What Putin Wants Russians To Read

If you go about looking for evidence that Russia is slipping back into Soviet-think and is bruising for another cold war, you need look no further than Pravda, the once-official and still-quasi-official newspaper of the Russian government.

Headlining Pravda's homepage as "breaking news" this week is Why the U.S. will attack Iran in 2006, a column by Dave Eriqat, who also wrote the conspiratorial The End of Civilization about Bush's Machiavellian schemes.

Here's what Pravda readers read in Eriqat's lead:

There’s been a lot of speculation about whether or not the United States will attack Iran. Roughly equal numbers of people believe the U.S. will and will not attack. Disregarding the public blustering from both governments, I believe the U.S. will attack Iran in 2006. Here’s why.

The master plan of the United States is to control the oil in the Middle East.

The first time I read that tired line, I dismissed the entire article and clicked on to other news. But today I went back, and found Eriqat isn't a "Blood for Oil" guy; he's a "Bush the brilliant, evil leader of the evil nation" guy -- and that's what Pravda was so eager to share with its readers.

How evil is Bush exactly? Evil enough to kill 3,000 of his citizens to further his scheme:

The lesson of the staged 9/11 and the ensuing war in Iraq is clear: Americans will rally around the president and his party during distressing times. What could be more opportune for this president and his party than another staged 9/11-like event, followed by another war of retaliation, this time against Iran?

The "staged 9/11" comment got no documentation, no proofing -- it's just there, as a statement of fact for Pravda readers to savor. Why should they believe such a far-fetched claim? Why, because of historic precedent of course!

Just look at Pearl Harbor during World War II. The U.S. Government unquestionably knew the Japanese were going to attack and deliberately let it happen. The U.S. Government probably even abetted the attack by clearing an unobstructed flight path for the Japanese attackers. So would they sacrifice a few thousand more soldiers in Iraq? Sure.

So, to pursue our "master plan" (which goes nicely with "master race," don't you think?) we march forward quickly, powerfully and obliviously in the Eriqat presentation:

Then, without warning, the U.S. will drop a couple of nuclear bombs on a couple of medium sized cities in Iran, just like it did in Japan sixty years ago. The justifications will be the same as before: to bring a speedy end to the war. Of course, the world will be outraged, but its reaction will be muted because the U.S. will have already broken the nuclear taboo when it used the “bunker busters,” and besides, what can the world really do about it? Iran will surrender, and the U.S. will be fully in control of the Middle East and two of its most important sources of oil: Iraq and Iran.

Nevermind that we warn Iraqi cities before we launch offensives. Never mind that there's no war in Iran to bring a quick end to.

And most of all, nevermind that Bush has just two years to accomplish all this, before turning over power to his successor who, after all that, would almost certainly be a Democrat.

This is the America that Putin wants Russia's citizens to read about.

An America that kills its own people by the thousands, that launches huge, costly wars on Arab states. An America led by a crazed, threatening, expansionistic despot.

Sound familiar?

Tags: Putin, Russia, Pravda, 9/11, Blood for Oil, Eriqat