-Caveat Lector- http://www.moscowtimes.ru/stories/2003/11/04/006.html
Tuesday, Nov. 4, 2003. Page 10 Putin the New Saddam? By Eric Kraus Emboldened by their historic propaganda success -- the creation ex nihilo of a justification for the U.S. invasion of Iraq completely unsanctioned by international law -- members of the dangerous Washington faction with deep links to the security services and the military-industrial complex, the dread Bushoviki, have identified a new "terrorist threat": President Vladimir Putin. The means they are now deploying are strikingly similar: planted "intelligence," manipulation of public opinion by tame journalists and "nonprofit foundations," as well as the insidious repetition of evident lies on the assumption that at least something will stick. In a recent op-ed piece in the increasingly reactionary Washington Post, Bruce Jackson, president of the innocuous sounding Project on Transitional Democracies, accuses Putin not just of re-establishing a tsarist state, but of the supreme crime of opposing U.S. political and economic interests in Russia's historic sphere of influence: the CIS. After long service in the weapons trade (Lockheed, Martin), Jackson is now a hatchet-man for the Bush administration. A member of the far-right Project of the New American Century, he serves with the likes of Paul Wolfowitz, Richard Perle and Donald Rumsfeld. Jackson was instrumental in rounding up support for the Iraq war with a stealth attack, corralling East European presidents into signing the notorious letter of the "Vilnius 10." All is fair in love and (propaganda) war. In a crass insult to the world's Jews, Jackson deploys one of the most cynical foreign policy ploys of the Bushoviki: the callous exploitation of anti-Semitism, demeaning the sufferings of the Jewish people by reducing the term "anti-Semitism" to an epithet for any regime inimical to U.S. interests. Jackson notes that three of the business magnates who came to a sticky end are Jewish, but neglects to mention that so were six of the original seven oligarchs, as well as 90 percent of those who currently qualify for the oligarch title. Given the ratios, the real surprise would have been if the fallen angels had been, say, Orthodox Hindus. Nowhere, of course, does Jackson mention the dozens of Russian Jewish businessmen currently building their businesses, attracting foreign partners, and enjoying all the good things that Russia's resurrection has brought. It is ironic that of the spinmeisters warning of the anti-Semitic threat coming from Russia not one, to my knowledge, is a Jew. Mikhail Khodorkovsky has managed to shake off a profoundly unenviable reputation in a very short time. In fairness, Yukos, acquired for some $300 million in the notorious loans-for-shares auctions and still largely controlled through a cascade of offshore vehicles, has proved to be an absolute star in recent years. But it is Khodorkovsky's generous funding of various U.S. neo-conservative causes, in part through his Open Russia foundation (one of the board members of which is Henry Kissinger, responsible inter alia for the Pinochet coup and the illegal, secret war that devastated Cambodia), that has given him with access to the most reactionary elements of the Bush administration -- Perle, Dick Cheney et al. -- all of whom are now lobbying furiously for the oligarch's interests. What is less clear is why Khodorkovsky was naive enough to share their characteristic misconception that U.S. writ runs across the entire planet, and that support from Washington would solve his increasingly grave problems at home. Certainly, if his U.S. backers convinced him of this, they have done him a major disservice. Yukos was the first Russian company to understand the profound changes brought about by the Putin government: with safety of ownership regardless of past misdeeds and a stable political and economic backdrop, far greater wealth could be built by increasing company valuations than by stripping assets. Emulation of their examples has fueled a historic boom in equity prices. Most of Khodorkovsky's peers thought the concessions demanded in return (payment of taxes and an end to the meddling in politics) were a small price to pay. It is deeply unfortunate that Yukos increasingly sought to build its influence, not just in the oil fields and capital markets, but by buying control of the State Duma. On Thursday, Putin met with the heads of the major investment banks, reassuring them about the future direction of reform. With arch-reformer German Gref smiling at his side, he was uncompromising in his message that he would attack corruption wherever it was found -- be it in the bureaucracy, private sector or Duma -- but that minority Yukos shareholders' interests would be zealously protected. He was forceful, lucid and remarkably well-briefed on market issues. Vitally, Putin reiterated that there was no question of a generalized attack upon the other oligarchs nor a revision of the results of privatization -- historically, those who have ignored his words have done so at their own cost. The president also announced the dismantling of the Gazprom ring-fence "in a matter of months." The impact of this move may well outweigh the unarguably negative effects of the Yukos saga. Opening Gazprom to foreign investment would overnight almost double Russia's weighting in the main benchmark, the MSCI Index, mechanically driving a huge wave of buying by foreign funds. Looking beyond the current turbulence, the vital issue affecting Russia's progress over the next four years is not the fate of one oligarch, but the upcoming Duma elections. Polls show a sharp rise in the popularity of Putin's party, which is set to win a sizeable majority in the next parliament. A clear victory would renew the bold reform drive which characterized the start of his presidency, before the Duma succumbed to oligarchic lobbying. Russia has historically done best when it relied on its own internal strengths -- Jackson's coalition-of-the-available may huff and puff, but Putin's house is made of stone. Eric Kraus is chief strategist for Sovlink Securities. 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Putin the New Saddam? http://www.moscowtimes.ru/stories/2003/11/04/006.html By Eric Kraus
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