• [Note: Below is a joint statement statement on the Borodin issue. Following that is the article, 'Borodin Arrest Targets Russian-Belarus Union'.]
  
  Statement on the Imperial Arrest of Pavel Borodin
  
  Last Wednesday (January 17th) Pavel Borodin, Secretary of the Russian-Belarus Union, was arrested following his arrival by plane in New York City. Mr. Borodin was in the U.S. on official State business. He was an invited guest at President Bush's Inauguration ceremonies. The official justification for arresting this Russian diplomat is that the Swiss wanted to question him about alleged kickbacks. But the real reason for his arrest, and his subsequent imprisonment without bail, is that Mr. Borodin is Secretary of the Russian-Belarus Union. There is ample evidence that Washington fostered the breakup of the Soviet Union and has tried to undermine political and economic links between the former Soviet Republics. Just as Washington financed the Afghan terrorists during the 1980s (this was done with the cooperation of Saudi Arabia, to the tune of over $6 billion), U.S. foreign policy, open and covert, has been behind several of the civil wars within the former Soviet Union including the war in Chechnya. The outrageous incarceration without bail of Mr. Borodin, when he had been invited to America by George. W. Bush, is an obvious ploy to disable one of the key figures in the Russian-Belarus Union and to pressure others in Russia and Belarus to follow political and economic policies that are to Washington's liking.
  - Jared Israel (US)
  - Nico Varkevisser (Netherlands)
  Editors, Emperor's Clothes

***

BORODIN ARREST TARGETS RUSSIAN-BELARUS UNION
by Jared Israel [1-23-2001]

Newspaper accounts of the arrest of Russian diplomat Pavel Borodin at Kennedy Airport last Wednesday focus on charges of corruption. They barely refer to the real issues - Washington's desire to a) punish Mr. Borodin for encouraging close ties between Russia and a Belarus led by the independent (of Washington) President Alexander Lukashenko and to b) embarrass and destabilize Russia. The idea is, if the Russian government does not distance itself from Borodin, the Western media can smear it as corrupt. If they do desert Mr. Borodin, or if his arrest is downplayed, this may discourage others from taking actions independent of Washington. This is American diplomacy: about as subtle as an axe.

But the American media doesn't deal with these real purposes of the arrest of Mr. Borodin. Instead the media either does not cover the story at all, or talks about corruption. This is a wonderful thing. Pres. Bush told Barbara Walters the other day ("20/20", Jan. 19th) that the world needs to "raid out corruption", and I agree. But why try to start this difficult "Raiding" process thousands of miles away? Wouldn't it make sense to pioneer "corruption raiding" right at home? In the Barbara Walters interview, didn't our new President say, in no uncertain terms, that people in uncivilized countries need to "build a democracy under our--under our image"? By "raiding corruption" right here, in the US of A, wouldn't we be showing these backward types how it is done?

For example, just before leaving office in 1992, Mr. Bush's own father granted the Barrick Gold Company (in Canada) the rights to a U.S. gold mine worth $10,000,000,000 (billion). Barrick's cost: $10,000 (thousand).

"So can you guess what happened next? Right: George I then joined Barrick's board of directors, where he pocketed big money for the next seven years. And he didn't mind singing for his supper either; Barrick frequently dispatched the ex-president to meet with the bloodthirsty dictators who were his "old friends," like Indonesia's Suharto and Zaire's Mobutu Sese Seko, to rig up juicy backdoor deals for his corporate masters.

"Perhaps not incidentally, Barrick poured $148,000 into George II's campaign this year. And Daddy's dirty work as a bagman and fixer for other corporate interests has also served l'il Georgie well. For example, George I went to bat for the Mirage Casino corporation when they wanted to muscle in on some Argentina territory; this year, Mirage kicked back $449,000 to GOP coffers. Daddy G also did some highly remunerative flack work for Chevron Oil with his old friends in Kuwait; in return, Chevron pumped $657,000 into the Republican tank in 2000." ('The St. Petersburg Times,' December 12, 2000)

Nevertheless Senior Bush was not arrested at the airport.

