Vladimir Putin praises Orthodox Church for boosting patriotism
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Russian president joins Patriarch Kirill for Easter prayers in Moscow cathedral
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US Republicans Continue Attack on Iran Nuclear Dealby webdesk@voanews.com (VOA News)
Republicans in the United States continue to criticize President Barack Obama's preliminary agreement to restrain Iran's nuclear development program. Mitt Romney, who lost the 2012 presidential election to Obama, told the television show Fox News Sunday the prospective deal the United States and five other world powers negotiated with Iran is "not the kind of deal that will protect us and people around the world." Romney called for stricter economic sanctions than the West and the United Nations have imposed on Iran in an effort to keep Tehran from developing a nuclear weapon. Romney said "a bad deal is not as good as no deal." Senator John McCain, who Obama defeated in the 2008 election also attacked the agreement. "It is undeniable that the version of the nuclear agreement outlined by the Obama administration is far different from the one described by Iran's Supreme leader: on inspections, sanctions relief and other critically important issues," a McCain statement said Saturday." Kerry urges patience Speaking on Sunday news shows, U.S. Secretary of State Kerry said the framework deal with Iran is what the United States said it was. He added the Russians have issued a statement saying the facts about the deal, as expressed by the United States, are accurate. Kerry urged congressional opponents of an emerging nuclear deal with Iran to “hold their fire” until they see a final agreement later this year. He said the Obama administration should be free to negotiate without interference until the June deadline for a final deal. Kerry said he will brief lawmakers over the next two days as part of the Obama administration's effort to beat back a move among lawmakers to require congressional approval to ease sanctions on Iran. Iran and the world powers have set the end of June as their next deadline to reach a final agreement. Obama declared during a press conference at the close of the Summit of the Americas in Panama that partisan wrangling over the nuclear negotiations with Iran has gone too far. "It needs to stop," he said. Obama said that when he hears some members of Congress, including McCain, suggest that Kerry "is somehow less trustworthy in the interpretation of what's in a political agreement than the supreme leader of Iran, that is an indication of the degree to which partisanship has crossed all boundaries." “We saw this with the letter sent by the 47 senators, who communicate directly to the supreme leader of Iran, the person that they say can not be trusted at all, warning him not to trust the United States government," Obama added. The president said he is still “absolutely positive” the framework agreement is the best way to prevent Iran from getting a nuclear weapon. And he added if the final negotiations do not produce a tough enough agreement, the United States can back away from it. 'Major setback' McCain said last week the suggestion by the Iranian supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, that Iran would not allow unlimited inspections “a major setback,” adding that it was the supreme leader, not President Hassan Rouhani or Iran's foreign minister, who sets Iranian policy. The Senate Foreign Relations Committee is set to debate and begin voting Tuesday on amendments to legislation calling for Congress to have a say on the nuclear agreement. Iran and six world powers reached a framework agreement earlier this month. The U.S. and Iran have both released their own bullet-point interpretations of the framework agreement, since officials said they could not agree on a comprehensive document. The U.S. government and many of its allies believe Iran's nuclear program is aimed at producing a weapon, despite Iran's insistence that the program is for civilian energy purposes.
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Staunton, April 12 – According to the Russian Interior Ministry, 1.15 million Muscovites – approximately ten percent of the Russian capital’s population — attended Easter services today. According to the Russian Orthodox Church, the actual figure was 1.5 million. But both agreed that the number this year, a record, is far higher than it was a year ago.
Then, the Interior Ministry estimated 300,000 Muscovites went to church on Easter, and the Church itself claimed 714,000 did. If the government officials are right, the number more than trebled; and if the Church officials are, it more than doubled – indications that people turn to their faith in times of trial.
Figures from other parts of the Russian Federation and from neighboring countries, many of whose people are Eastern Orthodox, are not yet available. But they too are also likely to be high given that Easter is the most important date in the Christian calendar and one on which even those who do not attend services regularly make a greater effort to do so.
At Moscow’s Cathedral of Christ the Savior, Patriarch Kirill led the service which was attended by President Vladimir Putin, Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev and Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin. In his homily, Kirill suggested that the reason so many were in church is because “the people are responding to the latest anti-church attacks.”
In his message to the Russian Orthodox Church released the day before, however, the patriarch acknowledged that when most of the faithful think about great feats, they think in the first instance about “some legendary warrior.” But he urged them to view it in a different way, as self-sacrificing service to near ones and those who need their help.
