Ralph Peters: “A Czar Is Born …”
BAD VLAD WINS WAR, DUPES WEST & PROVES HE’S GENIUS
by Ralph Peters - (NYPost)
THE Russians are alcohol-sodden bar barians, but now and then they vomit up a genius.
Prime Minister - and now generalissimo - Vladimir Putin is Mother Russia’s latest world-class wonder.
Let’s be honest: Putin’s the most effective leader in the world today.
That doesn’t mean he’s good news for anybody - not even for the Russians, in the long run. His ruthless ambition and gambler’s audacity may end terribly.
But, for now, give the devil his due: After a long string of successes, from his personal mastery of Russia’s government and media to his coldblooded energy brinkmanship, Putin has capped his performance with a stunning success in Georgia.
Not a single free-world leader currently in office can measure up to Czar Vladimir the Great.
Following his turnaround of Russia from bankrupt kleptocracy to flush-with-cash autocracy, he’s now openly determined to restore Moscow’s old empire.
And he’s getting away with it.
As a former intelligence officer, I’m awestruck by the genius with which Putin assessed the strategic environment on the eve of his carefully scripted invasion of Georgia.
With his old KGB skills showing (he must’ve been a formidable operative), Putin not only sized up President Bush humiliatingly well, but precisely anticipated Europe’s nonreaction - while taking a perfect-fit measure of Georgia’s mercurial president.
Putin not only knew what he was doing - he knew exactly what others would do.
This is intelligence work at the hall-of-fame level. (For our part, we had all the intelligence pieces in our hands and failed to assemble the puzzle.)
On the military side, the months of meticulous planning and extensive preparations for this invasion were covered by military exercises, disingenuous explanations - and maskirovka, the art of deception the Red Army had mastered. The Russians convinced us to see what we wanted to see.
Equally as remarkable was the Kremlin’s ability to lead the global media by the nose. (Oblivious to the irony, a BBC broadcast yesterday portrayed tiny, poorhouse Georgia as a propaganda powerhouse and Russia as an information victim - an illustration of the Russian propaganda machine’s effectiveness.) From the start, every Russian ministry was reading from the same script (try to orchestrate that in Washington). Breaking off his phony play date with Bush in Beijing, Putin rushed back to the theater of war.
Upon arrival, he publicly consoled “refugees” who had been bused out of South Ossetia days in advance. Launching the war’s Big Lie, Putin deployed dupe-the-rubes code words, such as “genocide” and “response.”
Wearing his secret-policeman’s stone-face, Putin blamed Georgia for exactly what his storm troopers were doing to the Georgians. And lazy journalists around the world served as the Kremlin’s ad agency.
Strategy and conflict hinge on character. Putin’s character is ugly, but he’s certainly got one: On the world stage, he comes across as a man among munchkins. When French President Nicolas Sarkozy flew in to Moscow to demand a cease-fire, Putin - busy with his war - couldn’t be bothered.
He fobbed Sarko off on Russia’s play-pretend president.
Sarko thought he was grandstanding as a statesman, but Putin saw him as a “useful idiot” (in Leninist parlance).
Carla Bruni’s husband got the cease-fire the twittering European Union demanded, all right. He returned to Paris holding in his hands a piece of paper that “guarantees peace in our time.” Putin’s thugs kept on killing. And they’re still killing as I write.
Putin makes promises blithely to make flies go away. But the promises are worthless.
Russia’s troops will find excuses to stay right where they are - or they’ll fake a withdrawal, leaving behind “South Ossetian volunteers” from Russian airborne units.
Want a straightforward indication of what the Russians intend? Putin’s code-name for this operation is Chistoye Polye. Literally translated, that means “clean field.” In military parlance, it means “scorched earth.”
The empire of the czars hasn’t produced such a frightening genius since Stalin.
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I think the article is spot on.
August 14th, 2008 at 10:11 amYep, Peters really nails it. The cold war is back.
August 14th, 2008 at 10:17 amGreat article. I gotta admit, Putin is an interesting guy. Probably will be around for a long while too…
I still think we ought to blow up a few tanks with a Predator or something just to show them if we want to we can…
August 14th, 2008 at 10:19 amAlso, the Cold War, as long as it stays cold, could be fun!
August 14th, 2008 at 10:19 amThis is not going to end with ahappy ending.
Reagan warned the Europeans about feeding the Russian bear, they chose poorly.
