Putin Brings Back Cossacks

I don't know if he's thought through the public relations aspect of this decision in the West, or not, but apparently Vladimir Putin is reviving the Russian Cossacks. He's already submitted a draft law to the State Duma defining a "Cossack society." These Cossacks will be available for Russian military and law enforcement purposes.

Until the Russian Revolution, there were some 4 million Cossacks. Abolished by Lenin in 1920, Stalin revived the Cossacks in 1936, and Cossack Units fought the Germans in World War II. After the war, the Cossacks were again disbanded. (Thanks to Siberian Light for the tip.)

More on Iraq from Roger L. Simon

Roger L. Simon: More Chalabi Wasabi

Report from Afghanistan

I noticed this Afghanistan story today on Glenn Reynolds' Instapundit.com:

INSTAPUNDIT'S AFGHANISTAN CORRESPONDENT, Maj. Robert Macaraeg, reports:

Guess who dropped in to Kanadahar Air Field (KAF)? Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld. Earlier he flew out to a Forward Operating Base, returned to KAF and then reenlisted 11 soldiers, gave a speech, did a question and answer session and then posed for photos with soldiers, airmen, marines and sailors.

He gave a 10 to 15 minute speech on why we are in Afghanistan. He mentioned after 2000 years Afghanistan had its first free election after the Soviets occupation and brutal rule of the Taliban. He was optimistic about the future of Afghanistan and said that the Afghan people wanted a bright future. Also he mentioned the devotion to duty that SFC Smith who was just awarded the Medal of Honor.

Then it was the question and answer session. He has a good sense of humor, but did not sugar coat his answers. The questions ranged from the new XM-8 rifle for the infantry, immigration and citizenship for foreigners who serve in the US military, shorter rotations for the US Army and why not military police can earn the new Close Combat Badge. One thing that struck me that he did not B.S. anybody. When he did not know the right answer, he said he would get back to you or deferred to one of Generals to give the straight answer.

One soldier asked the question on why America gets such a negative view of events here. Rumsfeld asked the soldier to repeat the question to make sure that he understood then smiled and laughed. He said "do you think I control the press?" That got a good laugh out of everybody; then he said if you look at any newspaper or TV news program all the headlines are negative. Negative headlines sell. He said with our (military) emails and letters that we send home, people in America will see the good that the military is accomplishing. Also Americans can sort through the news and see the truth. I totally agree with him.

After that he stood with service members for 30 minutes and took photos and shook hands. You can see that he enjoys meeting the troops. I have seen in the previous Sec Defs and Presidents who just did a five minute grip and grin, but Secretary of Defense Rumsfeld impressed the troops and in the dining facility (DFAC) comments were made that he should serve his full term.

I've noticed that Rumsfeld seems to be more popular with the troops than with the press. Perhaps that's because Rumsfeld seems to be counting on the Internet to bypass the press . . . .

Yukos Lawyer Targets Germany

The Moscow Times reports that Yukos' legal team has charged Germany as a co-conspirator against Mikhail Khodorkovsky:

Robert Amsterdam, an adviser to Mikhail Khodorkovsky's legal team, said Tuesday he would go to Berlin this week to call on German lawmakers to investigate Chancellor Gerhard Schroder's support for the Kremlin's legal onslaught against the former Yukos CEO.

Amsterdam accused Schroder of turning a blind eye to human rights abuses in Khodorkovsky's trial, in exchange for 'chips' for German companies in winning Russian contracts.
Schroder has been one of the few world leaders to openly back President Vladimir Putin over the case, which has resulted in the partial rena-tionalization of Yukos and Khodorkovsky facing up to 10 years in prison on charges of fraud and tax evasion.

After Yukos' main production unit, Yuganskneftegaz, was sold off last December, Schroder called the auction 'an internal affair,' in contrast to the reaction of the United States, which condemned it and earlier expressed concern over 'selective application' of the law in the Khodorkovsky trial. The Council of Europe has condemned the case as political.

Khodorkovsky's Final Statement

Mikhail Khodorkovsky, once Russia's richest man, was sentenced to ten years in prison the other day. You can read his entire final statement on MOSNEWS.COM:

When somebody says that the Yukos case led to the strengthening of the state's role in the economy, it arouses in me nothing but bitter laughter. Those people, who are busy robbing Yukos' assets today, do not have any real relationship with the Russian state and its interests. They are merely dirty-handed and self-centered bureaucrats, nothing more.