Meanwhile, in Ukraine, Patriarch Filaret, who heads the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Kyiv Patriarchate which Moscow views as non-canonical, focused on more immediate issues: “We firmly believe that in the near future, the Lord will send us victory over the aggressor because truth is on our side and where there is truth, there is God and victory.”
Staunton, April 12 – Moscow’s new five-year plan for promoting patriotism among the young is not only better financed – spending will more than double – but far more militaristic than the program it replaces and than the Soviet-era projects in this sphere, according to an analysis by Anton Chablin, a commentator for Kavkazskaya Politika.
The Russian State Military Historical-Cultural Center has presented its program for the patriotic training of citizens for the period 2016-2020. This is the fourth such program in post-Soviet Russia. The new program calls for a doubling of government spending on this issue despite all economic difficulties.
But what is most striking, Chablin says, is that the focus of the program is almost exclusively on military themes and within the almost exclusively on World War II rather than any other older or more recent conflicts. The number of activities it calls for in non-military areas can be counted “on one hand.”
“Even in Soviet times,” the North Caucasus expert says, “when the militarization of mass consciousness was much higher than in contemporary Russia, labor achievements were the basis of government agitation and propaganda. Why did the authors of the new state program decide not to use that experience?”
“And even the military pages of the history of Russia are reflected in it selectively: there is not a word about the Fatherland War of 1812 and only one reference to World War I.” Moreover, despite all the talk about the defense of traditional values, there are only a few references to families, even in a military context.
Two expects in the region with whom Chablin spoke agreed and added details. Svetlana Ivanova, an ethnographer at the North Caucasus Federal University, said that in addition to military issues, there are many civilian accomplishments that should be the subject of state “mythologization.”
Moreover, she said, “over the last 25 years, in our country there have been many declared and undeclared wars, and there is a generation of heroes closer to young people from them that is closer than the heroes of decades earlier.” These wars and these heroes, she said, need to be addressed as well, however complicated that may be.
And Yury Vasiliyev, the head of the Stavropol branch of the Russian Academy of Economics and State Service, said the program for 2016-2020 was defective in many ways. On the one hand, he said, it reads like a dissertation rather than a plan for action. And on the other, it ignores a critical dimension in any national myth-making involving patriotism.
There is no reference in the program, he pointed out, to the “concept of ‘ethnic patriotism,’ even though civic patriotism can be promoted only through ethnic patriotism. For example, for Muslims, this is reliance on traditional society, a traditional system of values, the family, respect for elders and a desire to defend their own territory.”
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Staunton, April 12 – Writing in Warsaw’s Gazeta Wyborcza a week ago, Wacław Radziwinowicz argued that Moscow’s victory in World War II has become “the new civic religion” in Russia, a suggestion that has provoked a strong negative reaction in that country with many Russians saying that the Polish journalist had insulted their national history.
On April 1, Radziwinowicz, the Polish paper’s chief Moscow correspondent, wrote in advance of the May 9 commemorations that “the cult of a Victory of 70 years ago – a word which in Russia is always written with a capital letter has been converted into the basis of a civic religion, an indisputable dogma which the state, law and church guard with all their strength”.
His article attracted the attention of many Russian media outlets, with some Russians indicating in their comments that they agreed with the Polish writer but with most sharing the views captured in the title of one article “Polish Journalist Pours Dirt on Russian History”.
Radziwinowicz has now discussed both his argument and the Russian reaction to it with Anna Plotnikova, a correspondent for VOA’s Russian Service, who also interviewed Nikita Petrov, a historian with Moscow’s Memorial organization.
The Polish correspondent tells VOA that what is happening with Victory Day is the result of Russia’s losses in the oil and gas wars, the collapse in the price of oil and the decision of Europe to find other sources for its energy needs.
“Therefore,” Radziwinowicz says, “the Russian authorities have hurried to find for themselves another source of their own legitimacy, and such a source has been found in the form of the mobilization of society.” He adds that in his opinion, “now Russian society is ready for war.”
The Kremlin has concluded that the West is not prepared to use force against it, but Moscow has not missed a chance to talk about its “nuclear potential” and readiness to “‘defend compatriots abroad,’ even if the latter do not ask to be defended.” Thus, this cult is preparing Russians for another war.
