Welcome to DU! The truly grassroots left-of-center political community where regular people, not algorithms, drive the discussions and set the standards. Join the community: Create a free account Support DU (and get rid of ads!): Become a Star Member All Forums Issue Forums Culture Forums Alliance Forums Region Forums Support Forums Help & Search

elleng

(130,127 posts)
Tue Sep 22, 2020, 10:30 PM Sep 2020

Vladimir Putin Thinks He Can Get Away With Anything.

'Why has the poisoning of Alexei Navalny been met with Western silence?

It is now an established fact, confirmed by laboratories in Germany, France and Sweden, that Alexei Navalny was poisoned with Novichok, a nerve agent developed by the Soviet Union. The powerful poison, which has been used in at least one previous assassination attempt against foes of the Russian regime, was this time employed against a domestic opposition leader who operated openly to expose corruption and challenge the Kremlin. It requires a serious response.

In the face of Kremlin stonewalling, many questions remain unanswered and are likely to remain so. Chief among them is whether President Vladimir Putin ordered or approved the attempted assassination. Then there is the fact that once again, the victim survived the attack, and the nerve agent was identified. Mr. Navalny had been flying home from Siberia to Moscow when he was stricken. Did his poisoners want him to perish on the way, as the timetable of the attack suggests, and want to cover up the reason? Or was it their intention to convey a brutal warning of what happens to those who challenge the Kremlin?

Mr. Navalny may have survived largely because of the pilot’s alacrity in landing and getting him to a hospital. The government later allowed him to be taken to Germany for further treatment. Once they heard of his collapse, Mr. Navalny’s colleagues quickly collected what they could from his last hotel in Siberia and got the evidence to Germany, where traces of Novichok were found on a water bottle.

Whatever the full story, the Russian government’s contemptible posturing as an aggrieved victim of unfair suspicions only intensify the need to demand a reckoning from the Kremlin. Mr. Putin knows what happened, or he can find out, and if he continues to hide behind glaringly phony denials and ridiculous accusations, he only strengthens the suspicion that this was a deliberate, state-sanctioned hit. He had the greatest motive, means and opportunity. . .

Mr. Putin must believe that there is not much the West can do that it hasn’t already done by way of sanctions. President Trump, for reasons that remain one of the top mysteries of his administration, has largely closed his eyes to Mr. Putin’s serial transgressions, whether it’s meddling in American elections, annexing Crimea or stonewalling on the poisoning of dissidents.

The surest sign of European anger would be cancellation of the Nord Stream 2 pipeline, a gas conduit from Russia to Germany under the Baltic Sea. But the project is nearly completed, and Angela Merkel, the chancellor of Germany, is reluctant to take a step that would be costly for Europe and that would look like bowing to threats from the Trump administration, which has demanded cancellation of the pipeline.'>>>

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/09/22/opinion/vladimir-putin-navalny-poisoning.html?

6 replies = new reply since forum marked as read
Highlight: NoneDon't highlight anything 5 newestHighlight 5 most recent replies
Vladimir Putin Thinks He Can Get Away With Anything. (Original Post) elleng Sep 2020 OP
Reminds Me Of Someone Else sfstaxprep Sep 2020 #1
they don't just think they can - they apparently can. NRaleighLiberal Sep 2020 #2
ditto. elleng Sep 2020 #3
And why wouldn't he think that? LisaL Sep 2020 #4
Face it, Putin is in charge of running the US and has been. BigmanPigman Sep 2020 #5
That's because he pretty-much can. Aristus Sep 2020 #6

NRaleighLiberal

(59,940 posts)
2. they don't just think they can - they apparently can.
Tue Sep 22, 2020, 11:35 PM
Sep 2020

we've watched orange asshole trample decency and commit mass murder - a complete disaster for nearly 4 years - and he keeps going.

I've no idea what the answer is.

BigmanPigman

(51,430 posts)
5. Face it, Putin is in charge of running the US and has been.
Wed Sep 23, 2020, 12:54 AM
Sep 2020

The fucking moron is merely a figurehead, PUTIN'S PUPPET. Mr. KGB knew what he was/is doing. Can the CIA give Putin some "tea"?

Aristus

(66,090 posts)
6. That's because he pretty-much can.
Wed Sep 23, 2020, 09:46 AM
Sep 2020

Russia isn't a nation so much as a crime syndicate with a flag. No one is going to do anything to rein him in...

Latest Discussions»Issue Forums»Editorials & Other Articles»Vladimir Putin Thinks He ...