I forlængelse af vores gæstebloggers Rachlins smukke og smertelige posting ndf. om mordet på Anna Politkovskaya er her et indlæg fra Ruslandskenderen Anders Åslund om Putin med den sigende titel: Putin gets away with murder.
IN RUSSIA, gangsters have the macabre custom of making a birthday present of a murder. On Vladimir Putin's 54th birthday, one of his fiercest domestic critics, the journalist Anna Politkovskaya, was shot to death in her apartment building in central Moscow. She worked for the weekly Novaya Gazeta, Russia's last independent newspaper. Its deputy editor was murdered a couple of years ago, and the killer was never found. Although Politkovskaya had been tailed by the FSB for years and her murderer was captured on film, he got away. The Kremlin has made no comment. The prosecutor general claims to have personally taken charge of the investigation, but such investigations seldom result in an arrest.
Western policy toward Russia has been an unmitigated failure since Vladimir Putin became president on New Year's Eve 1999. Every year since then, the Russian government has moved further away from both the United States and the European Union, and Western influence over Russia has waned.
Læs resten her.
Rachlins indlæg var rørende og bar præg af en tristhed, som man kun kan genkende, hvis man kendte Politkovskaya. Åslund er vred, og det burde vi andre også være.Når Bush næste gang bliver spurgt “Can we trust Russia?”, som tilfældet var i Slovenien i juni 2001, bør Bush ikke kigge ind i Putins øjne, men på hans bedrifter.”I looked the man in the eye. I found him to be very straightforward and trustworthy. We had a very good dialogue. I was able to get a sense of his soul; a man deeply committed to his country and the best interests of his country”2001 er længe siden!