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	<title>FrontPage Magazine &#187; Vladimir Putin</title>
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	<link>http://www.frontpagemag.com</link>
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		<title>NATO Chief: Putin Behind Anti-Fracking Campaigns</title>
		<link>http://www.frontpagemag.com/2014/dgreenfield/nato-chief-putin-behind-anti-fracking-campaigns/?utm_source=rss&#038;utm_medium=rss&#038;utm_campaign=nato-chief-putin-behind-anti-fracking-campaigns</link>
		<comments>http://www.frontpagemag.com/2014/dgreenfield/nato-chief-putin-behind-anti-fracking-campaigns/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Fri, 20 Jun 2014 02:53:08 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Daniel Greenfield]]></dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[The Point]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[fracking]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Vladimir Putin]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.frontpagemag.com/?p=234461</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[It's hard to say whether the Russians or the Saudis are more frightened of Western fracking.]]></description>
				<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><a href="http://cdn.frontpagemag.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/fracking-protest-nyc-537x357.jpg"><img class="alignnone size-medium wp-image-234462" src="http://cdn.frontpagemag.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/fracking-protest-nyc-537x357-450x299.jpg" alt="fracking-protest-nyc-537x357" width="450" height="299" /></a></p>
<p>It&#8217;s hard to say whether the Russians or the Saudis are more frightened of Western fracking. Tyrannies which depend on energy dollars view fracking with a great deal of alarm.</p>
<p>And while the Saudis might be working things on the US end, it appears that Putin and the ole KGB gang <a href="http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/20201c36-f7db-11e3-baf5-00144feabdc0.html#axzz358xWS6Cd">have been restoring their ties to the European lef</a>t, even while cultivating other ties with the European right.</p>
<blockquote><p>Russian intelligence agencies are covertly funding and working with European environmental groups to campaign against fracking and maintain EU dependence on Russian gas, the head of Nato has claimed.</p>
<p>Anders Fogh Rasmussen, Nato secretary-general, said, “I have met allies who can report that Russia, as part of their sophisticated information and disinformation operations, engaged actively with so-called non-governmental organisations – environmental organisations working against shale gas – to maintain European dependence on imported Russian gas.”</p>
<p>A Nato official, speaking on condition of anonymity, told the Financial Times that the alliance believed Russia was engaged in “a campaign of disinformation on many issues, including energy”.</p>
<p>Some experts have speculated that one of Russia’s motivations in fomenting separatism in eastern Ukraine is to stymie efforts to develop the region’s shale gas reserves.</p>
<p>Denis Pushilin, one of the most prominent leaders of the separatist Donetsk People’s Republic, was previously best known for organising sparsely attended rallies against shale gas exploration in Donetsk. In May, Mr Pushilin said the Donetsk People’s Republic had banned the extraction of shale gas in territory it controlled in eastern Ukraine.</p></blockquote>
<p>This is the same old, same old mostly. The USSR abused the environment in spectacular ways while its leftist allies in the West pushed environmentalism to undermine industry. Putin&#8217;s Russia is simply continuing an old game.</p>
<p>The collapse of the USSR has forced the old KGB gang to become a little more agile, but it has also liberated them from any sort of ideological consistency. So Putin works with EU opponents on the right and environmentalists on the left. His RT propaganda network pushes conspiracies from across the spectrum in a kind of random tabloid journalism whose only purpose is to undermine the countries that he sees as the enemy.</p>
<p>Putin is running a massive money laundering operation. His regime depends on a pyramid of bribes. Like every oligarchy, it&#8217;s vulnerable to the disruption of its criminal business model. And it has to protect the business model above all else.</p>
<p>Fracking and problems with Russian energy supplies has made Putin more aggressive. Domestic opposition is growing and he comes from an organization that plays offense, not defense.</p>
<p>The environmentalists, as James O&#8217;Keefe already established, don&#8217;t care where their backing comes from. Even if it comes from the enemy.</p>
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		<slash:comments>17</slash:comments>
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		<title>Hillary: Reset Button was &#8220;Brilliant Stroke&#8221; Until Putin Invaded Another Country</title>
		<link>http://www.frontpagemag.com/2014/dgreenfield/hillary-reset-button-was-brilliant-stroke-until-putin-invaded-another-country/?utm_source=rss&#038;utm_medium=rss&#038;utm_campaign=hillary-reset-button-was-brilliant-stroke-until-putin-invaded-another-country</link>
		<comments>http://www.frontpagemag.com/2014/dgreenfield/hillary-reset-button-was-brilliant-stroke-until-putin-invaded-another-country/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Mon, 16 Jun 2014 16:23:13 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Daniel Greenfield]]></dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[The Point]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Hillary Clinton]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Russia]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Vladimir Putin]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.frontpagemag.com/?p=234165</guid>
		<description><![CDATA["In retrospect it appears even more so, because look at what we accomplished," Hillary said.]]></description>
				<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><a href="http://cdn.frontpagemag.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/3.jpg"><img class="alignnone size-medium wp-image-234168" src="http://cdn.frontpagemag.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/3-450x337.jpg" alt="3" width="450" height="337" /></a></p>
<p>You would think that the Clintons, of all people, <a href="http://weaselzippers.us/189700-no-joke-hillary-clinton-calls-her-widely-mocked-russian-reset-button-a-brilliant-stroke/">would have a better grasp on how power works</a>. But like most liberals, they are ruthless domestically and clueless internationally.</p>
<blockquote><p>QUESTION: “You famously pressed the reset button. Are you embarrassed by that now, that gesture?”</p>
<p>CLINTON: “No I think it was a brilliant stroke which in retrospect it appears even more so, because look at what we accomplished. Between the Russian invasion of Georgia in August 2008, which of course torpedoed relations between United States and the Russia for good reason. We come into office, and for that period of time, the interregnum if you will, Medvedev is President, Putin is Prime Minister, and there were jobs that we wanted to get done. We wanted to get Russia on board with tough sanctions against Iran. We wanted to have a new START Treaty to limit nuclear weapons. We wanted to get their help in transiting across through huge country to get things we needed into Afghanistan. We got all that done. Putin comes back. Look where we are now. He invaded another country, so yes, but while we had that moment, we seized it, we used it, and succeeded.”</p></blockquote>
<p>It doesn&#8217;t occur to Hillary that Putin might not have invaded another country without that silly reset button theater.</p>
<p>And what did the US get in exchange?</p>
<p>1. The worthless sanctions that are letting Iran go nuclear.</p>
<p>2. A treaty to limit nuclear weapons that the Russians are determined to cheat on.</p>
<p>3. The Northern Distribution Network, which is useful, but was a bad idea because a supply line that can be cut off by your geopolitical rival is a weakness. That vulnerability likely gave Putin the confidence to act more aggressively.</p>
<p>Of these only NDN was actually an accomplishment. Unfortunately Afghanistan itself became a disaster under Obama/Hillary.</p>
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		<title>Thomas Friedman: Weaken Putin with Amnesty and Carbon Tax</title>
		<link>http://www.frontpagemag.com/2014/dgreenfield/thomas-friedman-weaken-putin-with-amnesty-and-carbon-tax/?utm_source=rss&#038;utm_medium=rss&#038;utm_campaign=thomas-friedman-weaken-putin-with-amnesty-and-carbon-tax</link>
		<comments>http://www.frontpagemag.com/2014/dgreenfield/thomas-friedman-weaken-putin-with-amnesty-and-carbon-tax/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Tue, 13 May 2014 20:42:23 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Daniel Greenfield]]></dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[The Point]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Thomas Friedman]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Vladimir Putin]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.frontpagemag.com/?p=225370</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[It'll be a Socialism Race. ]]></description>
				<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><a href="http://cdn.frontpagemag.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/thomas_friedman.jpg"><img class="alignnone size-medium wp-image-225371" alt="Journalist Thomas Friedman moderates a plenary session on strengthening market-based solutions during the Clinton Global Initiative in New York" src="http://cdn.frontpagemag.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/thomas_friedman-450x300.jpg" width="450" height="300" /></a></p>
