The Images from Russia

[takeo]

Commies weren't a threat??? What planet are you from??? Have you heard of the Brezhnev Doctine? Have you heard of KGB interrogations? Have you heard of gulag?

I personally know people who done hard time in Russia for the crime of studying Hebrew. That doesn't sound like a threat to you? Are you sure you ever lived in Russia? Or is that you still maintain you membership in the Russian Communist Party?

the brezhnev-doctrine was one of "peacefull coexistance" while increasing the Soviet sphere of influence, exactly the same philosophy as the US, only the US was much more powerfull and had more resources at its disposal. This soviet sphere of influence was extending to countries such as afghanistan and Vietnam, not exactly a big threath to the West and not exactly a big backdraw for those peoples who came from medieval societies, and for this "crime" alone you supported the worst most inhuman terrorists on earth and killed millions of innocent vietnamese. The communists won in Vietnam and lost in afghanistan, you can compare for yourself how those countries evolved ever since...


All the other facts you mention are internal affairs that weren't a threat for us, also in the US some nasty things happened during the cold war, btw remember the Rosenberg trial, if anything similar would have happened in France you would still be screaming about "anti-semitic French who killed innocent Jews"...
btw, being locked up for studiing Hebrew? perhaps in the stalin-period it would have been possible, but not later, there were active synagogues in most Russian cities.

the US presented the communists as the great evil while supporting Osama Bin Laden, Pinochet and all kind of other dictators and scum.
Nowadays Russians, even non-communists, are still angry for this, and some even think the us has its hand in Tchechen separatism, which always received a warm wellcome in the West and especially in Western ally Turkey... Altough the communist regimes were all but perfect, many eastern Europeans and Russians now recret the demise of the soviet-Union and communism. The recent terrorist attacks for example have given way to a new wave of nostalgia in Russia and especially in North-Ossetia, nostalgia to much better times, with people waving red flags on the anti-terrorist gatherings today.

[philingraham]

the brezhnev-doctrine was one of "peacefull coexistance" while increasing the Soviet sphere of influence, exactly the same philosophy as the US, only the US was much more powerfull and had more resources at its disposal. This soviet sphere of influence was extending to countries such as afghanistan and Vietnam, not exactly a big threath to the West and not exactly a big backdraw for those peoples who came from medieval societies, and for this "crime" alone you supported the worst most inhuman terrorists on earth and killed millions of innocent vietnamese. The communists won in Vietnam and lost in afghanistan, you can compare for yourself how those countries evolved ever since...


All the other facts you mention are internal affairs that weren't a threat for us, also in the US some nasty things happened during the cold war, btw remember the Rosenberg trial, if anything similar would have happened in France you would still be screaming about "anti-semitic French who killed innocent Jews"...
btw, being locked up for studiing Hebrew? perhaps in the stalin-period it would have been possible, but not later, there were active synagogues in most Russian cities.

the US presented the communists as the great evil while supporting Osama Bin Laden, Pinochet and all kind of other dictators and scum.
Nowadays Russians, even non-communists, are still angry for this, and some even think the us has its hand in Tchechen separatism, which always received a warm wellcome in the West and especially in Western ally Turkey... Altough the communist regimes were all but perfect, many eastern Europeans and Russians now recret the demise of the soviet-Union and communism. The recent terrorist attacks for example have given way to a new wave of nostalgia in Russia and especially in North-Ossetia, nostalgia to much better times, with people waving red flags on the anti-terrorist gatherings today.

I think that you are, for the most part, correct in your analysis of what happened in the recent past. We have stooped to a very low level to promote "freedom and democracy and capitalism" throughout the World. We are currently living out the consequences of our actions.

Living in Europe, has to be a very frustrating experience since you are sidelined by a bigger and more ambitious power than you are used to dealing with.But your voice is still heard and appreciated regardless of your inability to seriously influence the course of events.

Regarding Muslim Terrorism, there will be no quarter given, regardless of the legitimate aspirations of the Muslim peoples. Yes, we are culpable in their rotten situation. We have supported dictatorial regimes up the whazoo to get our way. But to export terrorism means that we will also bring death and destuction down upon the very peoples that the terrorists are acting in the name of.

So, what to do ? For starters, we have to insist that there is no other alternative for the current Muslim regimes than to give their people a real voice in their gov'ts. Even if this means that they will act against the interests of the US, including Iraq.

Secondly, the US and the rest of the World has to understand that the oil spigot is surely shutting down and the manic focus on the Middle East does not lead to redemption.

Thirdly, Muslims, inspite of their quandary, are better off living the tenets of their religion, stopping their homegrown terrorists, and making their case to the rest of the World by their example under bad conditions. Hopefully, the Europeans will come to their aid, along with many Americans and others.

Sound crazy ? Maybe, but show me something better...

[KettleWhistle]

the brezhnev-doctrine was one of "peacefull coexistance" while increasing the Soviet sphere of influence, exactly the same philosophy as the US, only the US was much more powerfull and had more resources at its disposal.

You mean the type of "peaceful coexistence" that was going on in Czechoslovakia in 1968? For your education, that was the first time the Brezhnev Doctine was exercised.

This soviet sphere of influence was extending to countries such as afghanistan and Vietnam, not exactly a big threath to the West

That was not a big threat to the West because the West was protected, for the most part due to the U.S. efforts.

All the other facts you mention are internal affairs that weren't a threat for us

Again, these weren't a threat because of the U.S. efforts. If not these efforts, these "internal affairs" would've been the internal affairs of all of Europe.

btw, being locked up for studiing Hebrew? perhaps in the stalin-period it would have been possible, but not later, there were active synagogues in most Russian cities.

No, during Stalin's rule people weren't locked up for it. They were either shot or sent to labor camps. That happened during Brezhnev's rule. It was illegal to study Hebrew, and people who were caught doing it clandestinely would typically get 3 years behind bars. And remember, no jury trials there either. Everything was decided by a panel of three "honest and uncorruptible" judges.