By Darren Smith, Weekend Contributor
In another setback for political change in Russia, opposition leader Boris Nemtsov was gunned down by several men who shot him four times in the back while he traversed a bridge along with a Ukrainian woman. Boris was to speak before a peace rally denouncing Russian involvement in the hostilities in the Ukraine, economic policies, and other issues.
Boris, a former deputy-prime minister, is an outspoken critic of Russian President Vladimir Putin. The crime scene was within two hundred meters of the Kremlin.
In a not so reassuring gesture, President Putin vowed to personally take charge of the investigation.
Putin’s spokesman Dmitry Peskov said the president expressed his condolences and ordered security agencies to investigate.
Peskov said the shooting could also have been a “provocation,” considering that Nemtsov was planning to participate in a big protest organized by the opposition in Moscow on Sunday, Deutsche Welle reported.
President of Ukraine, Petro Poroshenko conveyed his condolences. Among other media he stated in Twitter, “Shock. Borys was murdered. It is hard to believe. I have no doubt that murderers will be brought to justice. Sooner or later. Rest in peace.”
Boris began his high profile political career as governor of Nizhny Novgorod. He rose to the position of deputy prime minister under the Yeltsin administration during the 1990’s. Boris joined the political opposition to Vladimir Putin when he became powerful in 2000.
In the lead-up to another rally, police forces in Moscow began jailing and harassing activists aligned against President Putin. Activist Alexei Navalny was arrested and is to be held for fifteen days after he was seized handing out leaflets in a Moscow subway. The leaflets contained information for the upcoming rally that was to be critical of the government and its handing of affairs including the economy and other issues important to various Russians.
According to the BBC, Boris less than three weeks before his murder, on 10 February, he said “I’m afraid Putin will kill me”. This textual (but not video or audio) statement appeared on Russia’s Sobesednik news website.
Boris has at least four prior arrests by police relating to his speaking and organizing political rallies in opposition to President Putin or the government in general: in 2007; 2010; and twice in 2011.
This assassination of a high-profile political opponent having a provenance at his level could be a sign of things to come in Russia for President Putin–either a strengthening of his grip on power or to establish inertia for his opponents. But with his polling levels remaining high, this inertia might prove more sedentary.
By Darren Smith
Sources:
The views expressed in this posting are the author’s alone and not those of the blog, the host, or other weekend bloggers. As an open forum, weekend bloggers post independently without pre-approval or review. Content and any displays or art are solely their decision and responsibility.
Thanks for all of the comments on the true causes of 911. Based on your posts I have decided to invest heavily in aluminum foil companies.
Hats for everyone!
@randyjet
“I was an airline captain at the time, and served in the USAF so I know what I am talking about.”
If you think those credentials ipso facto lend you credibility, you should be *very* impressed with the credentials of Pilots for 9/11 Truth, who assert:
“We stand with the numerous other growing organizations of Firefighters, Medical Professionals, Lawyers, Scholars, Military Officers, Veterans, Religious and Political Leaders, along side Survivors, family members of the victims — family members of soldiers who have made the ultimate sacrifice — including the many Ground Zero workers who are now ill or have passed away, when we ask for a true, new independent investigation into the events of 9/11.”
Here are just a few of the organization’s 110 core members:
Col Robert Bowman
President of the Institute for Space and Security Studies
Executive Vice President of Millennium III Corporation
Retired Presiding Archbishop of the United Catholic Church
101 combat missions in Vietnam
Directed all the “Star Wars” programs under Presidents Ford and Carter
Recipient of the Eisenhower Medal
George F. Kennan Peace Prize
President’s Medal of Veterans for Peace
Society of Military Engineers’ ROTC Award of Merit (twice)
Six Air Medals
Ph.D. is in Aeronautics and Nuclear Engineering from Caltech
chaired 8 major international conferences
one of the country’s foremost experts on National Security
independent candidate for President of the US in 2000
Commander Ralph “Rotten” Kolstad
23,000 hours
27 years in the airlines
B757/767 for 13 years mostly international Captain with American Airlines.