“The ideological foundation for the mobilization of its own population and the show of force is provided,” the Polish journalist says, by constant reference to the Great Fatherland War, a conflict that was holy and without flaws “when all good was on our side and all evil on the side of our opponents.”
And that imagery is maintained by sacrificing accuracy: The American use of nuclear weapons against Japan, for example, is considered a war crime even though „the Soviet Union was also at war with Japan;” and Soviet atrocities in East Prussia are simply ignored or denied altogether.
Petrov agrees. “The Great Victory is all our tradition, all our history. The Bolsheviks cut off Russians from the history of the people before 1917. With them the October Revolution was still sacred. [But] to us now the only things left to be positive about are…the taking of Berlin and the flight of Gagarin. What else can we be proud of in the last century? Nothing.”
The selective memory of Russians about the war and its consequences, he continues, reflects the fact that they “cannot imagine” that East Europeans do not share their views about the victory and are not grateful for the Soviet occupation. “’We liberated them from fascism and shared with them what we had,’ they say.”
One of the reasons for the rehabilitation of Stalin is that Vladimir Putin wants to use the conflict and its outcome in the same way Stalin did, Petrov says, privatizing and personalizing it to win unquestioned support. But the Kremlin doesn’t see that this will isolate Russia from the West for a long time to come.
Radziwinowicz for his part suggests that the West will view the rehabilitation of Stalin in a dual way. On the one hand, Western public opinion will view this as evidence that the Russians do not understand that one must not deify mass murderers. But on the other, the Western expert community will dismiss it as only Putin’s latest ideological trick.
Petrov says that the future of the Cult of Victory and any possibility that it will cease to be “a civic religion” for Russians depends not so much on the passing of time but on the policies of the Russian government. At present, however, no change in those policies appears to be in the offing.
Instead, the Memorial leader says, the war that ended 70 years ago “will soon cease to be the most important theme and its place will be occupied instead by contemporary Russian policies that from hour to hour and day to day are becoming ever more aggressive and worse.”
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A British expat, whose body was found at the bottom of a well, may have been killed following a fight over stolen vegetables, French police say.
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Some experts predict that almost 10 million people - from a population of 143 million - could this year join the 16.1 million people already living below the poverty line.
Staunton, April 12 – Russians laugh at any suggestion that the Ukrainian people came out to the Maidan to make history and insist that they were driven there by American political technologists, a reflection of the fundamental contrast between their country and that of the Ukrainians, Russian political analyst Andrei Okara says.
That contrast – Ukraine has a weak state but a strong society while Russia has a strong state but a weak society – has another important consequence, he says. In Russia, war leads to dictatorship and blocks reform, while in Ukraine, it can open the way to modernization.
“The legendary 85 percent of Russians who support the current order in Russia are incapable of believing that society can be the moving force of revolutionary events,” the result of their projection of their own situation onto others which in fact are quite different, the political analyst argues.
And they further believe, he continues, that “no modernization is possible because during a war, there must be a mobilization type of administration and a military dictatorship,” again a conclusion suggested by their own national experience of state and society but one that doesn’t extend to others like Ukraine.
In Ukraine, Okara says, “the will of society is not an abstraction.” It is a reality with which everyone must deal. And consequently a conflict which in Russia may become “an obstacle for modernization” can and “should be transformed into a catalyst and promoter of mobilization.”
Ukraine today, he argues, finds itself in “a unique situation.” The state is weak and ineffective, but Ukrainian society has shown itself “capable of solidarity and synergism and of mutually supported action on the basis of mutual trust.”
And that means that the antimony Russians assume exists between war and modernization does not necessarily exist in Ukraine and that it won’t exist even though the current Ukrainian government has gained significantly more power than its predecessor. Ukrainian society is still more powerful than the state, and that is the basis for hope.
If Ukrainian society demands modernization just as it demanded dignity and integration with Europe earlier, then modernization will happen regardless of the nature of holdover Ukrainian officials and all the difficulties that Ukrainian society and the Ukrainian state now face and will face in the future.
U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry has urged U.S. lawmakers not to interfere in talks aimed at reaching a comprehensive agreement to curb Iran's nuclear activities.
