Valentin Silvestrov: Putin is a terrorist like Bin Laden. Hunt him down
NewsThe doyen Ukrainian composer, now a refugee in German has been giving trenchant views to Deutsche Welle:
Putin, frankly speaking, is an international terrorist like Bin Laden, only 1,000 times more dangerous. And he must be declared an international terrorist and put on a wanted list, like Bin Laden.’
Silvestrov, 84, was periodically banned by the Soviets for being too modern.
He urges the world not to reject Russian culture. ‘Often the people who make it are opponents of the regime.’
Watch.
https://www.nytimes.com/2022/03/30/arts/music/valentin-silvestrov-ukraine-war.html
Apparently it is only minor details that Putin is a head of state, that he has the support of a sizeable majority of Russians, and that he has nuclear ICBMs at his disposal. So many passionate words from so many, and so little thought about the extreme dangers of the actual circumstances.
Also lots of outrage in Germany about Putin, but it is interesting to compare what a German per capita commitment similar to the USA would be:
+ 25,000 highly trained and massively equipped German soldiers stationed close to the Russian border.
+ 4 billion Euros from Germany in military aid to Ukraine just for this year with more to come in the following years.
+ massive satellite intelligence assistance
+ massive covert military training
Instead, Germany continues to limit its involvement while sending billions to Russia for gas and oil. I see so much harassment and hatred toward Russian artists, and so little discussion of these much larger and far more important topics.
Is it time for Germany to abandon its pacifist stance and match its anti-Putin polemic with substantial, direct military support of Ukraine? Should it be considered that Nazi Germany killed 27 million people in the USSR, mostly Russians, and that it planned to killed 70 million more to create Lebensraum for German colonists? How do we situate Germany’s stance in this complex history? Putin is clearly a criminal, but why is so much of the discussion even from our leaders so narrow and superficial? There’s more to ending this war and finding justice for Ukraine than bellowing hatred.
Sure. Russia is invading Ukraine.
BUT WHAT ABOUT GERMANY 83 YEARS AGO?!?!?
You ok?
Yeah, Germany only killed 27 million in the USSR. I’m sure the Russians have totally forgotten about it.
I guess then it’s ok for Russians to rape and kill Ukrainians now. Because of what Germany did. 83 years ago.
It is always very wrong to dig-up the nazis again when Germany is the subject.
The nazi period is history now, in spite of the wringling of subversive groups who, like Mr Putin, long for past greatness.
It is entirely irrelevant to use nazi themes to discuss contemporary German concerns.
What our forefathers did, is not our own responsibility. Germany as a modern nation should be treated as one and not be burdened all the time with historic crimes.
The war against Germany cost the USSR 27 million lives. It still deeply affects Russian consciousness. Meanwhile, some toss that horrific number aside because it doesn’t fit with their political agendas. In a 1993 survey of Dutch 15- and 16-year-olds taken by the Dutch Institute on International Relations, 56 percent had a negative view of Germans, with only 15 percent positive. Majorities described Germans as racist, arrogant and power-hungry–the usual views that still linger due to the war. Relations continue to get better, but such horrible history creates a long-lasting imprint on people’s minds. To deny this is wishful thinking. And by the way, I often praise Germany’s cultural policies and sometimes face the sorts of prejudiced reactions from Americans and other Europeans you mention.
https://www.nytimes.com/1995/02/08/world/for-dutch-it-s-ok-to-despise-germans.html#:~:text=In%20a%201993%20survey%20of,%2C%20arrogant%20and%20power%2Dhungry.
William Osborne : it seems to escape your notice that the USSR in 1939 was only too keen to ally itself with Germany and help itself to the spoils gained from the invasion of Poland , and later to annex Romania, Hungary, Bulgaria , Czechoslovakia and to enslave the populations thereof. Your apologias on behalf of Russia are grossly misplaced
For the record, my comment is not an apology for Russia.
True. It happens. But I would not quote the NYTimes to prove it. We all know WHAT NYTimes in fact is.
How right and fair you are!! Thank you W. Osborne.
You are right, but this does not negate what Silvestrov says. He is right in his own way.
In his own way, yes. I understand his feelings.
1000 times more dangerous than 9/11 and the following 20 years of devastating wars… OK, I fully understand how bitter he feels right now.
But it’d be more impressive and honest if he estimated the Azov Battalion / Os. b. Laden ratio. True “opponents of the regime” oppose their own regimes.
YES! Putin is the NEW Mussolini and Xi is the NEW HITLER! They both need to be hunted down!
Why is it that so many musicians’ public political statements seem like the stream of consciousness of a kid caught by a reporter at the kindergarten gates?
Yes, and also add to the terror list the president who signed an *increase* of $31 billion to their “defense” budget
There were no subtitles when I watched the video. Can someone who understands what he said verify NL’s translation? ‘Hunt him down’ is an expression in English. Is that what he said?
Not really. He said that “VP must be found and announced by UN as an “international terrorist” like O. bin Laden”
And then he added “В розыск. За ним гоняться, как гонялись за Бин Ладеном” which translates as “Search for him. Race after him (~hunt) just like bin Laden was pursued.”
What an embarrassment, this guy…Doesn’t seem to know the definition of terrorism. I’ve noticed that it’s the relatively new slur liberals throw at any kind of mean politician, like the word ‘racist’. Putin waged war with an invading army. That’s not terrorism.
Let me get this straight….A 84 year old man narrowly escapes the terror and death in his homeland..To be lectured and insulted by a respectless boorish brat with no manners,from the cozy security of a democratic country…anonymously on a computer…The only embarrassment here are people like you,without an ounce of empathy,social skills,and manners.Someone forgot to teach you….Sign of the times.