Voices from Russia

Wednesday, 27 February 2013

Freedom House Crackdown

00 Condi Rice. political cartoon. 09.12

The USA doesn’t even try to hide the fact any more that it’s actively attempting to subvert the Russian government; it’s funding and supporting those within the Russian Federation who’d attempt to do so for their own selfish gains. American-backed Russian NGOs and their American colleagues continue to push for “tougher measures” against the Russian Federation, many even calling for the USA and the West to implement a policy of “containment”, something Washington did during Soviet times to “stop the spread of Communism”. One has to wonder as to the real motivations of these organisations and individuals, as they’re on the American payroll and receive funds from American taxpayer monies routed to them by hawkish right-wing groups and individuals, who seek to propagate outdated Cold War clichés and Russophobic hysteria. Their reasoning is open to question… contain what? Some sort of undefined “evil” ideology or some non-existent military expansionism? It’s utterly ludicrous.

The continuing activities of most of these bodies, many of which only exist for the sole reason of subverting (in this case) the Russian government, weakening the Russian Federation internationally on all fronts, giving reason and justification to American expansionism, military build-up, and meddling and interference in the internal and external affairs of the Russian Federation have proven the wisdom and the necessity for the recently-passed Russian legislation requiring all members of foreign-funded NGOs to register with the government as foreign agents. Bringing the problem to centre-stage again is an American taxpayer-funded NGO called Freedom House, which has gathered an all star cast of American-backed and funded Russian “opposition” members, US Congressmen, NGO operatives from the USA and Russia, as well as EU officials for an upcoming forum entitled, New Approach or Business As Usual? US-EU-Russia Relations After Putin’s Crackdown.

I’m still wondering what “crackdown” they’re talking about, but I’d suppose they’re referring to the recent law mentioned above and perhaps to the recently-adopted Dima Yakovlev law that protects Russian children, or, perhaps, to the expulsion of USAID for their questionable activities throughout Russia. I believe that the real reason is that Russia is strengthening ties and increasing trade with Europe, especially in the energy sector, and this hasn’t pleased Washington, who sees Europe as their minion. The adeptness with which the USA continues to demonise Russia is daunting due to the level and the massive scale it’s attained, as well as increasingly more obvious, this time the more so, especially in light of the fact that the two above-mentioned laws were enacted because there were and continue to be clear and present threats against the sovereignty of Russia and against the Russia people.

We know the following is true for the USA… Russia must be kept weak politically, militarily, economically, and socially. This is for the sole reason that Russia must be brought under the control of the USA and that control must permanent and complete. A strong democracy and civil society are bad for the USA because a well-off and satisfied citizenry aren’t as pliable and less subject to go against the state. Hence, the funding of NGOs and the Russian opposition, who sow discontent and strife with false-flag arguments, straw-man evils, and phantom wrongs and injustices.

Just ask any member of the so called “opposition”… “What would you change, give me an example of what is wrong with Russia?” Like brainwashed hypnotised people just waking from a sleep, they’d probably answer something to the effect, “Putin bad. America good!” I oversimplify, but that’s what it boils down to. America doesn’t want a strong leader in Russia, they need someone they can manipulate. The President of the Russian Federation, Vladimir Putin, unfortunately for the USA, isn’t that man. Keeping a country economically-weak is also good for the USA, as a country that’s weak economically is easy to manipulate, its markets are easier to access for the dumping of goods and for exploitation, its workforce is easier to exploit, its citizens are easier to manipulate and direct against the state, and its officials are easier to bribe and buy. Any country, such as Russia, which has an assertive and independent foreign policy, is also bad for the obvious reason that it isn’t under the control of the USA. This is particularly bad when such countries form alliances, groupings, organisations, treaties, and cooperate independently and without the control of the USA or kowtowing to Washington.

The script being used by Freedom House is as old as are most of Washington’s attempts at forming “colour revolutions”, usurping power, overthrowing governments, getting rid of leaders, and justifying their own expansionist policies. We’ve seen the script in use repeatedly, and, in fact, frankly, it’s gotten old. Demonise, repeat key words repeatedly until the world accepts them as truth, and, then, move in with “humanitarian” sanctions or missiles. In this case, the key words are “Putin and crackdown”. What we’re seeing with Freedom House is a clue as to where things are going, especially after the banning of USAID and their activities on the territory of the Russian Federation. The US government will now attempt to use those inside Russia more and more to subvert the Russian state. This would include politicians, the “opposition”, members of NGOs, academics, and even “the man in the street”. Not to mention the members of the US Foreign Service, who’re now increasingly being tasked with what could be called subversive activities. Anyone who can spread discontent and destabilise the country will be fair game.

