China-Russian alliance?

http://www.alternet.org/world/35-countries-where-us-has-supported-fascists-druglords-and-terrorists

 

"Why It’s Time to Start Calling Putin a Fascist"

http://www.worldpolicy.org/blog/2014/05/12/why-it%E2%80%99s-time-start-calling-putin-fascist

"Russia's Dangerous March Towards Fascism"

http://townhall.com/columnists/marknuckols/2015/05/08/russias-dangerous-march-towards-fascism-n1996392

"2015: The Year of the Putin Dictatorship"
http://www.bloombergview.com/articles/2014-12-29/2015-the-year-of-the-putin-dictatorship

"Putin’s Russia as a State Sponsor of Terrorism"
http://www.worldaffairsjournal.org/blog/alexander-j-motyl/putin%E2%80%99s-russia-state-sponsor-terrorism



"WikiLeaks cables condemn Russia as 'mafia state'





Kremlin relies on criminals and rewards them with political patronage, while top officials collect bribes 'like a personal taxation system'""



http://www.theguardian.com/world/2010/dec/01/wikileaks-cables-russia-mafia-kleptocracy

It's true, that the USA often has only bad and worse options as allies, and still too often manages to make the wrong choice, However there's a difference between sometimes supporting the bad guys and being one yourself.

 

Theres a difference between acting alone for ones own gain...than working in a coalition, accepting the role others "want" the US to take up...and spend blood and huge amounts of money to do it...No Super Power has clean hands, that come with the territory, but its where the heart or intention is that makes a huge difference...Russia is not all bad, the US is not all good...Democracy is the only brake...Hows Russia's democracy at the moment?

 

Karjala, all of your sites are opinions... Putin has done Nothing to be considered Hitler or fascist. Again, I have been to Russia over a dozen times since Putin came to power and I can tell you fromnpersonal experience that virtually all that is being reported on Putin is a lie. Russia is a democratic nation and you can do whatever it is that you want as long as it's within Russian law and you will not be persecuted.

What I have provided are FACTS..... There is a big difference.

This contradicts your previous post in which you claimed that the US government only does things if approved by the UN and only fights terrorists if attacked... My source quickly proved that the U.S. Too acts in her national interests even if that mean supporting terrorists, fascists and criminal enterprises

 

Again, Russia is a democratic state I have been there a dozen times since Putin has been in power and can speak from experience. You can do anything it is that you want as long as it's within the law.

 

I'll have to take your word for it mate...and i do. I know the press...id trust your take on it more...

 

They are well reasoned, educated opinions in respected forums. Putin's actions are indeed not unlike Hitler's.

Your visits to Russia, nor my about as many, do not prove anything. One sees what one wants to see - and vice versa. Russia is a mock-democracy, which EVERY relevant international organization has pointed out many times. There's no law in Russia in a normal sense, but the "juridical" system is totally under the control of the Putin's regime, giving what ever sentence he feels appropriate.

Your facts could be debated but can't see any point, since I'm not denying that the USA has done many shady and bad things - and continues to do so. The point however was, that NO country can do whatever they like, neither can USA nor Russia.

It does not. I was referring to your earlier post of 6 countries being bombed by the USA in 7 years. Your list seems to have older issues and/or without bombings (apples versus oranges...).

Your thinking somehow puzzles me. If I know, that somebody steals, does it give me a right to steal too? How about to rape - or murder?

Once again - the Russian regime not only supports terrorism, fascism and criminal enterprises but is one itself!

 

We will agree to disagree Karjala but please don't pass off an opinion as fact. Russia is far from perfect but it is not a fascist state.... In fact there is much more freedoms in Russia than there are in China.

Both are very concerned as to what is unfolding around their borders.

 

Your "facts" were irrelevant to the matter under discussion - unlike my relevant, educated, reasoned opinions from respected forums.

Russia already has enough fascist characteristics to pass as one.

Chine is not a very admirable comparison, being another dictatorship. Both are bullies and expansionist aggressors.

 

Don't shortchange Barack Obomber...

His box score is 7 for 7: Afghanistan, Iraq, Pakistan, Somalia, Yemen, Libya and Syria.
With the possibility of going 8 for 7...As there are unconfirmed reports of drone strikes in the Philippines.

Feel free to fact check the 7.

 

One has to admit...whilst most of these attacks were made for good reasons...the facts (of these bombings) doesnt make for good reading...and gives ammunition even to intelligent people to argue the destructive nature of the US...but lets think for a second, just for a second, what the world would look like if the U.S. HADN'T intervened...sober thinking...

 

http://www.nature.com/news/putin-s-russia-divides-and-enrages-scientists-1.16571

Seems like the scientists are against Putin?!!

Even before the slide bearing a portrait of Joseph Stalin appeared, the mood at a St Petersburg meeting on the future of Russian science was tense. But when Andrei Starinets, an expatriate theoretical physicist now at the University of Oxford, UK, used the former dictator’s image to reinforce a call for Russia to lead the way in science — and to ask his fellow émigrés to stand united in “turbulent political times” — tempers exploded.



