Tuesday, July 05, 2005

Lesser Evil, Greater Evil

Writing in Yezhednevnyi Zhurnal, Yulia Latynina has some commentary on the "lesser evil"-"greater evil" argument currently being utilised by the Putin regime to influence Russian - and foreign - public opinion in the long run-up to the 2008 presidential elections [my tr.]:

Lubyanka-Grozny-Moscow

"I can say very confidently that the terrorists who derailed the "Grozny- Moscow" train will be caught", I wrote immediately after the terrorist act that was committed on the 152nd kilometer of the Moscow-Paveletsk railroad. And lo and behold: two suspects have already been arrested. They are Russian National Unity party members Vladimir Vlasov and Mikhail Klevachev.

In declaring that the terrorists would be caught, I based my prediction on the strange aspects of this act of terror. It was immediately registered as a terrorist act (though usually the police show extreme reluctance to do this, not even the explosion of two aircraft is recognized as an act of terror for long), it did not involve any deaths (as all the other easily-solved terrorist acts have done), and there weren’t any loose ends. So that I half guessed: they had solved the terrorist act. But I can honestly acknowledge that I did not understand the entire depth of the solvers’ intention.

For the terrorist act was committed not by some Chechens, butt by members of RNE (Russian National Unity) party.

It must be said that in the decades of its existence RNE has not been particularly noted for terrorist activity. The most terrible crime committed by members of RNE was the murder in Voronezh of a dark-skinned student, one against three. It’s interesting that in the early 90s RNE, which revered force, was unable to put up any competition with criminal groups. Going to “show-downs” is not the same as beating up an African three against one.

And suddenly – an industrial electric detonator, melted TNT. And the main thing – the ages of the terrorists. 47 and 49. I will willingly believe that in spite of their venerable age, these independent fighters were so inexperienced that the investigators quickly found them without needing to be prompted. But a question lurks behind the scenes – what (or who?) motivated two elderly urban loonies to do battle with the Chechens?

The sudden epidemic of fury which struck Russian nationalists – their letter against the Jews, their attempt to assassinate Chubais, then Chechens, compels one to suppose that some coordinated and very large-scale special operation is underway.

The purpose of the operation is simple: to solve the problem of President Putin’s third term. I.e., to solve it technically is simple. If you want, you can change the consititution, if you want, you can unite with Belorussia. But, in addition to the technical solution, an ideological foundation is necessary. It is necessary that the West and the intellectuals will agree: if Russia is a country of antisemites, nationalists and Black Hundreds, then Putin is better than the nationalists.

The ideology of the choice of the "lesser evil" was already applied during the elections of 1996, when everyone voted for Yeltsin (in order not to let Zyuganov win), and before the Putin elections, when Putin proved to be a lesser evil than Primakov, who actually spoke out against the market. It’s described somewhat phantasmagorically in Yuli Dubov’s book with an analogous title (“The Big Slice”).

The scarecrow of communism will no longer respond to resuscitation; therefore the nationalists are being prepared for the role of "greater evil". Look, it’s said, what a terrible country Russia is. In it they attempt to assassinate Chubais, derail a train full of Chechen men and women, sign antisemitic letters - and these people will get to power if President Putin doesn’t stop them. You must keep Putin, or else you’ll get Rogozin or that Makashov fellow.

It’s easy to understand why Chubais is necessary to this construction. He is quite indispensable. Chubais is the living example who will explain to the West that Putin is better than Rogozin. Chubais is the person who will tell this to the right-wing electorate. And Ustinov is also necessary for this construction in order to serve as a reminder to Chubais.

------------

Within the framework of this construction it is completely understandable why Russian antisemites wrote their letter precisely on the eve of Putin’s visit to Auschwitz. Giving the President precisely the occasion he needed to show himself as only defender of Jews in Russia.

There is, by the way, one curious detail in this trip. The day before it took place, Russian news agencies announced that in Auschwitz President Putin would be given a medal founded by the Israeli government – as a sign of respect for the role played by Russian troops in the liberation of Auschwitz. And that the medal would be presented by Israel’s President, Moshe Katsav. The medal is called "Rescue", and it is the first such medal. I.e., all the remaining rescuers of Jews can claim medals number two, three and four. If Jews, for example, decide to posthumously award Moses, who led them out Egypt, then Moses will be the second. But the first will be - President Putin.

Unfortunately, the Israeli media learned of this news. And they were greatly astonished. Because, in the first place, in Israel there are no medals. But in the second place, the contribution of President Putin to the victory over fascism seemed by them not so significant. And they telephoned President Moshe Katsav, asking him to explain why he was going to award Putin with a medal?

After this, it became clear that the Israeli government knew nothing about the medal. But Avi Granot, Moshe Katsav’s political adviser, explained that actually the President of Israel had indeed been asked to present this medal to Putin, but that the request had come from Russian Rabbi Berl Lazar. And that the medal had been founded by some structures under his management.

After which, at Auschwitz Katsav declined to meet with Putin, so did not receive the medal. And if it had not been for the aggressive Israeli journalists (eternally these Jews befoul everything), all would have been well! Now the antisemites write a letter against the Jews – and then a week later, President Putin speaks out against this letter and receives the number one “Rescue” Medal one from the President of Israel.

As I have already written, the current residents of the Kremlin, because of the specific character of their past profession, have not been taught to govern business or state. But they do have a professional knowledge of how to conduct special operations and manipulations of public opinion.

The special operation involving the creation of the "greater evil" in the person of nationalists who blow up Chechen trains, Jewish synagogues and Chubais, is the very thing that they do know how to accomplish. Whether it will be any use, it’s hard to say.


Footnote: It may be worth noting that today Kommersant newspaper has a story claiming that Vlasov and Klevachev (the two nationalists at the centre of the row) have been expelled from the Russian National Unity party (RNE). However this may be, it only adds to the sense of a stage-managed manipulation, rather than providing reassurance. DM

No comments: