SERGEY WATCH

Reflections on Muhammad Cartoon Riots

2006-02-10T10:10:00.000-08:00

An excellent piece by Ilana Mercer reflecting on the Muhammad Cartoon Riots throughout the Islamic World, and the danger of current US Immigration Policy allowing Muslim Immigration in the United States.

It is the duty of a constitutional government to repel the American people's potential enemies before they enter the country. Unlike preemptive assault in the absence of a clear and present danger, preemptive defense is perfectly proper.

A culturally coherent immigration policy is the best defense. Unless Bush does his constitutional duty, it'll be only a matter of time before the first American Theo van Gogh is stuck like a pig on our streets.

Muhammad Cartoon "Protests"

2006-02-02T13:52:00.000-08:00

BBC Reports today that "Anger grows over Muhammad Cartoon"

There have been anti-French and Danish protests in Pakistan over the cartoons but one Jordanian paper reprinted them urging Muslims to "be reasonable".

Palestinian gunmen briefly surrounded EU offices in Gaza to demand an apology over the cartoons.

Hundreds of students demonstrated in the Pakistani cities of Lahore and Multan, burning flags and effigies of the Danish prime minister.

Oh the Islamic world is sooooooo outraged by cartoon. Where is their outrage when in the name of Islam "infidels" are kidnapped and decapitated alive in front of a camera in Iraq ? Where is their outrage when brainwashed Muslim fanatics blow themselves up in Israel killing and maiming thousands of people including women and children ? Where is the outrage at the practice of honor killings of women and young girls for "crimes" such as flirting ? They are not outraged by the atrocities their correligionists committing against "infidels" and other Muslims round the world, but when some newspaper publishes silly Muhammad cartoons--that's an outrage !!! I have only one thing to say about these cartoon rioters -- barbarians, fanatics and savages whose behavior deserves nothing but a contempt of a civilized world.

Washington Post Gives Tribune to Hamas

2006-02-01T09:31:00.000-08:00

Found out today on FrontPageMag.com that the "Washington Post" gave the tribune to a Hamas member and an indicted terrorist Mousa Abu Marzook to argue for the diplomatic recognition of Hamas. Here is my letter to the editor of the Washington Post. The letters to editor can be sent at letters@washpost.com.

To: Washington Post

I want to express my disgust to Washington Post Editorial Board for giving OP-Ed space to Hamas member and career terrorist Mousa Abu Marzook.
I want to ask you if you feel any shame in giving Hamas, an Islamic Terrorist organization dedicated to the annihilation of Israel, a tribune to legitimize and repackage its cannibal views. Let me remind you that Hamas:

1) An organization whose charter calls for the annihilation of Israel

2) The military wing of Hamas is responsible for multiple suicide attacks against Israeli civilians in which thousands of Israelis (often women and children) where murdered or maimed.

3) Hamas still refuses to recognize Israel and disarm.

If you think that the 1st Amendment and the Freedom of Speech gives you a license to publish the propaganda of the avowed Islamic Terrorists dedicated to the destruction of the United States' strongest ally in the Middle East, than it means that you simply have lost any sense of decency and moral responsibility. Your newspaper become essentially the promoter of Islamic Terror Propaganda and as the result, I hope you will loose any respect from the majority of your readers and the American Public in general

Without Respect,

Sergey Semenov

Blog to work again !

2005-11-30T07:19:00.000-08:00

Dear Readers.

I apologize for not adding stuff to my blog for so long. I will not make any excuses, although I could, but I promise that I will try to add a good article at least once a month. In a meantime, please have a patience and keep coming to this blog.

Also I would prefer that if you comment on any of my articles, please keep it to the point. I reserve the right to remove comments I find inappropriate or out of place. Thanks to all and talk to you later,

Sergey

Remembering Price of Victory.

2005-05-02T14:52:00.000-07:00

Frankly speaking, I can't be objective when talking about upcoming May 9 60th anniversary of the victory over Nazi Germany to be marked in Russia and throughout the fmr. Soviet Union. Without exaggeration, the 1941-1945 Soviet-German War (aka "Great Patriotic War") touched nearly everyone in the fmr. Soviet Union and became the bloodiest chapter of the WWII. If you are from the former USSR and even if you are born after the World War II, you are likely to have a parent, grandparent or other family member or someone your family knew who went to the war. You or your family could know someone who experienced bombing raids, evacuation, starvation or German Occupation. Possibly you know someone who worked day and night for the War effort at numerous armament factories or GULAGs--the dreaded Soviet slave camps--producing guns, bullets, cannons, tanks, mines, guns, airplanes, military uniforms and other crucial war and life necessities. Many of these "soldiers of the home front" were women and children slaving away on these factories and surviving on substinent food rations. Some of your family members or family friends could have ended up on the German occupied territory and were taken away to Nazi held Europe to be slaves for the Third Reich. Some of them could have perished in Holocaust and other Nazi mass murders. Overall, estimated 27-30 million of Soviet Citizens, soldiers and civilians perished in this war. Most of those who survived the war, remain physically or emotionally scarred for the rest of their lives.

Among millions and millions of war stories, is the story of one 17 year old Russian-Ukrainian Jewish kid, a child of Stalin prison system survivor, who escaped advancing Germans from Kiev with his family in 1941 and went to the Central Asia on a long, arduous and overcrowded train ride. One year later, he went to the officer school to become an Infantry lieutenant in just 6 months. Then a new 19 year old lieutenant went to the Battle of Kursk in the summer of 1943. A few months later, he lost a leg to a flying piece of cannon while crossing Dnieper River near Kiev--the city he left a couple years ago. The young officer was lying unconscious on the river bank slowly passing away and loosing blood, but miraculously he was found among a number of bodies, picked up by the sanitary team and transferred to the hospital. After undergoing a number of operations in various military hospitals, he married a young woman he met 2 years earlier during evacuation and had two boys with her. One of this boys is my dad. The story of my grandma and grandpa made me one of tens of millions for whom this terrible War became an integral part of family history.

It was painful for me to see politicization of the May 9th anniversary. First, it's disgusting to see that once again Russian leadership tries to rehabilitate Stalin whitewashing his crimes and strategic blunders before and during the War. Once again the Stalin-era myth of treacherous 1939 Molotov-Ribbentrop pact as a "necessity" to secure USSR Western borders is being proclaimed by Putin and his cohort. The mayors of several Russian cities plan to erect Stalin statues--the very dictator whose policies of "Great Terror" of 1937-1938 destroyed top Soviet Military leadership paving the way for 1941 military disaster. 1945 Yalta conference that sealed the fate of Eastern Europe and forced these countries to exchange Hitler for Stalin is hailed again as the great achievement of Soviet Diplomacy for which Eastern Europeans should be 'grateful'. Such ignorance of historical facts and recycling of the Stalinist myths continues to poison atmosphere between Russia and Eastern Europe and impedes the development of normal relations between them.

