Here Comes the Neo-Soviet Komsomol
First Russians give asylum to various criminals from other countries (as long as they are pro-Russian criminals, of course), and now they affect outrage that other countries won't extradite anti-Russian criminals back to Russia. The Moscow Times reports:
Pro-Kremlin youth groups have spent $400,000 organizing rallies in New York calling for the extradition of Chechen separatists who have resettled in the United States, The Wall Street Journal reported over the weekend.
Nearly a dozen protests, intended to shape public opinion in the West, were held in the past two years near high-profile venues such as the United Nations headquarters and the World Trade Center site.
The protesters' message -- calling for the return of rebels deemed terrorists by Russian authorities -- is directly at odds with U.S. policy.
The protests in New York were covered by state-controlled Channel One and aired on the station's evening program. Channel One spokesman Igor Burenkov could not be reached for comment Monday.
One protest organizer, Yury Levintoff, said organizers in the United States took pains to hide the involvement of financial backers in Moscow, including Vasily Yakemenko, head of the pro-Kremlin Nashi youth movement, the Journal reported.
Yakemenko began the spate of demonstrations in summer 2004 "with a flurry of e-mails" to Boris Barshchevsky, his point man in the United States, the Journal said.
Barshchevsky was reported to be a Boston-area Russian emigre and former cab driver. Barshchevsky is thought to have recruited other Russian emigres for the protests. An organizer from New York was hired to give the protests a public face.
Barshchevsky has acknowledged to being the head organizer of the protests but insists he paid for them himself and did not receive any help from Russian backers. Reached by telephone in his Boston home early Monday, Barshchevsky hung up when told he was speaking to a reporter.
Levintoff, who also lives in Massachusetts, could not be reached for comment Monday. Nashi spokesman Robert Shlegel on Monday denied his group had been involved in any rallies in the United States.
"Vasily Yakemenko already read this report, and I can only repeat what he said: This is delirium," Shlegel said, noting that Nashi was founded April 15, 2005, and that it could not have been behind protests that took place in 2004.
"The only campaign that Nashi organized outside Russia was Victory Day fireworks in Riga last May, and several rallies in some CIS countries," Shlegel said.
Until last year Yakemenko led Moving Together, another pro-Kremlin youth group. "I cannot comment on other groups, including Moving Together, but I am sure that Vasily Yakemenko had nothing to do with the rallies in the U.S.," Shlegel said.
The United States and Britain have granted asylum to Chechen separatists Ilyas Akhmadov and Akhmed Zakayev, respectively, much to Moscow's chagrin.
The U.S. State Department also has pledged to maintain contacts with moderate Chechen rebels, drawing sharp criticism from the Foreign Ministry.
Western governments and human rights groups have long criticized Russia for its harsh conduct in Chechnya.
These Neo-Soviet groups are in no way significantly different from the Komsomol and the Pioneers; apparently, Russia has found its preferred vehicle for spending its oil windfalls (God forbid it should be invested in the healthy of Russia, since strong healthy people are much harder to control of course). How many times does Russia have to fail at something before it realizes it doesn't work? This may be like asking how many licks it takes to get to the Tootsie Roll center of a Tootsie Pop -- the world may never know.
Welcome to the Neo-Soviet Union!
27 comments:
Apparently Russians will organize and protest about extradition but not racism or rising dictatorship. That is sad.
you know that you can talk to a mirror instead of talking to your own posts:-)
Sorry to disappoint you, but there have been marches against racism in Moscow and St. Petersburg organised by Yabloko and SPS. Again you are lying.
There have been protests against the government (vide pension protests). Again, you are selective and dishonest.
There are numerous anti-Putin youth groups. Again, you ignore the facts that fit your banal portrait.
As it happens, Nashi is not very much Komsomol. Again, you twist the truth.
You criticise Russia for "dealing with terrrorists" (who happen to be elected representatives of their people) but you don't mete out the same criticism to the U.S. and UK governments, who harbour known terrorists. Again you are hypocritical in your use of the facts.
This would more shameful were it not already so ridiculous.
Reith,
LR is all a wind-up. There's no point whatsoever in replying, as whoever is responsible for this cut-and-paste spleen thrives off the fact that you and others reply. The authors clearly get off on it, but why play along?
Just let them rant on. You know: "The dog barks, but the caravan moves on."
