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by Brother Nathanael Kapner
August 29, 2008
from
RealJewNews Website
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Part I
OWING TO THE ZIONIST OCCUPATION of the Western press, not only will crucial
news be distorted, but essential news will also be suppressed. Such is the
example of Vladimir Putin�s defense of Russia�s recent actions in S.Ossetia
and Georgia.
The
Zionist-occupied mainstream media in the West has banned an August 29,
2008 interview with Putin conducted by Thomas Roth of the National German
Broadcast Services. Even in Germany, the interview was
censored. The Zionist
Jews fear Vladimir Putin and wish only to vilify this great Christian leader
rather than allow the truth to vindicate him.
Because of my contacts in Germany, the full length interview in German was
sent to me
Here & below videos.
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PUTIN - ARD FULL
(English subtitles)
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Part 1 of 3
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Part 2 of 3
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Part 3 of 3
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Through much expense and effort, I now make
this crucial interview available in English with the hope that readers will
not only benefit from hearing Putin�s defense, but will contribute to the
heavy expense involved in having this interview translated.
Thomas Roth, a German national who resides in Russia, conducted the
interview in Russian then translated it into German. I have availed myself
of both texts through my friend, Dr E.L. Magerovsky, who is fluent in both
Russian and German. A translation professional was also consulted.
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Before
making your comments, please consider offsetting the huge expense involved
to make this interview available in English.
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Read additionally: �Enga�ando al Mundo Con Fotograf�as
- Los Muertos en Georgia y Osetia
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Thomas Roth: Mr Prime Minister, after the escalation in Georgia,
the international public and the press sees Russia in isolation against
the rest of the world and beginning a war in Georgia. Why have you
placed your country in this isolation?
Vladimir Putin: What do you think, who began the war in Georgia?
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Roth: As I see it, the conflict was incited by the Georgian
attack on Tskhinvali in S.Ossetia.
Putin: I thank you for this answer. That is correct, that was it indeed.
We will deal more in greater detail with that later. Now I want to
emphasize that we did not prompt this situation. And as regards the
reputation of Russia, I am convinced that the reputation of any country
capable of following an independent foreign policy that would protect
the lives of its citizens, would only enhance its reputation.
And vice versa. The reputation of other countries which make for
themselves a rule to interfere in the politics of other nations by
extending themselves beyond their own national interests, their
reputation would decrease. This says it all.
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Roth: You have not yet answered the question why you have risked the
isolation of your country from the rest of the world.
Putin: I thought I answered the question. But if it requires additional
explanations, I will give it.
I am of the opinion that a country, in this case Russia, which would
defend the honor of its citizens, whose lives it acts to protect, and
acts according to international-law obligations in the context of the
peacekeeping forces, it follows that such a country would not come into
isolation. With regard to Europe and the United States - they do not
rule the world.
And vice versa. I would like to emphasize again: If any countries
believe that they are justified in serving their own personal and
national interests by disregarding the foreign policy interests of other
states, the reputation of such countries in the world would gradually
decline. If the European countries fall in line with the foreign policy
interests of the United States, they are not, in my opinion, going to
succeed.
And now to our international-law obligations. According to international
agreements the Russian peacekeeping forces were granted the obligation
to take the peaceful population of S.Ossetia under its protection. Let
us recall in this connection, the year 1995 in Bosnia.
It is well-known that the European peacekeeping forces in Bosnia, which
consisted of Netherlands military members, did not stop one of the
attacking sides and thus brought about the destruction of an entire
locality. Hundreds were killed.
This tragedy in Bosnia�s Srebrenica is very well known in Europe. Should
we have acted likewise? Should we have ignored the aggression and
thereby making it possible for Georgian military units to destroy human
lives in Tskhinvali?
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Roth: Mr Prime Minister, your critics say
that your goal in S.Ossetia was not to protect people, but to try to
further destabilize Georgia and to remove the Georgian president from
office. Why? In order to prevent Georgia from joining NATO. Is that so?
