What’s the plural for ‘Axis of Evil’? There seem to be plenty out there these days.
Kommersant claims to have discovered the latest one, and it’s right on the borders of Russia. Axis of Evil Shaping Against Moscow, screams their headline.
And who are these scary evil-doers, you ask?
Rose-orange Georgia, Ukraine and Moldova are establishing an anti-Russian tie-up to force Moscow from Caucasus and Pridnestrovie, analysts say quoted by the RBC news agency.r good measure
[The] three paties appear aggressively involved in negotiations.
The main highlights are forcing Russia from the Caucasus and
Pridnestrovie; establishment of transport corridors, going the round of
Russia. Therefore, the parties actually endeavor to create a sanitary
corridor to isolate Russia from Europe and Transcaucasia
Now this is just silly. Of course these three countries would be more than happy to be able to establish transit corridors which circumvent Russia but, seriously, who in their right mind would call them evil?
(Hat tip: Ultima Thule)
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It is not that silly, nor does the headline “scream.” Kommersant never screams. In the Russian version, it’s “??? ???” in quotation marks, which underscores the source of the quote: President Bush. To the Russian ear, Bush’s “axis of evil” is whoever is standing in the United States’ way, messing with their strategic interests. Well, so is Ukraine, with Russia’s interests. No ethical assessment is implied.
And just what do “right minds” have to do with Russia? There haven’t been any seen there for decades.
Or maybe millennia.
The “sanitary cordon” (i.e., cordon sanitaire, a buffer zone) around Russia is not unlike the ones developing around Iraq, Syria, North Korea, China, etc., etc. It’s actually just an artifact of the accumulating freed and free states popping up where puppet regimes used to sit. It’s interesting that Russia does not count itself among the free states; that old-time Big Man’s Boma mentality just won’t go away.
Hamlet had Putin’s number: “One may smile, and smile / And be a villain.”
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