Murder Beside the Kremlin

[jakeXT]

...

As usual, the warring sides have not listened to one another, and have shown little interest in discovering the real reasons for the killing. In this setting the remarks of St Petersburg blogger Anatoly Nesmeyan, known on the net as El-Murid, are especially notable. In his view those who ordered the murder were not “sworn conspirators” from among opposition activists and liberal westernizers, but high-ranking figures from within the Russian establishment. In other words, a pretext was being prepared in Moscow for a palace coup.

It is such a coup in the top echelon of the authorities, and not marches by the opposition intelligentsia, that poses the only real threat to Putin, who despite everything enjoys the support of a large majority of Russians. Unless the president decides for some reason to hand over power ahead of time, as Boris Yeltsin did in 1999, no one but his own innermost circle can remove him. The growing crisis in relations with the West is not bringing any joy to the Russian elite, and the economic mess is not giving its members cause for optimism. Government organs are constantly refusing, publicly, to implement decisions of the president, as occurred for example in the well-known case of the tax that Putin tried to levy on oligarchs who had grown rich on the privatizations of the 1990s. In such a situation the question of replacing the leader inevitably arises, and precisely in the top ranks of the administration.

If we go on to examine the events from the angle of the distribution of power within the government, there is every reason to suspect that the shooting of a well-known politician and personal acquaintance of the president, literally within a few steps of the Kremlin, amounts to a sort of message whose target is particularly obvious. There is not the slightest doubt that the “national leader” understands the significance of this message, but what conclusions Putin will draw concerning his own options is less clear. We shall find out in the coming months.

Meanwhile, the majority of Russian citizens who belong neither to the “party of power” nor to the liberal opposition have reacted to these events with a mixture of indifference and incomprehension. Against a backdrop of the deaths of thousands of peaceful residents of the Donbass, the murder of a single political figure in Moscow cannot arouse powerful emotions. Especially since many still recall the role played by Boris Nemtsov in 1993, during the shelling of the Russian parliament by troops of President Yeltsin.

At that time it was the very same Nemtsov who, addressing the wavering Prime Minister Viktor Chernomyrdin, uttered the famous words: “Crush them, Viktor Stepanovich, crush them! There’s no time to lose! Annihilate them!”

http://www.thenation.com/article/199969/murder-beside-kremlin

[KoKo]

1. Interesting read from "The Nation"

We can look at the current craziness of our 47 Rogue Repub Senators sending letter to Iran's leadership, following Netanyahu's non Obama approved visit, and realize that no county's leader is immune from influence within by those who wish them ill. Russia's transitioning from former Communist rule and the old Soviet State makes any leader's role there fraught with danger. Imagine Sheldon Adelson and Ruppert Murdoch here in the US giving money to House/Senate Members Candidates and we've watched the "Revolving Door," from Government to Wall Street and Back Again that exists within our own government. We have former Military in and out the Govt. door raking in money from consulting or forming companies to profit from continuing wars and the security of our "Homeland." Plus, we have had our own Assassinations and attempts here in the U.S.A against Presidents, Congressional Candidates and Civil Rights Leaders. In some cases we don't even feel the correct person was held accountable and more investigations still don't give an answer.

This article sheds a light on Russia's Government and some of the forces at work both within, and without, but I imagine there are some so convinced that "Putin Did It" that there will be little attention here to the content.