Analysis: The West should heed Russian-Ukrainian relations

Wasn't Kissinger the same "statesman" who negotiated "peace with honor" in Vietnam?

Now this senile, duplicitous old man is selling us a line about the "development" of Russian democracy.
Kissinger's real agenda is to bring Russia in line in the Middle East. He couldn't care less about Ukraine or Russian democracy.

He's another example of a poseur who does not deserve much attention.

Remember he is a tired old Man that is really out of touch with the real world today. Feel sorry for the old duffer.

Foresttoday wrote:

Remember he is a tired old Man that is really out of touch with the real world today. Feel sorry for the old duffer.

Agreed. At one time Kissinger was a statesman of brilliance and integrity, he deserved respect. Now it looks like he is just hangng on without realizing that he no longer has a handle on reality. Respect him for what he once was and achieved, pity him for his feeble attempts to help now, but don't insult him. The man was once a respected giant.

Was Kissinger that brilliant?

And as for "democracy is Russia," who does he think he is kidding?

The only hope for democracy in Russia is having strong, NATO-protected. democracies along its borders. Democracies like Ukraine will spread democracy into Russia and Belarus. For that reason, Ukraine needs to be in NATO.

Zbigniew Brzezhinski was heads above Kissinger in his insights and I am far more interested in Bzhezhinski's opinions than Kissinger's.

The real issue today isn't Ukraine joining NATO --but only Ukraine entering in the NATO Membership Action Plan [ NATO MAP] program--a very different issue.

Ukraine needs to prequalify for NATO by joining the NATO Membership Action Plan -- aprocess which may take several years.

Ukraine has been partnering with NATO for many years and is certainly ready to join NATO MAP --certainly as any country ever was, including Germany, which was divided in two.

Russians are still listing Stalin as "one of the greatest Russians who ever lived" in a recent poll....so one should not hold one's breath waiting for democracy in Russia.

Why Russians Put Stalin at the Top of the List
01 October 2008
By Yevgeny Kiselyov

....Instead, we have Stalin. This might be the most frightening of all. It would be unimaginable that the people of Germany would name Hitler as one of the greatest Germans of all time. In Russia, people are seriously discussing the idea of teaching high school students that under Stalin, "terror was used to serve the goal of industrial development" and that "Stalin's actions were fully rational as a leader of a country under attack in a global war."

But I am certain that Stalin won't win the "Name of Russia" contest. Voters -- particularly the younger ones -- may sincerely want Stalin to win, but the organizers of the poll are more constrained by a sense of political correctness. Already, Alexander Lyubimov, deputy director of Rossia television and the person in charge of the contest, has announced that 2 million votes for Stalin will be disqualified; the official reason was a hacker attack that may have caused double voting. But that doesn't make things any better.

Russia's increasingly aggressive foreign policy and repressive domestic policy under Putin and Dmitry Medvedev are, to a great extent, a direct result of the lingering illness that still infects Russian society -- our fascination with Stalin and Stalinism.

Yevgeny Kiselyov is a political analyst and hosts a political talk show on Ekho Moskvy radio.
http://www.moscowtimes.ru/article/1045/42/371...

Even After a War With Russia, Many Georgians Revere Stalin

GORI, Georgia — With his signature mustache, medal-encrusted Soviet marshal’s uniform and determination to be addressed as “Comrade,” the Stalin impersonator Jamil Ziyadaliev should perhaps be out of work in Georgia, a country still reeling from a war with Russia.

But Mr. Ziyadaliev, 64, an avuncular father of two who dresses as Stalin even on days off, insists that business has seldom been better. He is a frequent hired guest at weddings, where he dances to Soviet Katyusha music from World War II.

“Looking like Stalin is like having a visa in Georgia,” said Mr. Ziyadaliev, a Muslim originally from Azerbaijan, who drove a taxi, peddled vegetables and worked as an accountant before deciding on a career as a modern incarnation of the brutal, diabolically brilliant Soviet tyrant.

“All Georgians respect Stalin, because he was a great leader who created a great empire — and of course, he was the most famous Georgian who ever lived,” Mr. Ziyadaliev said.

LOL wrote:

Even After a War With Russia, Many Georgians Revere Stalin
GORI, Georgia — With his signature mustache, medal-encrusted Soviet marshal’s uniform and determination to be addressed as “Comrade,” the Stalin impersonator Jamil Ziyadaliev should perhaps be out of work in Georgia, a country still reeling from a war with Russia.
But Mr. Ziyadaliev, 64, an avuncular father of two who dresses as Stalin even on days off, insists that business has seldom been better. He is a frequent hired guest at weddings, where he dances to Soviet Katyusha music from World War II.
“Looking like Stalin is like having a visa in Georgia,” said Mr. Ziyadaliev, a Muslim originally from Azerbaijan, who drove a taxi, peddled vegetables and worked as an accountant before deciding on a career as a modern incarnation of the brutal, diabolically brilliant Soviet tyrant.
“All Georgians respect Stalin, because he was a great leader who created a great empire — and of course, he was the most famous Georgian who ever lived,” Mr. Ziyadaliev said.

Some sick people would revere the Devil if they thought there was something in it for them.

Russian Neighbors Urge U.N. to Stand Against Kremlin Aggression

September 25, 2008
Russian Neighbors Urge U.N. to Stand Against Kremlin Aggression

By NEIL MACFARQUHAR and THOM SHANKER
UNITED NATIONS — As Russia’s neighbors urged the United Nations to stand up to a newly aggressive Moscow, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice met with her Russian counterpart on Wednesday in an effort to restore battered relations and find common ground on restraining the nuclear ambitions of Iran and North Korea.

Leaders of the small, relatively new democracies that were once part of the Soviet bloc, who were clearly unnerved when Russia sent troops into Georgia last month, called on the United Nations not to sit on its hands just because Russia was a permanent member of the Security Council.

Victor A. Yushchenko, the president of Ukraine, told the General Assembly that his country condemned Russia’s action and he hinted that Ukraine would not succumb to Russian intimidation over its ambition to join NATO.

“It is essential to turn down blackmailing and threatening vocabulary,” Mr. Yushchenko said.

He said Ukraine opposed all acts of aggression in the region, as well as Russia’s recognition of independence for the two separatist Georgian enclaves, South Ossetia and Abkhazia. The “renewal of the rhetoric of the cold war provokes our deep concern,” Mr. Yushchenko said.....

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/25/world/europ...