Putin deplores collapse of USSR

[emad]

BBC

Russia's President Vladimir Putin has described the collapse of the Soviet Union as "the greatest geopolitical catastrophe" of the 20th century.

Mr Putin's annual state of the nation address to parliament was broadcast live on Russian television.

He said the break-up of the USSR in 1991 was "a real drama" which left tens of millions of Russians outside the Russian Federation.

He also said Russia must develop as a "free and democratic" country.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/4480745.stm

[whistle]

1. Exactly what business does Condi Rice have to be concerned...

...over the progress of democracy and media curbs in Russia?

<snip>

"Last week US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice expressed concern at the progress of democracy and media curbs in Russia."

I think Putin made his point in his speech and unless the United States plans to sink billions of dollars of investments in Russia, they really should butt out of Russia's internal affairs.

[hector459]

2. History is still out on the merits of the dissolution of the USSR.

We really won't know until 2015 what it really meant. However, we already know that the invasion of Iraq was a total failure and that the violence we are now witnessing is only the thip of a very deep and wide iceberg.

[rfkrfk]

5. tell that to Lithuania n/t

[hatrack]

3. Putin laments deaths of Stalin, Beria

:eyes:

[emad]

4. and his best ever Stasi plant JP2???

[dhinojosa]

6. Hate to say it, but I wish the USSR was back.....

We knew who our enemy was. We knew where they were. We both hated religious fundamentalist terrorist, and the USSR did alot of the "dirty work" to get rid of terrorist. We had summits and it meant something. It drew our allies closer. We also did better, scientifically and technologically, with an adversary. Our motivation to learn was to "beat the russians".

Oh, red scare, where art thou?

[Allenberg]

7. Heh, I agree

not even BushCo is dumb enough to invade the Soviet Union..uhhh...right? ;)

[Democrats_win]

8. The military industrial complex agrees. Lets cut defense 99%

We'd still be safe and we could use the money to change our energy system.

[American Tragedy]

9. Russia's Putin: Soviet Collapse a Tragedy

Russia's Putin: Soviet Collapse a Tragedy
By ALEX NICHOLSON, Associated Press Writer

MOSCOW - Russian President Vladimir Putin told the nation Monday that the collapse of the Soviet empire "was the greatest geopolitical catastrophe of the century" and had fostered separatist movements inside Russia.

In his annual state of the nation address to parliament and the country's top political leaders, Putin said the Soviet collapse was "a genuine tragedy" for Russians.

"First and foremost it is worth acknowledging that the demise of the Soviet Union was the greatest geopolitical catastrophe of the century," Putin said. "As for the Russian people, it became a genuine tragedy. Tens of millions of our fellow citizens and countrymen found themselves beyond the fringes of Russian territory.

"The epidemic of collapse has spilled over to Russia itself," he said, referring to separatist movements such as those in Chechnya.

Putin's statements were some of his strongest language to date about the Soviet collapse and come a month before the nation celebrates the 60th anniversary of the end of World War II in Europe, a conflict Russians call the "Great Patriotic War."


The overwhelming majority of people that I've met who are from former Soviet bloc countries, particularly Czechs & Poles, don't seem to consider it so tragic...

[CJCRANE]

10. But from what I've heard

the standard of living in Russia itself has fallen to third world levels and crime has increased dramatically.