August 14th, 2008 at 10:25 amhttp://www.cnn.com/video/#/video/world/2008/08/14/vo.gerogia.journalist.shot.gerogiastatetv
Check this out. Just saw this, taking pot-shots at reporters, women reporters at that.
August 14th, 2008 at 10:29 amAlthough our response has been less than stellar, I feel we have a diamond in the rough with Condi. She built her resume in her formative years upon studying the Russian dichotomy. At first when 9-11 happened I questioned her usefulness in her position but I feel she will prove an excellent choice before all is said and done. Provided our leader demonstrates his nut sack at least once more for the road.
August 14th, 2008 at 10:38 amBush, Cheney, Hussein, Mccain come out come out where ever you are-there’s another fkn war ONLY BIGGER THIS TIME!!! I’ll bet pelosi has the answer only she won’t share it. What ya going to do when the ruskies come for you
It’s 3AM, don’t answer the phone, BOO does the ruskies scare you!!! WAKE THE FUCK UP AND DO SOMETHING 
August 14th, 2008 at 10:42 amPeters has Putin pegged.
I expect that this latest incarnation of the Russian Bear will be the most formidable yet.
August 14th, 2008 at 10:51 amGood find; she’s kind of hot and I’m glad she’s not hurt worse, but I guess no one brought a first aid kit to the war zone.
About Putin, you guys will see; as soon as Barry is elected he will go over there and give him a good talkin’ to. That’ll put things right and those ruskies won’t dare risking another stern lecture from Barry US BamBam!
August 14th, 2008 at 11:23 amRussia is an avalanche over Europe, and wont be countered by european countries until said countries are directly under seige. Maybe America will save their ass, and in 20 years be hated once again.
August 14th, 2008 at 11:50 amHe is indeed a 21st Century Hitler.
Said that last week on this site. I beat Peters by a week
Hitler frankly outthought, outworked, outread, and out analyzed FDR Churchill add all others since. Stalin and Putin are close. Stalin was a pig though.
FDR read 5 cent spy novels and Churchill was a drinkbold bum who threw away the Empire.
August 14th, 2008 at 11:56 amSharpnel? Lucky girl. As she was showing off her wound, she actually looked proud!
August 14th, 2008 at 12:05 pmheiz, he isn’t mad on ethnic cleansing like Hitler, he is russian of Brejnev education, or rather an Andropov’s student, means therefore that he was educated to preserve the URSS empire strenght
just posting, you would like that, nah ? something that reminds you the glorious times when your GI were welcome with flowers and not suicide bombs, not coming soon, I am afraid
August 14th, 2008 at 2:11 pmc’mon franchie… if you can’t make nice with the thoughtcriminals like Poppa Chirac would like you to… then it might be time for you to just accept your failings as a good Socialist and MoveOn.
August 14th, 2008 at 3:10 pmLaura:
The Cold War never ended. The KBG morphed into the FSB.
Friends of mine lived in Bulgaria in the mid-1990s. They said the Communists were alive and well. They kept the local people in line by controlling the electricity station. When the Communists didn’t get their way, they just turned the lights out.
Another issue: pornography swamped Russia’s former satelite countries after the Soviet Union “collapsed.” You couldn’t eat at a public place with your kids because of the porno left lying on the restaurant tables.
August 14th, 2008 at 3:14 pmI’m going back to the We are pussies stance, the only reason we have over priced F-22’s is to say we have them they will never be used because we have no balls so whats the point.
August 14th, 2008 at 3:16 pmI’m voting for Obama so that things will deteriorate to the point that real leaders will have to stand up and lead. this is not a comment on the above article as I did not read it and don’t care what second guess tactic this administration is using as a response to putin’s obvious correct calculation that we will not confront them in any fashion. Let the Democrats have the helm we do not deserve to have the wheel.
Putin, who’s married, just took a much younger woman as a lover. He and Sarkozy will have a lot to talk about.
August 14th, 2008 at 3:17 pmBillie WTF are you talking there ? n’importe quoi
August 14th, 2008 at 3:45 pmsully, I need daddy’s hand, cause I am afraid of the people that move on, I know it’s your favorite trip though
August 14th, 2008 at 3:48 pmYeah… um…OK.
Anyway….
Peters was part of a discussion panel I caught on C-SPAN this morning at American Enterprise Institute and he was REALLY pissed at Bush’s reaction to this thing and he really laid the MSM out for kissing Russia’s ass.
August 14th, 2008 at 4:43 pmAlmost funny if he hadn’t been completely correct about this very dangerous situation the Russians have brought on; saying what this article says and alot more.
