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03/05/2006:
"Task Force Urges Bush To Be Tougher With Russia"
The Bush administration should stop pretending Russia is a genuine strategic partner and adopt a new policy of "selective cooperation" and "selective opposition" to the authoritarian government of President Vladimir Putin, a bipartisan task force has concluded.In a grim assessment of the recent "downward trajectory" under Putin, the Council on Foreign Relations reports that in Russia democracy is in retreat, corruption on the rise and the Kremlin an increasing obstacle to U.S. interests. The goodwill that developed between President Bush and Putin, particularly after the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, has eroded.
"U.S.-Russian relations are clearly headed in the wrong direction," the task force wrote. "Contention is crowding out consensus. The very idea of 'strategic partnership' no longer seems realistic."
washingtonpost.com
Leader of Pro-Kremlin Militia Is New Chechen Premier
MOSCOW, March 4 -- The leader of a pro-Kremlin militia accused of major human rights violations was confirmed Saturday as the new prime minister of Chechnya, the strife-torn southern Russian republic that has been the scene of two brutal wars in the past 11 years.
Ramzan Kadyrov, 29, the son of an assassinated Chechen president, was unanimously approved by the republic's People's Assembly to replace Sergei Abramov, who was injured in a car accident in Moscow in November and resigned this week. The Chechen president, Alu Alkhanov, immediately signed a decree ratifying the appointment.
As first deputy prime minister, Kadyrov was regarded as the real power in Chechnya. He controlled local security services, disbursement of federal funds that support the republic, and its political institutions, including the newly elected parliament. He is expected to ascend to Chechnya's presidency shortly after he turns 30, the minimum age for the office, in October.
