Putin’s censored press conference: The transcript you weren’t supposed to see

[donsu]

http://onlinejournal.com/artman/publish/article_2075.shtml


Last Tuesday, Russian President Vladimir Putin gave an hour and a half-long press conference that was attended by many members of the world media. The contents of that meeting -- in which Putin answered all questions concerning nuclear proliferation, human rights, Kosovo, democracy and the present confrontation with the United States over missile defense in Europe -- have been completely censored by the press. Apart from one brief excerpt that appeared in a Washington Post editorial, (and which was used to criticize Putin) the press conference has been scrubbed from the public record. It never happened. (Read the entire press conference archived here.)

Putin’s performance was a tour de force. He fielded all of the questions however misleading or insulting. He was candid and statesmanlike and demonstrated a good understanding of all the main issues.

The meeting gave Putin a chance to give his side of the story in the growing debate over missile defense in Eastern Europe. He offered a brief account of the deteriorating state of US-Russian relations since the end of the Cold War, and particularly from 9-11 to present. Since September 11, the Bush administration has carried out an aggressive strategy to surround Russia with military bases, install missiles on its borders, topple allied regimes in Central Asia, and incite political upheaval in Moscow through US-backed “pro-democracy” groups. These openly hostile actions have convinced many Russian hardliners that the administration is going forward with the neocon plan for “regime change” in Moscow and fragmentation of the Russian Federation. Putin’s testimony suggests that the hardliners are probably right.

The Bush administration’s belligerent foreign policy has backed the Kremlin into a corner and forced Putin to take retaliatory measures. He has no other choice.
-snip-
---------------------------

I wouldn't want to get pregnant now

[wicket]

1. K & R

:kick:

[Captain Hilts]

2. He's meeting with foreign business leaders today. Odd, he's more accessible than our Prez. nt

[mike_c]

3. U.S. foreign policy is TERRIBLE....

eom

[ewagner]

4. Russian foreign policy

since before WWII was always deeply grounded in suspicion and paranoia...sometimes rightly so...The breakup of the Soviet Union did not end the suspicion and paranoia in the politbureau...it still exists and US policy should (must) be cognizant of it because that paranoia can lead to another arms race and...and..surogate wars around the periphery of Russia.

[hang a left]

5. "“regime change” in Moscow"

Okie dokie that's gonna be completed by the US???

Geedubs legacy.

LOL

[Prisoner_Number_Six]

6. He didn't mince words

His responses were reasoned, intelligent, and very much to the point. I don't care if he is, at his core, a despot- he's an informed despot, and in comparison to OUR despot, he's a breath of fresh air.

[LibertyorDeath]

7. Thank you donsu

It seems to get worse on a daily basis.

Backing a Nuclear armed Russia into a corner

is the foreign policy of morans.

Putin does not strike me as someone you

play games with Nuclear or otherwise.

[IndyOp]

10. According to Thom Hartmann, Putin has bragged about

killing a man with his bare hands.

So I am seconding your statement that Putin is not a man I would want to play games with.

:(

[CatWoman]

11. I think he's hot

:)

[IndyOp]

12. Vlad is hot? Okey-dokey. To each their own...

;-)

:hi:

[LibertyorDeath]

18. Then your hot for

extremely intelligent guys...

Who like Cats :)


and that's a good thing !!

[LibertyorDeath]

17. Well if the eyes are the window to the soul I have to say

he's one mega intelligent & scary dude.



He's more cognizant in a coma than bush is wide awake...

[havocmom]

8. .

[AikidoSoul]

9. John Edwards showed himself to be and idiot when it came to Putin

Quote from the same link provided by the OP:

"Two actions in particular have changed the Russian-US relationship from tepid to openly hostile. The first was when Putin announced that Russia’s four largest oil fields would not be open to foreign development. (Russia has been consolidating its oil wealth under state-run Gazprom) And, second, when the Russian Treasury began to convert Russia’s dollar reserves into gold and rubles. Both of these are regarded as high-crimes by US corporate chieftains and Western elites. Their response was swift.

