Memo to Nikolai Patrushev:

You cannot even find Shamil Basayev, how do you think you can find a terrorist in another country?

Russia

has gone MAD.

Quote O' The Day

If Russia doesn't reach a peace solution in Chechnya during the leadership of Umarov, and will kill Umarov, they will have a gift... They will have Basayev. --Usman Firzauli, the Chechen separatist government's deputy foreign minister.

And the Rain

continues. Allegedly there has been about 10 inches of rain in the past two days (I don't think we get that much in a year, much less two days in Southern California).
However, I ventured out today and went to the National Museum of the American Indian. It wasn't as helpful as I'd hoped it would be, but it was definitely interesting.
I also went to the Hirshhorn Museum, and it had a Georgia O'Keefe (and that was cool). Finally, I went to the Freer Gallery of Art. They had artifacts from the Silk Road, and "Arts of the Islamic World", AND Whislers,
I went to find the World War II Monument/Memorial, but it wasn't where I thought it was, and it started to rain (again), so I came back home. There was flooding in the neighbourhoods near the metro, and a whole bunch of fire engines, and police and such. But the house hasn't flooded yet (thank goodness). My mum totally freaked me out last night, though.
However, it is supposed to clear up by tomorrow or the next day (*crosses fingers*)

Quote O' The Day

Terrorists wear running shoes. Why don't we post an FSB agent in every sporting goods store to make sure that terrorists don't buy running shoes? --Yulia Latynina

I Do Not Think

I have EVER seen President Bush so upset. Try to find the video or audio of this, if you can. Here is the text, if you cannot:

Congress was briefed. And what we did was fully authorized under the law. And the disclosure of this program is disgraceful. We're at war with a bunch of people who want to hurt the United States of America, and for people to leak that program, and for a newspaper to publish it does great harm to the United States of America. What we were doing was the right thing. Congress was aware of it, and we were within the law to do so.
The American people expect this government to protect our constitutional liberties and, at the same time, make sure we understand what the terrorists are trying to do. The 9/11 Commission recommended that the government be robust in tracing money. If you want to figure out what the terrorists are doing, you try to follow their money. And that's exactly what we're doing. And the fact that a newspaper disclosed it makes it harder to win this war on terror.

Also, here is an article on Cheney's response, with a bit of a background on the story.

Quote O' The Day

No psychologically healthy person is able to explain this reshuffle... I hope the president will explain it somehow. --Vladimir Ryzhkov.

A True "Only In Russia" Story

Once upon a time, there was a man named Vladimir Ustinov. Mr Ustinov was a very nice man, very spiritual, and very concerned with the state of his country. Mr Ustinov felt a grave responsibility for the criminals in his country and their spirituality, even more so because of his job, Prosecutor General of the Russian Federation.
But, one day, through no fault of his own, Mr Ustinov was suddenly (and inexplicably) fired by his boss, the President of Russia. Rumours flew. Who was the culprit? Why would anyone fire such a nice man? What was happening in the Presidential Administration? Who would replace Mr Ustinov?
Then, quiet for two weeks.
Suddenly, the Minister of Justice was appointed to Mr Ustinov's old job. Now, everyone was very, very concerned. Who would become the new Minister of Justice? Would it be another member of the cabinet? Or would it be an unknown (who wasn't "quite so unknown").
Then, the same day that the former Minister of Justice was approved as Mr Ustinov's successor, Mr Ustinov was appointed as the new Minister of Justice.
Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin was bored. Very bored. "What shall I do?" he asked Vladislav Yuriyevich Surkov.
"I have an idea..." his aide answered.

Excellent Article

by Mark Steyn (as usual).

The Candidate

is a man whose name "is not completely unknown, but which is simply not circulated" by the mass media. VV Putin.

Article from RFE/RL on "Operation Successor". Speculation seems to have narrowed down Putin's choices to about six individuals.

(1) Himself;
(2) Sergei Sobyanin;
(3) Sergei Borisovich Ivanov;
(4) Dmitry A Medvedev;
(5) Dmitry Kozak;
(6) Vladimir Yakunin.

However, if this article is any indication, I think that numbers 3-5 are out. In my opinion, Dmitry Kozak was placed in exile in the Southern Federal District.
Neither Sergei Ivanov, nor Dmitry Medvedev fit Putin's quote.
Sergei Sobyanin's name came up when he replaced Dmitry Medvedev, but I think that Sobyanin was chosen more for his oil and gas contacts and knowledge than anything else.
Obviously, I don't buy #1 because I still think that Putin wants to be chair of Gazprom.
This leaves us with either (a) Vladmir Yakunin, or (b) an unknown (who is, apparently, not so unknown).
My main problem is that 18 months is a long time to wait. Has the successor been notified? Who does know (besides VVP)? My guess is that the answer to number is no, and the answer to number 2 is nobody. It would be too dangerous. The Power Vertical would go crazy.
Also, I would like to throw a name out there for anyone who is interested. Slava. Vladislav Surkov wants to be President of Russia. Now, I still don't like the man (because I don't believe that he has any scruples whatsoever). But, I think that he is definitely trying to set himself up as an option.

