Portrait of a brave journalist
By Aussiegirl
Monica Showalter has a timely and important article in the American Thinker on the murdered Forbe's journalist, Paul Klebnikov. Obviously a remarkable individual, Paul, like so many other brave souls before him, fell victim to something dark happening in Russia. A remarkable portrait in courage and determination, this is an article not to be missed for an understanding of the eternal conflict between the individual conscience and the implacability and hostility of the state. A timeless lesson that it's important never to forget.
Since his murder by unknown assailants outside a Moscow subway a year ago, maybe it had been easy to dismiss Paul Klebnikov as overenthusiastic, reckless, and overreaching. There aren't many U.S. journalists to whom that happens. But it points to something important: Paul wasn't like other journalists. And he meant to clarify events in Russia enough to his readers�to turn it into a normal country. He knew the risks, and he did it anyway. His murder remaining unsolved over this year is probably the sharpest sign that Russia has regressed on democracy. Paul knew what was wrong with Russia. That's why some killer in Moscow wanted to end his life.
But I will not forget him.
posted by Aussiegirl @ 1:05 PM
3 Comments:
Almost certainly, Billy D. Don't forget that someone in power attempted to kill Viktor Yushchenko -- and there is little doubt that either Putin, or one of the shadowy criminal elements surrounding him did the dirty deed. This man was dangerous to them because he was unafraid to expose the truth.
from McAnonymous:
All well and good, except that the poison factory has recently (by Yu himself) been declared found on Ukrainian territory. No further info has come out as to the people who made it, or administered it. We may find that it had nothing to do with Russia, or at least we should admit that possibility.
Also, I think it's a bit premature to be laying the Khlebnikov murder at Putin's feet. For one thing, criminal justice proceedings in Russia are always shamefully chaotic. Secondly, it seems to me that Khlebnikov had stepped less on Putin's toes than those of Berezovskii (certainly no friend of Putin's) and a certain Chechen criminal authority.
No question that there is little shortage of bad players in that part of the world -- in Russia and Ukraine willing to do dirty deeds in order to maintain their power. Whether it's Putin or Berezovsky or Kuchma working with Putin before the recent Ukrainian elections, there are plenty of shadowy figures available to do nasty deeds. Kuchma is widely believed to have had a hand in the murder of Ukrainian journalist Gongadze. No question that whoever did the murder of Kolesnikov had a political motive of some kind - it was not a random murder. He was a dangerous man to someone -- and he stepped on someone's toes. As for the Ukrainian lab -- yes -- it was found on Ukrainian soil and it has been linked to a number of similar murders which were thought to be natural deaths at the time - a real death factory. The influences of the KGB and the former secret services plus the collaborations of many former government sources and other operatives can't be ruled out. It's a hornet's nest of interwoven shadowy and nefarious players over there -- both Russian and Ukrainian -- the big difference between the two sides seems to be those who are attempting to work towards freedom and democracy and those forces pulling for a more sinister and repressive kind of regime.
Post a Comment
<< Home