<p>New York Times editor David Carr admitted to being on crack. What is Thomas Friedman&#8217;s drug of choice? Is it the same drug of choice as Frank Bruni&#8217;s or Maureen Dowd&#8217;s? These seem like valid questions to ask once you start reading them.</p>
<p>Thomas Friedman transcended parody a while back. He&#8217;s become the crazy guy writing letters to the newspaper explaining why we should all be like China and build a plastic bubble around the moon to educate our kids&#8230;</p>
<p>&#8230;except he is the newspaper.</p>
<blockquote><p>The world takes America seriously when they see us doing big hard things together — when we lead by example. If we want to do more nation-building abroad, then we have to come together on a plan to do more nation-building at home first — including infrastructure investment, replacing income and corporate taxes with a carbon tax, a major new push for both energy efficiency and properly extracted natural gas, skill-building and immigration reform and gradual long-term fiscal rebalancing. That’s how we build our muscle and weaken Putin’s.</p></blockquote>
<p>Sure.</p>
<p>This plan might make sense if we impose amnesty and a carbon tax on Russia. But that&#8217;s not the plan. The plan is that we weaken Russia by trashing America.</p>
<p>Once Putin sees that we&#8217;ve flooded our country with welfare recipients and taxed our remaining industry into extinction while lowering the standard of living, he&#8217;ll decide that we&#8217;re in a race to bring back the USSR before he does.</p>
<p>It&#8217;ll be a Socialism Race.</p>
<p>President Elizabeth Warren will issue an order banning anyone from thinking politically incorrect thoughts. Putin will open a gulag with a rap performance. Warren will sign an agreement with China to partition Canada. Putin will shoot everyone who has more than a week&#8217;s supply of food at home.</p>
<p>Eventually both countries will be destroyed proving that Thomas Friedman had the right answer all along.</p>
<blockquote><p>What is most scary to me about the world today is the fact that we are doing neither smart nation-building abroad to make the world more stable nor smart nation-building at home to make America more resilient and strong.</p></blockquote>
<p>Nor are we locking Thomas Friedman in a cage in the village square while pelting him with rotten fruit. Clearly there&#8217;s something wrong with us.</p>
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		<title>Putin Brings Back the May Day Parade to Red Square</title>
		<link>http://www.frontpagemag.com/2014/dgreenfield/putin-brings-back-the-may-day-parade-to-red-square/?utm_source=rss&#038;utm_medium=rss&#038;utm_campaign=putin-brings-back-the-may-day-parade-to-red-square</link>
		<comments>http://www.frontpagemag.com/2014/dgreenfield/putin-brings-back-the-may-day-parade-to-red-square/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Thu, 01 May 2014 15:39:19 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Daniel Greenfield]]></dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[The Point]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[USSR]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Vladimir Putin]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.frontpagemag.com/?p=224575</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Putin awarded "Hero of Labour" medals to five workers at a ceremony in the Kremlin. ]]></description>
				<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><a href="http://cdn.frontpagemag.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/1054882_original.jpg"><img class="alignnone size-medium wp-image-224576" alt="1054882_original" src="http://cdn.frontpagemag.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/1054882_original-450x308.jpg" width="450" height="308" /></a></p>
<p>Nothing to worry about. <a href="http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/05/01/us-ukraine-crisis-russia-mayday-idUSBREA400E620140501">This must be one of those deeply conservative</a> gestures we keep hearing about.</p>
<blockquote><p>Russia staged a huge May Day parade on Moscow&#8217;s Red Square for the first time since the Soviet era on Thursday, with workers holding banners proclaiming support for President Vladimir Putin after the seizure of territory from neighboring Ukraine.</p>
<p>Thousands of trade unionists marched with Russian flags and flags of Putin&#8217;s ruling United Russia party onto the giant square beneath the Kremlin walls, past the red granite mausoleum of Soviet state founder Vladimir Lenin.</p>
<p>Many banners displayed traditional slogans for the annual workers&#8217; holiday, like: &#8220;Peace, Labour, May&#8221;. But others were more directly political, alluding to the crisis in neighboring former Soviet republic Ukraine, where Russian troops seized and annexed the Crimea peninsula in March, precipitating the biggest confrontation with the West since the Cold War.</p>
<p>&#8220;For the first time, stages will be filled, and 5,000 (labor) veterans will stand on the tribunes of Red Square,&#8221; Sergei Chernov, chairman of the Moscow Labor Union Federation, was quoted by ITAR-Tass as saying, ahead of the march, which is being seen as part of President Vladimir Putin&#8217;s efforts to stoke patriotic feelings following Russia&#8217;s annexation of Crimea.</p>
<p>In past years, it has fallen to the Communist Party to keep up the May Day tradition. They held a separate rally Thursday in central Moscow that drew about 10,000 people.</p>
<p>Unlike Kremlin leaders in Soviet times, Putin did not personally preside at the parade from atop the mausoleum. But he carried out another Soviet-era tradition by awarding &#8220;Hero of Labour&#8221; medals to five workers at a ceremony in the Kremlin. He revived the Stalin-era award a year ago.</p>
<p>Putin has described the breakup of the Soviet Union as a tragedy and overturned decades of post-Cold War diplomacy in March by declaring Russia&#8217;s right to intervene in former Soviet countries to protect Russian speakers.</p>
<p><a href="http://cdn.frontpagemag.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/1054228_original.jpg"><img class="alignnone size-full wp-image-224577" alt="1054228_original" src="http://cdn.frontpagemag.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/1054228_original.jpg" width="450" height="300" /></a></p></blockquote>
<p>So many Putins. So little time.</p>
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		<title>Former President of Ukraine Belatedly Realizing Inviting in Russia was a Bad Idea</title>
		<link>http://www.frontpagemag.com/2014/dgreenfield/former-president-of-ukraine-belatedly-realizing-inviting-in-russia-was-a-bad-idea/?utm_source=rss&#038;utm_medium=rss&#038;utm_campaign=former-president-of-ukraine-belatedly-realizing-inviting-in-russia-was-a-bad-idea</link>
		<comments>http://www.frontpagemag.com/2014/dgreenfield/former-president-of-ukraine-belatedly-realizing-inviting-in-russia-was-a-bad-idea/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Fri, 04 Apr 2014 13:22:16 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Daniel Greenfield]]></dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[The Point]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[crimea]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[president of ukraine]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Vladimir Putin]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Yanukovych]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.frontpagemag.com/?p=222586</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Yanukovych said he hoped to persuade Putin to return Crimea.]]></description>
				<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><a href="http://cdn.frontpagemag.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/ap69749892900-211ae73e25a1241437c065369e656734c2bd4ed7-s4-c85.jpg"><img class="alignnone size-medium wp-image-222588" alt="ap69749892900-211ae73e25a1241437c065369e656734c2bd4ed7-s4-c85" src="http://cdn.frontpagemag.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/ap69749892900-211ae73e25a1241437c065369e656734c2bd4ed7-s4-c85-450x336.jpg" width="450" height="336" /></a></p>
<p>It&#8217;s not like there&#8217;s ample precedent for realizing that inviting in a country known for invading in its neighbors to help you out is likely to end with them helping themselves to your country.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.npr.org/blogs/thetwo-way/2014/04/02/298385578/yanukovych-i-was-wrong-to-ask-russian-troops-into-crimea?">How could he have known</a>?</p>
<blockquote><p>Former Ukraine President Viktor Yanukovych, who was ousted after asking Russian troops into Crimea, admits that his decision was wrong, calling Moscow&#8217;s annexation of the Black Sea peninsula &#8220;a major tragedy.&#8221;</p>
<p>In an interview with The Associated Press and Russian channel NTV, he said he made a mistake when he asked Russia to intervene, a move many Ukrainians view as treason.</p>
<p>&#8220;I was wrong,&#8221; he said through a translator. &#8220;I acted on my emotions.&#8221;</p>
<p>Yanukovych, who is currently residing in Russia, said he hoped to persuade Russian President Vladimir Putin to return Crimea.</p></blockquote>
<p>Good luck with that.<a href="http://www.nysun.com/foreign/putin-pockets-patriots-ring/16172/"> Bob Kraft is still waiting for his ring</a> back from Putin.</p>
<blockquote><p>In the weeks leading up to Yanukovych&#8217;s removal from power, more than 100 people were killed by gunfire – many by snipers — but the former leader denied he had any role in their deaths.</p>
<p>&#8220;I personally never gave any orders to shoot,&#8221; he said.</p></blockquote>
<p>He probably was set up. Putin wanted to push the conflict as far as possible and create a state of chaos.</p>