Letter from

the American Consulate in St Petersburg:

The Russian government has recently announced that Pulkovo airport will be closed from 14-17 July, and the seaports will be closed from 13 to 17 July, restricting inter-city and international travel to trains, buses and automobiles. During 14-17 July, the Russian government will also periodically close roads to automobile transport to facilitate movement of summit personnel.

Who closes the airport to the city where a major world meeting is being held?!?! The ONLY airport, no less. Granted it isn't a large airport, but still... The Russians must be pretty freaked out. Or they're only using it for private use. Those are the only two reasons that I can think of.

Not Quite Sure

how I feel about this. On the one hand, I feel like it is necessary. At the same time, I don't feel entirely comfortable with the tactics we're using. Also,

Batiste allegedly met in December in a hotel room with someone posing as a representative of al-Qaida — someone law enforcement officials say was actually an agent of a country friendly to the United States.

My first thought was, Mossad? Perhaps. But then again, maybe not.

Funny

comic.

Memo to the French Press:

An American won 7 consecutive Tour de Frances. Get Over It!!!

Boris Akunin and Khassan Baiev

I just finshed reading Boris Akunin's second Erast Fandorin mystery. I LOVE Boris Akunin. And the fact that he is Georgian makes him ten times better :).
I also recently purchased Khassan Baiev's memoir of the Chechen Wars, The Oath. I borrowed it from the library this past fall. The book was so inspiring that I knew I had to purchase it. But I was waiting for the paperback version to come out. I finally gave up and broke down and bought it the hard-cover version. It is probably one of my favourite non-fiction books. Don't hesitate to pick it up and read it, if you get the chance.

Idea

Okay, I was trying to figure out who would take over Justice, now that Chaika is gone. So I went to my cards, and it came to me. German. His background is in law, and it would continue the reshuffle. It’s just a guess, and I could be totally off, but who knows? Plus... plus, it was rumoured that Chaika was on his way out, and Chaika got Pros Gen. And it was also rumoured that German was on his way out... It just makes sense. AND, German is really into judicial reform. If I actually call this, I will laugh.

Ramzan Kadyrov

is a big fat LIAR!!! Well, I already knew that, so I don't know why I am so upset. I went over it again yesterday. Ramzan and Shamil are both symptoms, and even though the world (and Chechnya, in particular) would probably be a better place if they were both dead, their deaths would not make a difference in the overall situation.

Ukraine

has finally got a government. It will not last long (that is my prediction), but they have finally got a government.
And Yulia Tymoshenko is already flexing her muscles (is that okay to say about a woman?), and proclaiming that the previous deal that Ukraine made with Gazprom needs to be reviewed. And so it shall be (since the deal was only for six months, anyway).
The fact is, however, that Putin is using Gazprom to pressure CIS nations to act in a certain way. At the same time, though, Ukraine has been stealing gas from Russia for years.
The Ukrainian pipe-lines are very important, and Yulia knows it. They are Russia's key to the West. It's all very complicated and even I don't understand it sometimes. I also don't know where I am going with this.
Final Thought: The Orange Revolution has been a disappointment.

Andrei Belyaninov

is the new head of the Russian Federal Customs Service. He seems like a decent guy.
He gave a two hour press conference, and he is trying to get the Customs officials a raise of about 700 USD/month.
Also, apparently, Customs was just placed under Fradkov's jurisdiction. An interesting move since Fradkov seems to be the loser in most of the Kremlin's power struggles.
And still no word on who will replace Chaika. But one of the winners of that power struggle (besides Chaika) seems to be German Gref.
The big losers were Ustinov (obviously becuase he lost his job), Sechin, and Fradkov.

Good Article

by Yulia (as usual). But it still doesn't answer my question. Who is in charge of Customs, now?

Slava

is married to Yulia Vishnevskaya, the sister of Anatoly Chubais' wife.

Yuri Chaika?!?!?!

Are you kidding me?!?!?! Yuri Chaika?!?!
I guess it makes some sense. But it doesn't make any sense because now somebody has to replace him in Justice. And who will that be? It's just weird.

Interview of Doku Umarov

by Andrei Babitskii from about a year ago.

Doku Umarov

is, allegedly, the new President of ChRI. Even though I am still upset at Sadulaev's death, I am quite happy that Umarov is the new President. When I learned of Sadulaev's death, I think that my biggest fear was that some heavy in-fighting would occur between Basaev and... well, Umarov, I guess. And not that I am ruling out more in-fighting. But it appears that Basaev has accepted Umarov as Pres (at least at this point).

But, according to RFE/RL, Sadulaev had announced recently that if he died, Umarov would be Pres.

Proving that at least Sadulaev had good judgement, a quote from Umarov from about a year ago:
If we resort to such methods [as the Russians use in Chechnya], I do not think any of us will be able to retain his human face.

I believe that I already like Doku Umarov. Now if only he could manage to remain alive...

