NationStates Jolt Archive

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/6163646.stm

Alexander Litvienko's definitely been poisoned, having been dosed with Thallium, a heavy metal poison.

It seems a little odd in itself but coupled with Litvinenko's strong anti-Putin position, Anna Politkovskaya's recent murder (an outspoken anti-Putin journalist an friend of Litvinenko), previous attempts on his life and the tenuous link with a Putin assassination plot, could it be that the Russian govt. is seriously trying to kill him? He's also (probably) a British Citizen now, although the Home office hasn't confirmed it, if that makes any bearing on the situation.

Thoughts?

depends on whether or not it was an official, ordered, assassination, or if it was just a pro-Putin nutjob thinking he was doing the right thing.

In all honesty, I wouldn't be suprised if this was the Russian governmnet.

In all honesty, I wouldn't be suprised if this was the Russian governmnet.
If I were the more imaginative type i'd be really worried about Putin's Russia. The guy seriously wants to bring it back to the bad old days. He really does seem to want to get back to a stiuation where the rest of the world needs to be afraid of Russia.

depends on whether or not it was an official, ordered, assassination, or if it was just a pro-Putin nutjob thinking he was doing the right thing.

By which you mean the Russian government.

By which you mean the Russian government.

zing!

Wouldn't surprise me if the Russian government were trying to kill him. It's a guaranteed and proven way to shut him up...assuming they're successful.

If I were the more imaginative type i'd be really worried about Putin's Russia. The guy seriously wants to bring it back to the bad old days. He really does seem to want to get back to a stiuation where the rest of the world needs to be afraid of Russia.

Can't blame him. You go from either the world's first or second most powerful nation and then you've been reduced to a fraction of that level within 15 years...the Soviet era was Russia's greatest era, and I can see why he might want to bring that level of power back.

What that means to us is a whole other question.

Can't blame him. You go from either the world's first or second most powerful nation and then you've been reduced to a fraction of that level within 15 years...the Soviet era was Russia's greatest era, and I can see why he might want to bring that level of power back.

What that means to us is a whole other question.

If everyones life is going to be hanging by a thread because of vast world nucleur arsenals, I think I prefer cold wars to direct ones anyday. Russia power was only a mirage anyway. There was no way that they could sustain the level they were operating at, but it still seems they used to have far more power than what they got now.

Can't blame him. You go from either the world's first or second most powerful nation and then you've been reduced to a fraction of that level within 15 years...the Soviet era was Russia's greatest era, and I can see why he might want to bring that level of power back.

What that means to us is a whole other question.

Hard to see that happening. Attempts to revive the old Soviet empire would be blocked. I'm sure even Europe would get off its butt to stop Putin from regaining that kind of power for Russia.

If everyones life is going to be hanging by a thread because of vast world nucleur arsenals, I think I prefer cold wars to direct ones anyday. Russia power was only a mirage anyway. There was no way that they could sustain the level they were operating at, but it still seems they used to have far more power than what they got now.

Well, they could have sustained it if they had made the kinds of changes Kruschchev had initiated in the 1950's and early 60's and had stuck to his plan of focusing on nuclear weapons and scaling down the size of the conventional military.

Unfortunately, when Brezhnev took over he either ignored or rolled back the reforms and focused on an arms buildup, taxing the economy and causing it to slip in to stagnation by the mid and late 70's. It didn't help that his regime was corrupt and lacked any new leadership that could have initiated reforms, which just caused the stagnation to be even worse.

Ah, Democracy.

Hard to see that happening. Attempts to revive the old Soviet empire would be blocked. I'm sure even Europe would get off its butt to stop Putin from regaining that kind of power for Russia.

Well, I think Putin would prefer to just focus on Russia; that's where the real power came from in the Soviet Union.

In all honesty, most of the other countries of the USSR (with the exception of the eastern SSRs) were pretty useless; in fact, the cost of giving them all kinds of subsidized equipment and resources put a strain on the Soviet economy rather than enhanced it.

Well, I think Putin would prefer to just focus on Russia; that's where the real power came from in the Soviet Union.

It doesn't mean he doesn't want the other ex USSR countries subservient and singing completely from his hymn sheet. That's why you got the whole argy bargy with the gas supply to they Ukraine because the had the audacity to democratically elect their leader. Speaking of which was he not poisoned in mysterious circumstances?

Well, I think Putin would prefer to just focus on Russia; that's where the real power came from in the Soviet Union.

In all honesty, most of the other countries of the USSR (with the exception of the eastern SSRs) were pretty useless; in fact, the cost of giving them all kinds of subsidized equipment and resources put a strain on the Soviet economy rather than enhanced it.

Hard to be the old Soviet Empire if they don't have their conqured nations in the fold. I'm sure history won't have any large effect on Putin, it usually doesn't have any effect on anyone.

Well, Putin used to be KGB himself. Wouldn't surprise me at all if he uses all sorts of methods to get his way if need be.

But yeah, Russia is going the way of the fascist. Complete with government-controlled corporations.

Well, Putin used to be KGB himself. Wouldn't surprise me at all if he uses all sorts of methods to get his way if need be.

But yeah, Russia is going the way of the fascist. Complete with government-controlled corporations.
If you read up a bit, these two had a working relationship back when Putin was head of Russian security back in the mid-90s. That's when they fell out, apparently, cos Litvinenko failed to stop corruption within the security services.

I personally don't for a second believe this is in any way ordered or supported by Putin. Not because I think he is such a nice guy but simply because he has absolutely nothing to gain and something to lose from this kind of assassinations.

One thing people usually don't get is the level of support Putin has in Russia at the moment. When Putin took office the country was reeling from bad economic decisions done years ago, even worse ones done recently and corrupt and weak leadership. The single clearest result of this was that the living standard for, especially, the poor was very low. When Putin took office, he promised to double Russia's GDP/person in ten years. So far, he's kept his promise, with total growth since he took office being somewhere around 55-60%. In addition, economic inequality has slightly decreased, meaning the poor income has grown even more than this. The Russian economic depression was, and to some extent continues to be mostly harming the poor. Since 2000, however, many of the very poor have risen from the level where they literally couldn't afford subsistence to actually having some expendable income. Then remember all this while the state press has been crediting Putin for everything good that has happened to Russian economy.

Or as my Russian friend put it: If you walk into a bar in the poorer parts of Moscow and openly criticize Putin, you're a very brave man.

There is an amply supply of people who feel Putin is next to god, and some of them are stupid enough to kill people.