#16 - JRL 7281
Novaya Gazeta
August 7, 2003
THE CONSPIRACY OF THE REGIME IS MORE DANGEROUS THAN THE
"CONSPIRACY
OF THE OLGIARCHS"
Author: Vladimir Iliushenko, chairman of the Moscow Platform
political
discussion club
[from WPS Monitoring Agency, www.wps.ru/e_index.html]
RUSSIAN SOCIETY IS SERIOUSLY ILL - WITH IMPERIALISM, STALINISM,
REVENGE-SEEKING AND EVERYTHING THAT CONSTITUTES "THE WEIMAR SYNDROME."
THE TRENDS ARE FORMIDABLE, BUT THE RUSSIAN AUTHORITIES SEEM TO BE
BURYING THEIR HEADS IN THE SAND, OR EVEN PROMOTING DESTABILIZATION
THEMSELVES.
<> One foot in the abyss
The first signs of a covert coup d'etat can already be seen in
Russia.
1. In the last few years, vast power has been centralized,
focused in the hands of a few political clans possessing both colossal
administrative resources and assets. They have built a certain
hierarchy of power. At the top is the president, and its basis is the
powerful stratum of Russian bureaucracy. Whatever the result is called
- reinforcing the hierarchy of governance, or a managed democracy
regime, in reality this has led to the first shoots of civil society
being trampled, and democratic institutions being consistently (yet so
far incompletely) destroyed.
The presidential pardons commission has been abolished. A
colossal "clean-up" operation in the media field has been carried out.
A lot of print media have been closed or put on the brink of survival.
The only private television channel of federal relevance has been
liquidated, that afforded moderate criticism of the power which was
quite substantial at that. The recently-passed amendments to the laws
on mass media and elections and the statement of the Federation
Council head about the need "to create a government agency to regulate
information flows" in order to eliminate negative information (please
don't think of anything evil: it is not about censorship, but just
"regulation"!) - all this testifies to a continued attack on citizens'
rights and liberties. Moreover, the most authoritative democratic
leaders - Galina Starovoitova, Sergey Yushenkov, and (apparently) Yuri
Shchekochikhin - have been physically destroyed. Eliminated are the
best, boldest, and most brilliant. One can say the room for democracy
in Russia is shrinking like shagreen.
2. Militarized structures have acquired huge influence and
political weight in the country, which poorly manage their direct
duty, but well protect their selfish interests. Multiple intelligence
agencies engrossed in fabricating new "espionage cases," spying on
citizens, and illegally tapping fixed and cell phones act beyond any
public control.
A huge number of people in uniforms - army generals, officers,
and KGB men - have penetrated the power, politics, and business
lately. Among them are governors, presidential envoys, Duma members,
senators, senior officials in ministries and agencies, and influential
figures in the Kremlin administration. Politics, the economy, mass
media, and particularly personnel control - all is presently their
operative field, the sphere of national security. These are people
with an antidemocratic, repressive mentality, unaccustomed to
correlate their actions with the law, but accustomed to their
almightiness and impunity. They detest democratic procedures, civil
liberties, and the so-called human rights.
3. The power is awfully afraid that alternative political leaders
might arise, primarily of serious political figures from among major
business. To make it convenient to fight this threat, the Prosecutor
General's Office has been transformed into a militarized institution
executing orders "from the very top."
The destruction of the media empires of Gusinsky and Berezovsky
was just the beginning of this process. The tailored report of a group
of political technologists from the National Strategy Council on the
mythical "plot of the magnates" and the attack on the largest and most
successful business structure - YUKOS - show the power is prepared to
take any steps to liquidate even a hypothetical opposition. And the
power is not at all confused that this is harmful to our economy,
worsening the investment climate, contradicting to our long-term
interests, and calling the economic and political stability in Russia
into question.
The active and initiative participation of people from
intelligence agencies in these actions and their frank statements
about the need to revise the privatization show their intent to carry
out a large-scale redistribution of property in Russia and to place
the national economy and later politics under their full control. The
people from intelligence agencies want to be magnates by themselves,
but in a police state.
4. Russia's economy is developing on an unhealthy basis. For the
most part, we live at the expense of exporting raw materials,
primarily oil, and selling arms. Again and again, injecting budgetary
funds into defense industry facilities and the inefficient army with
its blown-up general staff is leading to intensive militarization of
the country. Supplying up-to-data arms and sometimes even nuclear
technologies to dictatorial regimes do not facilitate the development
of our economy (since dictators usually do not pay their debts back),
yet they disrupt political stability in various regions around the
world.