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		<title>No, 30,000 Alaskans Did Not Sign a Petition to Join Russia</title>
		<link>http://www.frontpagemag.com/2014/dgreenfield/no-30000-alaskans-did-not-sign-a-petition-to-join-russia/?utm_source=rss&#038;utm_medium=rss&#038;utm_campaign=no-30000-alaskans-did-not-sign-a-petition-to-join-russia</link>
		<comments>http://www.frontpagemag.com/2014/dgreenfield/no-30000-alaskans-did-not-sign-a-petition-to-join-russia/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Mon, 31 Mar 2014 13:14:53 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Daniel Greenfield]]></dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[The Point]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Alaska]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Russia]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Vladimir Putin]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.frontpagemag.com/?p=222229</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Most of the signers don't even list a state. ]]></description>
				<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><a href="http://cdn.frontpagemag.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/Alaska-the-last-frontier.jpg"><img class="alignnone size-medium wp-image-222230" alt="Alaska-the-last-frontier" src="http://cdn.frontpagemag.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/Alaska-the-last-frontier-450x337.jpg" width="450" height="337" /></a></p>
<p>I assumed that this non-story would have gone away on its own,<a href="http://townhall.com/tipsheet/sarahjeanseman/2014/03/27/alaskans-plead-to-secede-to-russia-n1815651"> but some conservative sites still insist </a>on taking it seriously.</p>
<blockquote><p>Some Alaskans apparently are not opposed to Russian President Vladimir Putin’s recent annexation of Crimea—in fact, they are hoping to be grabbed up next. More than 30,000 Alaskans have signed the petition “Alaska back to Russia,” pleading that the White House allow them to secede and join their native land. If the request garners 100,000 signatures by April 20, the White House will make an official response.</p></blockquote>
<p>The petition titled &#8220;WE PETITION THE OBAMA ADMINISTRATION TO: Alaska back to Russia&#8221; was clearly authored by a Russian language speaker with no sense of how grammar in this language works.</p>
<p>The author claims to be in Anchorage. With sentences like, &#8220;Vote for secession of Alaska from the United States and joining Russia&#8221; he&#8217;s more likely to be based out of Moscow.</p>
<p>Most of the signers don&#8217;t even list a state. The few who do list a state seem to be in New York. After scrolling a dozen pages, I&#8217;ve seen Akron, Ohio and Lutz, Florida and Bellevue, WA. I have yet to find one Alaskan signature.</p>
<p>Even one fake Alaskan signature.</p>
<p>I won&#8217;t speculate on the reason why people from other states might want to get rid of Alaska, but I&#8217;m sure if we had a petition to turn over California or New York to Russia, a bunch of people from other states might sign on to it too as a joke.</p>
<p>There&#8217;s enough Russian propaganda floating around the internet. I don&#8217;t see why conservative sites should be adding to it. It&#8217;s one thing to point out that Obama is weak and inept. It&#8217;s another thing to champion an enemy nation and its tyrant.</p>
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		<title>While Putin Masses Troops, Obama Babbles About the 21st Century</title>
		<link>http://www.frontpagemag.com/2014/dgreenfield/while-putin-masses-troops-obama-babbles-about-the-21st-century/?utm_source=rss&#038;utm_medium=rss&#038;utm_campaign=while-putin-masses-troops-obama-babbles-about-the-21st-century</link>
		<comments>http://www.frontpagemag.com/2014/dgreenfield/while-putin-masses-troops-obama-babbles-about-the-21st-century/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Sat, 29 Mar 2014 15:31:09 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Daniel Greenfield]]></dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[The Point]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Barack Obama]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Russia]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Vladimir Putin]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.frontpagemag.com/?p=222151</guid>
		<description><![CDATA["That is not how international law is observed in the 21st century.“]]></description>
				<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><a href="http://cdn.frontpagemag.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/obama_golf_nuke_424573757.jpg"><img class="alignnone size-full wp-image-221967" alt="obama_golf_nuke_424573757" src="http://cdn.frontpagemag.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/obama_golf_nuke_424573757.jpg" width="360" height="270" /></a></p>
<p>There are two talking points being generated by Obama Inc. in response to Putin&#8217;s invasion of Ukraine.</p>
<p>1. Invading other countries is a sign of &#8220;weakness&#8221;.</p>
<p>2. Putin is acting like it&#8217;s the 19th century, when it&#8217;s really the 21st.</p>
<p>To the former,<a href="http://www.powerlineblog.com/archives/2014/03/deep-thoughts-by-barack-obama.php"> Scott Johnson at Powerline asks</a>,</p>
<blockquote><p>&#8220;You have to wonder just how weak Russia is, in Obama’s calculation. Is it so weak that it will invade the rest of Ukraine? Moldova? Estonia? Latvia? Maybe! Obama didn’t have time to flesh out his thoughts into full doctrinal form. Is getting taken over by Russia a sign of strength?&#8221;</p></blockquote>
<p>To the latter, the 21st century is <a href="http://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2014/03/obama-calls-on-putin-to-move-troops-from-ukrainian-border-not-21st-century-behavior/">defined by how countries actually act</a>, not by how Obama and the leftectuals around him think they should act.</p>
<blockquote><p>Mr. Obama said Russian President Vladimir Putin has been “willing to show a deeply held grievance about what he considers to be the loss of the Soviet Union.”…</p>
<p>…But there’s a difference between that and sending in troops, and because you’re bigger and stronger taking a piece of the country – that is not how international law and international norms are observed in the 21st century.“</p></blockquote>
<p>But clearly they are. And in a post-American world who is going to say otherwise? Obama is eliminating Tomahawk and Hellfire missiles while putting more money into food stamps and Global Warming musicals. The UN General Assembly passed a resolution that didn&#8217;t even mention Russia. International norms are simply what any country can get away with.</p>
<p>Obama has already said that he won&#8217;t fight over Ukraine. So why shouldn&#8217;t Putin take it all?</p>
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		<title>UN Resolution &#8220;Isolating Russia&#8221; Doesn&#8217;t Actually Mention Russia</title>
		<link>http://www.frontpagemag.com/2014/dgreenfield/russiaunitednations/?utm_source=rss&#038;utm_medium=rss&#038;utm_campaign=russiaunitednations</link>
		<comments>http://www.frontpagemag.com/2014/dgreenfield/russiaunitednations/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Thu, 27 Mar 2014 19:07:42 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Daniel Greenfield]]></dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[The Point]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Ukraine]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[United Nations]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Vladimir Putin]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.frontpagemag.com/?p=222073</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[“It is a warning to Putin to not go further or face even greater global criticism.”]]></description>
				<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><a href="http://cdn.frontpagemag.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/HansBrix.jpg"><img class="alignnone size-full wp-image-222074" alt="HansBrix" src="http://cdn.frontpagemag.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/HansBrix.jpg" width="400" height="400" /></a></p>
<p>The Obamanites are celebrating the UN Resolution on Crimea as a major win that isolates Russia. One problem, it doesn&#8217;t actually mention Russia.</p>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p>Today&#8217;s UN resolution made it clear: the world won&#8217;t accept <a href="https://twitter.com/search?q=%23Russia&amp;src=hash">#Russia</a>’s illegal annexation of <a href="https://twitter.com/search?q=%23Crimea&amp;src=hash">#Crimea</a>. <a href="https://twitter.com/search?q=%23UnitedforUkraine&amp;src=hash">#UnitedforUkraine</a></p>
<p>— Samantha Power (@AmbassadorPower) <a href="https://twitter.com/AmbassadorPower/statuses/449214454652497920">March 27, 2014</a></p></blockquote>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p>&#8220;United Nations General Assembly Vote Isolates Russia&#8221; <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2014/03/28/world/europe/General-Assembly-Vote-on-Crimea.html?hpw&amp;rref=world">is the Times headline</a>. But then the Times story admits that the &#8220;two-page text does not identify Russia by name.&#8221;</p>
<p>It&#8217;s hard to claim that it&#8217;s isolating Russia, when it isn&#8217;t mentioning Russia. Also it&#8217;s a symbolic non-binding resolution.</p>
<blockquote><p>Mr. Burns added: “It is also, indirectly, a warning to Putin to not go further in invading either Eastern Ukraine or Moldova or else face even greater global criticism.”</p></blockquote>
<p>I&#8217;m sure Putin is trembling in his slippers at the thought of more indirect non-binding votes not even mentioning him.</p>