However, politicization of this special date is not limited to Putin side. Latvian president Vaira Vike-Freiberga, while rightfully reminding the world that May 9 for Baltic States was not a liberation but exchange of one murderous tyrant for another, praised Latvians who served in Waffen-SS Latvian legions as fighters for Latvian Independence against Soviet re-occupation. Although Latvian Waffen-SS legion was formed in 1943 after the Holocaust in Latvia had largely ended and young Latvians were drafted into this unit mostly involuntarily to fight the advancing Soviet Army, there were reports by Simon Wiesenthal center that about 1/3 of the legionnaires could have been involved in the Holocaust earlier as members of Nazi auxiliary police units. Other Baltic officials dispute claims that some of their countrymen participated in Holocaust and other Nazi atrocities claiming that it was all Stalin propaganda to justify mass repressions against Baltic people. With all due respect to the terrible suffering of Baltic Nations under the Stalin thumb, mythologizing history and rushing to deny historically based claims and facts to portray themselves exclusively as noble victims of ruthless foreign invaders is ultimately a self-defeating delusion creating a false self-image. Substituting facts with wishful thinking whether in Russia or Baltic States distorts the truth making the normal and healthy relations between the parties impossible at a time.

Overall, May 9 need to be about the memory of millions of Soviet citizens (military or civilian) perished in this horrible war. Remember those fallen in Stalingrad, Kursk, Moscow, Leningrad (now St. Petersburg) and other sites of bloodiest WWII battles covering space between Moscow and Berlin and between North and Caspian sea. Remember the Soviet Citizens perished in Holocaust and other Nazi atrocities. Remember those who were taken against their will to work in Nazi held Europe as slave laborers. Remember how Stalin regime callously sacrificed millions of the Soviet soldiers to satisfy his vanity (i.e. race to Berlin to be there before Americans would, sending untrained or poorly trained conscripts with average 1 rifle per 4 soldiers on German tanks in 1941-1942). Remember more then 5 million Soviet POW's branded as "traitors" by Stalin condemning them to languish and die in Nazi concentration camps without Red Cross assistance because German Nazis had a perfect excuse not to allow Red Cross to visit "non-existent" POW's. Remember how those POW's who managed to escape and wanted to rejoin the Soviet Military faced lengthy interrogations by dreaded NKVD-- Stalin secret Police--and often ended up exchanging Nazi Camps for Soviet gulags or were sent to penal units. Remember the soldiers who heroically fought in poorly armed penal units composed from former GULAG prisoners and military personnel often sentenced there for trumped up offenses. They faced armed to teeth German soldiers in front of them and NKVD units behind them to shoot any retreating soldiers. Remember that decision by Roosevelt and Churchill to ally with monster and mass murderer Stalin to defeat another monster and mass murderer Hitler was necessary although it was very tragic. Remember, that while heroism and achievements of American, British and other allied forces against Nazi Germany are indisputable, 3/4 of Nazi Military casualties were on the Eastern Front. Remember the fallen Soviet soldiers who heroically fought German Nazi War machine and condemn the Soviet regime that often needlessly sacrificed them without qualms and rebuilt the tyranny on their backs throughout USSR and Eastern Europe.

Habemus Papam (We have a Pope) !

2005-04-19T16:42:00.000-07:00

If you are a blogger not posting for some time, you are often punished by a hard choice what story to comment on next. The tragic legally sanctioned death by starvation of Terri Schiavo ? Death of John Paul II and the mass outpouring of sympathy for the great deceased Pontiff ? Attacks on Tom Delay ? Finally, I've decided to comment on a different event--a joyful one--today's election of a new Pope, a German cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, who took a name Benedict XVI. Even though I'm not a Catholic, it does not stop me from appreciating what Catholic church has become in the last decades. Since Vatican II of 1960's, Catholic Church rejected the last vestiges of the dark period of Christianity--theological justification for anti-Semitism--and became a leading voice for human dignity and the moral compas for hundreds of millions of people around the world reminding humanity about responsibility for each other and the need to believe in the transcendent moral authority--God. I appreciate how Benedict XVI predecessor, Pope John Paul II, consistently reminded the world about the need to have transcendent values and stand up for what is right rather then follow the latest societal and cultural fashions. John Paul II motto "Be not afraid" may serve well the new Pope.

Benedict XVI will have a number of daunting tasks ahead. How to manage the increasingly diverse church spanning all continents of the world short of Arctica ? How to minimize the risk of pedophiles being admitted into priesthood and achieve a some form of resolution in the string of shameful sexual scandals that recently plagued Catholic Church ? How to reverse the decline of Catholic Church authority in Europe that is mostly neo-Pagan and morally relativistic rather then Christian where the fastest growing faith is a Radical Islam ? How to stand up effectively to the liberal leftist media assault that started already for his firm doctrinal views on homosexuality, abortion, contraception and other contentious issues ? How to fulfill the John Paul II dream of a full reconciliation between Catholic and Orthodox Churches formally split since 1054 ? Those of us concerned about the Judeo-Christian culture survival, Catholics or not, should wish the new Pope all the best in his future endeavors. Benedict XVI understands well how challenging it will be to stand up to the latest Culture of agressive Moral relativism and out-of-control-no-bounds-respected liberalism. In a Vatican mass held just hours prior to the conclave [a cardinal meeting to elect a new Pope], the future pope boldly proclaimed :

“Having a clear faith, based on the creed of the church, is often labeled today as a fundamentalism,” he said, speaking in Italian. “We are moving towards a dictatorship of relativism, which does not recognize anything as definitive and has as its highest value one’s own ego and one’s own desires.”

I am glad that a solid moral conservative--not a "progressive" (read Radical)--was chosen as a head of the oldest Christian Denomination and the spiritual head of 1.1 billion of my fellow human beings. The last thing anyone needs is that the oldest functioning institution on the Earth which happens to be a religious one will be lead by leftists seeking to reshape it in their image. We can see what happens when radical leftist or liberal leftist agenda is dominant at another institution--Western Academia. Too many students come out of North American or European colleges and universities without clear sense of right or wrong and the distorted picture of the reality. Those Catholics or other Vatican observers who wanted a more liberal pontiff should be also reminded what happened to American Episcopal church when it substituted Judeo-Christian heritage for the latest cultural sensibilities (i.e. acceptance of homosexuality among its bishop ). Now it does not have either authority or respect among genuine believers, and its membership is shrinking drastically. If you choose to follow the latest cultural trends and fashions, you are quickly getting out of fashion yourself. However, choosing to proclaim and practice the timeless and time and again proven truth about humanity will eventually lead to a genuine respect. Either you define the culture or the culture defines you. Let's wish that the new Pope will continue the legacy of John Paul II of reaching out to the world with a message of timeless truth and determination to shape the culture as a link between the Human and the Divine.