5. A malign tumor is growing and vastly metastasizing in the
country - Chechnya where war has already led to death of hundreds of
thousands of civilians and is fraught with new victims.
The Russian authorities, numerous generals and officers making
business on blood do not want this war to be over, so they do their
best to prevent it from going out.
As long as the power and society do not realize that Chechen
terrorism is a response to state terrorism carried out by the federal
forces; as long as "death squadrons" are operating in Chechnya
abducting innocent people and executing them without any trial; as
long as the power just imitates seeking peace and negotiates just with
its own puppets - terrorist acts will not cease. On the contrary, they
will repeat time and again, probably at an even larger scale.
President Putin said recently: "Terrorists must be picked out of
their caves and destroyed." Yet entire Chechnya and its neighboring
Caucasian republics are such "caves" from where it is impossible to
pick out everyone, more so, that terrorists also act beyond Chechnya,
in Central Russia, primarily in Moscow.
So far, our authorities with their shortsighted policy have
destabilized the entire North Caucasus. What tomorrow? Tomorrow, after
new major terrorist acts, they may tell us: 'In light of the present
emergency threatening Russia's security and integrity, we are forced
to suspend the effect of some constitutional guarantees and to
introduce the state of emergency in the country. We must return terror
for terror. There will be no pardon for murderers and their
accomplices. We call on the people to support the resolute measures of
fighting the enemies of Russia's freedom, independence, and integrity.
We call on patriots, all citizens of our homeland to united around the
National Salvation Committee."
And the people believing there is no other way out, for the most
part, will most likely support such an appeal. Meanwhile, the
authorities will achieve their goal with much more successfully than
the GKChP.
6. The army in this country has turned from the school of courage
intro the school of crime. It is demoralized and embittered. It is not
as dangerous for armed enemies as for civilians and itself. The
general staff en masse is corrupted and incompetent. It is infected
with Stalinism and prepared to support the most radical ideas.
Millions of those who have gone through Afghanistan and Chechnya have
got used to violence, looting, and anarchy. They are poorly-correlated
and need psychological rehabilitation, but nothing of the kind is
taking place or planned.
7. The degree of xenophobia in our society is way beyond the
"normal" boundaries. Xenophobia, nationalism, racism, and actions
motivated with them have acquired formidable dimensions. There is
practically no intolerance toward national hatred in society. Insane
migration policy contributes to its escalation. Individual state
figures (for example, Krasnodar regional governor Tkachev), with the
federal Center's silent consent, are openly setting Russians against
national minority representatives and call for deportation.
Law enforcement agencies meant to fight xenophobia are infected
with it. Numerous parties and organizations of the Nazi sort are
legally operating in the country. Newspapers, magazines, and books
instigating national and religious animosity are freely sold and
disseminated in huge circulations. The nature of the Russian Home
television program (Moskovia television company) is the same. The law
on counteracting extremism exists only on paper, but at any moment it
can be aimed against democratic forces.
The power connives at Nazis, it often directly sponsors them and
sometimes grows them up under its own wing.
We know how our courts operate acquitting Nazis or at best
amnestying them on the occasion of a definite anniversary of the
victory over fascism. We know how our police operate almost half of
which being "werewolves" - bribe-takers and ones who joined crime.
General Pronin, chief of the Moscow Main Interior Administration,
claimed: "If policemen are not paid bigger salaries, they will go on
robbing people." Yet the moral level and inveterate habits of a lot of
policemen do not let one hope that robberies will cease even if their
salaries are raised a few times.
8. Demographic processes going on in this country give no reasons
for optimism. Mortality exceeds the birth rate, the population is
declining in numbers, naturally. In a couple of generations, the
national and religious composition of the population will change
heavily which the makers of our nationalities policy (if it is
appropriate to call it so) do not wish to take into account. In many
regions throughout Russia, the ecological situation is extremely
dangerous, threatening people's life and health. Millions of people in
the country are alcoholics and drug users, having tuberculosis, AIDS,
and viral hepatitis. We have millions of waifs, refugees, forced
migrants. Practically all of them have been left to the mercy of fate
(or that of local chiefs).
9. Yet our main trouble is that our moral values are blurred,
replaced with either political advisability or traditionalist myths
like "Moscow - the third Rome," "the people - God-bearer,"
or
"Russia's special way."