<p>The entire debate is mostly meaningless as it refers to the fake referendum, rather than the invasion, shifting the debate into Putin&#8217;s court.</p>
<p>The vote proves that Russia doesn&#8217;t have much support for its invasion of Ukraine, outside the usual places like Belarus, Bolivia, Cuba or North Korea; but it doesn&#8217;t have any meaningful opposition either.</p>
<p>The vote did go definitely against Russia, but like most totalitarian states, Putin&#8217;s Russia exists inside its own Iraqi Minister of Info alternative reality.</p>
<p>“This is a rather good result for us. We have earned a moral and political victory. There can be no question of Russia’s isolation in this situation,” Russia&#8217;s UN Ambassador Vitaly Churkin said.</p>
<p>If Putin ever falls, Vitaly can have Jen Psaki&#8217;s job at the State Department.</p>
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		<title>Disgraced Ex-Obama Official: Obama Should Think of Putin as a Republican</title>
		<link>http://www.frontpagemag.com/2014/dgreenfield/disgraced-ex-obama-official-obama-should-think-of-putin-as-a-republican/?utm_source=rss&#038;utm_medium=rss&#038;utm_campaign=disgraced-ex-obama-official-obama-should-think-of-putin-as-a-republican</link>
		<comments>http://www.frontpagemag.com/2014/dgreenfield/disgraced-ex-obama-official-obama-should-think-of-putin-as-a-republican/#respond</comments>
		<pubDate>Tue, 25 Mar 2014 14:22:04 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Daniel Greenfield]]></dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[The Point]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Barack Obama]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Dennis Blair]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Vladimir Putin]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.frontpagemag.com/?p=221782</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[“Looked into Putin’s eyes and had seen a stone-cold killer.”]]></description>
				<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><a href="http://cdn.frontpagemag.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/article-2425329-1BEA2362000005DC-836_634x303.jpg"><img class="alignnone  wp-image-221783" alt="article-2425329-1BEA2362000005DC-836_634x303" src="http://cdn.frontpagemag.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/article-2425329-1BEA2362000005DC-836_634x303.jpg" width="507" height="242" /></a></p>
<p>Obama&#8217;s DNI nominees and appointments have been disasters. Indonesian Muslim genocide enabler Dennis Blair was finally forced out, and not a moment too soon, because of internal infighting.</p>
<p>But now <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2014/03/24/world/europe/3-presidents-and-a-riddle-named-putin.html?_r=1#/%23time315_8525#time315_8525">he offers some advice for </a>Obama in dealing with Putin.</p>
<blockquote><p>Presidents tend to think of autocrats like Mr. Putin as fellow statesmen, said Dennis Blair, Mr. Obama’s first director of national intelligence. “They should think of dictators like they think of domestic politicians of the other party,” he said, “opponents who smile on occasion when it suits their purposes, and cooperate when it is to their advantage, but who are at heart trying to push the U.S. out of power, will kneecap the United States if they get the chance and will only go along if the U.S. has more power than they.”</p></blockquote>
<p>Sadly that&#8217;s probably the only way to get Obama to stand up to Putin. Tell him he&#8217;s a Republican. A pity that Blair didn&#8217;t take his own advice when dealing with Indonesia.</p>
<p>That quote comes within a New York Times article trying to reframe Obama&#8217;s botched Russia policy as a failure of all three presidents. Think of it as a kinder gentler &#8220;Blame Bush&#8221; narrative. Except that some Bush people got Putin. Obama&#8217;s people didn&#8217;t.</p>
<blockquote><p>Dick Cheney, privately told people at the time that when he saw Mr. Putin, “I think K.G.B., K.G.B., K.G.B.&#8221;</p>
<p>Robert M. Gates, came back from his first meeting with Mr. Putin and told colleagues that unlike Mr. Bush, he had “looked into Putin’s eyes and, just as I expected, had seen a stone-cold killer.”</p></blockquote>
<p>And even Bush eventually got it.</p>
<blockquote><p>Mr. Bush in his memoir recalled confronting Mr. Putin, scolding him for being provoked by Mikheil Saakashvili, then Georgia’s anti-Moscow president.</p>
<p>“I’ve been warning you Saakashvili is hot-blooded,” Mr. Bush told Mr. Putin.</p>
<p>“I’m hot-blooded too,” Mr. Putin said.</p>
<p>“No, Vladimir,” Mr. Bush responded. “You’re coldblooded.”</p></blockquote>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
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		<title>Harry Reid: Republicans Helped Russia Annex Crimea</title>
		<link>http://www.frontpagemag.com/2014/dgreenfield/harry-reid-republicans-helped-russia-annex-crimea/?utm_source=rss&#038;utm_medium=rss&#038;utm_campaign=harry-reid-republicans-helped-russia-annex-crimea</link>
		<comments>http://www.frontpagemag.com/2014/dgreenfield/harry-reid-republicans-helped-russia-annex-crimea/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Tue, 25 Mar 2014 13:22:08 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Daniel Greenfield]]></dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[The Point]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[crimea]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Harry Reid]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Vladimir Putin]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.frontpagemag.com/?p=221819</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[The Senate leader "sounds completely unhinged."]]></description>
				<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><a href="http://cdn.frontpagemag.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/Reid_Oil_Tax.jpg"><img class="alignnone  wp-image-221820" alt="Reid_Oil_Tax" src="http://cdn.frontpagemag.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/Reid_Oil_Tax.jpg" width="526" height="296" /></a></p>
<p>Harry Reid, the Senate&#8217;s favorite crazy person, is really pulling out all the stops in the hopes of hanging on to his Senate Majority Leader title.</p>
<p>And you can practically<a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/post-politics/wp/2014/03/24/harry-reid-accuses-gop-of-helping-russia-annex-crimea-as-ukraine-aid-deal-clears-procedural-hurdle/"> smell the desperation</a>.</p>
<blockquote><p>&#8220;Since a few Republicans blocked these important sanctions last work period, Russian lawmakers voted to annex Crimea and Russian forces have taken over Ukrainian military bases,&#8221; Reid said. &#8220;It&#8217;s impossible to know whether events would have unfolded differently if the United States had responded to Russian aggression with a strong, unified voice.&#8221;</p></blockquote>
<p>The Senate wasn&#8217;t voting to authorize Obama to use military force. It was voting on a giveaway to the IMF. Only someone completely delusional would imagine that the aid bill would have stopped Putin from completing the annexation.</p>
<p>Does Harry Reid imagine that Putin would have looked at a procedural vote in the Senate and said, &#8220;Oh no, the Yankees are writing a check. Come on Comrades, let&#8217;s run for it.&#8221;</p>
<blockquote><p>In response to Reid&#8217;s comments, Michael Steel, a spokesman for House Speaker John A. Boehner (R-Ohio) said the Senate leader &#8220;sounds completely unhinged.&#8221;</p></blockquote>
<p>That&#8217;s putting it mildly.</p>
<blockquote><p>GOP Senate aides noted the House has passed different legislation, meaning the Senate bill could not have become law before recess anyhow. They blamed Reid and Democrats for blocking the Senate from taking up the House legislation.</p></blockquote>
<p>Reid is trying to blame Republicans for Obama&#8217;s miserable failure.</p>
<blockquote><p>Republicans have long spurned the administration&#8217;s attempt to ratify the IMF changes, saying they&#8217;d increase the exposure of U.S. taxpayers in foreign bailouts managed by the fund. Making the shift now, opponents such as Sens. Rand Paul and Marco Rubio argue, also would marginally increase Russia&#8217;s voting power over the fund&#8217;s finances.</p></blockquote>
<p>So we&#8217;re punishing Russia by&#8230; helping Russia. Great plan.</p>
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		<title>Dem Senator on MSNBC: Russia&#8217;s &#8220;Weak&#8221; Invasion Proof of Obama&#8217;s &#8220;Strength&#8221;</title>
		<link>http://www.frontpagemag.com/2014/dgreenfield/dem-senator-on-msnbc-russias-weak-panicky-invasion-proof-of-obamas-strength-on-this-issue/?utm_source=rss&#038;utm_medium=rss&#038;utm_campaign=dem-senator-on-msnbc-russias-weak-panicky-invasion-proof-of-obamas-strength-on-this-issue</link>
		<comments>http://www.frontpagemag.com/2014/dgreenfield/dem-senator-on-msnbc-russias-weak-panicky-invasion-proof-of-obamas-strength-on-this-issue/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Tue, 18 Mar 2014 18:19:47 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Daniel Greenfield]]></dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[The Point]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Ukraine]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Vladimir Putin]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.frontpagemag.com/?p=221309</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[If Russia invades Alaska, just think how weak Putin will look. ]]></description>
				<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><a href="http://cdn.frontpagemag.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/140228-putin-0453_3f836c6eea7cd157959100b83f27d3a1.jpg"><img src="http://cdn.frontpagemag.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/140228-putin-0453_3f836c6eea7cd157959100b83f27d3a1-430x350.jpg" alt="140228-putin-0453_3f836c6eea7cd157959100b83f27d3a1" width="430" height="350" class="alignnone size-medium wp-image-220474" /></a></p>