20 years US Navy flying fighters off aircraft carriers, Top Gun twice
Civilian pilot flying gliders, light airplanes and warbirds
Command time in:
– N644AA (Aircraft dispatched as American 77)
– N334AA (Aircraft dispatched as American 11)
Captain Russ Wittenberg (ret)
30,000+ Total Flight Time
707, 727, 737, 747, 757, 767, 777, DC-8, L-1049, Learjet 24/25, L-188
Ground Instructor, Advanced Ground Instructor, Instrument Instructor, Flight Engineer Turbojet
Aircraft Dispatcher
Pan Am, United
United States Air Force (retired)
Over 100 Combat Missions Flown
Command time in:
– N591UA (Aircraft dispatched as United 93)
– N612UA (Aircraft dispatched as United 175)
http://pilotsfor911truth.org/
Also see a press release they issued in 2007, refuting the 9/11 Commission’s account of the attack on the Pentagon: http://911blogger.com/node/7222
I read some of their objections which are silly and do not account for what or who hit the WTCs. I guess that they feel that we should NOT believe our lying eyes and instead believe the electronic printouts from ACARS. I worked on weather radar in the USAF, and there are many strange things that happen with the radar that I could not explain. I even tracked a UFO until I figured out it was cars on the road causing the targets. I only figured that one out by accident too. Get REAL! Now if they had a reply message from the aircraft, THEN I would be most interested.
Roger: No trials for the investigation of the killing of Stalin? I did not know he was killed by henchmen. Give us some more details. I thought he just died of old age.
earsoftheworld,
I am also surprised JT isn’t covering the Chicago blacksite story. This is a complete breakdown of the rule of law, a complete violation of the Constitution. It involves illegal, indefinite imprisonment which in turn involves torture and murder. This effects political dissenters.
This story needs to be in the public domain. It needs and begs for sunlight and a Constitutional analysis. It is a state crime against democracy. Why does no one one much seem to care? I’m linking to it again below:
“The Chicago police department operates an off-the-books interrogation
compound, rendering Americans unable to be found by family or attorneys
while locked inside what lawyers say is the domestic equivalent of a CIA
black site.
The facility, a nondescript warehouse on Chicago’s west side known as
Homan Square, has long been the scene of secretive work by special police
units. Interviews with local attorneys and one protester who spent the
better part of a day shackled in Homan Square describe operations that
deny access to basic constitutional rights.
Alleged police practices at Homan Square, according to those familiar with
the facility who spoke out to the Guardian after its investigation into
Chicago police abuse, include:
Keeping arrestees out of official booking databases.
Beating by police, resulting in head wounds.
Shackling for prolonged periods.
Denying attorneys access to the “secure” facility.
Holding people without legal counsel for between 12 and 24 hours,
including people as young as 15.”
At least one man was found unresponsive in a Homan Square “interview room”
and later pronounced dead.
http://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2015/feb/24/chicago-police-detain-americans-black-
happypappies, aridog, paul c. schulte
You all make valid points. Engaging legal and political discussion through digital means is not something I’m used to, I’m still learning.
TJustice
That’s okay. I used to call everyone on here a Pseudo intellectual last spring when I got mad and they would not answer me. lol
@Roger J
I don’t know where you get your information regarding the capabilities of the US air defense system, but before you demand a full refund to US taxpayers of the billions of dollars allocated to the Pentagon and other federal agencies tasked with defending the US from attacks from the air, consider the following:
“The ‘Failure’ of the Air Defense System
“The 9/11/01 attack unfolded in the skies over the northeastern United States between 8:15 and 10:06 AM, as each of the four commandeered jetliners flew at least 300 miles before reaching its target or crashing. This region contains numerous military bases, housing Air Force and Air National Guard fighter wings staffed by pilots prepared to scramble.
“The procedure for intercepting unresponsive aircraft has been routine in U.S. domestic airspace, ever since the end of the Cold War. According to an Associated Press story, fighters were scrambled 67 times between September, 2000 and June, 2001. Scrambling, or getting fighters in the air, is the first step in carrying out an interception, which consists of catching up with and examining the errant aircraft.
“The number and distribution of bases with available interceptors, combined with short scramble times and high speeds of the jets, virtually guarantees that a jetliner flying anywhere in the northeast U.S. could be intercepted within 20 minutes.
“Fighter pilots are trained to scramble in under five minutes. They waste no time getting from the barracks to their jets, and are ready for takeoff in a matter of seconds. It’s only 10 seconds from power-up to takeoff, and twenty seconds to reach airliner cruising altitude. An F-15 can travel the distance between New York City and Washington D.C. in under eight minutes.”
http://911review.com/means/noshow.html
See also: http://911research.wtc7.net/planes/defense/index.html
Please note, however, that the facts of the matter regarding US air defense capabilities have no bearing whatsoever on my primary point that the 9/11 Commission developed an elaborate conspiracy theory to account for the events of 9/11/01.