Putin: This is not so, it is a perversion of the facts, this is a lie.
If this were our goal - then we would have probably started this
conflict. But you yourself have admitted that the Georgian side started
this conflict.
Now let me recall the facts of recent history. After the illegal
decision on the recognition of the independence of Kosovo, everybody
expected that Russia would recognize the independence and sovereignty of
S.Ossetia and Abkhazia. And we had a moral right to do so. But we did
not do so. We acted more than cautiously and we �swallowed� the unlawful
Kosovo action.
But what did we get in return for our restraint?
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An escalation of the
conflict, the attack on our peace keeping forces, the raid and
destruction of the civilian population in South Ossetia! These are facts
that are very well known and have been published throughout Europe.
The Minister of Foreign Affairs of France was in N.Ossetia where he met
with refugees fleeing from the Georgian aggressors. Even eye-witnesses
reported that Georgian military units ran over women and children with
tanks. They drove civilians into homes and churches and burned them
alive. And Georgian soldiers bursting into Tskhinvali, when they had
passed by cellars where women and children hid themselves, threw
grenades into the cellars.
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What is this, if not genocide?
Georgian leadership, who instigated this catastrophe, has undermined the
territorial integrity of Georgia by their actions. Such leaders have no
right to steer a country regardless of its size. If they were decent
human beings they would resign immediately.
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Roth: But Mr Prime Minister, that is not your decision, that is a
Georgian decision.
Putin: Naturally. But we know different precedents.
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Part II
Thomas Roth: But Mr Prime Minister, that is not your decision, that is a
Georgian decision.
Putin: Naturally. But we know different precedents.
We remember how the American troops marched into Iraq and what they
wished to do with Saddam Hussein because he destroyed some villages of
the Shiites. In contrast to this, in just the first hours of Georgia�s
invasion, ten villages in S.Ossetia were destroyed, wiped off the face
of the earth.
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Roth: Does this give you the right to remain not only in the conflict
zone but to march beyond that into a sovereign country and to bombard
this sovereign country? That I sit here before you now I owe to sheer
luck. For a bomb from your airplane exploded one hundred meters from me
in Gori in a residential area. Isn�t it a clear violation of
international law that you in fact now occupy a sovereign nation? Where
do you get this right?
Putin: We responded within the parameters of international law. The
assault on the posts of our peacekeeping forces in S.Ossetia which
resulted in the murder of our peacemakers and the killing of our
citizens, we have considered without a doubt to be an assault upon
Russia.
In the first hours of the fighting, the Georgian armed forces
immediately killed several dozen of the soldiers of our
internationally-recognized Russian peacekeeping forces. In our southern
position, as there were positions of the peacekeeping forces both in the
south and in the north, Georgian tanks encircled the lightly armed
Russian peacekeeping forces and opened direct fire on them.
When our peacekeeping forces tried to take heavy munitions from the
hanger, they were shelled by the Grad rocket stations. Ten Russian
soldiers who were still in the hangers were killed on the spot - burned
alive.
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Roth: Mr Prime Minister�
Putin: I am not finished yet. Then, the Georgian Air Forces attacked
various points in S.Ossetia - not in the Tskhinvilli region, but in the
center of S.Ossetia itself. We were forced to fire beyond the combat &
security zone owing to these air attacks. These were the places where
the Georgian troops were controlled from and the operation centers from
which our peacekeeping forces & citizens were attacked from.
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Roth: But I have told you that residential areas were bombarded by
Russia. I experienced this, otherwise I would not have told you. Can it
be that perhaps you do not have all the information?
Putin: Perhaps I do not have all the information. Errors during military
operation are also possible. Only recently, in Afghanistan, US air
forces supposedly engaged in an attack on a Taliban contingent, but
destroyed instead, hundreds of civilians who were killed in one strike.
This is a first example of military errors.
