[lbo-talk] Oil & Russia

[Yoshie Furuhashi]

Chris wrote:
<blockquote>BTW I know I've said this before, but the Western Left's
attitude toward Putin baffels me. The man has precided over a 70%
(70%!!!) rise in real wages during his 6 years in power. And yet he is
continuously denounced as an enemy of the people in Zmag and
elsewhere. It makes no sense. It makes me want to hit my head on my
desk in utter disbelief. There is a Wirstschaftwunder going on here
that the left seems to be completely ignoring.

Now, if Putin spoke Spanish and engaged in anti-imperialist rhetotic,
it might be a different story. ;)</blockquote>

As far as I'm concerned, Putin's stock has gone up since his
invitation to Hamas and his putting the brake on Washington's plan on
Iran.  The question is, however, whether Moscow (together with
Beijing) has the wherewithal to prevent the sanctions (and missile
strikes later) on Iran, rather than just to slow down Washington.  A
while ago, it was reported that Moscow didn't want ElBaradei's report
to the UN SC till the IAEA meeting in June.  It didn't get its way on
that one.

--
Yoshie
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