John Edwards and Jack Kemp were appointed to lead a Council on Foreign Relations (CFR) task force which concocted the basic pretext for an all-out assault on the Putin. This is where the idea that Putin is “rolling back democracy” began; it’s a feeble excuse for political antagonism. In their article “Russia’s Wrong Direction,” Edwards and Kemp state that a “strategic partnership” with Russia is no longer possible. They note that the government has become increasingly “authoritarian” and that the society is growing less “open and pluralistic.” Blah, blah, blah. No one in Washington really cares about democracy. (Just look at our “good friends” in Saudi Arabia, Azerbaijan, Uzbekistan, and Kazakhstan) What they’re afraid of is Putin ditching the dollar and controlling his own oil. That’s what counts. Bush also wants Putin to support sanctions against Iran and rubber stamp a Security Council resolution to separate Kosovo form Serbia. (Since when does the UN have the right to redraw national borders? Was the creation of Israel such a stunning success that the Security Council wants to try its luck again?)"

[motocicleta]

14. Add that to the IWR and his comments on Iran,

and who gives a crap about his house or his haircut? The man is not presidential material. More so than *, but not where we need to go as a nation.

[Psyop Samurai]

13. Thank you... An absulute "must read"... k&r, n/t

[LibertyorDeath]

19. Hey W E L C O M E ! to DU Psyop Samurai

Best User Name Eva!!!

& Yes " An absolute "must read"

:toast:

[Psyop Samurai]

24. Thanks, LibertyorDeath !!

:toast:

...I've been around a while.

...usually too stunned to speak, but I chime in once in a while. ;)

[motocicleta]

15. Oh man, that's some scary shit.

I've already got my panties in a bunch over peak oil, climate change, and the US economy. Now we need another arms race? Plus my wife is about to have our second child any day. Thanks for nothing, donsu.

K n R

[LibertyorDeath]

20. GOOD GAWD MAN !!!

Your Not Waring Panties are You!!!




Not that there's anything wrong with that...

[fooj]

16. Swell. Just swell.

:scared:

[Pooka Fey]

21. This is an awesome post. A must-read. K&R

[muriel_volestrangler]

22. Not 'censored' - reported in the 8 papers who were invited

Though the Russians did embargo the papers from reporting it for a couple of days, which may have pissed them off.

The Kremlin had summoned a newspaper from each of the G8 countries –Britain, the US, Russia, Japan, Canada, Italy, France and Germany – and employed an international public relations company to “put Russia’s message across” before the annual summit, which begins on Wednesday in Heiligendamm, Germany. The Novo Ogarevo residence is where Mr Putin retreats most evenings; his cavalcade, with four outriders, can cover the eight miles in minutes, along a highway lined with new Ralph Lauren and Prada boutiques, but for ordinary commuters in Moscow’s immobile traffic it would take two hours.
...
A Russian television crew knocked balls around the pool table under a screen showing a gangster film of unremitting mutilation as the delay for the scheduled interview stretched to two hours. The Kremlin press squad declared that everyone should prepare for a surprise dinner that the President would host to show his friendliness – and by the way, his remarks would be under embargo and not publishable until Monday.

It is not often, these days, that media management is so poor that it warrants comment, but the Kremlin, having gone to such lengths to stage the audience with the President, then threw away, in that reflex of control, the pages of newsprint cleared by editors in seven countries to receive his words. The man from Nikkei let out a long exhalation of disbelief; the Globe and Mailslumped into a leatherette swivel chair to break the news to Toronto; Le Figaro fixedly studied a crystallised fruit pinched between thumb and forefinger.

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/europe/article1878792.ece

That's The Times' (long) report on it; the Wall Street Journal's report is behind their firewall (they have a couple of stories based on it; the Globe and Mail gave us the entire transcript.

So, Whitney's "Apart from one brief excerpt that appeared in a Washington Post editorial, (and which was used to criticize Putin) the press conference has been scrubbed from the public record. It never happened" is, frankly, bullshit. Loads of other media picked up on some of the things he said - like the remark about him being the only democrat since Mahatma Ghandi.

[Duppers]

23. and Rice is supposed to be a Russian specialist

Ha.

(I've not had time to read the whole article yet or the transcript, but I will.)

[Supersedeas]

25. Condi the Dinosaur Sovietologist in Charge is all over this