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| Belarus Issued Passports to Officials of Hussein’s Government |
| 2004-06-12 |
| From The Washington Post When Saddam Hussein’s closest aide, Abid Hamid Mahmud Tikriti, was apprehended in Iraq a year ago, U.S. officials were alarmed to find him carrying Belarusan passports not only for himself but also for other high-ranking members of the former regime -- including Hussein’s two infamous sons. A year later Washington’s continuing concern about this matter is understandable, given that some of Hussein’s top officials and others in his regime may have escaped via Syria to the European pariah state of Belarus during and after the war. ... Belarus’s dictatorial president, Alexander Lukashenko, made Hussein such a key military, political and economic partner that Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld, in testimony to Congress a year after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, singled out Belarus as the country most likely to accept Hussein if he were to flee Iraq. ... Hussein’s son Uday was scheduled to make a high-profile visit to that country in March of last year. The outbreak of war was the only reason this much-hyped trip did not take place. Saddam Hussein did manage, however, to dispatch Baghdad’s then-mayor, Adnan Abed Hamed, to Belarus two weeks before hostilities began to publicly thank the government for its strong support and to tour a truck factory that is widely believed to have supplied Iraq with vehicles that were adapted to carry missiles. Ominously, Belarus has not only reportedly sold weapons to six of the seven countries on the State Department’s list of state sponsors of terrorism but has also continued to defy Washington in doing so -- even with the war on terrorism in full swing. In the case of possible Belarusan involvement in weapons sales to Syria, Lukashenko has not even attempted to conceal his military assistance. "No matter how severely we are admonished for it," he has been quoted as saying, "we’ll continue to help Syria militarily, because they have promised to help us in the same way." .... |
| Posted by:Mike Sylwester |
| #14 Aris, I don't have a particular problem with Putin and compared to the wacko dictators that have come to power in the ex-soviet states he is a positive paragon. I agree with you that Chechnya is a running sore but concrete proposals on how to fix the problem are few and far between. For example has the EU made any proposals recently? Remember that Putin was recently elected with a large majority, so despite his faults he does represent the majority of Russians. |
| Posted by: Phil B 2004-06-12 10:08:51 PM |
| #13 Can you tell me why you love him so much? I don't love him, I'm just willing to cut him some slack, in view of Russia's history and current condition. I am also willing to give the Russian people the benefit of the doubt. If they start revolting against Putin, I will probably be on their side. I think you are exaggerating. Chechnya, for example, is not Putin's work. He didn't kill 250,000 Chechens. OTOH, Yugoslavia went to shit, and civilised Europe simply shrugged. Can you tell me why you can't look at the plain stats about the political rights and civil fredoms offered in these countries and see Putin's Russia for what it is? After a 100 years, I'll look at the stats, I'll compare Russia, and if nothing will have changed, I will concede your argument (and we can continue this debate from the heavens...or hells). Let's see if the rest of you rise up against Rafael now Aris...it's the weekend. Try your luck on Monday. |
| Posted by: Rafael 2004-06-12 9:48:27 PM |
| #12 If I had said "I don't see much difference between Saddam Hussein and Bush" you'd have all risen in indignation against me btw. Let's see if the rest of you rise up against Rafael now, now that he compared Shroeder and Zapatero and Chirac with Putin. |
| Posted by: Aris Katsaris 2004-06-12 7:40:24 PM |
