THE BAD OLD DAYS RETURN

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Nov 13 2008

November 13, 2008: The November 8 submarine accident off the Pacific
coast occurred once before, in the 1990s, when a submarine that
had been refurbished, had the fire extinguisher system go off
in a compartment because shipyard workers had rewired a control
panel incorrectly. This sort of sloppiness is all too common, and
Russians have long ago learned to live (or die) with it. Things are
changing, however, as more and more Russian manufacturers adopt
higher international standards for quality control. Otherwise,
Russian exports could not compete. Even the military manufacturing
industries are slowly moving in this direction. Meanwhile,
Russians have this inferiority complex which is often expressed by
aggressive behavior. It’s nothing new. During the communist period,
the bad behavior was hidden by a facade of communist revolutionary
rhetoric. But now we’re back to where we were a century ago, when the
czar was in charge. Go read some of old newspaper stories from back
in the day, and you’ll find that the Russians are picking up where
they left off. The communists came and went, but Russian paranoia
and threats prevail.

November 11, 2008: Off the coast of Somalia, a Russian and British
frigates cooperated to drive away pirates who were trying to capture
a Danish merchant ship. Both warships sent an armed helicopter to
the scene, once they received the distress call from the Danish ship.

November 9, 2008: In Chechnya, someone attacked a police station,
killing one policeman and wounding two others.

November 8, 2008: Off the Pacific coast, 20 people died when the
fire extinguishing system was accidentally set off in the forward
compartment of a new Akula II submarine undergoing sea trials. A
sailor who survived the incident later admitted he had set off the
fire extinguishing system. This process removes most of the oxygen in
the compartment, and sailors are trained to reach for breathing masks
when this happens. But most of the people in the compartment were
civilian shipyard workers and technicians. In addition to the dead
(most of them civilians), 21 people were injured.

November 6, 2008: In another paranoid outburst, the government said
it was sending five brigades (60 launchers) of Iskander ballistic
missiles to Kaliningrad (on the Polish border) to neutralize the
American anti-missile system being built there (to protect Europe
from Iranian missiles.) Russia insists the anti-missile system is
actually there to neutralize Russian missiles that might be used
against Europe. Or something like that.

Another terrorist bomb went off in North Ossetia, killing eleven
people in a market. A female suicide bomber was involved. No one took
responsibility for the attack.

November 5, 2008: A small bomb (about three pounds of dynamite)
went off on railroad tracks on the outskirts of Moscow. There were
no injuries and no one took responsibility.

November 4, 2008: In Georgia, the head of the armed forces
was replaced, as part of reforms to make the military more
effective. Georgia believes that Russia may invade again, and new
military leadership is needed to improve Georgian defenses. Russia
now defends its invasion of Georgia with the "Rwanda Defense." This
doctrine was developed by the UN to justify invading another nation
to halt atrocities against civilians. About a hundred civilians died
when Georgian troops moved into their province of South Ossetia,
which the Russians now say qualifies as genocide, and justifies an
invasion of Georgia.

November 1, 2008: Russia has offered to mediate the dispute between
Armenia and Azerbaijan (both parts of the former Soviet Union). In
the early 1990s, Armenia went to war with Azerbaijan to annex an
Armenian majority district (Nagorno-Karabakh) that was separated
from Armenia by a strip of Azerbaijan territory (populated largely
by Azeris). Although Azerbaijan is larger than Armenia, and has oil,
the Armenians are better fighters, and the conflict festers, despite
a 1994 ceasefire.

October 30, 2008: The Russian president has removed the head of
the south Caucasus province of Ingushetia (which is adjacent to
Chechnya). Both provinces are run by corrupt officials, who stay
in power by catering to their cronies, and Russia, and screwing
everyone else. Russia will tolerate this, as long as the local guy
keeps things under control. Murat Zyazikov was not doing that, and is
now the former boss of Ingushetia. He was given a new job in Moscow,
just in case he is needed again in the future.