Garry Kasparov: The killing of my friend Boris Nemtsov must signal the death of appeasement

[YoungDemCA]

When the Russian opposition leader Boris Nemtsov was assassinated in sight of the Kremlin last Friday night, it shocked even those of us who thought we had lost the ability to be shocked by events in Vladimir Putin’s Russia. When Russian forces moved into Ukraine and Putin annexed Crimea a year ago, it was also a terrible shock to a world that had grown too comfortable with the belief that the days of changing Europe’s borders by force were long over. But we must cease to be surprised by the violence and hatred emanating from Russia today if we are to combat it successfully.

When the shock subsides and the evidence is examined, it is clear no one should truly have been surprised by either horrific event. Boris, with whom I worked closely for many years, often talked of the violent ends faced by those who spoke out against Putin. We all knew what could happen to any of us at any time, and a few months after I last left Russia, in February 2013, I decided I would not return.

Police states are very good at keeping a monopoly on violence, and Putin’s Russia is no exception. When the victim is a former Russian deputy prime minister and a prominent critic of the regime, and his murder takes place in a wide open area right next to the Kremlin, the chance that it occurred without the involvement of Russia’s security services is vanishingly small. Boris was always under personal and electronic surveillance, but we are supposed to believe that his escort had the night off, and all nearby CCTV cameras happened to be down for repairs that day.

snip:

An appropriately strong reaction to Putin’s aggression in Ukraine and his brutality in Russia will require a battle on many fronts. Putin, like other modern autocrats, has an advantage that the Soviet leadership could never have dreamed of: deep economic and political engagement with the free world. The naive idea was that the free world would use economic and social ties to gradually liberalise authoritarian states. In practice, the authoritarian states have abused this access and economic interdependency to spread their corruption while cracking down ever harder at home.

http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2015/mar/06/boris-nemtsov-appeasement-ukraine-putin

[MADem]

1. Garry should be made aware that there is a WONDERFUL company that was founded in

Colombia and has outlets in other locations that creates quality ballistic clothing--everything from underwear to suits, to sweaters to jackets and sport coats, along with umbrellas, hats, that sort of thing.

If I were him, I'd start wearing a vest at least.

[Cha]

2. Mahalo, YDC