January 25, 2016
Pro-Western Fifth Columnists in and around the Kremlin
by The Saker
The problem for Putin today is that it makes no sense to replace some of the worst people in power as long as the system remains unchanged. But the main obstacle to a reform of the political system is the resistance of the pro-Western Fifth columnists in and around the Kremlin. They also the ones who are still forcing a set of "Washington consensus" policies upon Russia even though it is obvious that the consequences for Russia are extremely bad, even disastrous. There is no doubt that Putin understands that, but he has been unable, at least so far, to break out of this dynamic.
So who are these Fifth columnists?
I have selected nine of the names most often mentioned by Russian analysts. These are (in no particular order):
Former First Deputy Prime Minister Anatolii Chubais, First Deputy Governor of the Russian Central Bank Ksenia Iudaeva, Deputy Prime Minister Arkadii Dvorkovich, First Deputy Prime Minister Igor Shuvalov, Governor of the Russian Central Bank Elvira Nabiullina, former Minister of Finance Alexei Kudrin, Minister of Economic Development, Alexei Uliukaev, Minister of Finance Anton Siluanov and Prime Minister Dmitri Medvedev.
This is, of course, only a partial list - the real list is longer and runs deeper in the Russian power structure. The people on this list range from dangerous ideologues like Kudrin or Chubais, to mediocre and unimaginative people, like Siluanov or Nabiullina. And none of them would, by him or herself, represent much of a threat to Putin. But as a group and in the current political system they are a formidable foe which has kept Putin in check. I do believe, however, that a purge is being prepared.
One of the possible signs of a purge to come is the fact that the Russian media, both the blogosphere and the big corporate media, is now very critical of the economic policies of the government of Prime Minister Medvedev. Most Russian economists agree that the real reason for the current economic crisis in Russia is not the falling price of oil or, even less so, the western sanctions, but the misguided decisions of the Russian Central Bank (such as floating the ruble or keeping the interest rates high) and the lack of governmental action to support a real reform and development of the Russian economy.
What is especially interesting is that vocal opponents of the current Fifth column now get plenty of air time in the Russian media, including state owned VGTRK. Leading opponents of the current economic policies, such as Sergei Glazev, Mikhail Deliagin or Mikhail Khazin are now interviewed at length and given all the time needed to absolutely blast the economic policies of the Medvedev government. And yet, Putin is still taking no visible action. In fact, in his latest yearly address he as even praised the work of the Russian Central Bank. So what is going on here?
First, and to those exposed to the western propaganda, this might be difficult to imagine, but Putin is constrained simply by the rule of law. He cannot just send some special forces and have all these folks arrested on some kind of charge of corruption, malfeasance or sabotage. Many in Russia very much regret that, but this is fact of life.
In theory, Putin could simply fire the entire (or part) of the government and appoint a different Governor to the Central Bank. But the problem with that is that it would trigger an extremely violent reaction from the West. Mikhail Deliagin (left) recently declared that if Putin did this, the West's reaction would be even more violent than after the Crimean reunification with Russia.
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Upon learning of a plan to use two swift boats as a bait, and to turn the Persian Gulf into a "pearl harbor," the Russia's Air Forces, who just happened to be in the neighborhood apparently used their mysterious capacity to turn off the US swift boats' systems, and allegedly, the Israeli submarine' systems, also. Boats became deaf, blind and motionless. Exactly like in November 2014in the Black Sea, the Russian Sukhoi Su -24 with the newest jamming complex paralyzed the most modern American combat management system "Aegis" installed on the destroyer "USS Donald Cook."
http://thesaker.is/nuland-meets-surkov-to-warn-about-imminent-nato-attack-by-scott/
