In which Vladimir Putin supports people power
From Kaplan Test Prep Daily:
Putin was the first world leaderto recognize Otunbayeva as leader of Kyrgyzstan. “It is important that the conversation was held with her in her role as the head of the government of national confidence,” Putin’s spokesman Dmitry Peskov said…
Otunbayeva said the situation in the Kyrgyz economy was “fairly alarming” and the country would need foreign aid. “We are grateful to the Russian Federation, grateful to the Russian prime minister, for the support, significant support from the Russian Federation in recent days in exposing this nepotistic, criminal regime,” she said.
Here we have a situation in which brave protesters overthrow a nasty little autocrat and Russia recognizes the new government before the United States! Boy do I find that hilarious. Why am I not holding my breath for Shameless American Hacks RadioRadio Free Europe to do a story investigating the troubling discrepancy between the two states’ respective willingness to embrace freedom? Oh that’s right, because it would give lie to the pitifully silly idea that the United States has some sort of highly principled stand in favor of “democracy.” It’s about power, kids, and it always has been: Kyrgyzstan is just a clearer example of this than we’ve seen in a long time because the country is such a rat hole and because the Russia-America competition for influence there is so completely undisguised and blatant.
Seriously though, am I the only person who gets a huge kick out of seeing Putin encourage “people power” (“Come on Kyrgyzstan, demonstrate more, and maybe head over to Manas while you’re at it!”) while seeing the United States hem and haw and “express concern?”
I’d also like to think (a man can dream, can’t he???) that this will put the final nail in the coffin of those execrable little “color revolutions” that represented the high-water mark of neoconservatism. Let’s see how the color revolutions have worked out for everyone:
Ukraine: leader of “revolution” unceremoniously dumped in sucessive election, getting less than 10% of the total vote, and replaced by the politician against whom the “revolution” had been directed
Kyrgyzstan: leader of “revolution,” after it became clear he was just as much of a tinpot strongman as his predecessor, overthrown by a popular uprising
Lebanon: Hezbollah’s influence is stronger than ever and the country is (at best) mired in political stagnation and still strongly beholden to Syria
Georgia: leader of “revolution” is now a certified war-starting, nationalist, populist authoritarian
What a merry bunch of success stories!
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This proves once again that any weapon, however clever, once invented, can be adopted by the other side. The Bushies thought they were going to change the world in their favor when they invented the technology of “color-coded revolutions”. Now the Russians are almost, like, winking at them, and saying, “Two can play that game!”
Kyrgyzstan is not just another post Soviet republic – every single ex USSR entity in the region is a keystone in the region. And Putin as a professional of intelligence understands this very well. The ousted Kyrgyz president led country by so familiar scenario with very painful end story: corruption, oppression of legal secular opposition – it was only matter of time when radical Islamists would make their move.
Let us not forget about something rarely mentioned (if ever) in Western press: Kyrgyzstan is very rich by resources, especially gold. This country is a double size prize for whatever side, secular or Islamist would have a hold on it.
Significant part of Kyrgyz population is Buddhist but in troubled waters conversion happens easily – the Chechen Islam was based on a version of Sufism but through 90-ties thanks to Saudi money Wahhabism took over (again what rarely mentioned in Western press that almost all mullahs of the old Sufi school were killed as Heretics).
So let’s hope that new interim government will cope. After all Kyrgyzstan is the only country in the region which again and again stands up for secular democracy.
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thx, from Russia with Love
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