Monthly Archives: March 2015

Putin the Moderate??

Posted on March 21, 2015 by Martin Hellman

In a recent talk following a visit to Russia, former Nixon advisor on Soviet matters Dimitri Simes told his audience that Putin is not ideologically driven and is the West’s best hope for a negotiated settlement to end the Ukrainian crisis. Simes went on to warn that, if we fail to take advantage of Putin’s moderate stance, we risk empowering reactionary elements within Russia who “want to do crazy things.” That, in turn, he warned could end in a disastrous military confrontation similar to the way World War I started. Continue reading →

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Germany Warns of “Dangerous American Propaganda”

Posted on March 9, 2015 by Martin Hellman

History shows that catastrophe tends to follow when the US media fail to do their job by not questioning statements fed them by our government. Vietnam and Iraq are Exhibits A and B in that argument, and as I’ve argued repeatedly on this blog, Ukraine should be Exhibit C. With respect to Ukraine, the German government is assuming the role abandoned by our media, but almost no Americans are aware of it. This post lays out what Germany is saying and, if you agree that more people need to hear that perspective, please share this post via email, Facebook, or other means. Continue reading →

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Time to Stop Playing Nuclear Roulette

Posted on March 9, 2015 by Martin Hellman

In Russian roulette, there’s one chance in six you’ll be killed – if you pull the trigger only once. If you pull it once a day, or even once a year, it’s not a question of IF you’ll be killed, only WHEN. After the Cuban Missile Crisis, Pres. Kennedy said he thought the odds of war were somewhere between 1-in-3 and even. If he was right, that crisis was equivalent to playing nuclear roulette – a global version of Russian roulette – with a 2- or 3-chambered revolver. Fortunately, most events have a much smaller chance of escalating to nuclear war, but even a small probability per event can add up to an unacceptable risk if repeated often enough. Continue reading →

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Ambassador Matlock Questions Putin Involvement in Nemtsov Murder

Posted on March 3, 2015 by Martin Hellman

I have found Ambassador Jack Matlock to be an invaluable source of information on modern-day Russia and have quoted him here a number of times, primarily on the Ukrainian Crisis. Having served as Ronald Reagan’s Ambassador to Moscow, “When Jack Matlock speaks, people should listen.” Unfortunately few do because the major media rarely cover news which conflicts with the prevailing narrative that Putin is guilty until proven innocent, no matter what the crime. That kind of group think got us into both the Vietnam War and the Iraq War. It’s time we started questioning our assumptions before getting caught up into the drumbeat to war, especially with a nation that possesses thousands of nuclear weapons. As part of that process of becoming more informed and more objective, I highly recommend Ambassador Matlock’s latest post “Is Nemtsov’s Murder a Replay of Kirov’s?” Continue reading →

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