate most of the Balochistan demands and satisfy the people, while ensuring its national interests. Half the demography of Balochistan which is Pakhtun are patriotic like the great majority of Baloch.

Bugti’s killing by Musharraf led to the present Balochistan crisis. The army or the ISI is not responsible. USA and India did not oppose Musharraf’s actions in Balochistan. This was a US-India baited gambit (to lure Musharraf into a crackdown and create turmoil for instigating independent Balochistan). Musharraf was praised by Washington and assured by Delhi of its non-involvement in Balochistan, luring him into the mess Pakistan faces today in the province. For all this time a covert war was being waged for claiming independence of Balochistan. During this period a worldwide network was established. This became overt in February 2012 as war with Iran is near centre stage in 2012. However, those who are planning war against Pakistan must be told that the choice is between peace and total war; indeed, the country will be defended at any price!

Geopolitics of Peace: by Nadir Mir. Author of the book “Gwadar on the Global Chessboard” Blog: Pakistan and Geopolitics wwwpakistangeopolitics.blogspot.com/ The author is a retired Brigadier General of the Pakistan Army.

Windows to Russia!

The views of the above author are not strictly only the views of Windows to Russia. They are an independent view from an outside source that brings a better light on the world in general and Windows to Russia is very pleased to have Nadir Mir’s thoughts on its pages today and in the future. So take a look at his site and read a few articles. – Kyle Keeton

Yesterday, I experimented with the Internet and for once expressed my opinion at many places on the web. I am a typical reader who really reads and is not there for play time, like so many are on the web. So this was interesting but sad for me yesterday…

That is the start of my thinking’s today as I sip that cup of wonderful coffee chicory here in Moscow, Russia! It is -6 below zero and Sveta has gone to a special circus at the Kremlin. Since she received only one ticket to this special event and the tickets are astronomical in price, much less the chances of an American getting said ticket, are pretty slim to none. I stayed home and decided to write this article… (You so Lucky: :))

So back to what I started with: I expressed some opinions as I rarely do on the Internet in a comment. My opinions stay on my website most of the time. As I wanted to see what got stirred up and how easy it would be to stir the masses. Man – it was just too simple to set Americans off about issues such as Iran, Iraq, the Quran (Koran), the bible and multiple of other things…

What came out of it all is that: Americans look for a fight, they look for foreigners to pick on, they run in packs like animals, they invade other countries websites to intentionally disrupt things and without a doubt most TROLLS come from America…

I would set a comment up and try to make it sound very much like it was from a foreigner and waited. As the words were picked up by a search engine, the packs of paranoiac’s would ascend and it was not a pretty sight to see…

Comments mainly centered around the whys and what and whens and who’s of America interfering in other parts of the world. All it took was a few nice Americans to give decent answers and then the swarm would hit with anti-world and pro-America propaganda. When this happens nice pleasant people go away not to be seen again…

I picked one subject in particular and picked him apart intellectually for hours. Before I was done he ran away, but I gathered all that I needed from my test subject. He was in his early thirties and literally believed that government is correct, government is right, only government can save us, only government can protect us and so on and so on and so on. Just like many of you think, everyday of your life. Just simple blind faith and scared of disobeying…

Today the results of yesterday make me sad and I have done a lot of thinking…

Next on the thinking’s was about Iran! If what happens, that I think will happen before long: Heaven help the world because it will be the biggest mistake that Israel and the USA will ever make. The long term repercussions will outweigh the short term gains by a million fold and a simple fact is that the US will not be too far away from the results, to not become the brunt of the fallout from such an act of war against Iran. Much less Israel being located in the heart of the problem. Unless Israel is going to turn Iran into a glass parking lot the first time through with her nukes (Which creates other repercussions!), then Israel better quit the games because Israel will not be there if they continue to play hardball when softball is necessary…

*** People – Iran is simply not what the Western media and Western government is playing the tunes about! ***

Next on my thinking’s is the Nissan carmakers of Japan is getting ready to roll out a cheap model for Russia. The new small model is going to be called – Datsun, which was designed to show good performance even on impassable terrain in rural areas, will cost $6,250. The mass production of Datsun cars will begin next year. (Datsun the car company that disappeared in America and went under a new name! I had the last model of Datsun truck made in America and I loved that truck! It was school bus yellow and was fast…)

Next on my thinking’s is about the statement: Russian prime minister and presidential candidate Vladimir Putin confirmed on his plans to appoint current President Dmitry Medvedev as prime minister in the next government should he win the March 4 elections. (This made me smile. Makes sense and as everyone knows they work together, they are the ruling tandem…)

Last but not least: Sveta and I purchased airline tickets to Georgia last night and we will leave the 17th or March to go play around Georgia. Going to spend a week there and see some sites while doing some business.

Georgia on my mind…

Kyle Keeton
Windows to Russia!

Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, who is running for a third term as president, has told foreign journalists he will not impede political reforms amid opposition fears of a tougher political system if he wins the March 4 election.

Top media bosses grilled the Russian Premier on a number of key issues on Thursday, his attitude to reforms already set in motion taking center stage. The opposition has raised concerns that he may put a dampener on political progress.

