Follow up on the Chechen Murdered in Berlin

https://www.euronews.com/2021/12/15/zelimkhan-khangoshvili-russian-man-convicted-of-2019-berlin-murder-of-georgian-chechen

https://pilgrimunderground.blogspot.com/2021/10/the-geopolitics-of-dead-georgian-in.html

Accused Russian assassin Vadim Krasikov has been found guilty of the 2019 murder of Zelimkhan Khangoshvili – Chechen militant living in Germany. The verdict is no surprise and it has led to tit-for-tat diplomatic expulsions.

The case has led to increased tensions between Berlin and Moscow but clearly (despite US frustrations and machinations) the two nations want to find a modus vivendi and are determined to not let this case derail the Nordstream pipeline project.

In this respect the Atlanticist hopes of the case being used as a means of generating a sharp diplomatic break have failed. And yet there's certain to be more efforts in the near future – more scandals, murders, accusations of impending invasion, and the like. Whether real or manufactured, time will to tell.

In the meantime the coverage subjects Western audiences to more praise for Bellingcat – a 'news' agency with connections to Western intelligence services. Additionally the employment of facial recognition technology by law enforcement is being touted, a dangerous legal and social development that is in the process of being normalised. Its 'successes' and utilization in the pursuit of 'justice' are meant to shape and inform public opinion and neutralise the voices of those sounding the alarm regarding its use.

There's no small irony in the fact that story ignores the Russian angle. Imagine if say Russia (or some other nation with a shaky relationship to the US) allowed for al Qaeda members to openly walk its streets and benefit from its asylum laws. The US would be outraged and in fact the US has acted in a similar manner and has plucked people from the streets and assassinated them on many occasions, by hand and by drone. Pakistan immediately comes to mind. To Moscow, a Chechen militant like Khangoshvili is no different. This doesn't excuse any of these behaviours or the murders committed by governments. It's simply to point out the utter hypocrisy of Western coverage which is slanted and yet to point this out and call them to account – is out of bounds.

The Euronews article ends on (what must be identified as) a comical note. It's laughable because the report attempts to conclude with a final shot across the Russian bow – a reminder of the 2015 hacking scandal. While there's little reason to doubt Moscow's involvement, the Euronews article conveniently ignores the fact that the US has done the same things and even hacked Chancellor Merkel's mobile phone – a story whitewashed by the US and German Establishments (and their media cronies) in an attempt to cancel out the Snowden revelations of US criminality and betrayals.

Russia has been targeted and there's an undeclared state of war between Moscow and NATO and as such the Putin regime is actively attempting to counter the forces arrayed against them. This involves criminality, theft, and murder – the hallmarks of war. Democracy in Russia is a veneer at best. The country has never been a democracy and it's likely that it never will be. The West's universal claims regarding democracy are easily challenged and are not as unassailable as its naive advocates believe. And even though the West has made the ideology into something of a religion, the truth is that not even the leaders of Europe and America really believe in it – let alone trust it.  

Indeed as the 'Western Democracies' engage in the geopolitical struggle for power the failings of the system are on open display. They violate their own principles and engage in rank hypocrisy and deliberate deception of their own populations – undermining the very democratic principles they purport to uphold. In the Consequentialist ethical scheme they operate under, this is permitted and when they lie, steal, and even kill, these actions are exempt from judgment or even scrutiny. It is a great irony that the regimes which claim to value Free Speech and uphold it as a universal value live in fear of it and of a genuinely free press which is able to expose their deeds. Even while they trumpet democracy they are seeking to suppress the social conditions and tools that would allow it to function – and increasingly Western democracies are turning to the Right and flirting with authoritarian structures. The truth in this case is indeed stranger than fiction but it's a tale history is already familiar with.