<p>If Russia invades Alaska, just think how weak Putin will look then.</p>
<p>Senator Chris Murphy went to the Ukraine. Then he came back to appear on Chris Hayes&#8217; All In on MSNBC <a href="http://weaselzippers.us/179803-dem-sen-chris-murphy-russias-panicky-reaction-in-ukraine-result-of-strength-obama-has-shown/">to explain how everything is just fine</a>.</p>
<blockquote><p>&#8220;Frankly the fact that we are here today with a very weak Russia, having the entirety of the Ukraine turn away and having engaged in a panicky reaction is partly a result of the United States&#8217; strength on this issue, standing with the protesters,&#8221; Senator Chris Murphy said.</p></blockquote>
<p><script height="360px" width="540px" src="http://player.ooyala.com/iframe.js#ec=ZrbHc4bDroPTQPcFWOGrzmbmm8zCUUew&#038;pbid=b171980b65ae4996bffea4da902c7846"></script></p>
<p>Civilians might be a bit confused. Usually it&#8217;s the countries doing the invading who are strong and the countries standing there frowning impotently who are weak. But soft power advocates know that real strength comes from not invading countries and not doing anything to stop those who do.</p>
<p>Obama&#8217;s minions trying to claim that supporting the protesters from a distance is strength is cynical and hypocritical. It&#8217;s the greatest show of strength from Obama Inc. since he eventually decided to sorta support the Iranian protesters, but eventually cut a deal with Iran to let it go nuclear anyway.</p>
<p>Chris Hayes, always eager to go to the left of the left, worried that sanctions on Russia would &#8220;escalate&#8221; the situation.</p>
<p>Murphy replied that, &#8220;You&#8217;ve got to give Putin the chance to reverse course.&#8221;</p>
<p>Why would Putin reverse course considering that he just successfully seized the Crimea and Obama has made it clear that he will do nothing about it?</p>
<p>Elsewhere, Murphy frantically kept on spinning, <a href="http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2014/mar/17/sen-murphy-putin-making-we-go-along/">claiming that this is really a big loss f</a>or Putin.</p>
<blockquote><p>He pointed out that the Crimean population is about 2 million out of a total of 45 million people in Ukraine.</p>
<p>“Ultimately, if the end result is that the other 43 million join the European Union, this is a huge loss for Putin, not a win,” he said.</p></blockquote>
<p>Murphy hasn&#8217;t gotten the memo, but <a href="http://www.newrepublic.com/article/117040/after-crimea-putin-going-take-eastern-ukraine">Putin isn&#8217;t stopping with Crimea</a>. It&#8217;s not clear that he will stop at all. Not when Obama is showing so much &#8220;strength&#8221;.</p>
<p>But fortunately <a href="http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2014/mar/12/sen-chris-murphy-will-parlay-obamas-foray-web-come/">Murphy has the solution</a>.</p>
<blockquote><p>First President Obama’s humorous Web interview went viral. Now it’s a bona fide phenomenon, at least one Democratic senator said.</p>
<p>Sen. Chris Murphy, Connecticut Democrat, plans to speak about the “Between Two Ferns Effect” on the chamber floor Wednesday morning, a reference to Mr. Obama’s decision to tout his health care law this week on a parody show hosted by comedian Zach Galifianakis.</p></blockquote>
<p>Poor pathetic Putin. How can he hope to win without the “Between Two Ferns Effect”?</p>
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		<title>Kerry: &#8220;We Hope President Putin will Recognize that None of What We’re Saying is Meant as a Threat&#8221;</title>
		<link>http://www.frontpagemag.com/2014/dgreenfield/kerry-we-hope-president-putin-will-recognize-that-none-of-what-were-saying-is-meant-as-a-threat/?utm_source=rss&#038;utm_medium=rss&#038;utm_campaign=kerry-we-hope-president-putin-will-recognize-that-none-of-what-were-saying-is-meant-as-a-threat</link>
		<comments>http://www.frontpagemag.com/2014/dgreenfield/kerry-we-hope-president-putin-will-recognize-that-none-of-what-were-saying-is-meant-as-a-threat/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Fri, 14 Mar 2014 22:40:20 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Daniel Greenfield]]></dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[The Point]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Secretary of State John Kerry]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[soft power]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Vladimir Putin]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.frontpagemag.com/?p=221074</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Putin should "understand that we are prepared to respect his interests and rights"]]></description>
				<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><iframe src="http://embed.newsinc.com/Single/iframe.html?WID=1&#038;VID=25715239&#038;freewheel=69016&#038;sitesection=breitbartprivate&#038;width=640&#038;height=480" height="480" width="640" scrolling="no" frameborder="0" marginwidth="0" marginheight="0"></iframe></p>
<p>Somehow <a href="http://www.breitbart.com/Breitbart-TV/2014/03/14/Kerry-Wants-To-Makes-Sure-Putin-Knows-Its-Nothing-Personal-Not-a-Threat?utm_source=twitterfeed&#038;utm_medium=twitter&#038;utm_campaign=breitbarttv">I don&#8217;t think that&#8217;s much of a problem</a>. Not from the least threatening Secretary of State in American history. Hillary Clinton was more threatening in her sleep than John Kerry is after four cups of coffee and three Belgian snubs.</p>
<p>But still John &#8220;Unbelievably small strike&#8221; Kerry took the time out to reassure Vlad that America was not threatening him.</p>
<blockquote><p>&#8220;We hope President Putin will recognize that none of what we’re saying is meant as a threat. It’s not meant as a – in a personal way. It is meant as a matter of respect for the international multilateral structure that we have lived by since World War II and for the standards of behavior about annexation, about secession, about independence and how countries come about it.&#8221;</p></blockquote>
<p>It&#8217;s not personal Vlad, we&#8217;re just committed multilateralists which means that our threats are meaningless unless you decide to vote against yourself in the UN Security Council.</p>
<p>Kerry pathetically assures Putin that it&#8217;s not personal. It&#8217;s not a threat. It&#8217;s just hot air.</p>
<blockquote><p>I was clear with Foreign Minister Lavrov that the President has made it clear there will be consequences if Russia does not find a way to change course. And we don’t say that as a threat, we say that as a direct consequence of the choices that Russia may or may not choose to make here. If Russia does establish facts on the ground that increase tensions or that threaten the Ukrainian people, then obviously that will beg an even greater response, and there will be costs.</p></blockquote>
<p>There are going to be consequences, but it&#8217;s not a threat. It&#8217;s just going to happen. Possibly. But not as a result of American action, but some mystical multilateral law.</p>
<blockquote><p>&#8220;So we very much hope that President Putin will hear that we are not trying to challenge Russia’s rights or interests, it’s interest in protecting its people, its interests in its strategic position, its port agreement. None of those things are being threatened here. They can all be respected even as the integrity of Ukraine is respected, and we would hope that President Putin would see that there is a better way to address those concerns that he has that are legitimate, and we hope he will make that decision.&#8221;</p></blockquote>
<p>This is probably the <a href="http://www.state.gov/secretary/remarks/2014/03/223523.htm">most muscular speech that</a> wasn&#8217;t given by Neville Chamberlain.</p>
<blockquote><p>QUESTION: Thank you. Mr. Secretary, Foreign Minister Lavrov just told reporters in London after your talks that there’s no common vision between the West and Russia on Ukraine, that international mediators are not needed in this situation, and that Russia will respect the results of Sunday’s referendum in Crimea. Despite your message just now to President Putin that this is not meant as a threat, do you believe that in fact that diplomacy is failing here and that they are just going to go ahead with what you just termed as a possible backdoor annexation of Crimea?</p>
<p>SECRETARY KERRY: I think it’s more important for the president – for President Putin to understand that we are prepared to respect his interests and rights</p></blockquote>
<p>And if he doesn&#8217;t, he can always send you out for a cup of coffee.</p>
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		<title>Putin Threatens to Use Ukrainian Women and Children as Human Shields</title>
		<link>http://www.frontpagemag.com/2014/dgreenfield/putin-threatens-to-use-ukrainian-women-and-children-as-human-shields/?utm_source=rss&#038;utm_medium=rss&#038;utm_campaign=putin-threatens-to-use-ukrainian-women-and-children-as-human-shields</link>
		<comments>http://www.frontpagemag.com/2014/dgreenfield/putin-threatens-to-use-ukrainian-women-and-children-as-human-shields/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Thu, 06 Mar 2014 13:40:26 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Daniel Greenfield]]></dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[The Point]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Ukraine]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Vladimir Putin]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.frontpagemag.com/?p=220386</guid>
		<description><![CDATA["Let them try and shoot at women and children."