“Why should I do it? On the contrary, President Medvedev submitted a package of bills that liberalize our political system, lowering membership requirements for new political parties” Putin said. He added that he does not know where such fears originate.

“We are doing the opposite. Nor do we plan anything of the sort. All our proposals aim to promote dialogue with those who support us and who criticize us.”

The Prime Minister also commented on one of the opposition’s key demands, promoted during several rallies in Moscow and across the country: having an early parliamentary vote, due to allegations of fraud in the December election, in which the majority of seats went to the ruling United Russia party. Putin said an early vote is out of the question.

“No, there is the election time stipulated by legislation,” he said.

Putin said that he had taken on board opposition demands and regards the current protest movement as “a very good experience for Russia.” However, he flagged the opposition movement’s labeling of the ruling United Russia party as “crooks and thieves” as counter-intuitive.

He highlighted the fact that many of the political figures behind the criticism were high-ranking officials who had participated in privatization and drafted laws.

“So far they have not advanced any interesting, well thought-out steps for developing the country,” he told foreign journalists.

‘Medvedev and I agreed that one of us will run for president’

­Putin also stated that the decision that he would run for the presidency in 2012 was made together with the current President Dmitry Medvedev as late as the end of last year, before the United Russia congress at which Putin was announced as the candidate for president.

He added, though, that the principal plan was agreed upon four years ago.

“Medvedev and I agreed that if the results of our partnership are positive, and if the opportunity for one of us to become a presidential candidate should arise, then we would take it,” the prime minister noted.

“It was clear at the end of last year that yours truly was polling higher than Medvedev” he explained. Putin also said that they – being representatives of one political force – should show solidarity in these circumstances, and avoid showing personal interest in any particular position.

“We estimated who had a better chance, would be granted the citizens’ trust, and would be more likely to win and continue the program for Russia’s development”.

­He also confirmed that if he wins, he will offer the position of prime minister to Medvedev, stressing that he does not see any signs of “political oligarchy” in such a move, though some Western media have labeled it as such.

“What is unusual about that? We are speaking frankly and clearly to the country, suggesting that [sic] this particular citizen would run for the top job and announce in advance that in this case Mr. Medvedev will be offered the position of prime minister. Have we cheated anyone? Have we hidden anything? No, we came up to voters with this proposal openly and honestly and are giving the citizens an opportunity to express whether they agree with this suggestion or not.”

Syria ‘cannot be solved by siding with only one party’

The premier voiced his concerns over the conflict in Syria and appealed to the West to pressure the opposition into dialogue with Assad’s regime, stressing that the problem “cannot be resolved by siding with only one party.”

“We propose demanding all parties in the armed conflict immediately cease fire and sit down at the negotiating table to begin dialogue about political reforms. Working with the opposition is necessary. If you just encourage them with arms supplies and pressure on [President Bashar] Al-Assad, they will never agree to negotiations.”

He also flagged up potential pitfalls in the UN Security Council resolution on Syria, saying that it only called for withdrawal of government troops from the cities they occupy. He stressed that then “the opposition should also withdraw its forces” as part of a balanced resolution to the conflict in Syria.

He also stressed that Russia wants no armed conflict in connection with Iran.

“We will be doing everything possible to prevent armed conflict in Iran or around it – if it happened, it would have direct, negative consequences for us. Unfortunately, this is a very explosive region. We always treated negatively any militaristic statements in this region. During direct talks, we also condemned any anti-Israel statements of our Iranian partners. Our position on the issue is unchanged.”

Putin expressed hope that Iran’s cooperation with International Atomic Energy Agency will be fully restored.

“We believe it correct to give Iran an opportunity to develop its peaceful nuclear program, of course, fully controlled by the IAEA.”

Editors-in-chief of major global media outlets took part in the meeting with Putin: Yoshibumi Wakamiya of Japan’s The Asahi Shimbun, Sylvie Kauffmann of France’s Le Monde, Ezio Mauro of La Repubblica in Italy, Canada’s Globe and Mail editor-in-chief John Stackhouse, UK’s Times editor-in-chief James Harding, and Gabor Steingart of Germany’s Handelsblatt.

Windows to Russia!

Oh I just heard some terrible news that is enough to make someone scream. I could actually have to protest this kinda news in Russia. This is that serious of a mistake, that should not happen…

The world’s largest retail group Walmart is likely to buy the Russian “Karusel” super market network for $1.99 bln – the most problematic asset of the X5 retail group. As The Business Petersburg newspaper wrote on Wednesday, the purchase of Karusel may be announced in two or three weeks after X5’s supervisory board due on February 16. Several unnamed top-managers from X5 spoke about the future deal. “I expect that the deal will be announced in 2-3 weeks,” one of the top-managers told The Business Petersburg. A second top manager said that “the deal was not signed yet, but is expected…

All I can say is that if this is true then it would be as big of a mistake as it was to bring in McDonald’s. We have very good hypermarkets in Russia and Karusel is a wonderful store to shop in, but is struggling and Walmart has to find a foot in the door, so to speak…

I hope that Russia has better sense than to let Walmart into this country. It is time for positive thinking…

No Walmart! No Walmart! No Walmart…

Kyle
Windows to Russia!

PS: It is in our neighborhood, we have a Karusel not far from us…