December 24, 2007:
The secret police
have taken over the country, or so it appears. President Vladimir Putin, a
former KGB officer, and former head of the post-Soviet Union FSB, has brought
in hundreds of former KGB men and put them in key positions throughout the
government. This should not be surprising, as during the Soviet era, if you
wanted to make it big, you joined the KGB (secret police, a sort of combined
CIA/FBI that was a law unto itself). Putin has gained control of the
legislature via his political party, and backed a presidential candidate
(presidents can only serve two terms) who likes the idea of appointing Putin as
prime minister (the guy who does most of the day-to-day work running the
country, under the orders of the president).
The KGB has shrunk considerably to
become the present day FSB, and many of those without jobs in the secret police
don't mind, because with a market economy, there are much better opportunities
outside the government. Putin had no trouble getting a lot of these old KGB
hands to come do a few years of government service. Much of the economy is
being re-nationalized (returned to government control), and that provides
economic opportunities (usually of the corrupt kind) for government insiders.
Putin is reputed to be worth billions now, and none of his old KGB cronies seem
to be hurting. All this harkens back to before the communist revolution in
1917, when the monarchy ran a similar type of operations. What goes around,
comes around.
December 23, 2007: The army will begin receiving a new tank in
two years, and the navy will begin production of the troubled Bulava SLBM (Sea
Launched Ballistic Missile) next year, at a cost of over $20 million each. The Defense Ministry did not give details on
the new tank, other than it would be a radical new design and have lots of new
technology. That would appear to indicate that this is the T-95, which has been
in development for seven years, but in secret. All other Russian tanks are
basically upgrades of the 30 year old T-72 design, and very inferior to Western
designs. The new Russian tank will
probably cost over $4 million each.
December 17, 2007: In the capital of
Chechnya, there was a gun battle that left four gangsters and one policeman
dead. In the past, such battles were with Islamic terrorists, but those have
all either fled to neighboring provinces, or gone outside the country (to Iraq
or Pakistan) to continue their Holy War. Some remained and became gangsters,
which has long been a popular profession in Chechnya.
December 16, 2007: In neighboring Azerbaijan, fifteen locals
were convicted of spying for Iran. The convicted had been reporting on the
activities of American and British activities in the country. Azerbaijan, a
former part of the Soviet Union has, for over a century, been a major producer
of oil.
December 13, 2007: Russian and American
troops conducted joint counter-terrorism exercises in Germany.