Quote:
Originally Posted by mapuc
I have so to say retired and this is because:
1. Was he(keep on forgetting his name) poisoned or not
2. Was it this nasty military chemical stuff or not ?
3. Was it Putin who gave the order or not ?
Since I can't get a clean answer on most of these I stay neutral.
Markus
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1. Nawalny. Yes.
2. Novichok. Yes.
3. The Russian state at top level. If Putin did not comamnd it, it certainly has nevertheless not been done against his will or without him knowing it.
How many poison attacks on critics and opposition leaders there have been in the past 15 years? I listed some of them some pages earlier. Quite some. Not even counting the extensive Russian cyber attack on the German Bundestag and the govenrment some years ago which led to a compöete shut down and repacement of the computer infratructure, and the murdering in Berlin Tiergarten Park last year.
Do not be "neutral". You become guilty yourself is staying neutral on this. You react exactly as the Russians calculate people like your to react: reasonable and thus: neutral. Because they do not admit it, don't hand over evidence, don't prove themselves beign guilty. Accuse the other of what they are being accused of.
Total deflection. Their tactic is: strike, and then raise doubts, deflect, deny, so that people like you stay "neutral", and in doubt, becaysue you want to be "reaosnable". They hold you by your nose and lead you around in circles!
About the pipeline Nord Stream 2, there cna be no doubt that due to Germany deletign nculear energy and coal energy simulkatenbously, gas and energy demand will raise in the coming years, and all across Europe and the world, btw, not just in Germany. There will be rising gas import from Ruzssia anyway, Nord Strema 2 beign sue dor not. There are revialing pipelinbe projects, and each is suppported by other natiosnw ith toher economic itnerests. Turkey. Israel , Cyprus. Greece. Italy. Ukraine. Poland. All want the pipeline to be theirs so that they cna have a grab on it, can milk coins from it, and can threaten the eU in n egotiations with shrotages if they do nto get what they want. Nord Stream 2 is algical reaciton to that, the German reaosnign behind it is fully rational: bypassing uncertain candidates like the Ukraine, Poland, Turkey, and have a transit for gas directly from Russia to the distribution network starting in a German port, no in-between intermediates who raise the costs, or could potentially blackmail the eU if they do not get more moenya form the eU. More debt collectivization. More of whatever theywant. And the US want a.) to sell their own overpriced and inferior-quality gas, want b.) no rivalry and at best a so strong stand on the European energy market that
they could blackmail the EU, and they want c.) to cut another source of income for Russia be spoiling a business deal for them. Mind you, the US is sanctionizing Russia already now.
I never lived in the illusion that Russia is Germany'S friend or that Germany is having a special relation to Russia. I oinly said, becaue it is a fact, that Russia has always hoinorued economic and trade treaties with us, even at the height of the cold war. It did so because it was a chance for them to increase tensions between Germany and the US that way. Beside this, Russia is attacking us on multiple secret and not so secret fronts day in, day out. So, the arrangement between us and them is such that the net benefits currently still outweighs the disadvantages. States have no friends. States have interests.
Unfortunately, the US does like the Russians as well. And maybe they are even more effective in attacking us and spying on us than the Russians. Economically they are in a better psoition to do so, since they can claim the whole German IT infrastrtxcure thewir playgorund - they build and created it, all software beign use don it, is theirs - they created that as well. The US is in the comfortable seat of beign able to act in the same way löikme they accuse Huawei it would act if only one lets them.
There are reasons why I do not prefer any of the three - Russia, China or the US - to the two others anymore.
They are all the same.