Ex-CIA Director James Woolsey Compares Russia to Fascist Regime

MosNews | February 22 2005

The actions of the Russian authorities are increasingly similar to the actions of Mussolini in the 1920s and 1930s, former CIA chief James Woolsey told Russia’s Komsomolskaya Pravda newspaper ahead of the Bratislava summit.

Russia’s moves to scrap governor elections by popular vote, cripple oil firms, impose government control over media — all that constitutes clear evidence of Russia’s drifting towards autocracy, Woolsey said. That is why Putin’s influence is waning.

Earlier everyone asked: “Who is Mr. Putin?” Now the question is: how far will Mr. Putin go?

Woolsey is convinced that at the forthcoming summit in Bratislava the U.S. president will no longer be able to ignore public opinion in the U.S. At any rate, Bush’s smile should be less warm when he speaks to his Russian counterpart, Woolsey said.