In a recent analysis for VOR, Edward Lozansky, President of the American University in Moscow, gave some insights into Freedom House. According to Mr Lozansky, Freedom House is damaging the national interests of the USA, whilst receiving taxpayer funding. He said, “This organisation has already wasted enormous amounts of taxpayers’ money on supporting the colour revolutions in the post-Soviet space, which ended in total fiascos. Now, they want America not only to ‘stand in solidarity’ with Russian activists, but also to challenge the various authoritarian groupings in which Russia plays a prominent role, such as the Eurasian Union, the Collective Security Treaty Organisation, the Commonwealth of Independent States, and the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO)“.

I’m sure that Mr Lozansky calling these groups “authoritarian” was a tongue-in-cheek stab at the ridiculousness of the classification. He continued, “One item on that agenda is particularly laughable… the call to challenge the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation, where China plays a key role. In other words, Freedom House expects China, a top foreign American lender, to provide more funds to the US Treasury to finance a challenge against itself”. As for the Russian division of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, he said, “One of its senior associates, (an American-paid Russian) finds the Freedom House challenge approach too modest; she calls for a “new way to contain Russia”, no more and no less”.

Of course, we’re all used to American hypocrisy, but they’re growing bolder and bolder with every passing day. If the shoe were on the other foot, as I love to point out, things would be entirely different. Were a group of American politicians and civic “leaders” to appear before the Federation Council or the RF Gosduma and ask the Russian government to expand sanctions, to implement harsher measures against the elected government of the USA, and continue to isolate and “contain” the USA, those involved would surely be charged with treason and put in front of a firing squad. Nevertheless, when it comes to Russia, this is supposed to be OK, and any move against these individuals, whose sole aim is to assist an increasingly hostile foreign power to harm their own country, is called a “crackdown”.

As for the shoe being on the other foot, Russia would have far more justifiable and legitimate reasons to take such actions as I detailed above. Russia would have the moral high ground in areas such as drone attacks, the unbelievable numbers of civilians killed in the Global War on Terror, the meddling into the internal affairs of countries worldwide, the expansion of the NATO/US military presence all over the planet, and even in the deaths of so many Russian orphans. Yet, as always, it’s the pot calling the kettle black…

For the members of the Russian “opposition” who’re attending the event, one last thought… if there were, in fact, such a “crackdown” here in Russia, as Freedom House claims, then, these individuals would be thinking twice about engaging in such activities or in trying to subvert the state and recreate it in Washington’s image from the outside, such activities used to be called treason, and such individuals used to be shot. That means that their presence at such a forum negates their very argument of totalitarianism and authoritarianism.

00 John Robles. VOR 06.1225 February 2013

John Robles

Voice of Russia World Service

http://english.ruvr.ru/2013_02_25/Freedom-House-crackdown/

Editor’s Note:

There are analogues of the Freedom House slimers here in diaspora Orthodoxy. All Orthodox people should be wary of four toxic individuals in the District. One is Freddie M-G, who works (or worked) for National Public Radio… that is, she’s a paid minion of the US government. Then, there’s Victor Potapov, who works (or worked) for RFE/RL, a well-known Langley front. Indeed, a ROCOR priest told one of my Cabinet members in the late 80s, “You know, Potapov’s a spy”. That is, I’m unmasking no-one… he’s been a known quantity for some thirty years. Alexander Webster is a stink-tanker and a reserve chaplain in the American forces who writes “religious” apologias for the American warmongering in foreign parts. Bringing up the rear is the clown jester of this ragtag lot, Rod Dreher… he’s a stink-tanker and he pals about with Patrick BuKKKanan. He’s the lightweight of the bunch… he’s bound to go off half-cocked, but then again, he’s a drifting wanderer (he’s lived in Brooklyn, Texas, and the District… all in less than ten years’ time… a veritable rightwing Bedouin!) without roots or compass. These people are haters of the Orthosphere and proponents of Consumerist America (and strong supporters of the Rightwing of the Republican Party).

Don’t forget… during the Cold War, Jordanville lied about its ties to a non-existent “catacomb Church” (to get money from the CIA, as Alexander Lebedeff admitted, “We needed the money and we’re grateful for it”). Sadly enough, the ROCOR was ridden with KONR traitors… whose descendants are still within the body, who’re of suspect loyalty to the Orthosphere and its ethos (they’ve capitulated completely to American Suburban Materialism).

