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| Sergei Mironov |
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I was just watching the Russian TV news (Channel One) when I heard the leader of the Russian “liberal” opposition,
Sergei Mironov, declare that if he becomes President he would name
General Vladimir Shamanov, the current Commander of the Russian Airborne Forces, as Minister of Defense.
If the most pro-Western (relatively speaking) candidate to the post of President openly nominates a “super-hawk” (
according to the Jamestown Foundation) it really illustrates the fact that the West has no allies at all in the Russian political scene.
I can almost hear the horrified exclamations in the various US think tanks after such a declaration…
By the way, Shamanov would make an excellent Minister of Defense for Russia, here I have to agree with Mironov (who himself used to serve in the Airborne Forces), in particular if he works under a strict President with a clear vision for the future of Russian Armed Forces.
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| Vladimir Shamanov |
At the very least, I want to hope that following the next Presidential election the current Minister of Defense, Anatoly Serdyukov and his subservient Chief of General Staff, General Nikolai Makarov, are both replaced with men whom the armed forces can trust and who are not universally disliked.
Serdyukov and Makarov have presided over some rather painful military reforms which have not yielded the expected results and they now both need to be officially thanked and let go.
My advice to Putin (who, I am quite sure, reads my blog with rapt attention) would be as follows: make Dmitry Rogozin the next Minister of Defense and Vladimir Shamanov the next Chief of Staff; that would immensely boost your popularity with the armed forces and would gave US and NATO leaders some really bad nightmares…
Interesting. But I wonder if the definition of “liberal opposition” fits Mironov and his party: he is known to be quite close to Putin and United Russia, and has a social-democratic political platform.
@Carlo: yes, you are right, of course, the expression “liberal opposition” should be qualified here. Still, Mironov has shown himself to be fierce critic of Putin recently and he is widely seen as the least “hawkish” towards the West, at least when compared to Ziuganov or Zhirinovsky. Ok, there Prokhorov, but from what I hear he is in the 4% range of popularity, which is better than the 1% the openly pro-Western “non-system opposition” gets, but still not in the same league as United Russia, the Commies, the LDPR or Mironov’s “Just Russia” Party.
Let me put it this way: Mirinov is no buffoon. In this sense I consider him even more credible than clowns like Zuiganov or Zhirinovsky who even though they get more voters are basically a big fat joke and whom Putin and this regime de-facto control and use.
I might be mistaken, but for me Mironov is the closest to a “real opposition” to the current government as it gets. You can listen to a speech by Mironov or a meeting of his Party and get the feeling that these are adult, sane, people, with views and ideas to debate.
When I hear the Commies or the LDPR, I always have this feeling like somebody is broadcasting a live show from an insane asylum and that while some of the loonies there are definitely smart and even funny (Zhirinovsky) and others are boring beyond belief (Zuiganov) they are all totally crazy and catering to a crowd of equally insane patients…
Mironov of course lacks any charisma or authority, and just does not “look” like much of a President, at least to me…
I bet Putin does read the blog regularly. [:o) The Syria article underneath this post has been reposted across the internet at some news aggregator pages. The www is the best for news and analysis. Bye bye lamestream media it was nice not knowing ya.
Saker,
If you get a chance I’d like to get your opinion on this article:
Stalin’s Willing Executioners
@Nationalist: Very interesting and historically important topic indeed. Let’s try this first: I wrote a piece on a similar topic here:
http://vineyardsaker.blogspot.com/2008/04/acting-as-one-which-of-course-they-are.html
Please check it out and let me know if that answers your question or whether you want me to give you a more specific answer, ok?
Cheers,
The Saker
Mitzi I can answer this bucaese my family lives down there! You are outside of my color planting schedule by about a month. The trick is, Las Vegas gets so hot in the summer, but you can grow almost all winter long. My book is really for a spring-summer-fall planting schedule. The dates I offer might work for you and others who live in warmer climates, but really have a spring-summer and a fall-winter season. I am very aware of your needs, and it’s on my list of things to research and write about. But honestly, I can’t speak from experience, only from my research. I encourage you to contact your local extension service (www.extension.org) for a recommended planting schedule.