The editors of Bloomberg go to pretty great lengths to blame the murder of opposition leader Boris Yefimovich Nemtsov on Putin:
The thousands who marched in Moscow on Sunday in honor of the murdered opposition politician Boris Nemtsov did so because they recognize just how much has been lost with his death. Nemtsov had been brave enough to tell the truth in Russia under President Vladimir Putin.
The official response to his apparently professional murder on Friday, in the shadow of the Kremlin, has been distasteful. Government spokesmen have spun tales of conspiracy — involving Islamists or Nemtsov’s fellow opposition leaders — to distract from the most plausible explanation: that Putin and his obedient state news media have created an atmosphere of hatred that encouraged such violence.
without actually blaming it on Putin. My own view is that if Putin had wanted Nemtsov to be killed it would have happened much more quickly, more simply, and would not have been able to have been laid at Putin’s door even as much as it has. The word is that Nemtsov’s murder was a complicated operation involving at least fifteen people. I think if Putin had ordered it he would just have had a traffic accident.
I also have a visceral dislike of the formulation the editors are using: “Putin and his obedient state news media have created an atmosphere of hatred that encouraged such violence”. I emphatically do not blame President Obama for the murder of two police officers in New York by a nutbag (I recognize some do) but the same charge could be levied against the president. Using that tactic you can blame anybody for anything.
So, who killed Boris Nemtsov? I have no idea.
Given the totality of the circumstances, it is very difficult to think that the Putin regime wasn’t ultimately behind Nemtsov’s murder. All the cameras EXCEPT for the satellite were out of commission? Hmm.
There’s also the fact that the Kremlin has cast blame for the murder quite widely (I don’t think Drew or I have been named as suspects yet, but they tried to pin it on CStanley and jan overnight), I just have trouble taking their denials seriously. They sound about as credible as the Argentinian President when speaking of the recent murder of that prosecutor.
Is Putin secure enough in his position to want to send an obvious message to other wannabe critics? With an approval rating in 80% plus range, does he even need to worry about being circumspect? I don’t know enough about internal Russian politics to know.
Steve
Hey, I’m trying to lay low until this blows over, ellipsis….
According to various opposition groups in Russia, at least six other Putin critics have been murdered in questionable circumstances since about 2006, I think it is. Personally I think that the Litvinenko case is obviously Kremilin-backed, and I don’t really much doubt the others.
As for why he would do it: He cut his teeth as a KGB agent and rose to prominence due to his brutal handling of the Chechen conflict. I doubt he minds a little killing here and there. Plus the flying dildo attack drones turned out to be ineffective. (And no, that last sentence is not me being flippant. That was actually tried.)
https://consortiumnews.com/2015/03/02/playing-chicken-with-nuclear-war/
I like Parry’s column much better, he who opposed the Iraq War and was fired even though proven right. Fired by the same kind of folks who shilled for the war and are now dangerously shilling Russophobia. Whereas others completely wrong about the war were promoted by the same powers that be who are now Cold Warrioring.
I’ve been watching pro-Russian propaganda videos recently, here’s one of the more entertaining ones if you watch all the way through.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XIAUjsrPD7Q
I don’t know either about this assassination. Obviously it was well planned and executed, but that doesn’t necessarily mean it was at the direction of Putn.
Just read this, probably the best analysis I’ve seen so far:
http://jackmatlock.com/2015/03/is-nemtsov%E2%80%99s-murder-a-replay-of-kirov%E2%80%99s/