Helsinki Commission Hearings Bash Russia

May 25 (LPAC)--Despite all of the recent activity in both Russia and the United States on the Eurasian Landbridge and the Bering Straits Tunnel project, official U.S. policy towards Russia is based on "democracy," which is sometimes a code word for regime change.

Though he did not advocate overthrowing the government of Russian President Vladimir Putin, Assistant Secretary of State Daniel Fried did tell the joint House-Senate Helsinki Commission, co-chaired by Rep. Alcee hastings (D-Fla.) And Sen. Ben Cardin (D-Md.), yesterday, that "we long ago rejected the idea that the internal workings of a government are of no concern to us..." he had earlier noted in his prepared statement that "We do not exempt Russia from our belief in the universal potential of freedom, and we also have Russia in mind when we say we seek an open world characterized by partnerships with like minded countries," though he hastened to add that "Our preferred tactical approach is cooperation." He went on to cite a number of examples, such as the renewal of the Cooperative Threat Reduction program, North Korea and Iran (though, he noted, Russia "has sometimes voiced disagreement with our approach to sanctions and other measures"), and a range of NATO-Russia initiatives.

Fried also discussed a range of other issues in which the U.S. and Russia are in strong disagreement, including the Conventional Forces in Europe treaty, the U.S. plan to install ballistic missile defenses in Poland and the Czech Republic, Russian proposals to reform the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe "which would cripple its democracy promotion efforts," attacks on journalists in Russia, government ownership of TV news networks, the Kremlin's alleged manipulation of the environment leading up to the elections late this year and early next year, and Moscow's relationships with its neighbors.

Of the witnesses from various think tanks who followed Fried, E. Wayne Merry, a senior associate of the American Foreign Policy Council stood out as not bashing Putin. He argued that the present ruling system in Russia emerged out of the transition period from the mid-1980's to the mid-1990's which "produced a fairly stable governing system." He warned that while recent trends are not good "the alternative to the present ruling system could be something worse. Much worse." rather than focusing on the Kremlin's "backsliding on democracy," as so many Russian critics do, Merry said that the many internal crises in Russia, today, are actually the result of "decades of wrong policies," that is, the policies of the Soviet Union, the most serious of which is the health crisis, which actually has its origins in the 1960's. These internal problems, he said "should be the focus of state policy, even if the ultimate goal is restoration of greatness."