In a Chinese newspaper it was stated these were Russian citizens that have done nothing wrong. The families need to be sent home. Deproted if you will. Russia says suspected spies are its citizens who didn't harm U.S. interests
English.news.cn 2010-06-30 00:16:25
MOSCOW, June 29 (Xinhua) -- Russian Foreign Ministry said Tuesday that suspected spies detained in the United States were Russians who did nothing to harm U.S. interests.
They were "Russian citizens who found themselves on U.S. territory at different times," said the RIA Novosti news agency."They have not committed any actions directed against U.S. interests."
The ministry also said Moscow hoped they would be "well treated while in custody" and be granted access to Russian lawyers.
Editor: yan
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english2010/world/2010-06/30/c_13376041.htm
My best guess is that Russia is still a bit confounded by the USA and its 'citizen' culture. Under the Presidency of Vladimir Putin, the Russia society has shown more and more 'Western' tendencies. He was interested in his people. I really believe Prime Minister Putin was the first leader in Russia to sincerely change the course of his country's concern for its citizens in a way that 'blends' with other First World countries.
If one looks at China there is 'that striviing' that can be witnessed. China holds onto its 'old world' fears and distances as a security blanket even as Taiwan moves closer and closer to the Mainland as a real member of the Chinese society. It is my guess 'being communist' is a bit tedious in a global community that is changing by the day to seek 'influence of the individual.'
The current President Medevedev is a very brilliant man. He is a man for his time. He seeks to make historic changes in course by Russia in their willingness to move the global community back from the brink of nuclear proliferation. Even /Russia has to admit the 'idea' of allowing every country in the Middle East to be a breath away from nuclear weapon capacity is completely foolish and very dangerous.
But, what does this have to do with 'families of spies?'
The USA has just come through a very, very rough eight years under Bush and Cheney. Even their elections of 2000 were contentious.
The USA is a super power. Under Bush and Cheney the world has never been closer to nuclear weapons exchange with Russia, China or both.
Under Bush and Cheney we abandoned a war into Afghanistan to remove al Qaeda from the face of Earth after commercial planes were turned into weapons and we nearly had our Capital building destroyed. Russia was in Afghanistan with Medical Support before the CIA even parachuted in to begin the USA arrival to dismantle 'bin Laden's' insane hatred and ability to kill citizens half way around the world. RUSSIA was at our side. No different than it was duiring WWII.
Yet. The USA, in a sudden and very unpredictable 'atmosphere' abandoned the war to end al Qaeda to chase down 'mystical WMD' that even UN inspectors could not find a miniscule trace of. Getting the picture?
The sudden, unpredictable and nearly 'emotional' reaction to nonexistant WMD which lead to a war to invade a DISARMED country was more than a worry to nearly every other country on Earth. It was why Tony Blair was immediately at the side of Bush, nearly as a moderator, to the actions of the President of a Superpower, now preceived to be out of control and making 'a new reality' in order to carry out wars of preemption.
Then to realize, the Republicans and their cronies could actually carry out a propaganda campaign enough to discredit a distinguished man that was John Kerry in the elections of 2004. Those propaganda attacks of Kerry were completely baseless and instilled deep fear of a change in President while still in Iraq.
I don't know about you, but, its pretty scary stuff. I would imagine Putin looked at the populous of the USA and decided he didn't know nearly enough about 'the people' as he thought he did.
So, what is a Russian President to do, except, seek to understand Americans more when they have been attacked by a lunatic like bin Laden.
The Russian citizens are and have been completely benign to any outcome in the USA. Their children were welcome peers to American children. It seems glib to say, "No harm done,' but, in all honesty it is a great honor to realize other nations and one such as Russia valued the 'citizen' enough to send a mission to seek a deeper understanding of the social cultures it was unsure was intact and benevolent.
It has always been a curiosity to me as to what Russians would think of our 'captialized' medical culture. I remember when 'Lasik' surgery became a method to correct nearsightedness, an articile appeared in a magazine that Russians across the culture were encouraged to seek the 'treatment' for nearsightedness that would remove the need for eyeglass changes. Russia saw the 'treatment of lasers' as a means of saving monies to their treasury.
Then, to come to the USA and find out that physicians are making huge profits on an 'optional' 'procedure' as an alternative reality to what actually 'goes on' in Russia. To say the American Medical Structure is a culture shock to the Russians is an understatement. While the USA touts it has the 'best' medical treatment on Earth, it hardly seems sufficient to realize so many Americans die annually for the pure reason of being uninsured. Dying of stupid things such as pneumonia. A completely treatable disease.
Well. At any rate, in this bizarre reality of Russian citizens 'living among us' to come to understand the culture of the USA more deeply is an interesting paradigm. Very interesting.
The bottom line is that both Russia and the USA are still here without trading nukes. We managed to 'make it through,' now didn't we?
Send the families home to Russia with their children. I am confident they will miss us.