Doudou Diene

A rather appropriate name, don't you think? Well, he is the United Nations special rapporteur on racism and xenophobia (whatever that means).

Anyway, he is concerned about racism in Russia (as we all are, Mr Doudou). And guess what he proposes as a solution? A commission. Because Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin needs an excuse to set up yet another useless commission.

Thoughts On VVP

15 June, 2006
I met someone the other day, and as all my conversations somehow seem to do (I still cannot figure out why), the conversation turned to VVP. The person I was talking to said, “Putin is a nationalist.”
Now I didn’t say anything at the time, but I don’t think that is strictly true.
I think that VVP is whatever you want him to be. I also think that a lot of what he says is just rhetoric. But rhetoric can be dangerous, especially when you are fuelling real rage.

~~~~~~~~~~~~
16 June, 2006
I find myself defending him. Part of it is me playing devil’s advocate, but part of it is that I really believe that he will stand down.
I should probably caveat my claim about him standing down and say that he will not stand down if Gazprom doesn’t work out. But the way things are looking right now, I believe that he will stand down.
However, I think that the man definitely has dictatorial tendencies. But so did Walesa (at least I’ve read stuff indicates that). But Walesa had people surrounding him that balanced him out. Plus, the Poles never would have stood for another dictator/authoritarian regime.
That’s what is so sad; the Russians don’t have those safety-valves. I think that they have already resigned themselves to a third term.
And even if he did stand down, it wouldn’t make a whole lot of difference. Because he’d just put somebody like Sergei Ivanov as President. Somebody with unswerving loyalty, and who would do whatever VVP said. So, I cannot really defend him.

Am I The Only One

who wondered how much money the Palestinian Foreign Minister took for his personal Swiss bank account?

Memo to Kofi Annan, the UN Security Council, and the ICC:

The word is GENOCIDE, use it!!!

Abdul-Khalim Sadulaev

is allegedly dead. I don't know what to say beyond that. I am, naturally, upset. However, as I stated before, I didn't really like the man. Though the impression that I got from my readings was that Sadulaeve had better leadership skills than Aslan did.

I will update when I learn more.

Words I Dislike

I've begun compiling a list of words that I dislike. Here are my first three:

1) Stability;

2) Hooligans;

3) Hooliganism...

Quote O' the Day

If my grandmother had certain sexual attributes, she would be my grandfather. --President Vladimir V Putin answering whether Russia would support sanctions if Iran refused to halt its uranium enrichment program.

Post Script:

I have difficulty believing that Slava [Vladislav Surkov] is really loyal to anyone but himself. Plus, his connection to Chubais also calls his loyalty to Putin into question.

Post Script to this Post Script: Slava's wife and Chubais' wife are sisters. So, I am not leaving out the possibility that the men met at Menatep or Alfa (or even in the mob), but it's not for sure.

Vladimir Ustinov

I guess, in the end, my view is that Vlad Ustinov was a nutter and totally irrelevant anyway. Plus, this was long over-due (Putin should have fired somebody long ago).
The only thing that disturbs me is the fact that Sechin wasn’t able (or was unwilling) to “save” Ustinov. Well, that and who came up with the idea of getting rid of Ustinov. My top three picks would be (1) Sobyanin; (2) Slava [Vladislav Surkov]; and (3) Dmitry Medvedev. Unless VVP came up with the idea himself (not beyond the realm of possibility, though I rather doubt it).
Also, I am rather surprised that this came up. I thought that one of the LR/Bean Counters would be fired next (or Fradkov). But the latter probably won’t happen for another year.

President Vladimir Putin

called on the media Monday to display greater responsibility in their coverage of events.

Says the man who continually uses the Russian press for his own ends.

For further reading.

I Am Not Crying

but Vlad Ustinov has been fired. Kind of weird. More later when I figure it out.

THE MOST PERFECT PREDICTION EVER:

Putin is creating a position for himself as head of Gazprom. To the point where the Chairman of Gazprom will be more powerful than even the President of Russia. The Chair will be more powerful than, and will even control, the Russian President. The Chair will also be able to influence the other Presidents in the area because he has control of the gas.
And all this talk about the successor is a moot point. Because the President will only be a figurehead, and Putin will control him. The most important aspect of the successor will be, first and foremost, his loyalty; and secondly, whether or not he can be elected. Is there a model of that? There is no way he could have come up with that on his own.
I think that may be what Illarionov was referring to. What did he call that? Let me see... The Venezuela Model. Maybe Illarionov is referring to Hugo Chavez?

Moment of Honesty:

I am not the biggest fan of Abdul-Khalim Sadulaev. I am not quite sure if I can say exactly why, but I am not the biggest fan.
I think that part of my dislike probably stems from all the infighting that has been going on and the numerous times he has changed the government. Not that the first is his fault... but still...
Anyway, Akhmed Zakayev is now the "Foreign Minister" (not that that means anything, as he explains in his extremely short interview with RFE/RL).
Okay, must go. Later.