General Discussion
Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsPutin's Speech.
Just an excerpt of a must-read speech.
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"Other thoughts come to mind in this connection. They keep talking of some Russian intervention in Crimea, some sort of aggression. This is strange to hear. I cannot recall a single case in history of an intervention without a single shot being fired and with no human casualties.
Colleagues,
Like a mirror, the situation in Ukraine reflects what is going on and what has been happening in the world over the past several decades. After the dissolution of bipolarity on the planet, we no longer have stability. Key international institutions are not getting any stronger; on the contrary, in many cases, they are sadly degrading. Our western partners, led by the United States of America, prefer not to be guided by international law in their practical policies, but by the rule of the gun. They have come to believe in their exclusivity and exceptionalism, that they can decide the destinies of the world, that only they can ever be right. They act as they please: here and there, they use force against sovereign states, building coalitions based on the principle If you are not with us, you are against us. To make this aggression look legitimate, they force the necessary resolutions from international organisations, and if for some reason this does not work, they simply ignore the UN Security Council and the UN overall.
This happened in Yugoslavia; we remember 1999 very well. It was hard to believe, even seeing it with my own eyes, that at the end of the 20th century, one of Europes capitals, Belgrade, was under missile attack for several weeks, and then came the real intervention. Was there a UN Security Council resolution on this matter, allowing for these actions? Nothing of the sort. And then, they hit Afghanistan, Iraq, and frankly violated the UN Security Council resolution on Libya, when instead of imposing the so-called no-fly zone over it they started bombing it too.
There was a whole series of controlled colour revolutions. Clearly, the people in those nations, where these events took place, were sick of tyranny and poverty, of their lack of prospects; but these feelings were taken advantage of cynically. Standards were imposed on these nations that did not in any way correspond to their way of life, traditions, or these peoples cultures. As a result, instead of democracy and freedom, there was chaos, outbreaks in violence and a series of upheavals. The Arab Spring turned into the Arab Winter.
A similar situation unfolded in Ukraine. In 2004, to push the necessary candidate through at the presidential elections, they thought up some sort of third round that was not stipulated by the law. It was absurd and a mockery of the constitution. And now, they have thrown in an organised and well-equipped army of militants.
We understand what is happening; we understand that these actions were aimed against Ukraine and Russia and against Eurasian integration. And all this while Russia strived to engage in dialogue with our colleagues in the West. We are constantly proposing cooperation on all key issues; we want to strengthen our level of trust and for our relations to be equal, open and fair. But we saw no reciprocal steps.
On the contrary, they have lied to us many times, made decisions behind our backs, placed us before an accomplished fact. This happened with NATOs expansion to the East, as well as the deployment of military infrastructure at our borders. They kept telling us the same thing: Well, this does not concern you. Thats easy to say.
It happened with the deployment of a missile defence system. In spite of all our apprehensions, the project is working and moving forward. It happened with the endless foot-dragging in the talks on visa issues, promises of fair competition and free access to global markets.
Today, we are being threatened with sanctions, but we already experience many limitations, ones that are quite significant for us, our economy and our nation. For example, still during the times of the Cold War, the US and subsequently other nations restricted a large list of technologies and equipment from being sold to the USSR, creating the Coordinating Committee for Multilateral Export Controls list. Today, they have formally been eliminated, but only formally; and in reality, many limitations are still in effect.
In short, we have every reason to assume that the infamous policy of containment, led in the 18th, 19th and 20th centuries, continues today. They are constantly trying to sweep us into a corner because we have an independent position, because we maintain it and because we call things like they are and do not engage in hypocrisy. But there is a limit to everything. And with Ukraine, our western partners have crossed the line, playing the bear and acting irresponsibly and unprofessionally.
After all, they were fully aware that there are millions of Russians living in Ukraine and in Crimea. They must have really lacked political instinct and common sense not to foresee all the consequences of their actions. Russia found itself in a position it could not retreat from. If you compress the spring all the way to its limit, it will snap back hard. You must always remember this.
Today, it is imperative to end this hysteria, to refute the rhetoric of the cold war and to accept the obvious fact: Russia is an independent, active participant in international affairs; like other countries, it has its own national interests that need to be taken into account and respected."
http://eng.kremlin.ru/news/6889
NuclearDem
(16,184 posts)Bad Thoughts
(2,524 posts)I am amazed at the level of willful ignorance of the ethnic cleansing that occurred in the former Yugoslavia. According to Putin (and a few DUers), the problem was Western intervention, not the massacre of Muslims.
joshcryer
(62,276 posts)I am a hobby historian on Soviet Russia and the Eastern Bloc and Russian Revolution. Thinking about the stuff I've learned is certainly "bad thoughts." It's really fucked up what Russia did.
BeyondGeography
(39,374 posts)reformist2
(9,841 posts)BeyondGeography
(39,374 posts)and assigning them to Obama, who has never advanced with-us-or-against-us rhetoric and does not rule at gunpoint. It's silly.
The whole "must read" speech, or at least the excerpt here, is a mediocre propaganda exercise.
ananda
(28,866 posts).. as Macbeth would put it.
However, there is no doubt that America IS a corporate-fascist police state,
with more and more of the commons privatized, including the prison industry
allied with criminal justice.
All protesters and dissenters, whistle blowers and so on, are treated as
terrorists and/or traitors; and they are often subject to police/military action
on various levels.
BeyondGeography
(39,374 posts)geek tragedy
(68,868 posts)And here you are playing Bill Kristol.
NuclearDem
(16,184 posts)and we'll see who's more like who.
reformist2
(9,841 posts)The drone wars in Afghanistan, Pakistan, Yemen, and Libya on Obama's watch have been shameful.
NuclearDem
(16,184 posts)Putin shelled Grozny and killed more Chechen civilians than all of the civilians killed by the drone program.
And before you imply otherwise, I've been against the drone program from the get-go precisely because of the collateral damage.
reformist2
(9,841 posts)You'll get nowhere claiming that he's somehow "less bad" than Putin.
NuclearDem
(16,184 posts)Check any of my posts in the last year about TPP, Syria, the drone program, Gitmo, Egypt, Libya, the NSA, Keystone, Wall Street, lack of prosecution of war criminals and on and on and take that bullshit somewhere else.
Putin, by virtue of just Grozny alone, is objectively worse than Obama on collateral damage. And no stupid strawman from you in defense of that fascist homophobic bastard will change that.
ProSense
(116,464 posts)I mean, WTF?
JustAnotherGen
(31,828 posts)Catherina
(35,568 posts)Thanks for posting the transcript
Nuclear Unicorn
(19,497 posts)Is this where we're at these days?
joshcryer
(62,276 posts)Those supporting this Orwellian speech, likewise.
Tommy_Carcetti
(43,182 posts)It as if it cannot help itself from considering Ukraine part of its own jurisdiction, even when it's not.