NYT op-ed: "Boris the Fighter," by Bill Clinton

[DeepModem Mom]

Boris the Fighter
By BILL CLINTON
Published: April 29, 2007
Moscow

AS I walked behind Boris Yeltsin’s coffin at Novodevichy Cemetery on Wednesday, I found myself thinking about the man I worked with closely for nearly eight years and the role he played in changing the world, mostly for the better.

Every time I met with him, Mr. Yeltsin left no doubt that he had two objectives above all others. The first was to make sure that the Russian people never again had to live under communism, or autocratic ultranationalism. The second was to form a solid, lasting partnership between a democratic Russia and the West.

On the big issues that came up between us, Mr. Yeltsin and I had our differences, and his position was often made more difficult by economic problems and political pressures. But at the end of the day, he almost always did the right thing. He insisted on respecting Russia’s borders with the other old Soviet republics. That meant standing up to Russian nationalists who might have plunged the former Soviet Union into the kind of chaos that engulfed Yugoslavia.

He made the compromises necessary to get Ukraine, along with Belarus and Kazakhstan, to give up its Soviet-era nuclear weapons. He pulled Russian troops out of the Baltic states. He made Russia part of the diplomatic solution to the crises in Bosnia and Kosovo. And much as he opposed the enlargement of NATO, he accepted the right of Central European states to join the alliance and signed a cooperation agreement between Russia and the alliance....

***

Boris Yeltsin was intelligent, passionate, emotional, strong-willed and courageous. He wasn’t perfect, and he had to contend with staggering political and economic challenges as he led Russia away from centuries of authoritarian rule. But lead he did. At the end of the cold war, Russia and the world were lucky to have him.

History will be kind to my friend Boris.

(Bill Clinton, the 42nd president, heads the Clinton Foundation.)

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/04/29/opinion/29clinton.html

[Lobster Martini]

1. Well, he's half right

Clinton is half right, but he's too smart to not know that history will not be kind to Boris Yeltsin, which is a shame because he was magnificent during the attempted coup. He will, regrettably, be remembered for his shortcomings rather than his moment of greatness.

[twenty4blackbirds]

2. Boris: moral politician

His achievements are amazing; he made the moral choice at a crucial time in USSR, and many moral choices in Russia. Flawed human, amazing man.

...if other politicians made moral choices, what can we all achieve?

[bananas]

3. Refers to "Boris the Spider" by The Who. nt

[DeepModem Mom]

4. Oh....you're right! nt

[bunkerbuster1]

6. Thanks for the earworm.

creepy, crawly, creepy crawly...

(wonder if the headline was the editorial staff's or Big Dog's doing? probably the former but you never know.)

[yurbud]

5. "Boris bought the neoliberal snake oil, and for that, we will be eternally grateful"

"If he hadn't, Russia might today be well on it's way to being an economic competitor as China has become. Better that Russian life expectancies fall and mafia profits rise."