Distortion?: Putin and International Herald Tribune
Andrew E. Kramer, reporter for the International Herald Tribune, writes that Sergei Markov, director of the Institute of Political Studies, sees an allusion to the United States in a speech by Putin:
Putin likens U.S. foreign policy to that of Third Reich
MOSCOW: President Vladimir Putin of Russia obliquely compared the foreign policy of the United States to the Third Reich in a speech Wednesday commemorating the 62nd anniversary of the defeat of Nazi Germany, in an apparent escalation of anti-American rhetoric within the Russian government.
WTH? Did Putin really say that? Let's see some more of the article:
Putin did not specifically name the United States or NATO but used phrasing similar to that which he has used previously to criticize American foreign policy while making an analogy to Nazi Germany.
Oh, I see -- the reporter bases his theory on bullet-proof literary analysis. Still, let's not be dismissive. Let's look at some more:
Speaking from a podium in front of Lenin's Mausoleum on Red Square before troops mustered for a military parade, Putin called Victory Day a holiday of "huge moral importance and unifying power" for Russia and went on to enumerate the lessons of that conflict for the world today. "We do not have the right to forget the causes of any war, which must be sought in the mistakes and errors of peacetime," Putin said.
"Moreover, in our time, these threats are not diminishing," he said as he delved into what one expert said was clearly an allusion to U.S. foreign policy. "They are only transforming, changing their appearance. In these new threats - as during the time of the Third Reich - are the same contempt for human life and the same claims of exceptionality and diktat in the world." [snip]
... Sergei Markov, director of the Institute of Political Studies, who works closely with the Kremlin, said in a telephone interview that Putin was referring to the United States and NATO. [snip]
The U.S. and NATO? Sounds to me like he meant Iran and Islamofascism. Where would he get the idea that Putin meant the U.S.?
Turns out, one place he could have gotten the idea is from the reporter. Perhaps it was a loaded question, something like, "Was President Putin referring to the U.S.?"
After all, only such a question would elicit Markov's response:
He intended to talk about the United States, but not only," Markov said in reference to the sentence mentioning the Third Reich. [emphasis added] "The speech said that the Second World War teaches lessons that can be applied in today's world."
Then the reporter details his bone-headed theory linking the World War II commemoration speech with other Putin's speeches:
.
The United States, Putin has maintained, is seeking to establish a unipolar world to replace the bipolar balance of power of the Cold War era.
In a speech in Munich on Feb. 10, he characterized the United States as
"one single center of power: One single center of force. One single center of
decision making. This is the world of one master, one sovereign" [....]
The analysis appears to rest entirely on the reporter's interpretation of the word diktat. Perhaps it has that power. But both "exceptionality" and diktat apply to Islamofascists at least as much as they do to the U.S., although with entirely different connotations. And given the context of Putin's reference to the "contempt for human life," Putin certainly was NOT referring to the U.S. (or NATO).
Kramer -- and perhaps Markov -- are at best being over-selective in their choice of evidence. At worst, they are intentionally misrepresenting Putin and the U.S.