Terri Schiavo and Judicial Failure.

2005-03-28T16:13:00.000-08:00

As I'm writing this post, Terri Schiavo is fighting a loosing battle for life in Florida hospice without crucial life support. The parents and their attorneys have exhausted all legal options to save Terri and only a miracle can prevent her demise. The 5th Ammendment of US Constitution guarantees that every person accused of crime should not be "deprived of life, liberty or property without due process of law". Terri obviously is not guilty of any crime, but her life is being taken away without a due process of law as far as I'm concerned.

This is not a question of whether a person has a right to decline life support in Terri's condition . Had been there a living will or any other tangible proof that dying rather then living in these conditions was in fact Terri's wish, then it would have been still tragic but proper to respect Terri's wishes. Had been there a reasonable belief that Terri's husband Michael Schiavo was in fact acting with Terri's best interest in mind, I would have accepted the removal of Terri's tube provided that all the measures were taken to prevent's Terri suffering while being alive without life support. Whether we agree with it or not, each individual has a right to say whether he/she wants to be kept alive artificially in Terri's or similar conditions. However, let me remind once again that there are plenty of reasons to be suspicious whether her husband has in fact Terri's best interest in mind. Here we have again a number of points that Florida courts apparently either failed to look into or chose to look the other way:

1. There is no real evidence (like living will or formal directive from Terri) other then hearsay from Michael and his brother that Terri said she would have wanted to die and that she is unrecoverable. Why should we take Michael words over Terri's parents and some physician/nurses claims that Terri has a chance at recovery ?

2. There are a few unexplainable circumstances regarding Terri becoming brain damaged back in 1990. Was it an accident or could it be a foul play ? Why there was no investigation or serious inquiry into the matter ?

3. There are allegations that lawsuit money against Terri's physicians collected on behalf of Terri by her husband Michael Schiavo for purpose of Terri's Rehabilitation therapy were misused. Why there was no formal inquiry about this ? Did Terri received any rehabilitation therapy at all ? If not, why ?

4. Michael have been insisting on being Terri's guardian after moving with another woman and having children with her 10 years ago. Why Michael had been refusing to relinquish Terri's guardianship as Terri's parents requested him to do so ? Some physicians insist that Terri has a chance (even a small one) of recovery. Why not to give Terri's parents a chance to take care of her daughter if Michael claims to love Terri ?

5. Why Michael did not explore legal means to divorce or annul marriage with Terri after all these years, so her parents could take care of Terri while Michael could move on with his life ?

6. After Terri dies, Michael wants Terri's body cremated instead of autopsy as Terri's parents want ? Why Michael insists on cremation without autopsy that could point out to Terri's root cause of her condition ?

The failure of Judicial system to adequately protect Terri rights and make sure that her guardian has in fact the Terri's best interest in mind is a danger to the society, especially its most vulnerable members (elderly, disabled, mentally retarded, including disabled and/or mentally retarded children). Next time when guardian/relative claims that a disabled person in his/her formal care wants to die, what are the safeguards to verify that it's really the case ?

However, the tragedy of Terri should not be a need to despair and pointless anger among conservatives (and today any decent person with some sense of right and wrong may be called "conservative") . Instead it should become an impetus to do something about the general lack of judicial accountability in the current system. I offered in my previous article the possibility of Judicial Impeachment. Another options can be also considered, including Judicial Term limits (i.e. 8 years=2 presidential terms) in the Supreme and other Federal courts instead of life time appointment. After that the justices could face either renominations or replacements. Also the US Congress and State Legislatures should consider the procedures to held judges accountable for unconstitutional or morally questionable decisions. It's time to make the judges that either outstep their authority to impose "gay marriage" and other absurd decisions against clearly defined Constitutional limits or fail to excercise their Constitutional and moral responsibility to protect individual rights "to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness" (like Terri Schiavo case) to be held answerable for their decisions. It is time to find a legal mechanism to challenge the abuse of power by "Activist Judges" and make sure that what is happening to Terri Schiavo will never happen again in the United States of America.

P.S. Michael Schiavo now agrees to autopsy after Terri dies. Also next week, there will be a conference in Washington, DC dedicated to formulating an action plan aimed at stopping "Judicial Activism". I'm sure the Terri's case will be mentioned a lot during this conference. I'm holding my breath to see how the Terri Schindler Schiavo ordeal may have an effect on the way Judicial branch is working.

If President can be impeached, why not judges ?

2005-03-19T12:03:00.000-08:00

This past week was rich on the examples of "Judicial Activism". First on Tuesday, San Francisco County Superior Court Judge Richard Kramer declared that California Supreme Court withholding of marriage licenses from same-sex couples was "unconstitutional", and it was in a breach of "equal protection of the law". This decision followed in the footsteps of Massachusetts Supreme Court Decision in 2003 that not recognizing same-sex unions as marriage was tantamount to "creating second class citizens". In either case, judges did not bother to provide any sound argument how limiting marriage to one man and one woman actually violates "equal protection of the law" or creates "second class citizens". These judges seem to be oblivious to the fact that marriage never was and never should be an institution open just to anybody. The arguments that giving gay unions the same status as to traditional union between one man and one woman who are not close blood relatives would undermine the credibility and value of the unique thousands-years-old institution known across cultures, national boundaries and history, the institution that has insured social continuity, stability and survival and provided the best known protection and the environment for having or adopting and raising children went largely unheeded. The possibility that any group of people living or socializing together may demand to claim a family status (i.e. why 10 drinking buddies of same or opposite sex living together can't claim a status of a "family" now and adopt children) apparently did not bother the judges either.

Then on Friday, Florida Supreme Court Justice George Greer ordered removal of a feeding tube from Terri Schiavo, a young brain-damaged woman from Florida whose parents for years have been fighting to keep her alive while her still legal husband Michael Schiavo have been determined to legally kill her on the dubious medical ground that she was unrecoverable claiming that it was Terri's wish. The desperate parents were unable to win guardianship of Terri in the Florida or US Federal Justice System. The judges ruling on the case apparently did not ask themselves any of the following questions.

Why they (the judges) should believe Michael claims that it is Terri wish not to be kept alive rather then her parents in the absense of living will or any tangible proof that its indeed Terri's wish ?

Why Michael Schiavo is so eager to have Terri dead after he left Terri years ago and stopped caring for her in the hospital long time ago ?

Why there was no investigation of allegations that Insurance money collected by Michael for Terri's rehabilitation therapy were misused ?

Why Michael did not file for divorce or asked marriage to be annulled for all these years after he moved in with with another woman and had children with her ?

Why Michael does not want to relinquish his guardianship of Terri as Terri's parents asked him to do so repeatedly ?

Why Michael Schiavo does not want to have autopsy performed on her body after Terri dies ?