The whole country knows why I was put in jail: so that I wouldn't prevent the company from being robbed. At the same time, the people who organized the prosecution against me personally, tried to scare the authorities and society with my mythical political ambitions. They openly deceived the president, as well as other representatives of the country's highest political authorities and Russian society as a whole. I am convinced that in our global and transparent world there are no secrets that won�t be revealed with time. And the judgment of history will put everything in its rightful place. It is not a secret to anyone that the fabricated criminal cases against me and against other Yukos executives were damaging to the Russian economy. The amount of Russia's lost capital has grown by six times, and Russian and foreign investors' trust in our Motherland as an object for investment has been undermined. Well, let the full responsibility be laid upon those who designed my arrest and are now trying to send me to jail.

The whole world knows that the “Khodorkovsky case”, planned by certain representatives of a homegrown criminal bureaucracy, brought a heavy blow to the reputation of Russia and of its authorities. But nothing could stop these greedy people, who decided to grab for themselves the main enterprises and assets of Yukos at any cost. Nothing could stop them — not even the direct loss, which they have brought and are still bringing everyday to our country, to our statehood.

All of Russia knows that the prosecutors were unable to prove any of the charges against me. The attempts to blame me for a variety of crimes have turned into an obvious joke. And even prosecution witnesses were, in fact, testifying on my behalf.

I still think President Bush could ask Putin to let Khodordovsky go, before he attends V-E celebrations in Russia this May. Putin has the power to pardon Khodorkovsky, and the US might ask him to do so. It would actually help Russia, by improving the climate for international investment, as well as the United States' commitment to rule of law.

Denver Post: Attacks on Bolton "Pathetic"

The Denver Post had the same reaction to the Bolton hearings that I did: "In the end, the attacks on him - based as they are on 16-year-old comments and a three-year-old intelligence dispute, seemed not only petty and personal, but pathetic." The question remains, do Democrats think such a stupid plan of attack on Bolton makes them look good? If there isn't anything more than this, why subject Bolton--and the American public--to such a waste of time?

BTW, the intelligence employee mentioned in yesterday's testimony was a GS-14. Any Washingtonian knows it is almost impossible to fire a civil servant at that level. It is highly doubtful that Bolton, an experienced Washingtonian, would not have known that. Which may mean that Mr. Ford may have been lying to Congress -- the crime Ollie North was convicted of -- when he told Senators that he had the impression that Bolton wanted him to fire the employee...

Who is ex-CIA Agent Carl W. Ford, Jr.?

He's apparently a Washington, DC lobbyist and consultant to arms dealers, as well as John Bolton's chief accuser in today's Senate hearing. Here's his online bio from the website of the lobbying company he works for:Cassidy & Associates. According to the bio, his clients have included Lockheed Martin, Boeing, and Raytheon, helping them sell to the Japanese, South Korean, and Taiwanese military.

Who is CIA Agent Fulton Armstrong?

Little Green Footballs has some links about the man Richard Lugar, R-Ind., and Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., both mentioned at John Bolton's confirmation hearing...(is "Fulton Armstrong" a real name?)

Are NGOs International Criminal Entrerprses?

In his interesting article, The U.N., Preying on the Weak, in today's Washington Post, Peter Dennis observes that the UN-affiliated NGOs were up to more than hanky-panky: "In fact, abuse at these camps went beyond sexual violations: Injustices of one sort or another were perpetrated by U.N. missions or their affiliated nongovernmental organizations every day in the camps I visited. Corruption was the norm, in particular the embezzlement of food and funds by NGO officials, which often left camp resources dangerously inadequate. Utterly arbitrary judicial systems in the camps subjected refugees to violent physical punishment or months in prison for trivial offenses -- all at the whim of officials and in the absence of any sort of hearing."

Kremlin on the Charles

That's what Daniel Pipes calls Harvard, in his article, Conservative Professors, an Endangered Species. I'd say "Extinct" might be more accurate, at least in liberal arts faulties (law, political science and economics have a few positions available...).

Bull Moose Blog

We just found out tha an old acquaintance runs the Bull Moose Blog. On it you can find the latest Washington gossip, and political tidbits, combined with some analysis and even jokes...

Bolton to be Grilled...

