Quote:
Originally Posted by sambucas
What history exactly?
|
Really?
How about
:
-KGB career in both East Germany & USSR
-suppression & jailing of numerous opposition figures on trumped up "corruption" and other charges
-suppression of dissents & criticism in print media, tv, and other journalism (argue all you want about Russia having a free press, this is not remotely the case) plus supression of activist opposition groups & other segments of civil society. You can find multiple reports on this by Amnesty International, HRW, etc.
-completing the near-total destruction of Grozny
-fucking with former Soviet republics like Ukraine (poisoning Yuschenko) or Georgia (did they get UN approval for invading them in 2008? course not)
-the ridiculous Pussy Riot jailing (just one of the more sensationalist anti-dissident events recently), the regressive "homosexual propaganda" law, etc.
I could go on. Again, I don't think Putin's really much worse than any other bitch-ass world leader, but the idea that some are promoting (including himself) that he's a champion of international law & fairness is laughable. He's an opportunist, nothing more.
And in Syria Russia is not a "neutral party" by any stretch. They've happily supplied Assad with large quantities of weapons and continue to do so, they've blocked UN motions for humanitarian access & facilitating aid deliveries to civilians, the list goes on.
Here are a couple write-ups detailing Russian positions and actions in Syria that indicate Putin isn't acting from any high-minded notion of international law - it's just in his self-interest.
One is published by the Finnish Institute of International Affairs (
http://www.fiia.fi/en/publication/34.../#.UjITHT885TQ - link to the PDF there, which mentions the vetos of various UNSC resolutions and is a decent snapshot of their strategic position), the other by the program director at Human Rights Watch (
http://www.hrw.org/news/2013/06/19/w...ia-doublespeak)
Again, for the record I'm totally against any US/Western strike in Syria. Just find this new "Putin is a great guy!" meme to be kinda ridiculous.