<
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2024/mar/25/putin-failure-moscow-attack-weaker-than-ever>
"Each time Vladimir Putin messes up, the same question is asked: will it make
any difference? Last week’s terrorist attack on the Crocus City concert hall
near Moscow, which killed 137 people, is one of the bigger crises Putin has
faced in his 25-year rule. There is no doubt that he, as Russia’s head of state
and overall chief of its security forces, bears ultimate responsibility for
what was by any measure a catastrophic failure. In any normal political system,
his resignation would be expected.
The fact this is more or less unimaginable is not necessarily a sign of Putin’s
strength. His dictatorship has eviscerated checks and balances within Russian
society, eliminating means of independent scrutiny. Any call for him to take
personal responsibility would barely be heard, let alone acted on. Yet the
Russian people, while chronically misled and serially misinformed, are not
stupid.
With blood on the streets and a nation in mourning, there’s no hiding that the
Putin superman myth just took a serious, bubble-bursting beating.
The Kremlin is estimated to have spent more than £1bn on “information
management”, meaning lies and propaganda, to ensure Putin’s recent presidential
election “victory”. In addition, there was a reported 20-fold increase in state
spending on internet and media. All this had a single aim: to portray Putin as
an invincible, indispensable modern-day tsar who bravely protects Mother Russia
from her enemies.
Yet on Friday, four gunmen comprehensively demolished that myth in an anarchic
frenzy of merciless violence. The attackers were unopposed, the victims had no
warning, and all of Putin’s huge security apparatus – all this usurper king’s
horses and men – were unable to stop the butchering of defenceless citizens.
Even in a society as tied down as Russia’s, this lethally negligent failure
will not be forgotten or forgiven.
That’s on Putin. And it points to another fundamental weakness in his personal
and political position: he is so out of touch, so isolated from day-to-day
Russian realities, that he believes his own mendacious narratives. Despite
explicit videos published online by Islamic State, which has admitted that it
undertook the attack, Putin persists in blaming Ukrainian “Nazis”. This is
beyond cynical. It’s borderline psychotic."
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