It also looks like Sarkozy might have almost sold the Georgians out with the so-called cease fire agreement. The details of that debacle are just starting to leak out now. Also, I think that maybe Bush’s jaunt over to Langley (yesterday?) was to personally ask WTF are you guys doing?/wake the fuck up!
“just posting, you would like that, nah ? something that reminds you the glorious times when your GI were welcome with flowers and not suicide bombs, not coming soon, I am afraid”
I didn’t make my statement out of a yearning for affection from european citizens, just stating a fact. Your iraq/afghanistan measurement of glory is based on the reception given by 1. The enemy suicide bombing us…what would you expect them to do give hugs and kisses and 2. a population that has been fed propaganda against the west their entire lives. Such a reception is not needed to make me feel proud of my military, their greatness is in the work they do not the parades.
August 14th, 2008 at 4:44 pmPutin for President… He’s just what we’re looking ofr aren’t we?
August 14th, 2008 at 4:45 pmjust posting,
seems you misunderstood your country policy there, Condi is likely to get the ceased-fire agreement signed, plus still with russian peace-keepers
http://voanews.com/english/2008-08-14-voa24.cfm
http://www.reuters.com/article/topNews/idUSLE32026820080814
Now I don’t doubt that you are brave, neither your compatriots soldiers, neither the french soldiers
August 14th, 2008 at 5:12 pmSeems you all want that a big nasty war start, this is not realist, you know perfectly that the russians don’t care to die, they proved it before, plus they are almost drunk all the time, so dying of alcool or at war is the same and sthe latter supposely more grateul. There will be a huge hecatombe, and the Georgians will disappear of this earth
August 14th, 2008 at 5:19 pmPutin for President… He’s just what we’re looking ofr aren’t we?
———————————————————–
Obama Lite … literally and figuratively …
August 14th, 2008 at 5:29 pmPutin is no tsar. If he were, he wouldn’t be doing this. McCain was right on in saying that looking in Putin’s eyes, one could only see the letters “KGB.” The line of the tsars died long ago with the Revolution. Putin is far more akin to Stalin than to even the most militaristic of the tsars. The tsars believed they were ruling by God’s command and in most cases, deeply loved Mother Russia.
Although Putin supposedly was secretly raised by his grandmother to be Russian Orthodox, he displays too much of his KGB background to be very comforting. He is much more a son of the Soviet Union than a son of the Church. Russia, as a nation, will never again be truly great until its people and government return to God (as in the old days). Until then, they will continue to suffer.
August 14th, 2008 at 5:50 pmIvan the Kafir
you make a confusion Russia has always had such a KGB police, they were Tsars’ militias, Tcheka with Lenine…
I read that book of Vladimir Fedorovski :”the Kremlin shadows”, where he makes a brief history of the Kremlin
http://livres.lexpress.fr/critique.asp?idC=7858&idR=12&idG=8
As for Putin being bred in Orthodox religion, you would be surprised that the religious are his best support in Russia
they are containing the population in the cult of Putin and the great Russia, plus they are good spys
Putin rebuild all the orthodox churches that had been destroyed during the communist era
August 14th, 2008 at 6:33 pmFranchie my original post was speculating on the future not talking about the current policy.
August 14th, 2008 at 11:49 pm“…Russia, as a nation, will never again be truly great until its people and government return to God…”
Exactly right. Thumbs up.
As for Putin….
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB121876037443642795.html?mod=rss_opinion_main
August 15th, 2008 at 5:53 am“…Russia, as a nation, will never again be truly great until its people and government return to God…”
Exactly right. Thumbs up”.
precisely that she has become ; you still read Russia as ishe’s still a communist entity ;
also as for Kasparov, he only represent himself, a surdimentionned ego, with a pannel of weird friends,
http://english.pravda.ru/russia/politics/24-07-2008/105878-kasparov-0
now I see why youv shown his opinion ; easy to throw the fault on the others, while one is hiding its interest in the place too
http://nationalinterest.org/Article.aspx?id=19454
bizarre, another point of view
http://theygaveusarepublic.com/showDiary.do?diaryId=125
August 15th, 2008 at 8:30 amNow there’s a surprise…. Socialist you linking to Pravda as a ‘rebuttal’.
August 15th, 2008 at 9:18 amDumbfuck.
yeah idiot, your Kasparov is nothing than a dellusional spoiled candidate to egoland
August 15th, 2008 at 9:27 am