Dr. Alexandr Nemets
Thursday, April 17, 2003

A Mistake to Be Corrected

Several weeks ago, the author received a disturbing letter from one of his readers.

This reader wrote that he "agrees that Moscow controls the Russian-language community in America," that "most of the immigrants from Russia came to America in accordance with FSB/KGB plans" and that he understood all this from my writings.

What nonsense! I never wrote anything like this.

Indeed, Moscow tries – only TRIES – to establish control over those who came to America from Russia and other republics of the USSR. Moscow controls some Russian-language editions in America, and has here dozens of professional agents for "special actions" of various kinds. That’s for sure.

But to claim that Moscow managed to establish control over the Russian-language community and has a lot of agents in this community – again, what nonsense!

To the contrary, the Iraq war perfectly showed – evidently, to the great disappointment of Moscow – that the American Russian-language community, particularly its Jewish component, is adamantly on the American side.

What about a handful of Moscow professional agents – after all, Homeland Security should take care of them.

There are two major Russian-language TV channels serving the local Russian community:

1. RTVi, broadcasting through its center in New York. This channel provided an honest chronicle of the Iraq war with its achievements and failures.

2. RTN/WMNB uses information from ORT and other official channels of Russian central TV, broadcasting directly from Moscow.

Now, when America and Moscow are drifting apart, it appeares that 99 percent of the Russian language community have absolutely no sympathy to Moscow. That’s perfect. In the case, probable enough, of further deterioration of ties between Washington and Moscow, the Russian-language community could become a valuable asset to America. I’d prefer not to give the details at this stage.

The ‘Hooligan Anti-Iraq-War Demonstration’ Near U.S. Embassy in Moscow

The demonstration took place on April 9, the day when Baghdad fell and American victory appeared to be clear, and assembled about 80,000 people (by other estimations, about 100,000 people). For comparison – other recent anti-war demonstrations organized by the Russian Federation Communist Party (headed by Zyuganov) and other left forces, near the U.S. Embassy and in other places in the center of Moscow, could not gather more than 1,000 persons, and these demonstrations were very correct and quiet.

This huge demonstration – shown by RTVi through its New York-based center – was organized by the "Edinaya Rossiya" (United Russia) Party, which recently united all the pro-Kremlin parties and transformed into the "new Russian super-party." It is also known as the pro-Putin party, or even "Putin's own party."

Indeed Putin’s close circle provides financial support for this party. Remarkably, the number of "Edinaya Rossiya" members multiplied during the first months of 2002. The Kremlin issued an instruction that "at least 5 percent of the adult Russian population should enter "Edinaya Rossiya."

Many thousands of pensioners and students were delivered by special buses to the American Embassy. Others came by a "distributive order" that said "so and so many people from each large factory," "so and so many people from any official organization" all over the city. That's how "Edinaya Rossiya" managed to assemble so many people.

It should be stressed, once again, that the demonstration was organized by the Kremlin and should be considered, with no exaggeration, as a message from Putin to President Bush.

This demonstration by far surpassed, in its "elegance of expressions," all the previous demonstrations ever held in Moscow near the U.S. Embassy – even the demonstrations held near this embassy during the Yugoslav war.

What slogans (both in English and Russian) were used, what cartoons were brought to this demonstration! What juicy expressions were used in speeches! And President Bush was the major, if not the single, object of these "appraisals."

Those who want to learn "Russian mat" (the blackest swearing in the Russian language) would have gotten a lot of "learning materials" at this demonstration.

And it is absolutely impossibly for me to give any translations of Russian slogans, to reproduce English slogans or to describe the cartoons.

One could think that outlaws and criminals took power in Moscow and now declare war on modern civilization, represented by America.

The reality is a little more complex. The criminal politicians, criminal businessmen and full-time criminals (this nice trio is ruling Moscow now) are united into "Edinaya Rossiya" or, more exactly, they are united around Putin and support the Putin regime.

In 2002, the pro-Putin youth movement "Going Together" got the unofficial name Putin-Yugend.