]]></description>
				<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>The real world isn&#8217;t anything like the fantasy that the Western left has constructed. This is <a href="http://avmalgin.livejournal.com/">what the world was like until </a>the last hundred years. This is what most of it is still like. This is what destroying American power leaves the world open to.</p>
<p>At first I assumed that the audio might have been tampered with, but the same statement is up on the RT propaganda site of the regime. Putin wants people to hear this and understand it. It&#8217;s the equivalent of Khrushchev&#8217;s shoe.</p>
<p><iframe src="//www.youtube.com/embed/VMuYucxqiJg" height="390" width="540" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0"></iframe></p>
<blockquote><p>Putin: Listen to me. Listen to me carefully. I want you to correctly understand me.</p>
<p>If we reach that decision, only if we reach that decision, it will only be for the defense of Ukrainian citizens, let anyone from the military dare shoot at their own people which we will be behind, not in front but behind, let them try and shoot at women and children.</p>
<p>Let me see who in the Ukraine will give such an order.</p></blockquote>
<p><a href="http://rt.com/news/putin-statement-ukraine-russia-743/">RT has the official Putin line</a> and this is how it presents it.</p>
<blockquote><p>“We are not going to a war against the Ukrainian people,” he said. “I want you to understand it unambiguously. If we do take a decision, it would only be to protect Ukrainian citizens. Let anybody in the military dare, and they’d be shooting their own people, who would stand up in front of us. Shoot at women and children. I’d like to see anyone try and order such a thing in Ukraine.”</p></blockquote>
<p>The RT translation makes it sound as if the Ukrainians will voluntarily act as human shields, but in fact Putin never says the &#8220;their own people who stand up in front of us&#8221; part on the video. He only states that &#8220;we will stand behind them&#8221;.</p>
<p>This is what a Post-American world looks like.</p>
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		<title>Time Mag Writer Who Claimed Putin Wouldn&#8217;t Invade Ukraine, Now Claiming Putin is Losing in Ukraine</title>
		<link>http://www.frontpagemag.com/2014/dgreenfield/time-mag-writer-who-claimed-putin-wouldnt-invade-ukraine-now-claiming-putin-is-losing-in-ukraine/?utm_source=rss&#038;utm_medium=rss&#038;utm_campaign=time-mag-writer-who-claimed-putin-wouldnt-invade-ukraine-now-claiming-putin-is-losing-in-ukraine</link>
		<comments>http://www.frontpagemag.com/2014/dgreenfield/time-mag-writer-who-claimed-putin-wouldnt-invade-ukraine-now-claiming-putin-is-losing-in-ukraine/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Wed, 05 Mar 2014 14:22:39 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Daniel Greenfield]]></dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[The Point]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Ukraine]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Vladimir Putin]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.frontpagemag.com/?p=220294</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[With a track record like that, I see no reason not to believe him. ]]></description>
				<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><a href="http://cdn.frontpagemag.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/09/Putinboss.jpg"><img class="alignnone size-full wp-image-204143" alt="Putinboss" src="http://cdn.frontpagemag.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/09/Putinboss.jpg" width="364" height="287" /></a></p>
<p>With a track record like that, I see no reason not to believe him.</p>
<p>Simon Shuster, not to be confused with the imprint, is Time&#8217;s reporter in Moscow. On Feb 25th, he assured the world that &#8220;<a href="http://world.time.com/2014/02/25/russia-ukraine-putin-intervene/">No, Russia Will Not Intervene in Ukraine</a>&#8220;.</p>
<blockquote><p>So what does all that mean for Russia? It means that to undermine Ukraine’s new leadership, the last thing Russia should do is send in troops. Nothing unites rival political forces like a common enemy, especially a foreign aggressor. Besides, any attack on Ukraine right now would raise the chances of a militantly anti-Russian candidate becoming the next President of Ukraine. So the gentle and accommodating tone of Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov on Tuesday should not come as a surprise. During a visit to Luxembourg, Lavrov said Russia had “confirmed our principled position of nonintervention in Ukraine’s internal affairs.” He even suggested that Russia respected the European choice of the Ukrainian people: “We are interested in Ukraine being part of the European family, in all senses of the word,” Lavrov said.</p></blockquote>
<p>&#8230; about that gentle and accommodating tone&#8230; it usually precedes an invasion. But Simon was just echoing the progressive media echo chamber.</p>
<p>And now Simon is back to deliver the mainstream media&#8217;s official meme with &#8220;<a href="http://world.time.com/2014/03/03/putin-ukraine-crimea-russia/?iid=gs-article-mostpop1">4 Reasons Putin is Already Losing in the Ukraine</a>.&#8221;</p>
<p>You know that country he wasn&#8217;t supposed to even be in.</p>
<blockquote><p>Even a week ago, the idea of a Russian military intervention in Ukraine seemed far-fetched if not totally alarmist. The risks involved were just too enormous for President Vladimir Putin and for the country he has ruled for 14 years.</p></blockquote>
<p>Number of actual risks faced by Putin in the Obama era&#8230; zero.</p>
<blockquote><p>But the arrival of Russian troops in Crimea over the weekend has shown that he is not averse to reckless adventures, even ones that offer little gain.</p></blockquote>
<p>Really? Simon is just now figuring out that a KGB thug who killed a political enemy with radioactive poison in London is not averse to reckless thuggery?</p>
<p>So let&#8217;s skip to the four reasons&#8230;</p>
<blockquote><p>At home, this intervention looks to be one of the most unpopular decisions Putin has ever made. The Kremlin’s own pollster released a survey on Monday that showed 73% of Russians reject it.</p></blockquote>
<p>The same can be said of Obama and Libya. And unlike Russia, American elections are generally open and legit. Also more recent polls seem to suggest that the domestic propaganda is working.</p>
<blockquote><p>The economic impact on Russia is already staggering. When markets opened on Monday morning, investors got their first chance to react to the Russian intervention in Ukraine over the weekend, and as a result, the key Russian stock indexes tanked by more than 10%. That amounts to almost $60 billion in stock value wiped out in the course of a day, more than Russia spent preparing for last month’s Winter Olympic Games in Sochi.</p></blockquote>
<p>While that looks like a disaster, for insiders surrounding Putin it could well be an opportunity. And Putin is thinking long term, instead of playing it safe, which isn&#8217;t an option anyway considering Gazprom&#8217;s situation.</p>
<blockquote><p>Even Russia’s closest allies want no part of this. The oil-rich state of Kazakhstan, the most important member of every regional alliance Russia has going in the former Soviet space, put out a damning statement on Monday, marking the first time its leaders have ever turned against Russia on such a major strategic issue: “Kazakhstan expresses deep concern over the developments in Ukraine,” the Foreign Ministry said. “Kazakhstan calls on all sides to stop the use of force in the resolution of this situation.”</p></blockquote>
<p>China is backing Russia on this, which matters far more to Putin than a nervous press release from Kazakhstan.</p>
<blockquote><p>Russia’s isolation from the West will deepen dramatically</p></blockquote>
<p>Yes, Obama has withdrawn the Paralympics delegation. What else could that mean but absolute defeat for Vlad the Invader?</p>
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		<title>Are Critics of Putin&#8217;s Invasion of Ukraine &#8216;Warmongers&#8217;?</title>
		<link>http://www.frontpagemag.com/2014/dgreenfield/are-critics-of-putins-invasion-of-ukraine-warmongers/?utm_source=rss&#038;utm_medium=rss&#038;utm_campaign=are-critics-of-putins-invasion-of-ukraine-warmongers</link>
		<comments>http://www.frontpagemag.com/2014/dgreenfield/are-critics-of-putins-invasion-of-ukraine-warmongers/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Tue, 04 Mar 2014 00:55:45 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Daniel Greenfield]]></dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[The Point]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Russia]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Ukraine]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Vladimir Putin]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.frontpagemag.com/?p=220186</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[No one seriously believes that Putin is going to stop at his latest invasion point.]]></description>
				<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><a href="http://cdn.frontpagemag.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/ukraine8.jpg"><img class="alignnone  wp-image-220187" alt="Concerns Grow In Ukraine Over Pro Russian Demonstrations In The Crimea Region" src="http://cdn.frontpagemag.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/ukraine8.jpg" width="432" height="288" /></a></p>
<p>James Delingpole launches a rather unfair attack on Frank Gaffney and <a href="http://www.breitbart.com/Breitbart-London/2014/03/03/Why-are-people-so-hot-for-war-with-Putin">gets it wrong on the Ukraine</a>. After 8 paragraphs of aimless juvenile snark, he gets around to making his point.</p>
<blockquote><p>&#8220;Fast forward to the present and does anyone, anywhere in Western Europe or North America, seriously imagine that Putin&#8217;s Russia poses a threat even remotely comparable to the one once offered by the Soviet Union in the bad days of the Cold War?&#8221;</p></blockquote>
<p>Let&#8217;s not beat a strawman too hard around the bush. Putin isn&#8217;t Stalin, but neither is he the obscure bit player with no relevance to our lives that Delingpole tries to make him out to be.</p>
<p>Russia is an enemy, aside from the espionage, it encourages its allies to engage in conflicts with the United States and sees itself as locked in a global power struggle with the West. Delingpole can sneer about Red Dawn all he likes, but it doesn&#8217;t change the reality that Putin sees this as a zero sum game and that he views the UK and the US as enemies.</p>
<p>The idea that a malicious world power should be disregarded when it invades another country in order to expand its empire and that anyone who feels otherwise is a warmongering buffoon is leftover rhetoric from Cold War lefties.</p>
<p>That doesn&#8217;t mean we should be going to war, but it is a topic that is at the very least worth taking seriously.</p>
<p>And if Delingpole really thinks Putin is irrelevant to his life, he might want to follow some of the polonium trails that Vladimir left around London back in 2006.</p>
<p>I believe they turned up a few in Heathrow Airport.</p>