But the second example is even more convincing. The matter is, that the
fire and control posts, the control of the Air Force and the radar
stations on the Georgian side, were stationed in residential areas with
the aim to restrict the possibility of Russia defending its people in
S.Ossetia - using the civilian population - and you - as hostages.
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Roth: Well, that is an assumption. Mr Prime Minister, the French
Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mr Bernard Kouchner, has expressed grave
concerns that the next center of conflict will be in Ukraine. He
mentioned in particular, the Crimean peninsula and the city of
Sevastopol as the next center of Russian aggression. Is the Crimea the
next target for Russia? The seat of the Black Sea fleet?
Putin: He said, �the next center of Russian aggression?� But this is not
the case in the Georgian conflict. We were the victims of aggression.
Our American partners trained the Georgian armed forces, provided
substantial funds, and sent a vast number of instructors who mobilized
the army there. Instead of searching for solutions to inter-ethnic
disputes, they simply pushed one of the parties to the conflict - the
Georgian side - to aggressive actions.
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And we are accused of being the
aggressors? What a powerful propaganda machine the West has!
Now you ask, �What is Russia�s next target?� In the current conflict we
had no �target� to begin with. Therefore it is misleading to speak of a
�next target.� Should we have swung our penknives at them? What is the
proportional use of force when tanks and heavy artillery are used
against us? Should we have fired with a slingshot? They had to expect to
get their teeth knocked out.
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Roth: So you exclude targeting the Crimea?
Putin: Allow me to answer and you will be satisfied. The Crimea is not
disputed territory. There is no ethnic conflict there in contrast to the
conflict between S.Ossetia and Georgia. Russia recognized the current
borders of today�s Ukraine a long time ago. We basically concluded all
the negotiations regarding the borders. Only demarcation issues are now
being discussed. But these are purely technical issues.
The question about �targets� for Russia only serves as provocation.
There within the Crimea, complicated processes are in view: Crimean
Tatars, Ukrainian people, Russian people, a Slovak population. But this
is an internal problem of Ukraine itself.
With Ukraine we have a contract regarding the docking of our fleet in
Sevastopol until 2017. We will be guided by this present Treaty.
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Roth: Mr Prime Minister, another Minister of Foreign Affairs expressed
his concerns, in this case, the British Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mr
David Miliband. He warned of a new - I use this word as his quotation -
�cold war� - between Russia and the West. He warned of an �arms race�
beginning. Are we now on the border of a new �Ice Age?� What is your
assessment of this situation?
Putin: There is a Russian saying: �Stop the thief! The one who screams
the loudest, he is the thief!�
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Roth: The thief, then, would be, the British minister of foreign
affairs�
Putin: This is what you say. Excellent! It is a pleasure to converse
with you. Remember, you said that.
Russia seeks no provocation, no tension, with whoever it may be. We want
good neighborly partnership relations. If you allow, I will say what I
think about this.
Look, there was the Soviet Union and the Warsaw Pact. And there were the
Soviet forces in the German Democratic Republic. And we must honestly
admit, they were the occupying forces which were left in Germany after
the Second World War.
After the collapse of the Soviet Union and the Warsaw Pact, these
occupation forces went away. The threat of the Soviet Union is gone.
However, NATO and the US forces in Europe are still there. What for? I
will tell you what for.
It is to establish order and discipline in their own US-NATO camp - to
hold them within �bloc discipline� they need an outside threat. And
because Iran is not entirely suitable for this role, there is a strong
movement, initiated by the US, to revive the enemy in Russia. But in
Europe, no one is scared.
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Roth: On Monday the European Union in Brussels meets. It will talk about
sanctions against Russia. Do you or do you not care since you say that
the European peoples� voice will not be represented?
Putin: If I would say we do not care, that we are indifferent, this
would not be true. Of course we care. Of course we will watch very
carefully what takes place there. We only hope that common sense will
prevail.
And we hope that an objective and not a politicized appraisal of the
S.Ossetian events will be given. We hope that the actions of the Russian
peacekeeping forces will be supported. Whereas actions of the Georgian
side which performed the criminal actions, we hope will be denounced.
