FLASHBACK: Solzhenitsyn accused U.S., NATO of encircling Russia in 2006

FLASHBACK

Pravda | April 27, 2006

Nobel laureate and former Soviet dissident Aleksander Solzhenitsyn in a newspaper interview accused the United States and NATO of seeking to encircle Russia, and praised President Vladimir Putin for working to restore a strong state.

In a rare interview, the reclusive 87-year-old author, who rose to prominence for his accounts of Soviet dictator Josef Stalin’s repression and labor camps, told the liberal weekly Moscow News that NATO’s ultimate aim was the loss of Russia’s sovereignty, according to a full text of the interview posted on its Web site edition Thursday.

“Though it is clear that present-day Russia poses no threat to it, NATO is methodically and persistently building up its military machine into the east of Europe and surrounding Russia from the south,” Solzhenitsyn was quoted as saying.

“This involves open material and ideological support for ‘color revolutions’ and the paraxodical forcing of North Atlantic interests on Central Asia,” he reportedly said, adding that there was “little substantial difference” between the actions of the U.S. and NATO.

“All this leaves no doubt that they are preparing to completely encircle Russia and deprive it of its sovereignty,” Solzhenitsyn was quoted as saying.

Russia was furious at what it saw as Western encroachment on its home turf after a series of peaceful revolutions brought opposition leaders to power in the former Soviet republics Georgia, Ukraine and Kyrgyzstan.

Solzhenitsyn lashed out at the pro-Western government in Ukraine for its drive to obtain NATO membership, and said Russia would “never betray in any way the multimillion Russian population in Ukraine and renounce our unity with it,” according to report.

The author, known for his conservative Slavic views, accused former reformist Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev of capitulating to the West, and Russia’s first post-Communist president, Boris Yeltsin, of pursuing the same policy as well as presiding over the massive theft of state resources and a descent into chaos.

But he said in the interview with Moscow News that Putin, a former KGB career intelligence officer who was elected in 2000, was making efforts to restore Russia’s shattered statehood.

“Foreign policy, considering our current situation and possibilities, is being conducted sensibly and ever more forward-thinking,” Solzhenitsyn said.

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Cheney’s Dark Hand Behind Georgia Attack of South Ossetia

Allen L Roland’s Radio Weblog
August 14, 2008

Make no mistake about it, to Dick Cheney and his neocon co-conspirators, the cold war never ended and continues to this day. This is truly a Cheney/Bush Administration where Bush is the oblivious stooge / cheerleader while Cheney positions and moves all the pieces on the grand global chess board.

Note the timing of their separate responses to the recent Georgia / Russia conflict as reported by By Tom Lasseter and Jonathan S Landry of the McClatchy-Tribune on August 10th.

" Tensions between the United States and Russia sharpened as the Bush administration suggested that Russia’s objective is the ousting of President Mikhail Saakashvili, who has close ties to the United States and is seeking admission to NATO.

President Bush, in an interview with NBC, said, "I’ve expressed my grave concern about the disproportionate response of Russia and that we strongly condemn the bombing outside of South Ossetia."

Here’s Salon’s Scott Bateman’s take on Bush’s comments — Bateman: George W. Bush on the invasion of Georgia

Earlier, Vice President Dick Cheney’s spokeswoman Lea Ann McBride described Cheney’s talk with Georgia’s president, in which he said "Russian aggression must not go unanswered, and that its continuation would have serious consequences for its relations with the United States."

Note the difference in tone — it’s classic good cop, bad cop and guess who’s the bad cop and in charge at the White House.

It’s obvious that the Lord of War, Dick Cheney, is in the bunker, just like he was on 9/11, making the moves while Bush makes meaningless noise from his bully pulpit while being seemingly unconscious — like reading My Pet Goat upside down on 9/11 in a classroom in Florida while planes and perhaps a missile were striking the World Trade Center and the Pentagon or falling down in a drunken stupor at the Olympics while war breaks out between Georgia and Russia.

Why do you think Putin shook his finger at Bush when he left the Olympics to return to Moscow during this crisis — He knew what Cheney was up to and Putin responded quickly and decisively . You don’t want to needlessly provoke the Russian bear — no wonder Bush went off the wagon in Beijing.

As such, Russia has sent a sharp message to the West that they will take whatever measures necessary to defend their commercial, strategic and sovereign interests, particularly in the regions abutting its extensive frontiers — which is a huge setback to Cheney’s imperialistic and arrogant approach to the global politics and energy positioning.

More importantly, Russia has also clearly demonstrated to the world the reality of its military and economic power in comparison to the floundering Cheney/Bush administration’s failed Iraq debacle and current economic woes.

So whose in charge here ? Obviously it’s not Bush — so it must be Darth Vader himself , Dick Cheney, who once pronounced " The natural state of man is war ."

Here’s the Georgia / Russian War in a nutshell, verifying the Cheney presence, as reported by F William Engdahl in ICH, on August 8th — " As far as the Georgians are concerned, South Ossetia and Abkhazia are simply part of their national territory, to be recovered at all costs. Promises by NATO leaders to bring Georgia into the alliance, and ostentatious declarations of support from Washington, have emboldened Saakashvili to launch his military offensive against the two provinces, South Ossetia and Abkhazia. Saakashvili and likely, Dick Cheney’s office in Washington appear to have miscalculated very badly. Russia has made it clear that it has no intention of ceding its support for South Ossetia or Abkhazia." http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article20489.htm

On top of that we have yesterday’s comments by Russian Ambassador to the UN , Vitaly Churkin all but saying that Georgia’s preemptive attack on Ossetia was orchestrated by the Cheney/Bush administration — "It is hard to imagine that (Georgian President Mikheil) Saakashvili embarked on this risky venture without some sort of approval from the side of the United States," Churkin told Russian NTV television on Wednesday.

Meanwhile former Georgian President Eduard Shevardnadze said that Georgia made a "grave mistake" by advancing into the pro Russian breakaway province of South Ossetia. Shevardnadze, who is a former Soviet foreign minister, also said the issue of Georgia in itself would not cause a new Cold War, as "the new Cold War has long since been instigated by the USA, through the Americans’ so-called missile defence shield in the Czech Republic and Poland." http://www.novinite.com/view_news.php?id=96083

So there you have it — If the Lord of War, Dick Cheney, can’t get his war with Iran — he’ll settle for a resumption of the Cold war with Russia and will do anything to accomplish that — like the recent U.S. backed Georgia preemptive attack of South Ossetia.