Why allegations that Michael might have abused Terri and caused her to be in this condition in the past never have never been seriously investigated ?

Now I don't even want to think what Terri and her parents are going through. I just cannot imagine what it feels like to see your own child being starved to death possibly against her and definitely against their own will. How her parents feel when they hear her daughter pleading for life and they feel helpless to do anything ? I (as I'm sure millions of others around the country and the world), as a spectator of this tragic story is now praying with mixture of anger, anguish and hope that either Congress, President Bush or his brother Florida Governor Jeb Bush will issue an executive order stopping this state-sponsored murder of the innocent woman.

The Terri's case however, should be also a call for action to do something about general lack of accountability among judiciary for Terry's life and a number of other less dramatic but also un-Constitutional and amoral decisions, like recognizing gay unions as marriage (with all its privileges including adoption of children) or removal of 10 commandments and other references to American Judeo-Christian heritage from public places. The latest cases of judicial Abuse of power and the basic ignorance and violation of Constitution, common sense and public interest make for an urgent need to take another look at the role and place of the Judiciary in the United States.

Independent and strong Judiciary is indispensable for functioning democracy and the rule of law. However, the continuing examples of disrespect by a number of judges to the voters wishes, their frivolous interpretation of the US or State Constitution, outstepping their Constitutionally defined boundaries as law-interpreters--not lawmakers--and other abuses shows the need for a comprehensive process to held judges accountable for their decisions. There were already proposals for US Congress to use Article III, Section 1 of the Constitution to keep certain issues out of Federal courts reach altogether:

... the supreme Court should have appellate jurisdiction both as to Law and Fact, with such exceptions, and under such Regulations, as the Congress shall make.

In some cases, like Terri Schiavo or any similar case that may happen (God Forbid) in a future, it makes a perfect sense. However, the legitimate concern is that once you remove one issue from the Jurisdiction of the Courts, the others removals may follow to the point that courts can be stripped of any real power to issue a ruling on any law (even when the law is in fact unconstitutional). The long-term solution to judicial abuse of power may be to institute a procedure of judicial impeachment--from the judges sitting in the County Courts all the way to the US Supreme Court. If the President who nominates judges to serve in the Supreme or other Federal Courts can be impeached under the US Constitution, why should his appointees be free from the possibility of the impeachment ? Probably constitutional amendment that would specify the procedure of judicial impeachment should be crafted and presented to the Congress. The details of the procedure (i.e. should it be done by Senate, House of Representatives or both, should it be 2/3 of the votes to impeach the judge or simple majority is enough) I would leave up to Constitutional and Legal experts. The bottom line is that something definitely must be done and done fast to prevent thouse out-of-control leftist judges from playing with People lives and the Country's fate to reflect their worldview.

P.S. This article was posted before Congress stepped in on Sunday and ruled to send the Terri's case to the Federal Courts. Big Thanks to the Congress who had a courage to do the right thing and intervene to save Terri. Still, the need to make judges accountable for the unconstitutional decisions does not go away and even makes it more urgent considering the latest chapter of Terri Schiavo ordeal.

What to do about Chechnya after Maskhadov ?

2005-03-12T14:06:00.000-08:00

When I first heard that Aslan Maskhadov--the former president of the self-proclaimed separatist Republic of Chechnya and the nominal head of the separatist insurgency--was killed by the Russian Special Forces, my reaction was quite a mixed one. On the one hand, I agree that he was probably the last separatist with whom Moscow could have struck a deal acceptable to both Russia and Chechnya. With all his faults, he was a democratically elected leader of the breakaway Russian Republic. Also I have a deep anger at the Kremlin thugs for starting twice in the past decade despicably savage, barbaric and callous Chechen Wars. While I am reluctant to criticize soldiers/police who face a guerilla campaign, ambushes, surprise attacks and suicide bombings and death almost on daily basis, the fact is that at the Kremlin behest the various Federal or local pro-Federal military and paramilitary units engage in numerous crimes ("cleansing operations" often resulting in arbitrary arrests, detentions, executions, torture and disappearences of local inhabitants, lootings, beatings, etc.) against local population. And it is not only the Russian conduct of these wars--the wars itself were completely unnecessary to keep Chechnya as a part of Russia. The Putin-Yeltsin-Kremlin mafia neglected profoundly effective millienia old Imperial tactic known since Roman times of dealing with barbarians- divide [seduce, entice] and conquer. Neither Aslan Maskhadov, nor his predecessor Johar Dudayev were fanatical Islamists. They were both retired high-ranking Soviet Military officers with a normal Soviet mentality. They could have been brought to the Kremlin fold with numerous perks, including high governmental posts, large share of the oil proceeds, etc. Had the carrot approach failed, the Kremlin could have brought Chechen Separatist Leadership in line with a stick of economic/military blockade. Kremlin also could have asked for International pressure on the Chechen leadership to accept the arrangements with Moscow. From a number of options to deal with initially non-Islamist Chechen separatism, the Kremlin gremlins had consistently been choosing the worst possible. The results are horrifying--the quarter of pre-1994 1 million large Chechen population are dead, another quarter are refugees or internally displaced persons, and the rest is simply reduced to substinent living. They also are potential victims of essentially lawless numerous Russian Federal military or police units and local pro-Moscow paramilitary formations who periodically kidnap, torture, kill or free-for-ransom ordinary Chechens. This is the reality of Chechnya today. A lot of Russian units (not all but many) behave there like the hordes of Ghenghis Khan or Hitler on their own territory against their own citizens.