I was talking to the morons who I knew would come here. Boy was I right.
REITH: Apparently whenever anyone disagrees with you, they are "twisting the truth." If you are saying that there have been protests against racism have been funded with $400,000 and supported by Nashi, it is you who are the boldfaced liar and propagandist.
"all a wind-up" makes no sense. learn some english you moron. and if you don't like this blog, you are welcome to never visit it again. meanwhile, at least think of an original name, you coward.
the fact that you boys think you have displayed some kind of "reasonable" and fair attitude to this blog while its operators have been inflexible and one-sided only goes to show how insane you are.
"I was talking to the morons who I knew would come here. Boy was I right."
I am sure everyone else here thinks exactly the same thing about you. In my case, when I saw your link in Google, I thought that this site is probably a joke or there is a mental idiot attempting to get attention. It was the second thing.
As another human being, I feel sorry for you. Reading your site is like watching a person with a down syndrome trying to win a beauty contest... (no offense to peope who suffer from this horrible condition.)
"the fact that you boys think you have displayed some kind of "reasonable" and fair attitude to this blog while its operators have been inflexible and one-sided only goes to show how insane you are."
yes, there is a team of trolls. It's confirmed.
"while its operators have been inflexible and one-sided"
and yes, this site is nothing more than a provocation to get peoples' "best" reactions.
Let's move along ladies and gentelmen. There are more important things to read in the cyber space.
Couldn't agree more, Anonymous at 12:39 pm. LR points to its number of gawkers; car accidents have plenty, as well. Neither are pretty, not edifying.
And, LR, if you are unable to identify "wind-up" as _English_ (not its Yank degradation) slang, you are even sorrier than I thought.
Thanks so much for clearly showing examples of how to make meaningful, responsive, substantive comments. Your comments really show the great value you can bring to conversations. Bravo! We coudln't be more impressed. It's really mysterious why you brilliant fellows don't have blogs of your own with thousands of readers like we have. Life is so unjust.
What I said was that there have been protests against racism. That is true. You pretend it isn't because you're a dishonest smear artist. Quite simple really.
what you said was totally irrelevant propaganda, quite simple-minded really. And no evidence to back it up. Lame.
This phobic parrot, calling itself LR, cannot come up with anything better than to call everyone who criticizes the blog a propagandist and demand evidence against the stupid allegations that he/she makes. Phobias are successfully treated nowadays, so instead of spending time on spitting out a few pathetic posts a day, the LR's time would be better spent visiting a psychiatrist to treat the phobia. I mean it is amusing to read the kind of analysis this blog provides, but the LR's mental health is more important for everyone else's well being.
You claim Russians haven't protested against racism. In fact, they have. It's hard to understand where you see the propaganda in this. Merely your ignorance and determined bigotry.
The explanation for LRs' lack of coverage of demostrations against racism is very simple:
admins of LR do NOT understand Russian. (hence, the links to English versions of Russian sites).
Russian media covered greatly protests against racism, while that's just not significant news for foreign media.
A racist murder taking place in NYC or in Moscow will get more coverage, but a peaceful protest against descrimination in both cities, is more than likely to be mentioned just in the local press.
Somewhere, on her site she attacked some guy named Johnson because, in LRs' views, he is not an expert of Russia because he does not speak English. At the same time, readers of this blog have to notice, that LRs declared themselves as experts on "Russia - the rise and fall of Neo-Soviet" Union; but none of them speaks descent Russian:-)!!!
From this day on, I am an expert on Mexico, just because I saw it accros Rio Grande:-). I think that I could have easily ran a blog on Mexican rise and fall from English sources of major newspapers:-)... but for the lack of available time I won't...
Another thing, a fact that there is more than one LR admin over there, indicates that it is a planned and organized attempt with a purpose to simply stear up tension and provocations, and to flood google engine.
For example, they choose Sharapova as a target of their hate, simple because she is Russian... Her tennis record has nothing to do with it, but it serves a reason for assault. I think that the reason for her choice is also evident because recently she is the most popular tennis star in the world, and she is probably the most googled, thus it drew traffic to LRs' blog. (Same goes for attacks on Myskina, etc).
So LRs, it time for you to change your hobbies.
