It seems to me that Ms. Eisler chooses to willfully ignore facts in her spirited rebuttal of Dr. Murdock’s column especially concerning the events that have occurred in the Ukraine in the past year.
To begin with, there was no Russian interference in eastern Ukraine until after the Ukrainian people rose up to overthrow the puppet Russian prime minister in place at that time. Completely uninvited, and in violation of the sovereignty of the Ukrainian nation, Putin ordered troops (and insisted they were “volunteers”) into the region, along with heavy arms, in an attempt to seize more of Ukraine. That these so-called volunteers were in fact Russian troops has been clearly documented.
Whether the Ukraine was “central to Russia’s legitimate interests” or not does not justify an armed takeover of any region or country. Imagine for a moment if the USA deemed Alberta central to its legitimate interests because of our natural resources?
Without digressing into the troubles in the Middle East, I would remind Ms. Eisler of several other instances that would certainly appear to back up Dr. Murdock’s claim that Putin’s actions have, on other occasions, shown themselves to be quite barbaric, or at the very least cold, calculating and diabolical.
The murders of Anna Politkovskaya, journalist; Alexander Litvinenko, KGB defector, and Boris Nemtsov, political rival, speak to the brutality of Putin’s regime. Seizure of assets of others, and jailing on trumped up charges of still others. But, of course, nothing can be tied to Putin, he is much too clever for that. And in an attempt to bring the independent-minded Ukrainians to heel, a threat to cut off natural gas supplies in the middle of winter. Musing about his nuclear capabilities during the recent crisis in the Ukraine.
Is he the most barbaric despot alive today? Probably not. However, his actions have shown him to be not only dangerous and ruthless, but also barbaric if given the opportunity.
Steve Knobbe, St. Albert