However, it is also the neglect of the truth to downplay the role of Islamic extremism and global Jihad in the separatist insurgency. We also must not forget that it was Maskhadov refusal in the late 1990's to confront Wahhabists (the radical Islamic sect) and its most fanatical adherents Shamil Basayev and Khattab that turned Chechnya into a beachhead of radical Islam in the Russian North Caucasus. It was the Maskhadov conscious choice not to neutralize these two Caucasian Che Guevarras/Bin Ladens to avoid the possibility of armed conflict inside Chechnya. Maskhadov neutrality allowed Basayev and Khattab to operate with impunity, and it ended up with their invasion of the neighboring Russian Republic of Dagestan in summer of 1999 to spread the Islamist insurgency across the North Caucasus. This Dagestani adventure (along with unexplained series of Apartment bombings in Moscow and other Russian Cities blamed on Basayev and Khattab) became the formal ground for resuming the major hostilities between Russian Federation and the separatist Chechnya. Of course Shamil Basayev is the chief architect of the numerous terrorist attacks inside Russia, including Budionnovsk in 1995, Moscow Theatre in 2002 and most recently and horrifically, the school in Beslan in 2004. We have no hard evidence that Maskhadov supported, condoned or participated in any of the Basayev actions. However, Maskhadov by refusing to deal with Basayev early on became also indirectly liable for all the Basayev terrorist activities. This is the reason why I am not subscribing to many of the statements made by American Committee for Peace in Chechnya (ACPC) and other prominent critics of Kremlin policies toward Chechnya. Zbignev Brzezinskiy, the ACPC co-chairman and well-known political analyst, said the following in reaction to the killing of Maskhadov: “The Chechens now have a symbol of resistance that will further fortify their determination to be free.” This statement made more out of disgust toward Kremlin exceptionally brutal and stupid conduct of the war rather then out of calm analysis of the situation. Whose determination will be "fortified"? Will it be Basayev's and his ilk ? They will be "free" to do what ? Stage more Beslan-like attacks ? The death of Maskhadov means that the worst and meanest Islamist insurgents will take his place, and they will definitely have no qualms against using any terror tactics against Russia. What we likely to see is a complete "Islamonazification" of the insurgency with the aim of not simply breaking Chechnya away from Russia, but spreading the Jihad throughout North Caucasus and beyond. If you don't believe me, read the kavkazcenter.com( English or Russian version)--the semiofficial site of Chechen/North Caucasus Islamist Insurgency. You will find a plenty of articles there praising "Jihad" and "martyrdom" and the calls to destroy or Islamize (in the image of Jihadists of course) Russia. You will find also a plenty of vitriol against the United States presense in Iraq (Iraqi head chopping, suicide bombing terrorist insurgency is called "resistance" of course), the exultation of Palestinian suicide bombing against Israel and plenty of other Jihadist rhetoric. Judge for yourself whether it is a voice of liberty or something else. It makes me sick to the stomach when American and other Western Media organizations ("Washington Post", "Wall Street Journal", "BBC", "CNN", etc.) call Basayev and other Islamist-terrorist warlords operating in North Caucasus anything other than terrorists. Just think about it how they call masterminds of Beslan and other atrocities: "militants", "resistance fighters", "violent activists". It shows how modern liberalism completely substituted clear and transcendent moral standards with emotions when judging behavior of individuals or political movements and became in the words of Michael Savage a "mental disorder".

Does it mean that I suggest to accept the status-quo and condone the Kremlin behavior in Chechnya and North Caucasus ? DEFINITELY NOT! Ordinary Chechen people--not terrorists-Warlords--deserve to live in peace and security and freedom from terror (Kremlin or Jihadist) as any other Russian Citizens.
What is urgently needed is the strong leadership of the civilized world in putting a pressure on Putin regime to stop its barbaric conduct in Chechnya and other North Caucasus Republics. The goal of the Western Community should be territorial integrity and security of Russia combined with a strong and unequivocal demand that Moscow respect the basic rights (especially right to life) of its ordinary citizens, including Chechens. Let's consider the following plan out of the seemingly endless Chechen/North Caucasus conflict.

The United States with other NATO countries offers a technical assistance to Moscow (money, military advisors, technical assistance) in dealing with Islamist Insurgency in Chechnya/North Caucasus and demands that Moscow disbands all paramilitary pro-Moscow formations (Ramzan Kadyrov unit) responsible for kidnappings, killings, disappearences, tortures and other criminal activities in Chechnya and the neighboring Dagestan, Ingushetia, etc. The Russian Government should be also pressed to reduce the size of its military formations to the level needed to effectively combat the insurgency. Many of the discredited power structures (FSB) should be simply disbanded on the North Caucasus territory.

The United States demands from Russia to declare the emergency law in North Caucasus. Federal and local police units should be banned from conducting arbitrary arrests and detentions. This is especially considering notorious "cleansing" operations (zachistka) when unidentified military or security forces block the villages or city neighborhoods, go house to house and arrest anyone at will (i.e. military age men). Usually "zachistka" takes place in the area where security forces were previously attacked by the insurgents. Thousands of people, including the elderly and teenagers, were either tortured or killed/disappeared altogether as the results of these operations. "Zachistka" is pretty much a revenge on the local population for the insurgent activity not unlike the practices of paramilitary thugs in Colombia, Guatemala and other Latin American countries in 1960's-1990's civil wars there against Marxist Insurgents and presumably sympathetic villagers. Such operations are not simply amoral, but they also destroy the discipline and morale of the units involved and turn these units into bloodthirsty gangs--armed and dangerous. Any detention without a proper warrant should be considered a crime under strict penalty of the law. The basic rights of detainees should be respected (access to attorney, communication with relatives, etc.). If detainee is considered very dangerous, then certain privileges may be revoked, but the units/authorities who have the detainee in custody should always be identified and accountable for detainee well-being.

Under the emergency law, the Federal and local police forces should have a right to lock down the dangerous neighborhoods or areas, establish and enforce curfews and conduct legitimate anti-insurgent military operations provided that there are absolutely no revenge attacks ("zachistka") on the local population for insurgent activity in a given area or any other arbitrary detentions.

The United States puts a pressure on Moscow to conduct the thorough investigation of the behavior of its Armed Forces during two Chechen Wars. Specifically, Russian government should be pressured to investigate and prosecute those who gave the order to conduct "zachistkas", kidnappings, mass executions and other crimes. Of course the primarly responsibility for these atrocities lies with Putin and Kremlin, but its important to start with smaller fish before getting to a top one.

Chechnya along with other North Caucasus republics should be offered to form once proposed but never implemented single North Caucasus republic with a special status within Russian Federation. The laws of North Caucasus republic should reflect many of the centuries-old traditions of highland people excluding bloody vendettas of clan against clan or any other activity specifically prohibited by Russian Constitution. North Caucasus republic natives and inhabitants should be freed from military conscription in the Russian Military. The republic should be able to set its own rules for residency that may be different from the rest of Russian Federation.

The North Caucasus natives should be able to form their corporations that will control (with some exceptions) the use of land, water, oil and other natural resources in the area. The corporations may be made only from natives and with transferrable rights of ownership only to other natives. This arrangement is similar to the one currently enjoyed by the native tribes in the state of Alaska (Eskimo, Indians).

Any plan that would insure Russian Territorial integrity while providing the basic rights protection to the local population should be offered to the Kremlin. If Putin and Co. refuse the workable plan for Chechnya/North Caucasus that respects legitimate Russian Interests for security and territorial integrity, United States and other countries should not hesitate to put a political pressure on the regime. It certainly does not need to involve any military action. The range of options available is wide and open--the threats to fund opposition parties, travel ban to Putin and Kremlin officials to any NATO country, arrest of the accounts believed to be connected to the Kremlin, targeted sanctions and so on. The state-sponsored terrorism against the entire population is despicable and amoral that should not be tolerated as a policy tool.

Putin, Assad and Dean: Good Candidates for Forced Retirement.

