Volume I No. 31
 10-29-02
 Vladimir Putin's Poison Gas Solution
 { What Is This Man Hiding Behind The Mirror? } 
 author: Vance Cureton
 © Copyright 2002

 The controversy brewing over in Moscow about Russian President
 Vladimir Putin's decision to use an unidentified gas to end a hostage 
 crisis, serves as a stark illustration of the huge difference between 
 how such situations are handled in the West. And how these situations 
 continue to be handled in the East.

 In perfect Soviet-style intransigence, the Russian government refused
 to identify the poison gas to the medical personnel that were treating
 the hostages after they were freed. Thus raising the very real possibility
 that the government's silence cost the lives of numerous hostages that 
 might have otherwise been saved if the exact composition of the gas 
 had been made public.

 This is another demonstration of the extremely shaky foundations
 of the limited democratic experiment that is going on with the current 
 Russian goverment. Much work remains to be done. Many attitudes
 need to be changed before a true "open society" can have the slightest 
 chance of evolving within this historically significant old nation-state.

 The Russian experiment is still in its earliest stages. The unnecessary
 loss of lives means nothing to the civil authorities there, just as long
 as the flow of information remains restricted and controlled. Just like
 in the Soviet days, the press and its potential to desiminate information
 quickly, and in unpredictable ways, is seen as a tremendous threat to 
 govermental authority.

 It is agreed by many experts knowledgeable in hostage negotitiation
 tactics, that Putin's trade-off of 700 lives potentially lost, for the 100 
 lives that were actually lost, was as good an outcome as could have
 been hoped for, given the level of threat posed by the hostage-takers.

 But, in England, or in France, and certainly in the U.S.A., govermental 
 discomfort at the lost of any hostages, would have been a secondary 
 issue, so long as more lives could have been saved in the hospital
 wards, after the crisis was over.

 But this is so contrary to the Russian mindset. The government can
 never admit its fallibility in the event of a bad outcome. Such an 
 admission would be taken as weakness. Not only by the goverment 
 itself. But by the public looking on as events unfold. Whereas in the 
 West, a goverment that can freely admit mistakes, or declare that 
 situations under goverment control don't always work out perfectly 
 as planned, is instead a sign of a stable body-politic. It is an indicator
 of strength.

 In this era of increased cooperation between the West and the remnants
 of the old communist block, Putin's handling of the crisis and its aftermath,
 illustrates the dangers of moving forward too quickly. The expanding 
 European Union, as well as NATO "politically" advancing to the very 
 edge of the current Russian border. These are signs of hope that the 
 world is a less hostile place. At least, as it concerns the old Cold War 
 combatants. 

 But as over-eager capitalist investors are finding out in communist China. 
 In times of crisis or political dispute, the East still reacts differently than 
 the West. Old attitudes die hard. Yes, it is good that both the new Russia, 
 and the wizened old men in Beijing, are attempting to mirror within their 
 societies some of the more postive aspects of the capitalistic West. 

 But it is what lurks behind those mirrors that remains frightening, still.
 

 ReadingPost.Com
 © Copyright 2002

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