Ex-Blackwater Guards Face Sentencing in Iraq Caseby webdesk@voanews.com (Associated Press)
A yearslong legal fight over a deadly shooting of civilians in an Iraq war zone reaches its reckoning point with the sentencing this week of four former Blackwater security guards. Dustin Heard, Evan Liberty and Paul Slough face mandatory, decades-long sentences because of firearms convictions. A fourth defendant, Nicholas Slatten, faces life in prison after being found guilty of first-degree murder. At the hearing Monday in U.S. District Court, defense lawyers intend to appeal for mercy by arguing that their clients acted in self-defense during a chaotic firefight in Baghdad. They also plan to argue that sending the defendants to prison for decades would be an unfairly harsh outcome for men who have close family ties and proud military careers, and who were operating in stressful conditions in a war-torn country. The men were charged in the deaths of 14 Iraqis at a crowded traffic circle in downtown Baghdad, killings that caused an international uproar and became a dark episode of contractor violence during the Iraq war. Defense lawyers argued that the contractors, who arrived there after a car bomb exploded, were targeted with gunfire from insurgents and Iraqi police, and shot back in self-defense. Prosecutors contended that there was no incoming fire and that the shooting was unprovoked. Protecting diplomats The defendants - who were in Iraq to protect American diplomats - were convicted in October after a trial that stretched months and featured testimony from Iraqi witnesses and from other Blackwater guards who cooperated with the government. The sentencing hearing arrives with much at stake for the men given the heavy punishments the government is seeking. The firearms convictions alone carry mandatory minimum sentences of 30 years in prison. But prosecutors are seeking sentences far beyond that, partly because they say the men have never shown remorse or accepted responsibility. The murder conviction against Slatten carries a life sentence. "By imposing substantial sentences, this court would hold the defendants accountable for their callous, wanton and deadly conduct, and deter others wielding the awesome power over life or death from perpetrating similar atrocities in the future," prosecutors wrote in a sentencing memorandum. Defense lawyers say the mandatory minimums in this case violate a constitutional prohibition against cruel and unusual punishment. "The defendants in this case did not have the option to `leave their guns at home.' They were required to carry their government-issued weapons in order to do their job in a war zone," they wrote in court filings. The lawyers said they were "aware of no other case in which the government has prosecuted government security contractors for conduct undertaken in self-defense in a war zone, much less for having used weaponry of a particular magnitude, when the weaponry was issued by the United States government for official use." Legal wrangling to continue The sentencing won't bring an end to the legal wrangling, which began even before the guards were first charged in 2008. A judge later dismissed the case before trial, but a federal appeals court revived it and the guards were indicted again in 2013. Defense lawyers have identified multiple legal issues likely to form the basis of an appeal, including whether the Justice Department had jurisdiction to charge the contractors in the first place. The statute under which they were charged, the Military Extraterritorial Jurisdiction Act, covers the overseas crimes of Defense Department civilian employees, military contractors and others who are supporting the American war mission. Defense lawyers note the Blackwater defendants worked as State Department contractors and were in Iraq to provide diplomatic, not military, services. The legal fighting continued right up to sentencing, with defense lawyers seeking Friday to postpone the hearing after receiving new information - a victim impact statement from a witness - that they said was favorable to the defense. A judge denied the request. Geoffrey Corn, a professor at the South Texas College of Law who has followed the case, said that while the sentences could seem harsh given the circumstances, the Justice Department has signaled that it sees an opportunity to use the case to send the message that contractors cannot act with impunity when abroad. "A prosecutor is never obligated to bring a case,'' Corn said. He added, "The fact that they pursued this case tells you that they saw that there was some societal value in prosecuting this."
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"Апофеоз войны" by Радио Свобода
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Визуальные и смысловые образы гибридной войны на Востоке Украины. Александр Морозов, политолог; Роман Лейб...
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Official hints at ‘far-reaching’ steps over search-engine giant accused of abusing leading position
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Russia 'busts foreign satellite spy ring' by Our Foreign Staff
Head of Russian space command says spy satellites disguised as space junk belonging to unspecified foreign country discovered
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Russia's Gazprom Counting On...Greece?
Forbes Greece's prime minister Alexis Tsipras has stepped up to help Turkey be the new Ukraine. Tsipras and his Energy Minister Panagiotis Lafazanis reportedly signed a “memorandum of cooperation” with Gazprom and the Russian government to help with a ... and more » |
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Russia 'busts satellite spy ring': space commander
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For the latest summary of evidence surrounding the shooting down of flight MH17 see our separate article: Evidence Review: Who Shot Down MH17?