Ken, I read your posts and they are so full of things that are lies, internal contradictions, and lack of facts, that it is impossible to take them all on and would be fruitless anyway. I was an airline captain at the time, and served in the USAF so I know what I am talking about. It hardly surprises me Cheney and other such idiots made stupid comments and did not know what they were talking about. I had to laugh at comment that the F-15s were only cruising. They had to do that otherwise they would have to LAND to refuel after a couple of minutes. You have no idea of how much fuel they use in AB to get to top speed. That is but one example of stupidity.
Ken Rogers
reread his post and go and read Chuck Stanley’s post
http://jonathanturley.org/2015/02/28/the-faa-and-ntsb-vs-common-sense-part-deux/
Before you criticize Randyjet. He is the real deal and your articles are just disinformation fed to the public.
Mr Rogers – on 9/11 “to defeat the most sophisticated air defense system in the world” – you must be joking! Are Air National Guard aircraft carrying dummy training ammo part of that AD system? Because that’s what was scrambled to defend Washington that day. Why was it we needed aircraft and pilots from such powerhouse nations as the Netherlands and Germany to patrol our skies in the weeks following 9/11? The answer is simply that we lacked the AD resources to do this ourselves and had to ask for help from other NATO countries. I wish what you said was true – but the traditional AD role is largely relegated to the state air guards now. They do the best they can with limited resources and second-line aircraft. Driving around my city (which has a major military installation) I’ve seen no batteries of surface-to-air missiles, either.
Making an absurd claim as you have undermines the remainder of your argument. Box cutters did indeed do the job on 9/11, when facing an air defense system that was, for practical purposes, nonexistent.
roger j. Your observation that the National Guard is using obsolete aircraft USED to be the case when W Bush was in it. The current Guard is completely integrated into the active duty military which is the result of the Vietnam war when LBJ refused to call up reserves and NG. In FACT the planes scrambled out of Langley AFB were active duty USAF.
The air defense of the US on 9/11 was projected outward, not inward. As an airline captain at the time of 9/11, I can tell you that the hijackers did not have to force their way into the cockpits since the orders we had for such situations was to INVITE them in. The fact is that 9/11 was done as was found by the investigators. The fools who doubt this think that WTC 7 was demolished by explosives and fell straight down which it did not. The Deutsche Bank building which was NOT hit by the planes was so badly damaged that it was demolished later.
@randyjet
“The fact is that 9/11 was done as was found by the investigators. The fools who doubt this think that WTC 7 was demolished by explosives and fell straight down which it did not.”
In addition to the many online videos capturing the straight-down, symmetrical collapse of Building 7, a 37-year veteran of the New York City Fire Department and eye-witness to the collapse of Building 7 begs to differ with you:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nQrpLp-X0ws
“The Deutsche Bank building which was NOT hit by the planes was so badly damaged that it was demolished later.”
Yes, but even though the Deutsche Bank Building (DBB) was much more damaged than Building 7, it did NOT collapse at free-fall speed into its own footprint as did Building 7, until its own controlled demolition many years later.
By the way, what do you make of the human bone fragments and other pulverized body parts found on the roof of the DBB?
“For example, a search in 2010 found 76 more fragments of remains on the roof of the 40-story Deutsche Bank building 250 feet from the South Tower. Previously, over 750 human bone fragments, each less than a half-inch long, were collected from this roof. These horrible facts do not support the official theory that the Twin Towers suffered a ‘gravitational’ collapse. One would expect in such a theoretical collapse scenario to find most of the bodies trapped, and certainly ‘mangled’, between 110 floors. Instead, both the floors and the bodies were pulverized and violently ejected hundreds of feet in all directions.
“Amidst the ongoing efforts to collect and identify these remains, there is one important question that investigators have neglected to ask: How were the victims’ remains pulverized?
• Around 22,000 individual fragments of human remains have been found.
• 9,000 remains have yet to be connected to a victim.
• Approximately 6,000 pieces recovered were small enough to fit into the test tube.
• In one case, more than 300 pieces found were from one single victim.
• Fewer than 300 victims were found intact.
