Has anyone heard if General Lebed been involved or had any comments on the current crisis in the Russian parilament? He is a patriot for Russia and anti west.

-- morgan (bitbybit@eoni.com), January 19, 2000

Answers

morgan, can you share a bit more? I'm not aware of what you are making reference to.

Thanks.

Mike

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-- Mike Taylor (mtdesign3@aol.com), January 19, 2000.

Mike, I'm not sure how you want me to elaborate? General Lebed was going to run for Yeltsin's spot at one point. He is currently the governer of Siberia, I believe(or one of their states/provinces). He has been outspoken against the west and pro communist. His speachs really get the Russians to rally behind him sometimes. I just wondered if he might try to take advantage in some way of the current crisis. An interesting man to watch.

-- morgan (bitbybit@eoni.com), January 19, 2000.

I think what Morg is trying to tie in is that one of the Major Movers and Shakers in politics is ole' Gen Anton Lebed. He used to control (I believe) the Soviet Strategic Rocket Corps or whatever they call themselves these days. Essentially, the dude is Anti-Western and a supporter of the mindset "Let's bring back the good old days of the Rodina" meaning a Iron Grip and Steel Toed Boots. Lebed was also the goof who came out and said "Ah yes...the mini back pack nukes? Well...we don't know how many for sure..." If the alignment of Putin corresponds with a shift of Lebed to the Yeltsin/Putin camp, it could mean a resurgance of the original "Soviet Union" and a real nightmare for the west.

-- Billy Boy (Rakkasan101st@Aol.com), January 19, 2000.

Morgan,

Here is a site that provides very good online intelligence/analysis related to geopolitical issues. Thorough analysis of the Russian political climate.

http://www.stratfor.com/

~Dee =)

-- Dee (T1Colt556@aol.com), January 19, 2000.

http://www.amber.ucsf.edu/~ross/russia_/lebed.txt The above site has a bunch of info on Lebed also. Thanks for the tip on stratfor-I went there and bookmarked it.

-- morgan (bitbybit@eoni.com), January 19, 2000.

Thanks. What I was really wondering about was the reference to "Russian political uproar" as I have been out of the loop and much of my mind with work for the last several days.

Thanks again.

Mike

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-- Mike Taylor (mtdesign3@aol.com), January 19, 2000.

Great site Dee! Morgan poses an interesting question...

-- Carl Jenkins (Somewherepress@aol.com), January 19, 2000.

Nothing recent but since its ON Topic here's an essay Lebed wrote that I thought was pretty good. Its at least 2 years old and I can't even tell you where I got it:

What Ails Russia. By Alexander Lebed

My long suffering country has rid itself of its old pagan sickness - the worship of Marxist totalitarianism - only to find itself in a new state of free fallWhen a regime was built in the early 90s on the ruins of the Soviet Empire, Russias democratic forces saw itas a transit train to a bright future. But then the petty nomenklatura captured power andby commandeering the economy for their own gain, they cashed in on the idealistic enthusiasm of millions of ordinary Russians for multi-billion dollar profits. Today the bright future has receded behind the horizon; the transit train is stuck on the tracks. Capitalism, as practiced by Russias current leaders, lacks what should be its core qualities; free competition...for goods and services. Instead Russia suffers under an unprecedented monopoly of power, money, natural resources and real estate all concentrated in the hands of a few financial political corporations vying against one another. The senseless, bloody butchery in Chechnya, for example, can be understood as just such a cynical game of money, power, oil and pipelines. The government, as representative of all these corporations, torpedoes direct foreign investment and denies investors basic guarantees. Private capital, whether foreign or Russian, is steered exclusively into projects controlled by the groups in power. A growing tax burden serves only to stifle competition and satisfy the greedy appetites of the oligarchyLegislative extraterritoriality - demonstrated in its richest form by Gazprom [their monopolized natural gas company with twice the annual output of all the western 7 Sisters], a virtual country into itself- has createda situation of legal anarchy More and more often, criminal syndicates and cartels play the role that regulators should. In todays Russia its impossible to know where the government ends and business beginsCorruption on all levels of governmental power has become a fact of economic life.

-- Downstreamer (downstream@bigfoot.com), January 19, 2000.

That Lebed does NOT appear to be saying anything publicly might have several reasons.

First, that he may not be in inner player in Putin's circle (which makes sense considering the strong historical precedent of the Kremlin splitting power among the Party, the KGB and the military).

Second, point #1 plus that he's not about to move until he sees how today's events plus the regional conflicts play a bit further out. No sense in putting your own chips on the line when the betting odds look very indefinite, no?

Third, that he simply knows Putin's support way, way too well to say or do anything until asked. If Putin is as locked in and dialed in as Stratfor infers, this may be the reason.

What these possibilities have in common seems to be that a very powerful military and political player continues to keep a very low profile.

You can bet that a whole lot of Russian generals and admirals are wondering what's in their KGB secret files right about now.

Clinton merely appoints political generals (perfumed princes, as the saying goes), and then discredits them when their usefulness is done. Wesley Clark (who I'm not sorry to see this happen to) is the most recent example. Wouldn't care to bet that Putin will be as forgiving.

-- Redeye in Ohio (cannot@work.com), January 19, 2000.

wow......if you take out the proper names he could have talking about the good ole` US of A ?!!

-- mutter (murmur@ya.com), January 19, 2000.

Dee,

I really admire your ability to *sniff* out supporting documentation...

-- LZach (lisa@texasnetworks.com), January 19, 2000.

wow.....if you take out all the proper names he could have been talking about the good ole` US of A !

-- mutter (murmur@ya.com), January 19, 2000.

--ya, lets haul that dood over here and run him on the Reform ticket, bet he'd win! hahahaha! It DID sound like he could be talking about here, doesn't it?

thinkin about it, sounds like a lot of wallaces old running for prez speeches.

-- zog (zzoggy@yahoo.com), January 19, 2000.

Lebed, the Govwernor of Siberia. The Russian equivelent of Governor of Arkansas?

WW

-- Wildweasel (vtmldm@epix.net), January 19, 2000.