It’s a darned good thing that Barack Obama signed a new START treaty with Russia that allows them to put resources into areas other than competing on upkeep of nuclear weapons. Now that Vladimir Putin and Dmitri Medvedev have that behind them, they can concentrate on more appealing projects — such as continuing their efforts to rebuild the Russian Empire with puppet governments in former Soviet states. The Washington Post reports today that Moscow gave the violent opposition a big boost in Kyrgyzstan in the month before a coup sent its government packing:
Less than a month before the violent protests that toppled the government of Kyrgyzstan last week, Russian television stations broadcast scathing reports portraying President Kurmanbek Bakiyev as a repugnant dictator whose family was stealing billions of dollars from this impoverished nation.Hot Air
The media campaign, along with punishing economic measures adopted by the Kremlin, played a critical role in fanning public anger against Bakiyev and bringing people into the streets for the demonstrations that forced him to flee the capital Wednesday, according to protest leaders, local journalists and analysts.
“Even without Russia, this would have happened sooner or later, but . . . I think the Russian factor was decisive,” said Omurbek Tekebayev, a former opposition leader who is now the No. 2 figure in the government.
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