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Roth: In this context I would like to ask this next question. How do you
solve this dilemma: On the one hand Russia is keen on cooperating with
the EU. You cannot act differently given the economic interchange
between you and Europe. On the other hand, Russia wants to play by its
own rules. How can you satisfy these two issues at once?
Putin: We are not going to play by any special rules. We want all to
world to act in accordance with the same rules referred to as
�international law.� We don�t want, however, these notions to be
manipulated by anyone. In one region of the world, they will obey these
rules, in another region, something else rules, only to satisfy
someone�s self interests. We want unified rules that check the interests
of all participants.
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Roth: Do you mean that the EU plays with different rules in different
regions of the world which do not correspond to international law?
Putin: Absolutely, how otherwise? How did they recognize Kosovo? They
ignored the territorial national integrity attached to Serbia
completely, and the UN Security Council Resolution 1244 which they
together discharged and supported. There they could do it. But one
wasn�t allowed to proceed in such a way in S.Ossetia and in Abkhazia.
Why not?
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Roth: Does this mean that Russia is the only one who can define
international law? That all others manipulate the situation - does that
make it right for Russia to define and dictate international law? Do I
understand you correctly?
Putin: You have misunderstood me. Do you recognize the independence of
Kosovo? Yes or no?
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Roth: Me personally? I am a journalist and it is my job to report.
Putin: I mean Western countries. In fact, all have accepted the unlawful
independence of Kosovo. But if you recognized it there, then you must
recognize it here - the independence of S.Ossetia and Abkhazia. There is
absolutely no difference. No difference at all. This is an invented
difference by the West.
There it was an ethnic conflict - and here it is an ethnic conflict.
There, it was crime on both sides. And here, probably we can find it.
Probably we can find it if we �dig.� There the decision has been taken
that these two people cannot live together in one state - and here they
do not want to live together in the same state. There is no difference
at all and everybody realizes this. This is all twaddle for the West�s
unlawful decisions to cover.
This is the law of the jungle and Russia cannot agree to this. Mr Roth,
you have been living in Russia for a long time and you speak perfect
Russian, nearly accent free. That you have understood me I am not
surprised. I am very pleased. Now I would like our European colleagues
who will meet on September 1 to talk about this problem, to understand
all of this.
Was the UN Resolution 1244 adopted? Yes, it was adopted. Was the
territorial integrity of Serbia explicitly mentioned? Yes, explicitly.
It was then, in their recognition of the independence of Kosovo, that
Resolution 1244 was thrown into the trash. They simply forgot it in
spite of our many protests.
They tried to re-interpret it. Turn it inside-out. It was impossible to
wiggle out of it � so they simply forgot it. Why? They had orders from
the White House and all have obeyed.
If European nations continue with this policy of obeying orders from the
White House, then we will just go straight to the source of their
policies and of all European affairs, and negotiate with Washington!
Part III
Thomas Roth: Given the crisis which is currently present in your
relations with the US and the EU, what contribution can you support to
cool off this crisis?
Vladimir Putin: First of all, it appears that to a great extent this
crisis was provoked by our American friends in order to enhance their
election campaign. This is the use of administrative resources in its
most deplorable form � in order to ensure the advantage of one
candidate. In this case, the advantage of the current ruling party.
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Roth: But this is not a fact.
Putin: Perhaps. However, we know that there were many American military
advisors in Georgia. This is very bad to arm one side in order to solve
the ethnic problems in a military way. At first glance, it is much
easier than to lead long term negotiations and to search for
compromises. But at the same time, it is a very dangerous way, a way
that the US so often chooses, and the order of events has proved this.
American instructors - all of the personnel teaching on using military
techniques � where should have they been engaged? At training grounds
and training centers. But where were they? In combat areas!
This suggests that the US administration was fully aware of the
preparing military action - and moreover, probably participated in this
military action. Because without the order of the senior management,
American citizens had no right to be present in the conflict area.