<blockquote><p>&#8220;What has suddenly possessed them to decide that the integrity of an independent Ukraine is of such paramount importance that the leaders of the free west should be prepared to hazard all to prevent the wicked Putin sending any more of his troops into thingummyjig and sealing off the airport of wotsisname?&#8221;</p></blockquote>
<p>Or the integrity of an independent Czechoslovakia or Poland.</p>
<p>No one seriously believes that Putin is going to stop at his latest invasion point. Is there anything short of London that Delingpole does believe should merit an armed response?</p>
<p>Aside from the moral principle that small countries shouldn&#8217;t be gobbled up by large countries, especially large nasty totalitarian countries that are declared enemies, there are more practical considerations.</p>
<p>As Frank Gaffney has pointed out, Putin is trying to reconstruct a version of the USSR via the Eurasian Union. That&#8217;s not of minor relevance to us considering that a Eurasian Union would further escalate its conflict with the US and UK.</p>
<p>And for various historical reasons, Russia sees the UK as a bigger enemy than the US. Choosing to ignore that fact will not make it go away.</p>
<blockquote><p>On Breitbart Radio last night, the admirable Frank Gaffney &#8211; a former defence adviser to the man who did more than anyone to bring about the end of the Cold War, Ronald Reagan &#8211; was ramping up the rhetoric about global conflagration&#8230;</p></blockquote>
<p>&#8230; which might suggest that maybe Gaffney knows what he&#8217;s talking about.</p>
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		<title>Why Putin Invaded Ukraine</title>
		<link>http://www.frontpagemag.com/2014/dgreenfield/why-putin-invaded-ukraine/?utm_source=rss&#038;utm_medium=rss&#038;utm_campaign=why-putin-invaded-ukraine</link>
		<comments>http://www.frontpagemag.com/2014/dgreenfield/why-putin-invaded-ukraine/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Sun, 02 Mar 2014 01:52:19 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Daniel Greenfield]]></dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[The Point]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[NATO]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Ukraine]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Vladimir Putin]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.frontpagemag.com/?p=220030</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Three words. Because he could.]]></description>
				<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><a href="http://cdn.frontpagemag.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/s1.reutersmedia.net_.jpg"><img class="alignnone  wp-image-220031" alt="Armed servicemen stand near Russian army vehicles outside a Ukrainian border guard post in the Crimean town of Balaclava" src="http://cdn.frontpagemag.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/s1.reutersmedia.net_.jpg" width="453" height="302" /></a></p>
<p>Three words. Because he could.</p>
<p>It&#8217;s astounding that for weeks the European and American political and journalistic establishments have utterly failed to understand that. But then again their predecessors in the 1930s couldn&#8217;t understand such a simple concept either.</p>
<p>Russia is a totalitarian state. It has extensive territorial claims on its neighbors going back centuries and it considers the area its own private preserve.</p>
<p>The only reason Putin wouldn&#8217;t send tanks somewhere is because there would be nothing to gain or compelling reasons not to.</p>
<p>His compelling reason not to currently consists of a pathetic Post-American joke in Washington and a NATO gang that was barely strong enough to knock off Gaddafi after several months.</p>
<p>The Russian military is overrated and couldn&#8217;t stand up to a collision with NATO, but Putin knows that he doesn&#8217;t have to worry about that. Most Western countries are sick of war and Western governments are concerned about popularity.</p>
<p>And entering Crimea is a test. All those stories about fascists roaming Kiev are a trial balloon for full intervention.</p>
<p>The Western fulcrum is America. Obama drew red lines on Syria and Iran and backed off. What happened next was inevitable. It&#8217;s also incomprehensible to the Western elites whose religion is diplomacy.</p>
<p>As in Iran and Syria, Obama has passed the Ukraine test with flying colors as his officials distinguished between an invasion<a href="http://www.weeklystandard.com/blogs/cnn-us-officials-saying-russian-military-incursion-ukraine-uncontested-arrival-not-invasion_783629.html"> and an &#8220;uncontested arrival</a>&#8220;.</p>
<p>They couldn&#8217;t have done any better if they had issued Putin a map of Kiev.</p>
<p>Western liberal elites don&#8217;t understand that what was on the line in the Middle East and now in Ukraine was the credibility of the Great Western Peace. If Putin goes all the way, he does more than forcibly push Ukraine back into line, he utterly discredits NATO, Europe and America in Eastern Europe, finishing the process that Obama began with his missile shield betrayal.</p>
<p>And then it&#8217;s game over.</p>
<blockquote><p>U.S. President Barack Obama told Russian President Vladimir Putin on Saturday that Moscow&#8217;s deployment of Russian forces into Crimea is a clear violation of Ukraine&#8217;s sovereignty and warned of greater economic and political isolation if they are not withdrawn.</p>
<p>The White House raised the possibility of sanctions, saying that &#8220;going forward, Russia&#8217;s continued violation of international law will lead to greater political and economic isolation.&#8221;</p></blockquote>
<p>Who&#8217;s <a href="http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/03/01/us-ukraine-crisis-idUSBREA1Q1E820140301">really being isolated here</a>? America or Russia?</p>
<blockquote><p>Russian President Vladimir Putin demanded and won his parliament&#8217;s approval on Saturday to invade Ukraine, where the new government warned of war, put its troops on high alert and appealed to NATO for help.</p>
<p>Putin&#8217;s open assertion of the right to send troops to a country of 46 million people on the ramparts of central Europe creates the biggest confrontation between Russia and the West since the Cold War.</p>
<p>Prime Minister Arseny Yatseniuk, leading a government that took power after Moscow&#8217;s ally Viktor Yanukovich fled a week ago, said Russian military action &#8220;would be the beginning of war and the end of any relations between Ukraine and Russia&#8221;.</p></blockquote>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
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		<title>CNN: Is &#8220;Putin Bullying Obama&#8221; ?</title>
		<link>http://www.frontpagemag.com/2014/dgreenfield/cnn-is-putin-bullying-obama/?utm_source=rss&#038;utm_medium=rss&#038;utm_campaign=cnn-is-putin-bullying-obama</link>
		<comments>http://www.frontpagemag.com/2014/dgreenfield/cnn-is-putin-bullying-obama/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Sun, 02 Mar 2014 01:32:31 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Daniel Greenfield]]></dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[The Point]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[soft power]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Vladimir Putin]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.frontpagemag.com/?p=220026</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[This is what American power has come down to.]]></description>
				<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><a href="http://cdn.frontpagemag.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/Bhp30vkIEAAD3mX.jpg"><img class="alignnone  wp-image-220027" alt="Bhp30vkIEAAD3mX" src="http://cdn.frontpagemag.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/Bhp30vkIEAAD3mX.jpg" width="419" height="313" /></a></p>
<p>Yes, <a href="http://pjmedia.com/eddriscoll/2014/03/01/cnn-putin-bullying-obama/">this is officially where we are</a> now. Soft power, smart power, diplomacy. All of it has come down to one of the propaganda newscasts for a world leader whose power extends no farther than swatting a fly asking if Putin is a big mean bully.</p>
<p>And of course he is. There&#8217;s only one answer. Someone from CNN needs to give Obama a big hug and send him to a special school that will enhance his inflated self-esteem even further while freeing him from any and all consequences.</p>
<p>Tell him to forget about Ukraine, Syria, the South China Sea, Egypt and everything else. And then have his celeb pals make some videos for him telling him that it gets better.</p>
<p>This is what American power has come down to. This is what the Post-American world order looks like. Putin doing what he wants while all the community organizer&#8217;s men complain that he isn&#8217;t playing fair.</p>
<p>It&#8217;s a familiar story involving the League of Nations, diplomacy and useless men clamoring about world peace.</p>
<p><a href="http://cdn.frontpagemag.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/barackbook.jpg"><img class="alignnone size-full wp-image-220028" alt="barackbook" src="http://cdn.frontpagemag.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/barackbook.jpg" width="334" height="376" /></a></p>
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		<title>Why Ukraine&#8217;s Russian Problem Won&#8217;t Go Away</title>
		<link>http://www.frontpagemag.com/2014/dgreenfield/why-ukraines-russian-problem-wont-go-away/?utm_source=rss&#038;utm_medium=rss&#038;utm_campaign=why-ukraines-russian-problem-wont-go-away</link>
		<comments>http://www.frontpagemag.com/2014/dgreenfield/why-ukraines-russian-problem-wont-go-away/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Fri, 21 Feb 2014 00:39:08 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Daniel Greenfield]]></dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[The Point]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Ukraine]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Vladimir Putin]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.frontpagemag.com/?p=219324</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[It's the same problem in Venezuela or Egypt. ]]></description>
				<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><a href="http://cdn.frontpagemag.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/09422f1a-6689-11e3-_491770c.jpg"><img class="alignnone  wp-image-219325" alt="09422f1a-6689-11e3-_491770c" src="http://cdn.frontpagemag.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/09422f1a-6689-11e3-_491770c.jpg" width="496" height="330" /></a></p>
<p>That isn&#8217;t to say that the government might not eventually fall, but in the bigger picture the problem is that Ukrainian independence depends on the EU and the US. Under Obama, the US has become irrelevant and the EU has never been good for anything except terrorizing its own people with senseless bureaucracy.</p>
<p>The problem isn&#8217;t just limited to the Ukraine. It&#8217;s the same problem in Venezuela or Egypt. If you have a democratic system and a totalitarian movement or outside force seeking to take over, it just has to win one election for everything to go to hell.</p>