THREE THINGS ABOUT THE ARREST OF PAVEL BORODIN

First , Mr. Borodin is a diplomat. Is the U.S. State Department familiar with this term?

dip·lo·mat [díppl màt ] (plural dip·lo·mats) noun

1. government representative abroad: a member or employee of a government who represents his or her country in dealings with other nations

2. tactful person: somebody who is tactful and good at dealing with people

Arresting Mr. Borodin (after inviting him to the Inauguration, no less) is not diplomatic and may be seen as a provocation by Russia and Belarus. For starters it violates diplomatic procedure, arguably international law as well. This is irrelevant of whether or not Mr. Borodin was carrying his diplomatic credentials when arrested. This arrest denies diplomacy and affirms the Law of the Bully. Did we need more affirmations?

Second, it is beyond credibility that Borodin's invitation to the Ball and his subsequent arrest were not coordinated actions. Mr. Fishkin, Borodin's lawyer, commented:

'"The arrest warrant is issued on January 10th, he receives an invitation to the inauguration on January 13th and a complaint is filed in New York for his arrest on January 17^th'" ('NY Times', 1-19-2001)

Mr. Fishkin remarked to the 'NY Times' reporter that this appears to be a setup. It does indeed.

Third, Mr. Borodin is the Secretary of the Russian-Belarus Union. The Clinton administration has made clear its fury at Belarus, which has had the temerity to resist neoliberal policies. Moreover, its government has not bowed down to the usual Fifth Column "civil society" groups run by Madeline Albright out of well-furnished offices at the National Endowment for Democracy (sic!). The U.S. finds this both authoritarian and anti-democratic.

The arrest of Borodin is the most sensational attack the U.S. has made on the Russian-Belarus Union. It demonstrates the continuity of U.S. foreign policy from Clinton to Bush. Having installed its puppet regime in Yugoslavia, the U.S. Establishment is now escalating the attack on the states of the former Soviet Union. Coming shortly after the death of Laurent Kabila, President of the Congo, under circumstances that strongly suggest U.S. involvement, this indicates a general escalation of U.S. interventionism around the world.

A MESSAGE FROM JUNIOR BUSH

In case the Russian and Belarus leaders failed to get the message delivered via Borodin's arrest - that is to say, that they were being publicly insulted by a bully, with the implicit dare: "Whatcha gonna do about that, wimp?!" - in case they failed to get the message, George W. was interviewed Friday by Barbara Walters on the ABC TV show '20/20'. Junior Bush's apparent assignment was to rub Russia's face in the dirt. I say 'apparent assignment' because he himself did not seem to be sure about that or anything else in the interview but fortunately for the diplomacy of the Free World, Walters was privy to the Humiliate-Russia plan, so she helped him out. Held him up, one might say.

The exchange went as follows:

"WALTERS: How will your foreign policy be different from Bill Clinton's?

"President-elect BUSH: We're going to make it clearer to people that our nation is not going to be a--a nation of nation builders. We'll be humble in our approach. We can't have troops going into nations and say that we're going help you. We're going to--we're going to--you're going to build a democracy under our--under our image. But if you expect capital to come into your country, you must make reforms. You must make--raid out corruption. You must...

"WALTERS: Russia. You're talking about Russia?

"President-elect BUSH: Well, I'm talking about a lot of countries.

"WALTERS: Do you consider Russia a friend or a threat?

"President-elect BUSH: I don't know yet. I hope--I hope Russia is a friend. "

Note that when Walters cues Junior Bush, saying "Russia. You're talking about Russia?" (which means "RUSSIA! YOU'RE TALKING ABOUT RUSSIA! DAMMIT!!") George doesn't get it. So Walters prompts him further: "Do you consider Russia a friend or a threat?"

Note also that Junior Bush, in the very process of attempting to humiliate Russia (by having a corrupt, incoherent American deliver a stern warning against...corruption!) sticks in the incongruous line, "We'll be humble in our approach." Amazing coming from a fellow whose handlers have just busted at the airport a Russian diplomat whom they lured to said fellow's Inauguration.

This profession of humility reminds one of Mr. Bush's oft repeated phrase, "I am going to be president of all the people, not just those who voted for me." Apparently they teach Junior Bush these phrases, and he repeats them, amiably enough, though as often happens with phrases learned by rote, not necessarily at the correct times or with exactly the right wording.

Junior Bush's inability to get things straight when he speaks in public is apparently going to be sold to us during the next, painful, four years as Charming Stupidity; thus is virtue fashioned from necessity. The same sort of feat was performed with Slick Willie, whose tendency to rub on any available leg, and to lie, was sold to us as Puppy Dog Cuteness.

