The Putin System Documentary

[fullautovalmet76]

Check out this documentary on Putin:

I think you'll find it very informative.

[tombogan03884]

Putin and his cronies made Billions of $ from the Iraq Oil for Food program. The man quoted toward the end of this clip, identified as "coauthor of the book "Blowing up Russia" is also a former KGB officer. The other author was Alexander Livchyenko, famously murdered on Putin's orders in London by Polonium poisoning.
The book details the SVR (KGB successor ) conspiracy to commit apartment building bombings in Russia as a pretext for the 2nd Chechen War.
What this man is, is a modern day Hitler with out the Iron Cross. He is a veteran of a disastrous conflict that his Country lost by apparently being sold out by the politicians playing to the passions of the mobs.
He has showed, plainly and brutally that he will stop at nothing to restore, not necessarily communism, but "The Glories" of "The good old days".
He is a bastard, and not to be trusted. He is also probably what Russia needs.

[fightingquaker13]

That last bit is the rub. Russia has never been a democracy or anything close. As long as he isn't an expansionist and stays the hell out of Eastern europe, I'm not sure that we aren't better off living with him. What's plan B?
FQ13

[fullautovalmet76]

Tom/Quaker,
This is part 1 of 9 and I encourage to see the rest if you haven't do so already. I found interesting how the oligarchs that put him in power were double-crossed in the end. And did you get the part where they found evidence of staged terror attacks by the NKVD?

This shouldn't surprise me but it did anyway: our media has not given this guy nowhere near the coverage he deserves. I agree with you Tom, he is a modern day Hitler, maybe worse if that's possible. He has figured out that if he can manipulate and control the energy supplies for the world, he can run the world by proxy. It's kind of like, "You don't like my policies, comrades? Let me turn off your heat, and electricity and let you reconsider...."

[tombogan03884]

I will indeed watch the other segments tomorrow but I want to comment on your post.
He only screwed the Oligarchs who would not cut him in on the deals like Oil for food. Berezovsky, currently living in England is one example with at least 2 attempts on his life, Mikhail Khodorkovsky, currently serving an endless sentence in Siberia for alleged misconduct in managing Yukos, which under his leadership became  the largest energy conglomerate in the world is another.
Strangely enough after the arrest of Khodorkovsky Yukos was nationalized and broken up with large portions going to Putin cronies to become Gazprom.
In your post you mention "It's kind of like, "You don't like my policies, comrades? Let me turn off your heat, and electricity and let you reconsider...." Well, that is exactly what he did to Georgia and Ukraine a few years back. As well as having dissenting journalists murdered.
I look forward to watching the rest of it.

FQ of course again parades his ignorance of recent history. He doesn't find any hints of expansionism in the invasions of Georgia or Chechnya, or the continuing Russian fueled fighting in the Caucasus region. But that is to be expected from a College professor of history and political science.  

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[fightingquaker13]

Let us recall two things. Chechnya is part of Russia and was led into revolt by radical Muslims. Not defending Russian tactics, but if Mighigan seceeded led by Jihadis we'd let that go?
 Second, Georgia started ithe latest wave of fighting. This whole thing was about a region of sheep herders called South Ossetia (about 400,00) their capital city is less than 40,000 souls. They are in Georgia, but want to be reunited with North Ossetia that is in Russian. Georgia initiated an offensive aimed at (among other things) the Ossetian airbase where they knew Russians were stationed. WTF did they think would happen? Look Georgia is an ally, but the Georgian President gambled on thinking he could solve one of these absurd Eastern European feuds over nothing by dragging us into it. What were we supposed to do, restart the Cold War over a war dating back a few centuries and a bunch of sheep? It was a stupid move. I don't defend Russia, but to have an ally that would bomb Russian service personel and then expect us to save them all over bupkiss? Not wise.
FQ13

[tombogan03884]

The south Ossetian separatist movement was started by stay behind (or left behind ) Russian ethnic elements of the crumbling Red Army. It has relied on Russian military support, including personnel for its entire existence.
Chechnya is not "part of Russia, any more than Ukraine, or Belarus.  It was in fact, one of the first ethic Republics to achieve independence under the Alma Ata declaration of Dec 1991. signed by Boris Yeltsin and recognizing the Republic declared on 1 Nov .
The first Chechen war did not begin until the Russian invasion of 1994.

[tombogan03884]

Just finished watching the whole thing. I was impressed. It misses a few things like the SVR's continuing intelligence activities against Western democracies and the Russian role in the Iraq food for Oil program of the 90's, but those subjects were not strictly with in the scope of the program.