The John Bolton hearing should make for interesting TV. If he can't stand up to today's grilling by Democrats, how can he be trusted to stand up to Kim Jong Il as UN Ambassador? It should make a nice preview for his debating style. Does Bolton have what it takes? As I remember, Bolton easily made mincemeat of a bullying Tim Sebastian on BBC's "HardTalk" a few years back...

A Plug Another Cousin's Book...

Sharon Kaufman's A Time to Die just came out, and my mother sent me this review from The San Francisco Chronicle. It sounds timely, in light of the Terri Schiavo case. Money quote: "'The American system of 'long-term care' is more than fragmented,' Kaufman writes, 'it is absurd.' She adds later, 'the events that unfold for many elderly patients and the pathways they travel before they die are dictated primarily by Medicare and Medicaid payment policies. No one knows this.' The emphasis is hers. "

Congress Proposes to Take Control of Charities

And Heather Higgins, who I met a number of years ago when she was called Heather Randolph and running her own family foundation, writes on OpinionJournal - Extra that she doesn't like the idea:

The added costs are easily absorbed by the huge charities that already employ large bureaucracies, but they will devastate small shops with limited budgets and largely volunteer non-professional staff. New rules would limit board size--another blow to fund-raising--and prescribe governance policies, duties and composition.

The proposals would require the IRS to grade each charity against its definition of 'Best Practices.' The IRS already receives annual 'Form 990s' from most nonprofits (detailing officers, revenues and expenditures), and can audit any nonprofit at any time. These proposals may clarify that process, and if so that's all to the good. But some now propose an expanded process that could put most, if not all, charities through an extensive review as frequently as every five years. This would involve submission of massive documentation to the IRS justifying the charity's compliance, restating its charitable goals and offering detailed narratives about its policies and operations, all to be made public.

Moreover, the IRS could require accreditation for the maintenance of tax-exempt status, and could contract out some of these powers to private accrediting entities. There is already deep concern on both sides of the political aisle that the IRS, despite denials, has had its auditing powers used for political purposes. Accreditation is an area where Congress must proceed with great caution. Accreditation by private organizations can be an excellent idea if voluntary and competitive, but mandatory and monolithic accreditation as a substitute for IRS oversight could stifle diversity while doing nothing to alleviate fears of misuse.

Sleepless at 34,000 Feet

A sobering short story, on This 'n' That. A sample:

I don't recall how or why, but we began to converse. I recollect that it had to do with the dinner menu. I also discovered that he was not African American. His accent was Pakistani. And quite frankly, after I'd heard him speak, I didn't want to talk with him anymore. Shame on me, for I had stereotyped him as a radical Muslim possibly associated with terrorist activities. The recent atrocities visited upon innocent women and children in Russia was still fresh in the news and in my mind. Because of that, mostly, I felt nothing but animosity for him and his religious faith.

As it turned out, my assumptions about his country of origin and religious faith were correct. Because he soon began to speak about the virtues of Islam. I quickly became a circumspect listener, reluctant to discuss or hear about the Islamic faith on an airplane 34,000 feet in the air of all places.

As Glenn Reynolds says, read the whole thing.

A Link to Slate...

To note a reference to our post on Saul Bellow in Judgment Call by Bidisha Banerjee (scroll down)...

A Plug for my Cousin's Blogs

Cousin Lucy's Spoon and Travels in Boo Land.

Kyrgyzstan: What is to be Done?

I've posted my suggestions onRegistan.net.

Mark Steyn: The Pope Was Right About AIDS

From The Telegraph: "The question now is whether His Holiness was as right about us as he was about the Communists. The secularists, for example, can't forgive him for his opposition to condoms in the context of Aids in Africa. The Dark Continent gets darker every year: millions are dying, male life expectancy is collapsing and such civil infrastructure as there is seems likely to follow.

But the most effective weapon against the disease has not been the Aids lobby's 20-year promotion of condom culture in Africa, but Uganda's campaign to change behaviour and to emphasise abstinence and fidelity - i.e., the Pope's position. You don't have to be a Catholic or a "homophobe" to think that the spread of Aids is telling us something basic - that nature is not sympathetic to sexual promiscuity. If it weren't Aids, it would be something else, as it has been for most of human history."

Photos of the Pope's Funeral

Katherine Lopez, at National Review Online, has posted a photo-essay on Pope John Paul II's funeral.