| #11 To be completely honest, I don't see much difference at the moment between what Putin is doing in becoming an alleged threat to Western civilisation and what the likes of Chirac, Schroeder, Zapatero et al. are doing In France, Germany and Spain there's freedom. In Russia there's not. In France, Germany and Spain the elections are free and fair. In Russia they are not. In France, Germany and Spain the political opponents of Chirac, Shroeder and Zapatero aren't routinely murdered. In Russia the political opponents of Putin are. In France, a quarter million Corsicans *haven't* been recently murdered. In Spain, a quarter million Basques *haven't* been recently killed. It's in Russia that Putin kills a quarter millions of his own citizens and you civilised Rafael simply shrug. Yeah, *you* lover of a mass-murderer of all people would see Europe as an equal threat to "western civilisation". But it's Putin that ensures the survival of the dictatorship of Belarus, the same way it's China that ensures the survival of North Korea's. It's not France or Germany or Spain. I told you why I hate Putin. Can you tell me why you love him so much? Can you tell me why you can't look at the plain stats about the political rights and civil fredoms offered in these countries and see Putin's Russia for what it is? You moron. If Zapatero was half as bad as Putin, the whole of the Basque country would have been drowned in blood. |
| Posted by: Aris Katsaris 2004-06-12 7:34:39 PM |
| #10 To be completely honest, I don't see much difference at the moment between what Putin is doing in becoming an alleged threat to Western civilisation and what the likes of Chirac, Schroeder, Zapatero et al. are doing. Who is the greater threat??? Europe, actually. |
| Posted by: Rafael 2004-06-12 6:40:38 PM |
| #9 He's a bonafide whacko like Zhirinovsky, from the same lineage as Kimmi from NK. I'd draw the same parallel myself -- that Belarus is to Russia what N.Korea is to China. "I don't know what it is that got you so riled up against Putin. Probably Chechnya." Partly it's the massacre at Chechenya, yeah. But I'd say that the same thing that would have me riled up against the old Soviet Union is the thing that has me riled against Putin's Russia -- tyranny, aggression, and support of every neighbouring dictatorship. There are countries that act as forces for good in the world and countries that act as forces for evil, and Putin's Russia is much more often the latter than the former. BTW, are you drunk yet following Greece's win in Euro 2004?? I don't tend to drink for celebration actually. And don't much like getting drunk either way. So no. |
| Posted by: Aris Katsaris 2004-06-12 6:22:02 PM |
| #8 He's under Putin's protection. He can sleep as tightly as he wants, unfortunately. Lukashenko doesn't need much prodding from Putin. He's a bonafide whacko like Zhirinovsky, from the same lineage as Kimmi from NK. Sure he can be a useful tool for Putin. But he can also be a major pain. But you'll eventually figure out yourselves what I've been saying about the neo-Soviet block. Under Putin, highly unlikely. I don't know what it is that got you so riled up against Putin. Probably Chechnya. BTW, are you drunk yet following Greece's win in Euro 2004?? |
| Posted by: Rafael 2004-06-12 4:54:17 PM |
| #7 Wasn't trying |
| Posted by: Raj 2004-06-12 12:08:38 PM |
| #6 In light of Russia's continued intention of assisting Iran's nuclear program and Belarus' defiant position on sending aid to Syria, I cannot possibly disagree with you, Aris. |
| Posted by: Zenster 2004-06-12 11:55:23 AM |
| #5 ...which was what, again? Something about it being an enemy of the West ruled by a group of KGB goons and their allies, rather than America's Christian capitalistic allies who are simply healing from all those years of communism but are nice guys deep down. |
| Posted by: Aris Katsaris 2004-06-12 11:41:45 AM |
| #4 Aris - i do not think you need to much convincing about the countries of the old soviet union around here...as long as the US can destroy them with nukes our homeland is safe..you should be convincing the EU.. |
| Posted by: Dan 2004-06-12 11:12:57 AM |
| #3 ...which was what, again? |
| Posted by: Raj 2004-06-12 10:45:47 AM |
| #2 He's under Putin's protection. He can sleep as tightly as he wants, unfortunately. But you'll eventually figure out yourselves what I've been saying about the neo-Soviet block. |
| Posted by: Aris Katsaris 2004-06-12 10:25:51 AM |
| #1 Congrats, Lukashenko, for making Rumsfeld's shitlist. Sleep tight. |
| Posted by: Raj 2004-06-12 10:07:56 AM |