<p>On Obama&#8217;s second term, that&#8217;s something that we can all relate to. (If you&#8217;re a liberal, just go back to Bush&#8217;s second term. Okay.)</p>
<p>Russia is still the dominant player and if one of its puppets falls, it waits and moves in another one. That&#8217;s why Russia isn&#8217;t too worried about Syria, just as it wasn&#8217;t too worried about Iraq. Post-Saddam, it just cozied up to the new Shiite mafia. If Assad falls, it&#8217;ll figure out a way to work with the Muslim Brotherhood.</p>
<p>Putin is a brutal thug, but he&#8217;s the only one still playing great power games. And we used to be able to play great power games too.</p>
<p>Bush didn&#8217;t always get it right, but here&#8217;s what the <a href="http://www.wnd.com/2005/01/28698/">CIA did in the Ukraine last time</a> around.</p>
<blockquote><p>“Eastern Ukraine is heavily ethnic Russian. The main industry is coal. The miners are rough, tough, and hate Yushchenko for wanting to take Ukraine away from Russia and toward the West,” writes Wheeler. “It was arranged for more than a thousand of them to be taken from Donetsk, the capital of the coal-mining region, by bus and train to Kiev, where, armed with clubs and blunt tools, they would physically beat up the Orange Revolutionaries. Such mass violence was not only to disperse the demonstrators but serve as an excuse for the government to declare martial law, suspending the Ukrainian Parliament (the Rada) and elections indefinitely.”</p>
<p>Now comes the secret weapon: vodka.</p>
<p>“When the miners got on their buses and trains, they found to their joy case after case of vodka – just for them. When they arrived in Kiev, trucks awaited them filled with more cases of vodka – all free provided by ‘friends’ of the Donetsk coal miners. Completely soused, they never made it to Independence Square. Too hammered blind to cause any violence at all, they had a merry time, passed out and were shipped back to Donetsk.”</p>
<p>Available only to subscribers of <a href="http://www.tothepointnews.com/welcome.php?partner=WND" rel=" noreferrer">To the Point,</a> Wheeler’s column goes on to explain who provided the liquor: teams of Porter Goss’ CIA working with their counterparts in British MI6 intelligence.</p></blockquote>
<p>It&#8217;s a small touch, but it&#8217;s also a safe bet that the people running things now would never go for it. Let alone anything stronger. And that&#8217;s why Putin isn&#8217;t too worried. Even if he loses one round, he knows that sooner or later, he&#8217;ll be back, because he&#8217;s playing against the weak, not the strong.</p>
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		<title>Is Russia Bringing Down Turkey&#8217;s Islamic Government Over Syrian Civil War?</title>
		<link>http://www.frontpagemag.com/2014/dgreenfield/is-russia-bringing-down-turkeys-islamic-government-over-syrian-civil-war/?utm_source=rss&#038;utm_medium=rss&#038;utm_campaign=is-russia-bringing-down-turkeys-islamic-government-over-syrian-civil-war</link>
		<comments>http://www.frontpagemag.com/2014/dgreenfield/is-russia-bringing-down-turkeys-islamic-government-over-syrian-civil-war/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Sat, 01 Feb 2014 15:36:37 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Daniel Greenfield]]></dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[The Point]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Prime Minister Erdogan]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Russia]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Syrian Civil War]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[turkey]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Vladimir Putin]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.frontpagemag.com/?p=216743</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Erdogan’s crisis began with a Russian crackdown]]></description>
				<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><a href="http://cdn.frontpagemag.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/64529496_64529487.jpg"><img class="alignnone size-medium wp-image-216745" alt="_64529496_64529487" src="http://cdn.frontpagemag.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/64529496_64529487-450x253.jpg" width="450" height="253" /></a></p>
<p>The<a href="http://www.algemeiner.com/2014/01/15/erdogan%E2%80%99s-russia-problem-and-vice-versa/"> timeline of this is certainly </a>interesting.</p>
<blockquote><p>While Erdogan’s support of the Muslim Brotherhood’s Palestinian branch – Hamas, of Morsi in Egypt, and of al Qaeda fighters in Syria did not seem to upset the Obama Administration, it has made the Russians nervous. With good reason: The large Chechen community in Turkey that supports the separatist and Islamist terrorists in Russia’s Caucasus.</p>
<p>Indeed, Erdogan’s current crisis began with a 2011 Russian crack-down on a drug-money-laundering ring in this area, which laundered revenues from trading Afghan opium with the Taliban. The investigation also revealed illegal gold transactions in Russian banks, which the Chechens shared with their Turkish counterparts. This probe led to the December 17, 2013, arrests of the sons of a Turkish minister and 34 other suspects, and to mass demonstrations against the government.</p></blockquote>
<p>The unraveling mess does date back to the period of the Syrian Civil War and the intricacies <a href="http://www.metransparent.com/spip.php?page=imprimer_article&amp;id_article=23953&amp;lang=en">of the triangle of Turkey-Syria-Iran</a>.  In the convoluted politics of the current Middle East, Turkey is fighting Iran in Syria, but collaborating with it on sanctions dodging.</p>
<p>Unfortunately for Turkey, that put Russia and Iran in a position to learn about a lot of the dirty business that Turkey was involved in.</p>
<blockquote><p>Zerrab, arrested last week in the investigation, is claimed to have distributed TL 137 million ($66 million) in bribes to three ministers and their sons <strong>to cover up faked exports and money laundering, which are reported to be largely connected with Iran</strong>. Ş.D. reportedly sent tip-offs to the Ministry of Finance about Zerrab’s alleged bribery, as well as to the offices of the prime minister and president.</p>
<p>According to the daily’s report, the Russian Federal Customs Service laid the foundations of the investigation when it discovered, in December 2011, millions of dollars in cash in a suitcase belonging to an individual returning to Russia from Turkey. When <strong>the Russian investigation revealed money laundering activities between Russia and Turkey</strong>, the Russian authorities informed Turkey of the illegal activity, the daily stated. The information provided by Ş.D., a year after Russia notified Turkey of the illegal activity, assisted Turkish authorities in discovering how the money laundering was being performed.</p>
<p>According to the daily, on Dec. 14, 2011 Russian police discovered a total of $18.5 million in a suitcase at Moscow’s Vnukovo Airport. The Russian authorities found that four suspects detained in Russia were involved in money laundering and had transported, in 37 trips, a total of $40 million and 10 million euros between Russia and Turkey.</p></blockquote>
<p>Russian officials would not crack down on large scale money laundering like this ordinarily, because anyone running that much money through the system has already paid the appropriate bribes. That would have been as true in Turkey as in Russia.</p>
<p>But after Erdogan&#8217;s push into Syria, the Russians may have decided that the price of alienating Turkey from NATO is no longer worth paying.</p>
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		<title>Putin Makes it Official: RT is the New Pravda</title>
		<link>http://www.frontpagemag.com/2013/dgreenfield/putin-makes-it-official-rt-is-the-new-pravda/?utm_source=rss&#038;utm_medium=rss&#038;utm_campaign=putin-makes-it-official-rt-is-the-new-pravda</link>
		<comments>http://www.frontpagemag.com/2013/dgreenfield/putin-makes-it-official-rt-is-the-new-pravda/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Tue, 10 Dec 2013 14:25:51 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Daniel Greenfield]]></dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[The Point]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[pravda]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[RT]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[russia today]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Vladimir Putin]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.frontpagemag.com/?p=212822</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[“Russia has its own independent politics and strongly defends its national interests.”]]></description>
				<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><a href="http://cdn.frontpagemag.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/12/vladimir-putin-russia-today.jpg"><img class="alignnone size-medium wp-image-212823" alt="vladimir-putin-russia-today" src="http://cdn.frontpagemag.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/12/vladimir-putin-russia-today-450x337.jpg" width="450" height="337" /></a></p>
<p>RT has proven to be successful enough that it&#8217;s about to become the official public face of the Russian regime. If you&#8217;ve seen the green RT logo on videos, you probably already know why.</p>
<p>Unlike the old Pravda, RT is less able to rely on a friendly lefty base, but has compensated for that by targeting people who are generally skeptical or suspicious about their governments with viral news items&#8230; much like Al Jazeera has. <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2013/12/10/world/europe/putin-scraps-kremlin-news-agencies.html?partner=rss&amp;emc=rss&amp;smid=tw-nytimes&amp;_r=0">And it has paid off big time.</a></p>
<blockquote><p>President Vladimir V. Putin dissolved one of Russia’s official news agencies, RIA Novosti, along with its international radio broadcaster on Monday.</p>
<p>The two agencies will be absorbed into a new state organization known as Rossiya Sevodnya, or Russia Today, to be led by a television executive and host, Dmitry K. Kiselyov.</p></blockquote>
<p>RT has occasionally <a href="http://en.ria.ru/agency_news/20120206/171179459.html">tried to pretend that it&#8217;s independent</a>. It&#8217;s not. And now it becomes the official propaganda apparatus of the Putin regime.</p>
<blockquote><p>Some foreign media materials about Julian Assange’s show to be broadcast by the RT (formerly Russia Today) television network, contain false claims about the network being controlled by the RIA Novosti news agency.</p>
<p>RIA Novosti is the co-founder of the Autonomous Non-Profit Organization (ANO) TV Novosti, launched in December 2005 as Russia Today (RT). Under Russian law, as an autonomous non-profit organization, RT is fully independent of its founders.</p></blockquote>
<p>That was last year. This year RT is the RIA Novosti. And anyone still embedding RT videos should at least realize that they&#8217;re spreading propaganda from an enemy state.</p>
<p>“Russia has its own independent politics and strongly defends its national interests,” Mr. Ivanov, a close ally of Mr. Putin, said in remarks to reporters, according to RIA Novosti. “It’s difficult to explain this to the world, but we can do this and we must do this.”</p>
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