Only the local residents, observers of the OSCE, and the Russian
peacekeepers were allowed to stay in the security zone. We have,
however, found evidence of US citizens in the security zone that belong
neither to the first, second, or third category. Why were they there?
That is the question! If they will not tell us, and did allow this, then
I suspect that it has been done on purpose � to organize a small
victorious war.
And should it fail in their planning? Then they compose an enemy image
out of Russia, and on this basis, mobilize the voters around one of the
presidential candidates. Of course, the candidate they are promoting is
of the present ruling party - because only the ruling party has such
resources.
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Roth: The last question I would like to ask you is a question that I am
very interested in myself.
Don�t you think that you personally are in the trap of your
authoritarian state? In the existing system, you receive information
from your secret services and from other sources which include the
highest economic environment � even the mass media in Russia. These, no
doubt, are all afraid of telling you anything different from what you
are willing to hear.
Is it not then the case that your existing authoritarian system
obstructs a broad view for you to see the processes that happen today in
Europe, the US, and in other countries?
Putin: Dear Mr Roth, you have characterized our political system as
�authoritative� and therefore a political system to be censured. But
please, in this context, let us consider the conflict which we are
presently discussing.
Don�t you know what has been happening in Georgia in recent years? The
mysterious death of Saakashvili�s opponent, Zurab Zhvania, the prime
minister? The reprisals against the opposition? The violent dispersion
of the opposition demonstration in November last year? The rigging of
national elections practically in the conditions of a state of
emergency? Then this criminal action in S.Ossetia resulting in many
civilian deaths.
And yet for all of this, does the West still tout Georgia as a
�democratic country� with which a dialogue must be held and which is to
be taken into NATO and perhaps in the EU? The regime in Georgia is a far
cry from what the West wants the world to believe.
Yet if another country protects its interests, simply its citizens�
right to life � who have been attacked � 80 of our people were
immediately killed by the Georgian attack, 2000 civilians are dead in
the end � and what, we are accused of being �authoritarian?�
And if we protect the lives of our citizens, we will have Kolbasa
[Russian sausage since Russia relies on European food imports] taken
away from us? Do we have a choice between Kolbasa and life? We choose
life, Mr Roth.
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Roth: But in your own country..
Putin: Please - let me to talk about freedom of the press since you
brought it up. How have these events been represented in the US media,
one of the so-called beacons of democracy?
I was in Beijing when all these events happened. There began the massive
bombardment of Tskinvhalli, there were already ground operations of the
Georgian troops, many victims, and no one had reported anything about
these incidents!
Hardly had we pushed back the aggressor, knocked his teeth out, he
hardly had his American weapons dropped in haste and fled - all at once
the Western press remembered all about international law & called
Russia, the aggressor. All began to wail! Why this selectivity?
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Roth: Does not Russia need to care for its own economic interests rather
than alienate its European partners?
Putin: Alright, let�s talk about �sausage� -the economy. We want normal
relations with our European partners. We are a very reliable partner. We
have always fulfilled our obligations.
When we built a pipeline system in Germany in the early 60�s, our
partners across the Atlantic advised the Germans not to approve this
project. You should be aware of this. But then, the leadership of
Germany made the right decision and this system was built together.
Nowadays, this is one of the reliable sources of energy supply for the
German economy.
Let us look at the global economic situation. What are our exports to
Europe and also the US? More than 80% of the resources � oil, gas,
timber, metals, and fertilizers. That is all that the world economy and
also European industry demand. These are all things that can very well
be sold on the world markets should there be sanctions against us.
Concerning your imports to us, Russia is a large and reliable market.
Does someone want to stop selling to us any longer? Well, then, we will
buy these products elsewhere. Who profits from it? Not our partners in
Europe. Those across the Atlantic?
We are a victim of aggression and the West�s distorted propaganda. We
want an objective analysis of the situation which we are not getting. We
only hope that common sense and justice will prevail.
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