2005-03-07T16:34:00.000-08:00

The events of the past few weeks suggest that Vladimir Putin, Bashar Assad and Howard Dean may be good candidates for forced retirement. Hopefully it will happen sooner rather than later, but let me explain why I decided to put these 3 together on my retirement wish-list.

First, is Russia’s Vladimir Putin. In the past few months, Kremlin has become deeply worried about the prospect of the “Orange Virus” (Ukraine’s “Orange Revolution”) spreading to Russia. Recently created Russian Youth movement “Pora” (It’s Time), which is the equivalent Ukrainian "Pora", the youth political movement and the major force behind Ukrain'es “Orange Revolution”, published manifesto on the web where it asked Ukrainian “Pora” to “pass to Russian People the button of the non-violent struggle for freedom and democracy”. It is essentially a call to Russian people to follow in the footsteps of their Ukrainian cousins. Kremlin Kremlin in turn is creating its own youth movement that some commentators and bloggers (like Instapundit) already calling “Putin Youth” (similar to “Hitler Youth”), “Stormtroopers”, etc. It’s a definitely disturbing sign that Kremlin is forming gangs that are already being used to attack anti-Putin demonstrators. It also shows agony of the Putin regime and its chronic degradation. Putin, in my view, is really a great candidate for an early forced retirement and let’s pray that it will happen sooner rather then later. Especially let’s pray and hope that his and his regime departure will be bloodless.

Next candidate for a forced retirement is Syrian President Bashar Assad. Last week he announced redeployment of Syrian Troops in Lebanon raising the hopes of eventual Syrian withdrawal. Apparently mass demonstrations in Lebanon against the Assad's Syria presense prompted by the murder of fmr. Lebanese Prime Minister Hariri (Syria was immediately and not without good reason pinned as a culprit) coupled with not so subtle hints by Bush Administration about the possibility of using force against Syria if it does not withdraw from Lebanon, helped to bring Assad to reality. While I'm not too optimistic about Assad going out quietly. Hezbollah (read Syria) organized rally on March 8th may show that he may try to play dangerous games of "mass people support". Nevertheless, the pressure from outside may encourage anti-Assad and non-Islamist Syrian dissident movements to put a pressure on the Assad regime from inside. Let’s hope for young Assad peaceful departure too, so that Syria and Lebanon will have a chance to develop as decen and peaceful societies.

Finally my third wish would be to have Howard Dean, the new chairman of the “Democratic National Committee” out of the office early. You may ask why would I put Howard Dean together with Putin and Assad. After all, Howard Dean is not a thuggish dictator like these two. He also does not hold any governmental office. Yes he is certainly not, but the behavior of the chief of one of the two major American political parties looks disturbing to me. Let’s recall that back in 2003 while campaigning as a Democratic Presidential nominee candidate, Howard Dean called Palestinian terrorist group Hamas human bombs “soldiers” in the interview with CNN’s Wolf Blitzer (reprinted in Jewish Virtual Library) :

Dean on Settlements and Hamas

Wold Blitzer: Let's go through some specifics to flesh it out. Israeli settlements. Should they dismantle them?

Howard Dean: I think that's going to be left up to the negotiation between the parties. Everybody, including Prime Minister Sharon, has said there will be a dismantling of some of the settlements. The question will be how many. The United States needs to play the role of bringing both parties together so she can negotiate that.

Wolf Blitzer: What about targeted killings, assassinations of Hamas militants?

Howard Dean: I think no one likes to see violence of any kind. That's why the United States is involved. I will say, however, there is a war going on in the Middle East, and members of Hamas are soldiers in that war, and, therefore, it seems to me, that they are going to be casualties if they are going to make war. (Source: CNN, Wolf Blitzer Reports; 9/10/03)

Howard Dean later apologized for this statement and sent the letter of apology to the Anti-Defamation League. However, what is said is said. Such statement implies that for Howard Dean there is no difference between Palestinian terrorists seeking to murder every Jew in Israel and around the world and the Israeli soldiers defending the State of Israel against these brainwashed thugs. Whatever positive statements he made before or after this interview about Israel, that speech betrayed his true nature as a morally confused loudmouth and demagogue.

Now just a couple week ago in Kansas, Howard Dean called every conservative or "right wing" "evil", And who can be given “evil” mark in the Howard Dean/leftist world ?

• If you one of the 55+ million Americans who voted for Bush in 2004, you are definitely a candidate for a “right wing evil”.

• If you do not think that United Nations should run the United States, you are most likely a “right wing evil” or an “isolationist” at best.

• If you do not want American Military or Civilian Service Personnel tried by International Criminal Court where judges from such “democratic” regimes like Communist China or Islamist Saudi Arabia can be presiding, then you are a “right wing evil”.

• If you do not think that plight afflicting Black and Hispanic communities (high high-school dropout level, community breakdown, gang violence, etc.) is necessarily the fault of the “Racist White-Dominated Society”, then you are surely a “racist pig” and a “right wing evil”. And if you also happen to be black, then you are not just a “right wing evil”—you are “Uncle Tom”.

• If you object to certain (but not all) abortions, you are a “right wing evil”, “religious nut”, “intolerant” etc.

• If you believe that marriage should be between one man and one woman, you are "right wing evil", "homophobe", "intolerant".

Basically, any normal, clear thinking American with some sense of Judeo-Christian values who does not share Dean and Co. leftist ideology is a potential “evil” in Howard Dean world whatever he may say otherwise later.

It’s definitely time to retire, Howard.

And may I suggest you see a professional help for your see-evil-all-in-wrong-places syndrom ?

FEC attack on Bloggers: Fighting Back !

2005-03-04T12:21:00.000-08:00

Dear US Political Bloggers and any other civic minded folks.

As you likely have heard already, Federal Election Commission seeks to stifle free speech on the Internet under the guise of Campaign Finance Reform . I am one of many folks who are fighting back this idiotic and amoral measure. I already emailed my representative and I urge you to do the same. Feel free to use my email below if you like. You can find and write to your representative or senator using www.house.gov and www.senate.gov. However, if (Heaven Forbid !) this McCain-Feingold restrictions will spread to the Internet, there are perfectly legitimate ways to fight it back.Instapundit, LoneStarTimes and a number of other bloggers, journalists, activists, etc are doing something about this already. I am definitely not going to put up with this stupid, amoral, and tyrannical law.

Here is my email:

Dear Rep/Sen. {Name}

I am asking you to stand up to the proposed Federal Election Commission measure that will spread McCain-Feingold Campaign Finance Reform restrictions to the political activity on the Internet, such as Internet Blogging. The proposed measure may jeopardize a number of political activities other than cash donations that are currently conducted on the Internet. For instance, posting a link to a candidate campaign website or e-mailing canditate Press-Release to the mailing list may be considered a "Political Contribution" under the law and the courts will have a right to impose fines on the Bloggers if these "contributions" will be "exceeding" the limit. This absurd measure in effect infringes upon the First Ammendement rights protecting the political speech and legitimate political activities. If proposed Campaign Finance Reform Internet restrictions take place, any political activity on the Internet will become a subject to unconstitutional restrictions and arbitrary court rulings. Please help defeat this unconstitutional measure !