Stupidity is superior in many ways to Doggieness. For one thing, it elicits the sympathy of reporters throughout the Western media, who are forced to write nonsensical stupidity which insults their intelligence or else lose their jobs. For another, it provides an excuse for almost any occasion. When in doubt, more and more folks in the Bush entourage will tell us, "Like, you know, I mean, like, I dunno." To be stupid is the ultimate stonewall.

TEAM OF FOOLS

Consider the case of Vincent Zenga, whom you may refer to as Vincent the Dumb. Vincent was an official member of Junior Bush's Inauguration Team. (Everything with Junior is a Team, for reasons that ought to be apparent…) It was he who supposedly invited Pavel Borodin to the Inaugural "candlelight dinner". That is, Vincent Zenga is supposedly the reason Pavel Borodin got off that plane at Kennedy airport and thus could be nabbed by our corruption-fighters.

Mr. Zenga is described in the 'NY Times' as:

"a lawyer from West Palm Beach, Fla., who has contributed sizable sums to the Republican National Committee and to Mr. Bush's 1998 campaign for governor. "

Have you noticed that everything with the Bush family involves lots of money? Is this corruption-fighting thing some kind of psychological projection?

Zenga denied any complicity in the arrest of Mr. Borodin. "Mr. Zenga said the invitation was sent by someone in the Moscow office of one of his companies, Star Capital, " said the 'Times.' (1-19)

MYSTIFYING, AIN'T IT?

In a 'Washington Post' interview, Vincent the Dumb took the line that Borodin had been invited "inadvertently".

Huh? How do you invite someone 'inadvertently'? Here's the 'Washington Post' again:

"Zenga said he was mystified about how a letter went out over his signature inviting Borodin to several exclusive events and promising not only tickets, but also 'a car with driver' and a hotel room. The Jan. 13 letter, which advised Borodin to bring his own black-tie formal clothing, included tickets to a candlelight dinner for 2,000 attended by Bush last night, and promised tickets to an inaugural ball Saturday night.
'I have no idea how it happened' said Zenga of the invitation. 'We were surprised at it too.' "

Then, rather incongruously, Vincent added: "We [were un]aware of his legal problems." ('Washington Post', January 19, 2001)

If Borodin was invited by mistake, whatever that means, what is the relevance of Zenga having been ''unaware '' of Borodin's "legal problems"? Is Vincent trying to tell us that, had he known of the legal difficulties of this man whom he neither knew nor invited to the Ball, he would not have invited him? Did somebody at CIA screw up and give this guy two contradictory cover stories? Or is he just trying to emulate his Master?

Just by the by, how can everybody in an American company that does business in Russia be unaware of Borodin's "legal problems"? Those problems have been discussed at least 308 times on Western TV and newspapers over the past year. (I counted) And if you add the very important word "Belarus" to the search, you still find 119 stories. This does not include news reports or commentaries in the Russian language media.

How does a highly successful man with a telecommunications company in Russia manage to unwittingly invite a well-known Russian leader to the Inaugural ball without knowing he has been accused of corruption?

Here is a bit more information.

"A State Department official said Borodin entered the country on a multiple-entry, combined tourist and business visa issued in 1998 for a three-year period. He had applied for a diplomatic visa in Moscow on Tuesday night, prompting the U.S. Embassy there to send an urgent request for guidance to the State Department. But there was not enough time to respond before his departure, and so Borodin used his personal passport and left his diplomatic passport behind, the State Department official said. "('Washington Post', January 19, 2001)

Why did the U.S. Embassy have to send "an urgent request for guidance" to the State Department? Obviously because they read the newspapers and therefore knew there was a Swiss warrant out for Borodin's arrest and wanted to know what they were supposed to do: give him a diplomatic visa which would rule out arresting him at Kennedy Airport or not give him a visa and risk an international incident.

Nowadays urgent requests can be delivered and answered almost instantaneously. So the outgoing State Department officials certainly had time to consult with Bush's handlers. (Of course that's a bit of a moot point since it was of course Bush's handlers who arranged to send Borodin the invitation luring him to the U.S. in the first place. But then, they did that unwittingly. Right?)

