Putin rides attacks to power

[lpara]

<span style='font-family:comic sans ms'>Putin rides attacks to power (http://www.washtimes.com/specialreport/20040919-011209-4300r.htm)

By David R. Sands
THE WASHINGTON TIMES

Five years ago, an obscure former KGB officer named Vladimir Putin came to power in the Kremlin, promising a sharp response to a string of terrorist attacks blamed on separatist Muslim rebels from Chechnya.
A recent string of terrorist attacks blamed on Chechen rebels cleared the way for Mr. Putin to consolidate his hold on power in Russia in a way not seen since the dying days of the Soviet Union.</span>

[lpara]

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[pratt65]

We can never really win the war on terror utill we try to win the war on immigration, closing our borders is a start, but if the states and the government wouldn't cater to them and there language , they would not be coming across the borders. Until we stop this catering, we won't slow down border crossings. http://www.gopusa.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/star2.gif

[Basheva]

While our borders are certainly a problem, as I read this thread it is about what is happening in Russia. And that should be of grave concern to us.

Quote[/b] ] Mr. Putin would also abolish direct election for representatives to the State Duma, the lower house of the Russian parliament already controlled by parties loyal to the Kremlin.
Mr. Putin justified the moves as part of a drive to improve the efficiency of the state and to head off ethnic and religious clashes that he said threaten to undermine the unity of the Russian Federation.


The above quote should give us pause. Russia does not have a history of democracy. It has always been ruled by a despot whether Tsar or Commisar. Russia is still the second most powerful nuclear power. It has vast resources: oil exports of great magnitude, a large population which is also educated and industrious. It does not have an economy to match these qualities, but it has been hampered by the economic policies of the communist ideology. If Russia is allowed to realize it's full economic potential coupled with the other assets I named, it will be a force to be reckoned with in the future.

It could be another Soviet Russia only this time with a real hold on the world oil market.

What happens to Russia politically is of great importance to us. Will we be dealing with a democracy or another autocracy? Putin seems to be on the road to the latter. The Russian people are used to this sort of government and they also may see it as the only answer they know to terrorism.

The political system that comes out of this and how that system decides to take on the world will have an impact on us.

[Original Rebel]

http://www.gopusa.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/star2.gif http://www.gopusa.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/star2.gif http://www.gopusa.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/star2.gif

You certainly have nailed it, Basheva.

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