“I’m not going to take this anymore,” shouted Alexey Kondrashov, an expatriate geneticist at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor. Seething with rage, he jostled his way out of the room and slammed the door behind him.
Tensions at the St Petersburg meeting ran high from the start. On day one, scientists lobbed complaints at Andrei Fursenko, a leading science adviser to the president and one of several close Putin allies on whom the US government imposed sanctions in the spring in response to Russia’s actions in Ukraine.
“Do you have a vision for the future of science in this country?” shouted one researcher at Fursenko. “Will we have a say?” another demanded. In part, they were referring to a leaked letter sent by Fursenko to Putin in June, which proposed areas of research to be prioritized for science — and bearing a handwritten “I agree”, apparently from Putin. Many scientists saw that letter as a sign that science policy is being decided behind closed doors, without researchers being consulted.

 

I remind you of the latest OSCE report on the Russian Parlimentary elections December 2011, from the executive summary;

"...the quality of the process deteriorated considerably during the count, which was characterized by frequent procedural violations and instances of apparent manipulation, including several serious indications of ballot box stuffing. Result protocols were not publicly displayed in more than one-third of polling stations observed. Throughout election day, observers also reported a number of instances of obstruction to their activities, in particular during count and tabulation."

But, to keep things honest, we have the rather strange happenings of the US Presidential Election of 2000. From the OSCE report on the US General Election 2002:

The 2000 presidential election revealed serious shortcomings in the administration of elections in Florida, which resulted in a highly controversial, divisive and litigious end to the presidential election process. Following the adoption of remedial measures at the county, state and federal levels, these shortcomings have been addressed to a significant degree, demonstrating the responsive nature of U.S. democracy.



The difference being, of course, that in the US, the shortcomings were addressed. Whereas in Russia...

Looking at the Russian Presidential Election of 2013 (OSCE, Final report), we see these statements:

Although all contestants were able to campaign unhindered, the conditions for the campaign were found to be skewed in favour of one candidate. While all candidates had access to media, one candidate, the then Prime Minister, was given clear advantage in the coverage. State resources were also mobilized in his support.

... the process deteriorated during the count due to procedural irregularities.

a general lack of confidence among many interlocutors in the independence of election officials at all levels, mostly due to their perceived affiliation with local administration and the governing party.

The process deteriorated clearly during the count, which was assessed negatively in nearly one-third of polling stations observed due to procedural irregularities.

Few complaints were filed with the CEC and lower-level election commissions during the campaign period. Candidates, parties and other interlocutors attributed this to a general reluctance to seek legal redress because of a lack of trust in the legal system and lack of belief that an effective remedy would be provided.

So basically, still the same problems as observed during the earlier Duma elections.

Yes, it's true then president Medvedev introduced some changes in response to the protests, but it is yet to be seen what effect they will have in practice, beyond making it easier to register a political party.

 

If the scientists say that the level of Soviet science has gone down the drain how can Putin expect to win any military contes which has something to do with the level of science? I expect zero challenge thus.

 

Took the U.S. 300 years to achieve the democracy it currently has and it's still evolving. Russia is in its infancy in comparison. That doesn't mean it's not headed in the right direction. There is much work to be done but it's far from a fascist star that some in here would like to believe. Please remember that Russia has had democracy since 1991, that's 25 years... What did US democracy look like the first 25 years?

 

The problem is, that Russia is heading to the very wrong direction. The "democracy" in Russia is not evolving, it's regressing - towards a fascist state.

 

The people living in Russia don't think so. Putin has the highest approval rating of any state leader. Ofcourse Russia isn't perfect and corruption remains one of the largest obstacles but according to polls, the average Russian overwhelmingly believes that Russia is heading in the right direction.

 

Are they really heading to right direction? I really hope you are right, but it seems more like Putin is taking more and more power to himself like any good dictator would. That is not democracy at all unfortunately.

Five years ago I would have agreed with you. Russia was establishing solid economical foundations and also relationships to western European countries but at some point it turned other way around. What happened? Did Putin get so scared about Ukraine's first uprising so he needed to turn his own people against rest of the Europe to make himself look better and his position more secure?

 

So does Kim Jong Un - and so did Stalin and Hitler. People under heavy propaganda believe almost anything, as history so many times have proven.

 

Abnormally high support ratings tells that something is wrong. Putin's reported support ratings are near to Kim Jong Un's and that should tell you something. We have enough history to compare from western democracies and 50% support rates are actually quite high given that there are more than two candidates. Support rates over 70% are impossible, but of course very possible in countries like Russia. It's either fabricated poll results or heavy propaganda and simple enough people to swallow it all.

I'm not saying at all that there wouldn't be any propaganda in the west, of course there is. But we have enough sources from where to make our own mind.