The four named individuals are allied with a suspect “bishop”… James (Jonas) Paffhausen. Paffhausen was a long-time disciple and devotee of Gleb Podmoshensky, a sodomite defrocked by the ROCOR. He lied about his status at Valaam Monastery, and his elevation to “abbot” only one year after his tonsure is questionable, to use the kindest term (Tikhon Fitzgerald was stupid enough to do so). His term as First Hierarch of the OCA (after NO experience at all as a ruling bishop) was, perhaps, the most ludicrous period of history in Orthodoxy in the Americas. As Far Right as the four previously-named individuals are, Paffhausen is worse. He wanted to ally Orthodoxy with Evangelical swine who deny the Eucharist, the Communion of Saints, and the Holy Church Itself (the “invisible Church” heresy). Besides that, he wished to ally the Church with the Uniate traitors… who’ve killed Orthodox clergy and faithful and stolen Orthodox churches.

These five individuals are the diaspora Orthodox equivalent of the Freedom House traitors. Note this well… many of the konvertsy worship these people… I kid you not. Don’t argue with them… but do mark down who they are and where they are. God willing, they’ll leave us because we’re not “good enough” for them… that can’t happen soon enough for my taste, let me tell you. It’ll be “interesting times” until they leave… God do help us…

BMD

Saturday, 8 December 2012

Brouhaha Over SPC Stance on Kosovo

kosovo destruction

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A report in the Belgrade-based weekly Nedeljnik claimed that the Holy Synod of the Serbian Orthodox Church (SPC) “requested the Serbian President and Prime Minister to reject the agreement on integrated crossings management” and that it presented its own plan to solve the Kosovo problem. In the meantime, a spokesman for the SPC Holy Synod specifically branded this report as false.

Nedeljnik wrote that the proposal has eight points that range from the “abolishment of Petar Stambolić‘s borders to a request to remove US Camp Bondsteel“. In the letter, the SPC Synod reportedly called on the state officials “not to take part in the country’s suicide. We expect the current government and parliament to reconsider all agreements of the previous government about the ‘crossings’ that haven’t been approved by parliament, instead of accepting ‘integrated border management’”. The SPC “requests state organs to demand guarantees from the international community for the return of thousands of expelled [Serbs] from Kosovo, restoration of houses and churches, and to pass a law on restitution of the state and church property in Kosovo before any other talks”. According to the weekly, the letter was sent to President Tomislav Nikolić, Prime Minister Ivica Dačić, First Deputy Prime Minister Aleksandar Vučić, and opposition leaders.

The weekly published the letter a day after Dačić met with Kosovo Prime Minister Hashim Thaçi in Brussels, where they discussed the implementation of the integrated crossings management. However, Bishop Irinej Bulović of Bačka denied that the letter is authentic. Today, a delegation of northern Kosovo Serbs will meet with Nikolić, and Dačić and top Serbian officials met late last night. The prime minister said after the meeting that the state leadership fully agreed on a policy towards Kosovo. Nikolić met with Patriarch Irinej Gavrilović in June, July, and November; he asked for the patriarch’s support and blessing for the state policy towards Kosovo.

6 December 2012

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Patriarch Irinej Gavrilović denied that the SPC Holy Synod sent a letter to the state leadership regarding the situation in Kosovo. He told Blic that the Synod didn’t write the letter, which strongly criticises state policy towards Kosovo, saying, “This letter didn’t come from us, and the Church distances itself from the written and released letter”. When asked who the author of the letter was and who’d sent it to the media, Irinej said that he didn’t know, emphasising, “I don’t know who the author was, or, who forwarded it, as the alleged position of the SPC, to the media”. The patriarch said that he’d already presented his position on the situation in Kosovo. Earlier, he stated that Serbia should work towards EU membership, but that it shouldn’t renounce Kosovo for the sake of the EU membership. At the time, Irinej said, “If we have to renounce (Kosovo), thanks for the invitation, we’ll continue to live our difficult and hard lives as we’ve lived in the past 500 years”.

Nedeljnik reported that the SPC Synod requested the state leadership to reject the agreement on integrated crossings management. However, the weekly also published an interview with Metropolitan Amfilohije Radović of Montenegro and the Littoral and Archbishop of Cetinje, who said, “President (Tomislav) Nikolić surely knows the opinion of the Church, and that its position hasn’t changed. Recently, the Synod informed him about the position in writing as well”. Amfilohije didn’t say whether that was in reference to the letter published by Nedeljnik.

6 December 2012

******

For now, Patriarch Irinej said that the SPC wouldn’t release a letter sent to President Tomislav Nikolić. He also added that the SPC’s position on Kosovo was well-known. He told Večernje Novosti, “I don’t see any reason why it’d be necessary to release the letter that was given to the President or what would be achieved by it”. Irinej repeated that he didn’t know who wrote and released a letter that claims that the SPC Synod was opposed to state policy on Kosovo and denied that it was authentic, adding, “The position of the Serbian Church on Kosovo’s future is well-known and this letter wouldn’t change anything. We’ve submitted our perspective to the state leadership, so, the release of the letter’s content doesn’t depend on us anymore”.

