Putin: Critica sim (e basta)

" (...) Our national interest lies not in making enemies of the Russian people and the present Russian government. Putin isn't a Jeffersonian democrat, but neither is he a Stalinist. He's simply a nationalist who is steering his country though a difficult time. In his absence Russia would revert to the domination of gangsters and ex-commie "entrepreneurs" whose ill-gotten gains are currently feeding the Russian opposition abroad. All too often, our Western media allows itself to be used by these dubious characters, in unfairly portraying as "authoritarian" and "neo-Soviet" a Russia that is slowly but surely climbing out of the graveyard of socialism. The reality is much more complex.

Is Russia democratic? Yes, but the nature of the regime is irrelevant to the question of what our policy toward Moscow ought to be. Even if Russia should really begin to backslide into authoritarianism, as Western commentators like to put it, we will not benefit from trying to engineer regime change or otherwise interfering in Russia's internal affairs – and neither, in the long run, will the Russian people.

Even given all Putin's faults, however, the Russia of today represents a tremendous advance over the dark days of the Bolshevik horror: seen in perspective – that is, since 1917 – Putin's Russia is a vast improvement, both for the people of Russia and our own national interest. Our intervention can only hurt the future of the Russian people and encourage a nationalist backlash we will live to regret." Justin Raimundo