It look like "Edinaya Rossiya" could be called an emerging incarnation of the former NSDAP (Nazional-Sozialist Deutsche Arbeiter Partei), which ruled Germany from 1933 to 1945:

• Germany was ruled by (a) oligarchs getting profits from manufacturing weapons; (b) Wermacht (army) generals; and (c) NSDAP and related security organizations, primarily the Waffen SS and Gestapo.

• Russia is ruled now by (a) oligarchs united around Yeltsin and controlling the hydrocarbon deposits and other natural riches of this poor country; (b) directly subordinated to Putin’s FSB/KGB, the Interior Ministry (police) and Russian army generals; and (c) corrupted politicians, which are now "crystallizing" into "United Russia."

The difference is really insignificant and becoming more so daily.

In any case, the Putin-organized "Edinaya Rossiya" rabble heavily insulted President Bush, the American government and the American people during the above-mentioned demonstration.

President Bush received, some time ago, an invitation to come to Petersburg at the beginning of May, to participate in the 300-year anniversary of the establishment of this city.

Should President Bush make this trip? I don’t think so. In any case Putin’s regime, as I understand, has shown its real, ugly face.

Articles in Argumenty I Fakty

Let’s look at some articles in the Argumenty I Fakty weekly paper, which is a pro-Kremlin, pro-Putin paper. It has a maximal circulation among Russian papers (more than 2 million).

This paper, if we continue the comparison between present-day Russia and Nazi Germany, is somewhat similar to Felkisher Beobachter, the official paper of the NSDAP: the same "elegance" of expressions, the same "respect" to political opponents, the same admiration toward the "Great Leader of the Nation." I believe that it is the real "voice of Putin" and, as such, deserves definite interest.

The most recent weekly issue, #13 of 2003, was published at the very beginning of April, when the fate of the Iraq war was still undetermined. The most remarkable quotations are as follow:

a) Putin:

"The war in Iraq is a triumph of the "right of the fist."…Russia didn’t support this war, to avoid terrorist actions against the citizens of Russia." (Putin means "Chechen terrorists." Basing its actions on just such a "right of the fist," Putin’s regime destroyed Chechnya and killed many tens of thousands of local people, most of whom were absolutely innocent.)

b) About weapons export: Andrei Kokoshin, director of the Russian Institute of International Security Problems and former deputy defense minister:

"Potential ‘victims of imperialism,’ i.e., the regimes not favored by Washington, have to enhance their defense potential now. I mean primarily North Korea, Iran, Syria, other Arabian countries. Russia cannot stop this process, but could profit by it. Let it sound cynical." c) Anatoly Dolgolaptev, president of the Russian Defense Enterprises League:

"Due to new foreign orders (from the above-listed "rogue nations") our defense enterprises will get a second life."

d) Geopolitics: Vitaly Tretyakov, former editor of the Nezavisimaya Gazeta paper, one of the most influential persons in the Russian mass media:

"In the case of success in Iraq, Americans will feel themselves the rulers of the world. To support this position, they will have to repeat similar operations in some countries about every in two years. The best decision for Russia would be to give America an opportunity to drink this cup to the bottom.

Let them stick in Iraq, in other points of the world, preferably as far from Russia as possible. Let’s wait this moment out and then use the American weakness. Then we’ll recover Great Russia by absorbing Ukraine, Belarus and Kazakhstan."

(Tretyakov is now a member of Putin’s "close intellectual group"; another member of this group, Gleb Pavlovsky, produced similar ideas: "Let America stick and then" in Nezavisimaya Gazeta and in Russian army’s Krasnaya Zvezda paper in April 2001.)

Eventually, it is necessary to recognize that now, after the Iraq war, Moscow has become much more hostile to America. And much more dangerous. No illusions should remain here.

Dr. Alexandr V. Nemets is co-author of "Chinese-Russian Military Relations, Fate of Taiwan and New Geopolitics" and the forthcoming "Russian-Chinese Alliance."

Visit Dr. Nemets' Web site at http://excelenterprises1.tripod.com.

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