Sincerely,

{Your Name}

FEC wants to stifle political Bloggers !

2005-03-04T08:49:00.000-08:00

Political Bloggers--Beware !

Everyone in the US Political blogging community and in fact, anyone who cares about Political Freedom in America needs to be aware of what Federal Election Commission is up to. They want to extend Campaign Finance Reform to Bloggers which means it may stifle political blogging altogether. If the measure is approved, you may be fined even for forwarding press-release of your Congressman or posting a link to a Political Campaign on your blog/site. Looks like Putin's Russia example of Media Kremlinization inspired some folks in Washington. Looks like it's time for Million Bloggers March on Washington banging their laptops-:)))). Really folks, something must be done about this if we don't want to be turned into puppies. Let's contact our Representatives, Senators, etc.

P.S.

Sorry for not posting for quite some time--I was finishing up a long post (as usual -:)) ), but these news are really important.

US Senate hearing on YUKOS and Russian Democracy.

2005-02-19T09:54:00.000-08:00

Last Thursday, the US Senate held a hearing
on the state of Russian Democracy in general and state takeover of Russian oil-giant YUKOS and the persecution of its chief Mikhail Khodorkovsky in particular. As a civic-minded American and Russian Immigrant, I welcome this hearing. However, I can't help but point out that it comes a bit too late--let's say it is at least 11 years overdue. If you ask me why 11 years, consider the following.

In September of 1993, Putin predecessor and his chief benefactor Yeltsin bypassed the Russian Constitution and dissolved the parliament (then called "The Supreme Council") after the parliament tried to impeach him over governmental economic policies. When MP's and their supporters in turn started a full scale rioting in Moscow, Yeltsin ordered the military into the city, sent the tanks to fire on the parliament building, and ordered the elite security forces to storm it (and they did on October 3-4, 1993). Then US President Clinton with a number of US Senators and representatives, including Bob Dole (R-Kansas, Ret.), praised and justified Yeltsin behavior toward Legitimately Elected parliament on the ground that among the Russian parliament supporters there were hard-core communists, extremists, etc. To a large degree it was true--among dissolved parliament followers there were quite a few unsavory characters, like notorious antiSemite retired general Makashov, whose gangs rampaged on the streets of Moscow. However, nobody in Washington (at least to my knowledge) even bothered to ask whether Yeltsin had any Constitutional right to dissolve the parliament in the first place. Later in 1993 on the Yeltsin behest, the new Russian Constitution was adopted. This Constitution gave the Yeltsin nearly autocratic powers, such as the right to dissolve the parliament if it rejects presidential legislation or governmental appointees three times in a row. Again, very few (if any) in Washington voiced concern. As long as Yeltsin said he was "building democracy" and fought the "remnants of Communist Regime", it was OK with the Clinton Administration and the Capitol Hill. Nobody seem to be worried that this Constitution essentially restored the autocracy which given the Russian historical conditions and the weakness of civic institutions could easily turn into bloody dictatorship.

The mid 1990's for Russia were marred by the first Chechen war with its filtration/concentration camps and massacres. This period also became known for grossly corrupt "privatization" deals when huge state-controlled businesses in gas, oil and other natural resources industries were "sold" for about 10% or less of their real market value to the small group of Kremlin insiders who later became known as "oligarchs". In turn of the control of lucrative businesses, oligarchs were reported to generously finance the Yeltsin "family" (his actual relatives and close associates) whenever the "family" wanted too. Again, very few US Legislators or Russian pundits sounded any alarm. The grand theft of the State-controlled property by the Kremlin officials and their hand-picked "oligarchs" was called "privatization". When the reports came in about the gross violations of any civilized standard during this "privatization" (i.e. state property auctions where winners were known before-hand, ridiculously low sale prices, the wide-spread murder of competitors), it was all either dismissed or explained as "difficulties in the transition to market economy".

Yeltsin re-election in 1996 was celebrated in Washington despite the fact that Yeltsin's election campaign was given nearly monopoly in the Russian media coverage ( media then was largely controlled by Kremlin-created "oligarchs"). There was no scandal in Washington when group of Yeltsin election campaign workers were found with Xerox boxes full of money ($200,000,000 or so)--allegedly "oligarchs" donations for Yeltsin campaign. FYI, then Russian official campaign spending limit was equivalent of $1,500,000. Should such generous "donations" (better known as bribes) be the cause of alarm in Washington ? Again, I did not hear much noise about it. For a good summary on the effects of Clinton policies toward Russia, I recommend to read the following US House Report.

In the Spring of 1999, ailing and increasingly unpopular Yeltsin appointed young and little known Federal Security Service (in Russian "FSB") chief Vladimir Putin as prime-minister and named him as a successor for President. This appointment was followed in the Summer of 1999 by the series of strange apartment building explosions in Moscow and around the country. There was also an invasion of Southern Russian Republic of Dagestan by the Chechen warlord-terrorist Shamil Basayev. Putin immediately blamed the explosion on the Chechens, refused the FBI offered assistance and ordered the new invasion of separatist and lawless Chechnya. Later reports by the variety of sources suggested that explosions could have been organized by FSB itself (with Yeltsin and Putin knowledge of course) and the Shamil Basayev invasion of Dagestan was done with the help of the top Russian leadership or "Family"to create the panic in the country so the Putin could look as Russian Savior pulling Russia out of chaos and terrorism. Consider the case of Ryazan apartment buildings where group of people turned out to be FSB agents were found bringing bags of "sugar" (which was actually explosive xexogen)into the cellar. When police arrived, the agents said they were on "exercise". The MP Sergey Yushenkov and investigative reporter Yuri Shekochikhin who investigated the claims of FSB involvement in the apartment building explosions are both dead now. Yushenkov was gunned down outside of his Moscow house and Shekochikhin was found dead under unexplained circumstances. Investigations into the murder of Yushenkov and the circumstances of Shekochikhin death lead practically nowhere (surprise). Again, I did not hear any inquiry about this coming from Washington.

Now after Putin ended Yeltsin game of playing democracy and the rule of law by consolidating the state control of the Media, putting oil and gas industry directly into the state (read Putin and his associates) hands, ending popular regional elections and overseeing another bloody and nearly genocidal war in Chechnya, Washington finally started buzzing. After more then a few US shareholders were hurt by YUKOS arbitrary dismantling and the large portion of the Russian oil supply became directly controlled by the Putin's Kremlin, Washington is finally alarmed by the state of Russian Democracy. It is easy to become cynical, but maybe it's better late then never ?

The Re-Birth of Russian Civil Society ?