• No remains have been found for 1,121 WTC victims.”
http://www.infowars.com/wtc-bone-fragments-still-surface-a-decade-after-911/
randyjjet
fascinating
Thank you for clearing up all of the Zionist Conspiracy theories
“Gorbachev: Nemtsov murder a scheme to provoke political trouble in Russia”
19:23 February 28, 2015 Interfax
http://rbth.com/news/2015/02/28/gorbachev_nemtsov_murder_a_scheme_to_provoke_political_trouble_in_russia_44089.html
TJustice does not like thee blog. Who knows why not. I have tried many times to engage him and he has hurt feelings or something. I wish he would just start posting and get over it.
TJustice, you were the one who referred to “this blog” as an entity, not me. I don’t recall much commentary by Professor Turley. I must be missing something.
@trooperyork
“Seriously folks whats the matter with you? You know it had to be the CIA and the Mossad behind this. Just ask Po. Don’t be so superficial and common!
“We only want super duper conspiracy theories. The simple answer is never right!”
Your snark is well-founded, trooperyork. Crimes are always committed only by lone gunmen or other lone wolf criminals, never by people with a common interest who plan illicit acts in concert.
In view of this historical fact, which everybody knows, I’m frankly surprised that there are even such things as conspiracy statutes in the US and other countries, which can’t possibly ever be used used in prosecutions of individuals, since, duh, there are never any conspiracies to prosecute.
OK, one exception to this would be the 9/11 Commission’s determination that 19 Arabs armed with box cutters did conspire, and successfully so, to defeat the most sophisticated air defense system in the world and fly around inside the US for over an hour before crashing two planes into steel and concrete skyscrapers (the Twin Towers) which they pulverized into microscopic dust into their own footprints, using only aluminum airplanes and kerosene, and then somehow pulverized in similar fashion a third steel and concrete skyscraper (Building 7) without even flying a plane into it.
I think we have to admit that the 9/11 attacks were one hell of a successful conspiracy, but is, as we say, merely the exception that proves the rule.
Yeah, surprised Turley isn’t all over this Chicago black site story.
Karen S, what would you have Obama do about Russia/Ukraine? By all indications, we helped finance a coup on his back doorstep which resulted in our favored henchman coming to power. Then the east rebelled with Putin’s help. So what are we supposed to do? Start funneling them advanced weapons systems? This is on Putin’s border; he will fight tooth and nail for this. Do we really want to get involved in this pissing contest?
Aridog
This blog includes the two main posters of content (JT & DS) and the most active participants. Didn’t know it was suppose to be a hierarchy with specific titles.
Who is “this blog?” Have we been elevated to executive oversight roles now?
Fascinating thread. We don’t know who killed this guy, or exactly why. And we never will know the later.
But when this happens in the US, this blog calls it police business.
TJustice – when is the last time the police killed a political opponent of Obama?
@Nick Spinelli
“We assassinate political opponents personally and politically, not poisoning and shooting. Although, if I were Elizabeth Warren or any opponent of Hillary, I might not wait for SS protection and hire some bodyguards.”
Didn’t you get the memo re the assassinations of JFK, RFK, and MLK?
trooper, booger has a “stop the presses” conspiracy theory. LOL!
Nemtsov Murder: Anti-Putin False Flag! — Stephen Lendman
“As if on cue, the murder yesterday of Boris Nemtsov, a Washington-funded Russian “opposition politician” with a tiny following, has become a major news item for the American presstitute media. The presstitutes have responded as if orchestrated by a conductor with insinuations of Putin’s responsibility and the death of democracy in Russia.”
“Stephen Lendman who watches these matters closely notes that clearly Nemtsov is worth more to Washington dead than alive.”
paulcraigroberts.org/2015/02/28/nemtsov-murder-anti-putin-false-flag-stephen-lendman/
Neocons on TV have convicted Putin on TV.
McCain is a war pig. Never met a bellicose opportunity that he did not exaggerate. Called for
Funding Syrian rebels- aka, ISIS. So:
Maybe the West whacked this guy just to increase the
Tensions and make Putin look bad.
The war in Ukraine is Putins fault MCCain says even thought the US funded and instigated the Maidan riots that deposed the legit president.
This is the US pursuing a policy of endless war – agin to Trotskyite “permanent revolution.”
I’m a republican and this crap makes me sick.
The Donbass rebellion is far more legit than the Syrian one.
Can we stop provoking Russia already?