[aaus-list] What is Amazing is Putin's Preparing the Russian People for War

[Kravchuk, Bob]

Dear Vadim:

Okay. The reports from Moscow are both interesting and informative.
Thank you.

So, if I understand you, what you are saying is that Russia is preparing
itself for a showdown with the West?  But there are a few unanswered
questions here: What is the threat to Russia?  Where is the threat?  Why
now?  How are we in the West to interpret this war hysteria in Moscow?
If V. Putin is not a warmonger himself, then why prepare the Russian
people for this supposed eventuality?  None of this makes any sense,
unless Russia is fixing for a fight. It is the only reasonable
explanation, no?

The entire premise of the Moscow exhibit appears to me to be a false
one. There is no good reason on God's green earth that there should be
war between Russia and the West. If Russia's objective is to avoid
having a border state that is also a NATO member, then it can propose a
major international conference to redraw the European security
apparatus, perhaps on the basis of the OSCE (with a military component).
Giving Russia a seat at the table would go a long way to allaying any
lingering cold war fears that they may have about encirclement, etc. But
Russia's recent behavior seems a strange way to go about engendering its
own security.

Simply put, it is no way to make friends.

-Robert Kravchuk



-----Original Message-----
From: aaus-list-bounces at ukrainianstudies.org
[mailto:aaus-list-bounces at ukrainianstudies.org] On Behalf Of Vadim
Sent: Sunday, September 21, 2008 2:03 AM
To: aaus; ukrainians
Subject: [aaus-list] Amazing... just like Saakashvili

http://www.cnn.com/2008/CRIME/09/19/dorm.death.ap/index.html

The title of the above article...

I visited Moscow in the last couple of days and met quite a few simple
Russian people. Everybody seems to overwhelmingly support annexation
of the Crimea in favor of Russia.

The Central Museum of Armed Forces has a substantial exhibition of the
captured Georgian supplies, weapons, ammunition and vehicles  -- that
draws large crowds. Russians talk about the stark significance of NATO
weapons killing Russian citizens en masse. It can clearly be seen that
Ukraine was either #1 or #2 supplier of weapons for Georgia.

Russian newspapers write about Cold War #2, cite Churchill's speech in
1946, Kennan's letters, rejection of early NATO membership aspirations
by the Soviet Union... but totally forget about the Soviet promise to
hold free and fair elections in Poland.

McCain is considered a warmongering nutcase. Russia is spiritually
ready for the ultimate World War #3.

V.Gorbach
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