Bush: Russian Reforms “Derailed”

Everything has a start, and today might have seen the beginning of a long-overdue toughening of US policy toward the Putin police state in Russia. President Bush’s remarks in Prague were still cautious, and it remains to be seen if there will be any follow-up as he heads to Germany for the G8 summit, where the object of some of his remarks, Vladimir Putin, will be waiting. Bush has frequently wilted when faced with Putin’s hostility and blatant disregard for world opinion. As long as Putin gets what he wants he sees no reason to change his tune or his tone. So far, that’s been just about everything. Does Bush’s new tone indicate that will change? He mentioned Russia just once in his talk, saying “In Russia, reforms that once promised to empower citizens have been derailed, with troubling implications for democratic development.”

(Unfortunately, Bush almost immediately backtracked in comments afterwards to the press, saying that he and “Vladimir (I call him Vladimir)” could talk about the missile defense shield, among other things. Let’s see, Putin calls you Adolf and you call him Vladimir.)

To be more precise, the train of Russian democratic reform hasn’t been derailed as much as it has been hijacked, robbed, loaded with KGB and OMON security forces, and sent back in the other direction. Bush spoke at the Prague “Democracy & Security” conference directly after a panel discussion on the transition from totalitarianism to democracy took place. One of the members of the panel was Garry Kasparov, one of the leaders of the Other Russia coalition. In his opening statement, Kasparov pointed out that they could well be discussing the transition from democracy to totalitarianism when it comes to Russia today. When interviewed afterwards, Kasparov said Bush’s remarks on Russia were “an improvement, but timid and not enough.” (Kasparov’s full opening statement at the panel will follow in these pages today.)