2005-02-12T14:43:00.000-08:00

The latest news on the series of Russian protests against Putin cruel Benefit Reform, including the latest one on February 12 http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/4260117.stm
shows that Russian Society has begun to fight back the Putin Regime amoral policies. I followed the news about these protests for quite some time on the Internet. The fact is that protesters, mostly elderly people and previously big fans of the President, displayed signs like "Putin is the enemy worse then Hitler", "Putin is the murderer of the elderly" or "Bastards, Return the Benefits", shows how quickly all illusions about Putin that Kremlin political technologists crafted about him and his regime of "managed democracy" have been shattered. The good sign is that civic movement in Russia is not dead. However, one thing is to protest against specific policies of the regime or even against Putin himself, and quite another thing is to decide where to go from there. Do protesters want to replace now bad czar Putin into nicer and kinder czar ? Or will protesters and Russian public in general understand that all these popular Russian myths of kind and gentle czar-autocrat who will solve all the social ills at once is the road to nowhere--the road to another Putin ? I am certainly hope that the answer will be yes to the latter rather then the former question. I will become a real optimist when the majority of Russian people realize that autocracy, no matter how benign autocrat may be, will inevitably lead to enormous corruption, unchecked abuse of power and finally, the collapse of the entire political and socio-economic structure once the autocrat retires or dies without decent successor. The best thing United States government and US Non-Governmental organizations can do right now is to establish the contact between the American and Russian non-totalitarian civil movements and encourage the discussion of what kind of government Russian people really need so the Russia at last can become democratic, prosperous, law-abiding and non-threatening society.

To all Americans who care about Russia

2005-02-06T11:53:00.000-08:00

Dear Readers of Sergey Watch.

This time I have more then a few thoughts to share about current situation in Russia and what role Americans who care about Russia, including Russian Americans such as myself, can play in shaping the future of this huge, incredible, but such a long-suffering country. I am urging all civic-minded Americans to become vocal against increasingly repressive and degenerate Putin Regime and encourage US Government to reevaluate the entire US-Russian relations.
When Putin came to power in 2000, I, like many Russian Immigrants and ordinary Russian people, saw in Putin the welcome change from appallingly corrupt and lawless Yeltsin era. Then the young and articulate leader from St. Petersburg looked incomparably better then ailing, frequently drunk and increasingly bizarre Yeltsin. I was willing to overlook Putin's shady KGB past hoping that he was the man who could lead Russia out of Yeltsin criminal pseudo-democracy and establish the civilized system of governance for benefit of all Russians.
Now I am willing to admit that I fell the victim to a wishful thinking. After 5 years of Putin in power, it looks that Putin regime in many ways much worse for Russia and the World than that of Yeltsin. Putin KGB mentality of seeing enemies everywhere drove him to turn Russia into essentially autocratic repressive police state. Here is the list of Putin "accomplishments" in the past five years.

Destroying virtually all independent of Kremlin media and bringing all media outlets, such as NTV under direct or indirect state control. The dismantling of NTV and other opposition newspapers, TV channels, etc turned Russian media into a mouthpiece of Kremlin propaganda rather then source of objective and honest information.

Brutal and essentially genocidal war against the separatist Republic of Chechnya. I want to make myself clear that I am not pro-Chechen nationalist. I believe every country, including Russia has a right to protect its territorial integrity. I am certainly not denying the fact that many Chechen warlords are criminals and Islamofascists who are not hesitant to use terror against civilian population, including children. Every decent person should be angry at the Chechen terrorists for the bloody seizure of school in Beslan or the Moscow theatre. However, it is simply impossible and amoral to ignore the fact that Russian government forces behavior in Chechnya is very reminiscent of the Nazi's behavior in Europe and the Soviet Union. The Federal and local pro-Federal local security forces in Chechnya were turned into a huge repressive machine responsible for kidnapping, torturing and murdering local inhabitants simply on the ground that they might be affiliated with separatists/terrorists gangs. What has been happening in Chechnya for the past 5 or 10 years is nothing less then State Terrorism.

Ending the popular elections of governors in 89 Russian Regions and replacing them with direct appointments by Putin. This is essentially an usurpation of power by Putin and his clique in direct violation of Russian Constitution. It also turns local officials in Kremlin puppets with little or no incentive to respond to the needs of population. Instead, the new local officials will be judged on how loyal are they to Putin clique rather how competent they are to handle the job.

Using state power and malicious prosecutions to redistribute the oil and gas industry into the hands of Putin and Associates. YUKOS affair and Khodorkovsky "show trial" is a clear indication that Putin regime seeks to use the law to directly control and profit from the Russia's oil and gas industry. This is the surest way to enormous corruption and further degradation of State Power.

Replacing the essential in kind benefits, such as free transportation and utilities subsidies for millions of pensioners with inadequate monetary compensation (about $5 a month). For millions of Russian pensioners struggling to live on meager pensions (about $80 a month) these benefits is the life line. Taking these benefits away will surely sink retirees further into poverty and desperation. And should I mention that while Putin regime took away these crucial benefits from millions of ordinary Russians, the regime officials and MP's themselves will continue to enjoy nearly Royal Privileges of free Health Care in world class clinics and resorts, free transportation, free housing, etc ?

The list can go on and on, but the most crucial thing is to understand that speaking up against Putin regime does not mean being anti-Russian or "Russophobe", as some pro-Putin commentators suggesting. Being anti-Putin means being pro-Russian in the highest sense. Being anti-Putin means wanting for Russia something better, then neo-KGB thuggish regime.

New Blogger on the Block !

2005-01-31T09:17:00.000-08:00

Dear Friends !

Today is a special day for me as I enter the blogosphere for the first time ! I am an American Citizen and Russian Immigrant obsessed with amateur news analysis, so I could not resist the opportunity to try myself in the blog world. I want my blog to be an open political forum with a focus on the United States, Russia/Eurasia and Israel. Please allow me to offer you my biased, Judeo-Christian rooted, unobjective but hopefully worthy of consideration opinion on the variety of events going on in our world. Sometimes amateurs may offer much better insight into our world than bunch of well-paid and sought-after professional pundits and academics. I have this hunch that I may be one of these insightful amateurs. If not, I will be open to suggestions to stay out of political analysis and just stick to my current occupation in Information Technology sector. Either way, I hope you will enjoy my blog and leave your comments to each of my posts.

P.S. The rules for posting comments are simple:

1. No threats.

2. No calls to murder or abuse anyone.

3. No F-words and the like.

4. Show respect toward each opinion that does not violate above 3 rules.

Any comment that violates these four simple rules of civilized discussion, will be strictly and mercilessly removed. If there are multiple gross violations of these rules, I will suspend comment feature on my blog altogether indefinitely.
Otherwise, any opinion is welcome.

Yours Truly,

Sergey.