Moscow Would Silence U.S. Critics by Toby Westerman @ TraditionInAction.com

HOT TOPICS: International Affairs

Moscow Would Silence U.S. Critics

Toby Westerman

Moscow is charging that U.S. critics of growing Russian authoritarianism and media oppression "are recalling the Cold War" and stand in the way of a close "strategic partnership" between Russia and the United States, according to a recent broadcast by the Voice of Russia World Service.

Critics in the West "are accusing Russia of all possible sins…human rights violations, unnecessary use of force in Chechnya…the clamping down on the mass media…allegedly excessive concentration of state power, doctored elections…the Kremlin's imperial ambitions," VOR complained.

In response to demands from the Bush administration and others that Moscow acknowledge Soviet Cold War oppression in the Baltic States (Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia) and Eastern Europe, VOR added that critics want Russia to "apologize to almost the whole world for certain Soviet-time transgressions."

A multi million-dollar project being developed is the Topol-M nuclear missile.

All who cite Moscow's current or past oppression are adhering to the "Cold War idea," and "the longer they [Moscow's critics] exert influence in real term politics, the more difficult it will prove to be to build the strategic partnership of Russia and the West," asserted VOR.

Moscow treats all charges of election fraud, media manipulation, government authoritarianism, or human rights violations as completely unworthy of direct response, but the Moscow elite only issue ominous warnings of Cold War sentiments. Condemnations from human rights or free press groups leave Moscow unfazed.

Moscow appears to be demanding that criticism of its policies cease and a virtual "Party line" be accepted without question, or another Cold War may result.

Despite Moscow's lamentable record on personal freedom and its continuing support of anti-American regimes -- including nuclear-tipped North Korea -- the Bush administration views Russia as a vital ally in the war on terror and a strategic partner.

Posted June 8, 2005

Toby Westerman writes and edits
International News Analysis - Today
An investigative, analytical, and uncompromising weekly analysis of the world situation

Contact T. Westerman at www.inatoday.com
or P.O. BOX 5182, Rockford, ILL, 61125-0182

Moscow Would Silence U.S. Critics
was published in the June 6, 2005 online edition of INA Today