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Putin Bashing - by Stephen Lendman
America targets Russia and a global rival.
On September 24, Russia's Vladimir Putin announced he'll run again for president in 2012 after serving eight years as Dmitry Medvedev's Prime Minister.
America's media have better memories than elephants. In November 2007, they recall Putin on National Unity Day telling military cadets and youth groups that while:
"an overwhelming majority of people in the world," are friendly toward Russia, some "keep saying to this day that our nation should be split. Some believe that we are too lucky to possess so much natural wealth, which they say must be divided."
In a thinly veiled reference to America, he added, "(t)hese people have lost their mind. (They) would like to build a unipolar world and rule over all mankind. Nothing of this kind has ever occurred in our planet's history, and I don't think it will ever happen."
On August 1, 2011 Reuters headlined, "Putin says US is "parasite" on global economy," saying:
Putin accused America "of living beyond its means 'like a parasite' on the global economy and said dollar dominance was a threat to the financial markets."
If America is in "systemic malfunction," he added, it affects everyone. Indeed so, and Putin is outspoken saying it.
A Lost Decade Under Yeltsin
Serving from July 1991 - December 31, 1999 as Russia's first president, Boris Yeltsin was a political criminal.
During his tenure, 80% of Russian farmers went bankrupt, 70,000 state factories closed, an epidemic of unemployment raged, half or more of all Russians became impoverished, a permanent underclass was created, and crime, suicides, mortality, alcoholism, drug abuse, and HIV/AIDS soared to intolerable levels.
Mandated "shock therapy" produced economic genocide. GDP plunged 50%. Life expectancy fell. Democratic freedoms died. An oligarch class accumulated enormous wealth at the expense of millions of harmed Russians.
Contemptuously ignoring essential needs, human rights and civil liberties, Yeltsin let corruption and criminality flourish. One scandal followed another. Money-laundering became sport. Many billions in stolen wealth were hidden in Western banks or offshore tax havens.
He surrounded himself with like-minded apparachiks. He used his Russian Federation presidency to boost his own political power. Months later the Soviet Union dissolved.
Decisions were made behind closed doors, implemented without popular consent. Western imperialism backed them to exploit former Republics' wealth, resources and people.