Clearly if these exalted beings wished to avoid an insulting provocation (and an apparent violation of international law - the arrest of a diplomat invited to a State function, no less) they could have issued Borodin a standard, diplomatic visa. Or they could have refused while warning him that there was a warrant out for his arrest. That they did neither suggests they were hoping Borodin would use his non-diplomatic visa (they knew he had one because the U.S. Embassy had issued it to him.)

Liars often talk too much. Note that the 'New York Times' reports that "Officials in Washington said the United States was tipped off by someone in Russia that Mr. Borodin was on a plane to New York." Given that the Embassy had sent "an urgent request for guidance", why the baloney about being "tipped off by someone" that Borodin was coming?

Note also that the Federal Judge in Brooklyn ordered Borodin held for a week without bail. Why, if the United States were not trying to insult and provoke Russia, did US officials insist the man be thrown in jail at all ?

"In Brooklyn, one of Mr. Borodin's lawyers, Raymond A. Levites, asked Judge Viktor V. Pohorelsky of the United States District Court to allow Mr. Borodin to stay at the residence of the Russian consul general while his legal problems were sorted out. He said the Russian ambassador to the United States, Yuri V. Ushakov, had offered to ensure that Mr. Borodin made his court appearances. " (NY Times, Jan. 19, 2001)

Turning down this more than reasonable request is not only an insult to the Russian Ambassador (implying his word is no better than that of, let us say, an American President); it is also a further insult to Russia and Belarus. Note that as of this writing (Tuesday AM, wee hours) Mr. Borodin remains in jail, though as of Saturday, Mr. Bush became our leader.

Our leader? As my long-dead Yiddish grandma would have said, "Oy vey is mir." That literally translates, "Oh woe is me." But it means something like, "What a world."

Recently some factually challenged fan of the US-sponsored regime in Belgrade wrote a piece arguing that Baby Bush is going to give the world a whole new enlightened foreign policy. Sure he will. And I can get you this great deal on a really nice Bridge in Brooklyn.

Junior Bush may not be able to string two words together in coherent fashion but his handlers know how to get the job done. The world is their gold mine. - JI

***

POSTSCRIPT: LAWYERS CHARGE THAT EXCUSE FOR ARRESTING BORODIN IS SIMPLY A LIE

Since posting the above article we have posted the text of a Press Conference given by one of Mr. Borodin's Russian lawyers, Genrikh Pavlovich Padva, in Moscow on Jan. 26. As even the newspapers in the U.S. have made clear, the Swiss authorities claim to want Mr. Borodin only for questioning. At his Press Conference, Mr. Padva emphatically stated that Russian authorities offered to arrange a voluntary meeting between Mr. Borodin and the appropriate Swiss authorities but that the Swiss side refused, demanding instead the extreme step of extradition. Assuming you believe Mr. Pavda, and I do, the U.S./Swiss claim that the this extraordinary arrest was necessary because Mr. Borodin refused to meet with them voluntarily is a lie.

You may read the relevant parts of the Padva Press Conference at http://emperors-clothes.com/news/bor2.htm . There is also a second, shorter interview with another of Mr. Borodin's Russian lawyers. This brief interview was conducted before Mr. Borodin's second unsuccessful attempt, on Jan. 25, to be released to house arrest. (The Russian Ambassador himself showed up at the hearing and promised to produce Mr. Borodin if he was permitted to stay with the Ambassador instead of in jail. The Federal Judge's refusal cannot be seen as an outrageous but independent judicial action since obviously if the prosecution (i.e., the U.S. government) had agreed, the Judge would not have refused the request.)

Here is the interview, conducted in New York City with Eleonora Sergeyeva, a Moscow lawyer of Pavel Borodin:

"I now have an official letter from the Prosecutor-General's Office. They issued it in response to our request - a request from the lawyers. It says that Borodin has not been invited for questioning via the Russian Prosecutor-General's Office and that the Russian Prosecutor-General's Office proposed to the Swiss authorities that Borodin be questioned and was prepared to ensure that he came. It is therefore impossible to claim that Borodin is hiding or avoiding being questioned in Switzerland..." (Russia TV, Moscow, translated by BBC Monitoring for Former Soviet Union)

-- Jared Israel

***

Also see, 'Borodin Falsely Arrested - Washington's Excuse a Lie,' by Jared Israel at http://emperors-clothes.com/news/bor.htm

***

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