Does
Putin Have A Traitor In His Government?
By Paul
Craig Roberts
UPDATE: Since posting this I
have been informed by two experts
who know that whereas my description
of Kudrin as Washington’s puppet is
correct, John Helmer is just
stirring the pot as Kudrin is no
longer influential. The experts also
inform me that Helmer has a tendency
or habit of over-interpreting in
ways that raise suspicion of Putin’s
determination to stand up for
Russia.
October
18, 2018 "Information
Clearing House"
-
If
the report below from John Helmer is correct,
the implication is that Alexei Kudrin, Putin’s
good friend and a member of the Russian
government, is a traitor to Russia. The way I
read Helmer’s report, Kudrin, a hero to
Washington but widely regarded in Russia as an
agent of the billionaire oligarchs that
Washington and Israel put in charge of Russian
assets during the Yeltsin era, is giving
speeches advocating that Russia sacrifice its
sovereignty and national interests to Washington
so that sanctions will be removed and Russian
oligarchs can participate in the West’s looting
of the rest of the world.
Helmer
reports that Kudrin told the oligarch lobby last
week that “Today Russia’s foreign policy should
be subordinated to the reduction of tension in
our relations with other countries,” by which he
means the US, in order to reduce the sanctions
or, at least, prevent their increase.
Kudrin
was the deputy finance minister during the
pre-Putin period who presided over the Russian
bond default, collapse of the ruble, and crash
of the main banks. For this utter and total
failure, Putin promoted him to Finance Minister
and Deputy Prime Minister. In 2011 pressure from
the military resulted in Kudrin being demoted to
a lesser position.
In his
present position, Kudrin has the authority to
examine state agencies and promote his
evaluations and proposals. He can refer
government officials to law enforcement agencies
for criminal prosecution, power he can use to
remove Russian nationalists and replace them
with pro-American Atlanticist Integrationists.
Kudrin
is known to favor capitulation to Washington and
promotes himself in the Western press as Putin’s
successor on the grounds that he is the only
Russian political figure acceptable to the US
and NATO.
With
such a willing Washington puppet as Kudrin
waiting in the wings, Putin’s assassination by
the oligarchs or by the CIA is ever more likely.
Dances
With Bears
http://johnhelmer.net
October 15, 2018
KREMLIN ENDORSES KUDRIN CAPITULATION TO US
“RESTRICTIONS”
By John Helmer, Moscow
[Text with links http://johnhelmer.net/kremlin-endorses-kudrin-capitulation-to-us-restrictions/#more-19903]
The
Kremlin through Dmitry Peskov, the President’s
spokesman, has endorsed Alexei Kudrin’s call for
changing Russia’s foreign and defence policy to
save the country from American sanctions. “We
can perhaps agree with the point of view [of
Kudrin],” Peskov said [2], “except [that the
reason] is not the foreign policy of Russia, but
the international situation that is developing –
the situation of pressure on Russia, unilateral
actions in the trade and economic field, illegal
restrictions and the terrorist threat.”
Peskov
also wished Kudrin many happy returns for his
58th birthday.
Putin’s
spokesman was responding on Friday to reporters’
questions about a speech Kudrin gave to the
oligarch lobby, the Russian Union of
Industrialists and Entrepreneurs (RUIE), in
Moscow two days earlier. Kudrin had said then:
“Today Russia’s foreign policy should be
subordinated to the reduction of tension in our
relations with other countries and, at least, to
the preservation or reduction of the sanctions
regime, not to the build-up. Today I would
measure the effectiveness of our foreign policy
on these indicators. We do not have such global
problems for Russia – risks of military and
political importance which would require
increasing tension with other countries.” Click
to read in full [3].
In the
west Kudrin has been given credit for the
recovery of the Russian economy until sanctions
began in 2014; in Russia he is remembered as the
first deputy finance minister in charge at the
August 1998 default by the Russian Government on
its treasury bonds, the collapse of the rouble,
and the crash of several system banks.
President Vladimir Putin promoted him to Finance
Minister and Deputy Prime Minister until 2011.
For Kudrin’s programme for promoting himself in
the succession to Putin, and his policy of
capitulation to the US, read this [4].
Kudrin
has lobbied the Kremlin through the
Anglo-American media, arguing, as his spokesman
told the Financial Times, that Kudrin is now
the only Russian political figure acceptable to
the US and NATO.
“If
Kudrin joined the administration or government,
it would indicate that they have agreed on a
certain agenda of change, including in foreign
policy, because without change in foreign
policy, reforms are simply impossible in Russia…
Kudrin is the only one in the top echelons with
whom they will talk in the west and towards whom
there is a certain trust.”
Opposition from the Russian military prevented
Putin from following through. Instead, he gave
Kudrin a caretaker role, nominating him to be
Chairman of the Accounting Chamber, the state
auditor. On May 22 Kudrin was confirmed [7] over
an unprecedented vote of parliamentary
opposition.
On
Friday Peskov encouraged Kudrin’s return to
power, defending Putin’s performance “so far” –
without rejecting Kudrin’s policy. “The
international situation”, Peskov said [8], “-
the pressure on Russia, the adoption of illegal
restrictions, unilateral action in the trade and
economic direction, the terrorist threat. Of
course, all this is a challenge in terms of our
plans for the development of the country, but so
far the leadership has managed to successfully
cope with these challenges.”
The
state news agency RIA-Novosti also reported
Peskov as adding that “we are talking about the
illegal actions of a number of Western
countries. Therefore, it is legally incorrect to
call these actions sanctions. These are
restrictions.”
Dr. Paul Craig Roberts was Assistant Secretary of
the Treasury for Economic Policy and associate
editor of the Wall Street Journal. He was
columnist for Business Week, Scripps Howard News
Service, and Creators Syndicate. He has had many
university appointments. His internet columns
have attracted a worldwide following. Roberts'
latest books are
The Failure of Laissez Faire
Capitalism and Economic Dissolution of the West,
How America Was Lost,
and
The Neoconservative Threat to
World Order.
The
views expressed in this article are solely those
of the author and do not necessarily reflect the
opinions of Information Clearing House.