The Church has not been able to fill the vacuum left after the
ruin of the communism. It is ill with the same diseases as our entire
society. It has not yet completely left totalitarianism, nor recovered
from the strike blown on Christianity in the years of Soviet rule. In
the Russian Orthodox Church, there is a powerful conservative wing
dreaming to return to the past from where it borrows hard
authoritarian patterns, hostile to democracy and democratic reforms.
Imperial ideology, chauvinism, and the feeling of national oneness
still determine the consciousness of most of the clergy and a lot of
the faithful. The Church has therefore not been able to become the
society's spiritual vanguard. It has not been able to place a screen
to destructive ideological trends and moral anarchy. It has not been
able to become the mouthpiece of the people's expectations. On the
contrary, in the person of a lot of hierarchs, it more and more often
serves interests of the power and its own selfish interests.
10. "The Weimar syndrome" is quite widespread in the Russian
society - a complex of ideas, feelings, and moods reflecting
disillusionment with democracy, national humiliation because of the
break-up of the great power feared by everyone and therefore respected
and reckoned with, but not any longer.
Masses perceive Russia as "the country that we have lost." And
the enemy is guilty of this. The enemy should be found and punished
(eventually - destroyed). Hence nostalgia for a hard hand, strong
power, order, military force. Hence the wish of revenge, hence the
furious anti-Western and particularly anti-U.S. rhetoric, attempts to
construct the national idea, regain the lost power and grandeur on the
ways of authoritarianism and "if need be" even fascism.
There is no empire, but the imperial consciousness is left. There
is no Stalin, but Stalinism is alive. Alive is the habit of solving
complicated problems by force. The present societal fatigue, apathy,
and frustration under certain developments can be replaced with a
revenge-seeking nationalistic activism.
We are still a sick society. We are still contused with
Stalinism. Before our very eyes, domestic authoritarianism with its
cult of chief is swelling. This half-open society is again becoming
closed. The country is embraced with systemic crisis from which the
power is trying to get out by false ways. A political regime has been
created that has little in common with democracy. To my mind, this
regime - based on imperialism and bureaucracy, crime and KGB methods -
has no optimistic prospects.
Some influential power factions view Nazi organizations and their
storm squads as their reserve. In case of force majeure circumstances
(an abrupt economic slump, mass upheavals, or more frequently
happening terrorist acts and so on), this reserve can be used
successfully, more so, that Nazis are ideologically and socially
"close" to a lot of senior and ordinary functionaries. It is quite
another matter that later these soldiers can be scattered and
liquidated like it was with Rem's storm squads in due time. But the
main thing is that the totalitarian gist of the new power even in
these circumstances can be preserved unchanged.
But what is going on presently? Presently - it would seem out of
nowhere - rapid political dynamics are observed. Everyone knows the
outward events. However, it is important to notice the attack on YUKOS
and other large private companies is conducted in a special operation
mode. The optimal time to promote the events has been carefully
computed (the parliament is in recess, a lot of political figures on
vacation, and the social activity is lowered). Intelligence agencies
that have joined our law destroying agencies and our "incorruptible"
justice are quite capable of driving the Russian economy into a coma.
They cannot misunderstand the consequences of their actions. Hence,
they have consciously staked on economic and political
destabilization. The end justifies the means. It is important the
country should be presented with a fait accompli and the events made
irretrievable.
Already now, a hidden coup d'etat is taking place.
Radical nationalist patriots are intensely waiting for the
outcome of the events and they are prepared to take most active part
in them. Colonel-General Ivashov, chairman of the Imperial Union of
Russia, claimed recently: "If this is serious, the Imperial Union of
Russia whose core is made of people in uniforms, including assault
forces and officers of law enforcement agencies, is ready to provide
its shoulder as a rest." It is easy to imagine how this will look in
practice.
Unless the president takes relevant measures presently (at least
dismissing a few senior officials), he will become completely
dependent on the most resolute activists from militarized agencies. He
will have no one to rest on any longer.
We have already crawled into an authoritarian situation and we
can next crawl into something fascisoid, into some wild traditionalist
archaism that is most likely to end up with a disaster. Meanwhile, our
society more and more needs mercy, peace, healing, recovering law and
order, return to normal moral and spiritual values.
I do not maintain the above-described scenario will inevitably
come true. No doubt, there are factors counteracting this course of
things. But it would be stupid to close one's eyes to the existing
danger. If "the Weimar" trend is carried out in full, we will have to
go through a catastrophe. "The new order," if it wins, will be brief,
but cruel.
So far, there is time and a chance to avoid the disaster. I would
like this article to be considered a warning.
(Translated by P. Pikhnovsky )
Aug. 8, 2003:
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