#4
Izvestia
April 3, 2003
BUSH IS NO HITLER, AND RUSSIA IS NOT AN ENEMY OF THE UNITED STATES
Russia and America have common ideals after all
Author: editorial
[from WPS Monitoring Agency, www.wps.ru/e_index.html]

PARALLELS DRAWN IN THE RUSSIAN MEDIA BETWEEN BUSH AND HITLER, OR THE HOLOCAUST AND THE WAR IN IRAQ, ARE INAPPROPRIATE. RUSSIA AND AMERICA MAY DISAGREE ON TACTICS, BUT THEY HAVE A COMMON PURPOSE: COUNTERING INTERNATIONAL TERRORISM.

Russian television channels are more and more insistently drawing parallels between Bush and Hitler, the Holocaust and "massive extermination of Iraqi civilians" by allied troops. These parallels are as incorrect, and even blasphemous, as they are dangerous. They are twice as dangerous if they present themselves as a reflection of the official point of view of the state. Meanwhile, neither President Putin nor Foreign Minister Ivanov nor any other Russian state officials have made any such statements at any time.

Russia, as well as all of humanity, is facing a very difficult moral and political choice. This choice will have to be made, inevitably, and it cannot be made by halves. When the US waged war on the Taliban regime in Afghanistan, Russian unambiguously supported the counter-terrorist coalition. Moreover, when this coalition was being formed, Moscow was really consulted - for the first time since the break-up of the USSR. Russia was viewed as an outpost of the battle against international terrorism. The Bush administration considered evidence of Chechen guerrilla links with international terrorist organizations convincing enough. Now Russia has disagreed with America on tactics - in this specific war, but so far it has emphasized the importance of strategic partnership in the cause of fighting international terrorism.

There are many reasons why Russia could not support the US war on Iraq. While we had no contacts with the Taliban regime and it did not have the international community's legitimate acknowledgement, the Iraqi regime, which was quite legitimate, had been a friend of Moscow since Soviet times. Russia has substantial business interests in Iraq - primarily in the oil sector and in the arms trade area. Finally, Iraq owes us $8 billion. However, it's one matter to simply refrain from supporting the war against Iraq - and quite another matter to become a sworn enemy of America. Our current differences are a dispute over the means, not the ends.

Being at odds with America is stupid, but not because America is stronger than Russia. There is a more weighty reason: we have a common enemy and common ideals. Russia has direct experience with centers of political extremism and criminal terrorism screened by religious rhetoric. There is actually no ideological difference between the Wahabbi guerrilla incursion from Chechnya into Dagestan three years ago (which was actually the start of the second Chechen campaign) and the terrorist attacks on the US on September 11, 2001. Drawing parallels between Shamil Basayev and Osama bin Laden is far more appropriate than between Bush and Hitler. We know that. We have experience that for ourselves.

The existence of millions of "high-principled suicide terrorists", prepared to murder any number of people and use any sort of weapons in order to destroy all of Western civilization, is not only a challenge to America, but to Russia as well. Firstly, to Christian Russia - as there is no higher value in Christianity than human life. Second, to Muslim Russia - since, by hiding behind Allah's name and laundering illicit gains from drugs and oil, the terrorists defame Islam, trying to set the rest of the world against all Muslims. Third, to Russia as a Eurasian country spanning two parts of the world, equally rooted in both the Western and Eastern cultures.

Russia can and should call on the US to end the bloodshed in Iraq as soon as possible. But that call should be directed to a companion- in-arms in a common cause who is making a mistake, not to an enemy. We should object to attempts to establish democracy in such a way, but not to democracy itself. Europe, including Russia as its constituent part, is too weak to protect itself from the challenges of international terrorism. America is strong, but it is not smart enough to protect the achievements of Western civilization by the right methods. Only by joining intellect and force can the world protect democracy as the most reasonable form of social organization. And in this fight we are definitely on the same side as America.

(Translated by P. Pikhnovsky)

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