The world is filled with demagogues and tyrants who frequently use the forum of international affairs to distract their downtrodden, freedom deprived citizens from domestic oppression by exaggerating each and every situation to paint someone (other than themselves) as a threat. Such skilled demagogues include the likes of Hugo Chavez, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and of course the Authoritarian Vladimir Putin.
Recently, Putin has not hesitated to paint the US as an enemy, decrying US policies and denouncing the US as imperialist, while at the same time Putin comits the very same imperialist acts he frequently decries. With Russia’s vast wealth in natural resources, Putin has bullied scores of former Soviet republics along its borders, all in an increasing attempt to increase its once vast sphere of influence.
From presidential elections in Georgia and the Ukraine to war memorials in Estonia, there is no end to Putin’s imperialistic ambitions. Now we have word that Putin plans to target European cities with Russian ballistic missiles if the US proceeds with its plans to deploy a missile shield in Europe. And a collective yawn goes up across Europe. This gesture is purely symbolic. Assuming Putin can be taken at his word (which is a major assumption in and of itself) and Russian missiles are currently target European cities, the time it would take to target such cities in the event of a strike can be measured in milliseconds. Perhaps if Putin spent a little less time orchestrating the murder of British citizens or trampling on republican governments in Eastern Europe, perhaps Putin’s legacy as a tyrant would not be so secure.
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