REITH: You are as incompetent as Neo-Soviet Russia on TWO different counts. There is not ONE SINGLE WORD in this post about racism, and you do not give ONE SINGLE SHRED of evidence backed up by links to support your claim. You are both irrelevant and empty. Lame.
ANONYMOUS: you are a propagandist because you respond with personal attacks rather than discussing the subject and you provide no evidence via links to support your claims. You are a worthless, blogless, brainless waste of space, and your jealousy is showing.
ANONYMOUS #2: "Russian media covered greatly protests against racism." NOTHING but empty words. Where are your links proving you are correct? When was the last time Russian TV protested against racism?
This post has NOTHING to do with racism. It has to do with Russian HYPORCRISY over the issue of EXTRADITION. Talk about the post at hand and give evidence to support your views or your comments are just lame and pathetic.
Your first comment to your own post (!):
"Apparently Russians will organize and protest about extradition but not racism or rising dictatorship. That is sad."
Because you are liar and serial smear artist you actually require other people to do your work for you. So, here you go:
http://www.cdi.org/russia/johnson/9322-4.cfm
Again, you are caught lying and are, as you so very eloquently put it, lame.
REITH: That is the comment, not the post you totally hopeless moron. The post has absolutely nothing to do with racism and your comments have absolutely nothing to do with the post.
It's truly bizarre for you to state that we have an obligation to provide support for YOUR posts. You're sick in the head, Reith. Truly.
Now we see why you are reluctant to site authority to back up your claims. Your attempt to do so is so shoddy it bespeaks total ignornance. Your post states:
"The march was the first organized by anti-fascists that city authorities have allowed since the Nov. 4 far-right march against illegal migration. Attempts to hold an anti-fascist rally on Nov. 27 -- first near Belorussky Station, then outside City Hall -- were foiled by police, who detained dozens of protesters."
Not only did large numbers of Russians never protest (1,500 people in a city of 10 million? Did you think at ALL before you cited this??), the government actually BANNED such protests entirely, while it FUNDED them in New York.
You're a mental midget REITH. If you call us liars one more time without proof, you will be banned permanently from this blog. We said the post said nothing about racism and it didn't. YOU are the liar. You responded to the comment as if it were the post, and that is the height of dishonesty.
Moreover, if you actually belive that Russian protests of racism are as significant as Russian protests against NATO and the United States, you are truly not worth speaking to an the lowest of revolting propagandists.
I resonded to the comment as if it were a comment. Quite simple, though obviously not enough for you. The fact is that you present a wholly false picture of Russia and now that you are called out on that, you threaten throw people out of your private little party. The truth is that notwithstanding your shrill excercise in malignant bigotry, the Russians are not the evil people you make out. Anyone who says though, in your opinion, is a propagandist. If you believe what you're saying maybe you're not a liar, but you are even more of a fool than I could have previously imagined.
The evidence by which you purport to accuse me of "lying" proves that I was telling the truth. Not only do Russians not march against racism, they are actually BANNED from doing so.
It's the most pathetic sort of propaganda for you to claim that there is any sort of significant opposition ot racism in Russia, even while failing to express ONE SINGLE WORLD OF SUPPORT for the victims of racism in Russia as you attack this blog just like crazed Russian skinhead.
You're the bigot, REITH. We actively oppose racism publicly. You do NOTHING about it. Enough said.
"You're the bigot, REITH. We actively oppose racism publicly."
now you are reversly accussing others of what you been called on various occassions in this racist, russophobic blog of a bigot...
You can say what you like about Russophobia, but you can't change two facts:
(a) This blog is almost unique in reguarly highlighting news about racism in Russia;
(b) "Russian" is not a race, and only the most pathetic kind of moron fails to understand that. Russian is a NATIONALITY, not a race. Slavic is race. This blog is not called "Slavophobe" it's called "Russophobe." It's about nationality, not race.
I suppose you got your education in Russia, so your mistake is understandable.
This is Hector,
Unfortunately, I must say that all of your rants amount to nothing more than emotional babble brought by your hatred of Russians. Nashi and similar groups are by no means neo-Komsomol. Comparing the two is absurd and disgusting. Nashi is a pro-bourgeois group linked to the Kremlin. The Komsomol group was revolutionary and anti-capitalist, promoting class struggle. I don't think you're very familiar with the economic comcepts of Communism and capitalism. Might I suggest you do a little more research?
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