8 December 2012

B92

http://www.b92.net/eng/news/politics-article.php?yyyy=2012&mm=12&dd=06&nav_id=83513

http://www.b92.net/eng/news/society-article.php?yyyy=2012&mm=12&dd=06&nav_id=83517

http://www.b92.net/eng/news/society-article.php?yyyy=2012&mm=12&dd=08&nav_id=83553

Saturday, 1 December 2012

Acquittal of Haradinaj is a Slap in the Face

01 UCK Kosovo Liberation Army

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On 29 November, the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia (ICTY) acquitted former Kosovo Prime Minister Ramush Haradinaj, accused of war crimes, for the second time. The Serbian government made a special statement saying that the not guilty verdict was scandalous. It called the verdict an indulgence for committed crimes and ethnic cleansing in Kosovo. The Hague–based Tribunal acquitted Haradinaj in 2008 because the judges decided that there was insufficient evidence. However, his case went back to the ICTY for a new hearing at Serbia’s urgent request. Serbia said that some witnesses in the Haradinaj case were intimidated, and that many of them were simply eliminated. According to Belgrade, 30 witnesses and members of their families were killed from 1999 to 2011. Since the ICTY handed down its not guilty verdict to Haradinaj, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MID) made a special statement. It said that, for the first time in the history of international justice, the witnesses in this case were subjected to blatant blackmail, and very often simply eliminated. All this occurred in an atmosphere of complete impunity and with the connivance of international missions in Kosovo.

Dragan Stanojević, President of the United Serbian Diaspora in Eurasia, said, “For Serbs, the Hague Tribunal engenders cynicism because of its lack of justice. We should ask for the closure of the Hague Tribunal and ask for the reconsideration of its decisions, as well as holding trials of those who delivered such verdicts. All cooperation with the Hague Tribunal should be halted”. Again, the judges mentioned a lack of convincing evidence for convicting Haradinaj, who was one of the cruellest chieftains of the Albanian militants during the Kosovo War at the end of the 90s. He was involved in killing, torturing, raping, expelling, and persecuting the Serb population. Serbia opened 108 criminal cases involving murders and terrorism against him. In Kosovo, Haradinaj is one of the mafia godfathers. He controls arms, drugs, and gold smuggling.

Even former ICTY Prosecutor Carla Del Ponte said that she was shocked to hear the ruling of the Tribunal’s Chamber of Appeal. Aleksandr Karasev, an expert with the Institute of Slavic Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences, said, “It’s not objective. According to it, all Serbs receive punishment, whilst it acquits all the rest. The Hague Tribunal had the task of creating a legal justification of the actions that were carried out by NATO and the USA in the Balkans, and the ICTY Tribunal fulfilled this task”. Two-thirds of the cases involved Serbs, and two-thirds of those convicted are Serbs too. Current forecasts are that, after his acquittal, Haradinaj will have a first-class political career. According to media reports, behind-the scenes talks about a possible coalition of Haradinaj’s party, the Alliance For the Future of Kosovo, with the Democratic Party of Kosovo led by the current Kosovo Prime Minister (and Haradinaj’s good friend) Hashim Thaçi are presently underway.

30 November 2012

Andrei Fedyashin

Voice of Russia World Service

http://english.ruvr.ru/2012_11_30/Acquittal-of-Haradinaj-Slap-in-the-Face/

 

Saturday, 20 October 2012

20 October 2012. A Point to Ponder… Why is NATO Fighting in Asia When It’s a EUROPEAN Defence Bloc?

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The critics of the KPRF dismiss it as “a bunch of oldtimers; it’s just babas and dedes nostalgic for the USSR“. I don’t see many “grey heads” in the above image. A new generation is picking up the dream… and it’s a dream of CHRISTIAN Socialism. You see, both the Church and the Party learned harsh lessons from the Soviet period and the chaotic Nasty Nineties. The Party learnt that fighting God wasn’t a good move… the Church learnt humility and that Western Liberalism  (AKA “Conservatism”) wasn’t its friend. Yes, Virginia, there were GOOD results that came out of the repressions and the New Time of Troubles. The Left is sounding the alarm about NATO aggression and American hegemonism… and Russia‘s responding.

The only really well-organised and institutionalised Russian political bloc is the Communists… and they’re no longer atheistic by ideology. Once VVP‘s off the scene… I think that you can see what I see… Orwell‘s Neo-Bolshevism… with a CHRISTIAN grounding. Now, that’s something to look forward to…

BMD

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