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Palestinian Leader Mahmoud Abbas Set to Sign Agreements in Moscow by By Gabrielle Tétrault-Farber
Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas is set to meet with President Putin on Monday, an official visit political analysts said will showcase Russia's balancing act in the Middle East.
Pope Calls Killings of Armenians ‘Genocide,’ Provoking Turkish Anger by JIM YARDLEY and SEBNEM ARSU
In speaking of the World War I-era slaughter of Armenians, the pontiff upset officials in Turkey, which has argued that a large number of Turks were also killed during that period.
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Pope Calls Killings of Armenians ‘Genocide,’ Provoking Turkish Anger by JIM YARDLEY and SEBNEM ARSU
The remarks ignited a diplomatic confrontation with Turkey, which quickly summoned the Vatican’s ambassador to condemn the pontiff’s remarks.
Civilian Casualties From Afghan Ground Fighting Riseby webdesk@voanews.com (Ayaz Gul)
The United Nations said civilian casualties from ground fighting in Afghanistan rose by 8 percent in the first three months of this year compared to the same period in 2014, and the world body urged all parties to adhere to their commitments to ensure safety of civilians. The U.N. Assistance Mission in Afghanistan said fighting between Afghan security forces and Taliban insurgents killed136 people and wounded 385 in the first quarter of 2015. The latest figures, released Sunday, show a 43 percent rise in civilian casualties from mortars and rockets. But the UNAMA report noted total civilian casualties declined by 2 percent, to 655 dead and 1,155 wounded, compared to the same period last year. It said Taliban insurgents are responsible for 73 percent of the total civilian casualties, with government forces responsible for 14 percent. The report attributed 7 percent of the civilian deaths and injuries to both parties, while it could not attribute the remaining 6 percent to any party to the conflict. UNAMA chief Nicolas Haysom emphasized the need to refrain from using mortars and rockets in areas populated by civilians. While reacting to the U.N. findings, Afghan Interior Ministry spokesman Sediq Sediqi told VOA the protection of civilians is a top priority for national security forces while they conduct counter-insurgency operations. “The Afghan forces, they pay a lot of attention to prevent civilian casualties. For example whenever we conduct and plan any operation, first of all what comes to our mind is to how to secure civilians, how to make sure that any measure we take during our operation that ends to safety of public and civilians," Sediqi said. "But in many cases during the fighting Taliban use civilian houses and homes as best shields.” UNAMA said the Afghan war continues to take a growing toll on women and children. In the first three months of the year, child casualties rose to a record 123 deaths and 307 injuries. UNAMA said parties to the conflict should act urgently on the commitments they have made to prevent harm to civilians, especially woman and children. More than 10,000 Afghan civilian casualties were recorded last year, the deadliest since the United Nations began keeping records in 2009.
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A Russian naval vessel has evacuated over 300 people of various nationalities from Yemen's port city of Aden.
Estonia's President Toomas Ilves has called for a permanent NATO force to be stationed in his country.
Hillary Clinton says she is running for president in 2016 and wants to be the country's "champion."
US Journalists Banned from Cuban Press Conferenceby webdesk@voanews.com (VOA News)
Cuban security forces escorted out an American journalist crew from a news conference with Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodriguez in Panama. Reporter Karen Caballero and cameraman Rudy Hernandez of U.S. government-funded broadcaster TV Martí were credentialed to cover the events at the Summit of the Americas Saturday that would include the historic meeting between U.S. President Barack Obama and Cuban President Raul Castro. Cuban officials insisted they were within their rights to choose who could cover the news conference, and that they wanted "unbiased, serious press" to question the Cuban delegation. Caballero is a noted TV Martí host and reporter. "The fact that Karen and Rudy were forced out of the press conference is further indication of the ongoing lack of press freedom in Cuba," said Carlos García Pérez, director of the Office of Cuba Broadcasting, which includes Radio and TV Martí. For further information, please contact Natalia Crujeiras, mobile (305) 984-4569, ncrujeiras@bbg.gov.
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A Germanwings plane headed for Milan was evacuated at Cologne-Bonn airport after a bomb threat against the flight was received, the airline said.
NATO-Russia Cooperation Just 'Shadow From 90s' - Political Activist
Sputnik International MOSCOW (Sputnik), Alexander Mosesov — The current state of relations between NATO andRussia is just a "shadow" of the cooperation that existed 20 years ago, the leader of the National-European Communitarian Party (NCP) told Sputnik on Tuesday. |
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