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Russia had the resources, motive, and opportunity of carrying out the crime in Smolensk. Leszek Misiak and Grzegorz Wierzcholowski speak with Dr. Eugene Poteat.
Russia had the resources, motive, and opportunity of carrying out the crime in Smolensk. The country is predominantly ruled by former intelligence officers – bandits and the successors of those who murdered in Katyn and for years committed other atrocities. After the fall of the Soviet Union, Poland – in the eyes of Moscow – had the nerve to shake off the Russian yoke, enter into NATO, and then choose a pro-western leader. All of that was an insult to Russia – Leszek Misiak and Grzegorz Wierzcholowski speak with Dr. Eugene Poteat.
After April 10, 2010, you wrote in the American paper, the “Charleston Mercury”, that the Smolensk catastrophe was not an accident. Today, the assassination hypothesis is suggested by studies carried out by recognized scientists, including from the US. Did you change your opinion after two years?
I did not change it. In the article for the Charleston Mercury, I really did propose that there was an assassination and not an accident at Smolensk. It is enough to look at the history of Russia – starting from the Bolshevik Revolution and the many murders, assassinations, as well as crimes that the Russian secret services carried out – to prove to oneself that history likes to repeat itself. Nations, like each individual, reveal a tendency to cultivate traditions and repetitions of crimes from the past, and the tendency to use the same quick and dirty solutions towards inconvenient and embarrassing problems. That is one of the reasons why I believe that Russia could have been responsible for the disaster in which the Polish president, the highest officers, prominent national officials, and other people died while wanting to commemorate the anniversary of the Russian murder of thousands of innocent Poles.
Russia also had the resources, motive, and opportunity of carrying out the crime in Smolensk. The country is predominantly ruled by former intelligence officers – bandits and the successors of those who murdered in Katyn and for years committed other atrocities. After the fall of the Soviet Union, Poland – in the eyes of Moscow – had the nerve to shake off the Russian yoke, enter into NATO, and then choose a pro-western leader. This was all an insult to Russia.
But after the elimination of the Polish head of state, a void would automatically form, with the result being that the speaker of the Sejm and his pro-Russia, anti-NATO advisors would be able to take power. Russia could not waste such a chance, even if it meant using a horrid organized catastrophe. Something that would have to be quickly swept under the rug. In history, it is easy to find examples of Moscow’s ignoble actions towards its smaller neighbours or enemies: towards the “white” Russians in 1920, towards Ukraine in the 1920s, towards Poland in 1939, the Katyn atrocity in 1940, the aggression towards Czechoslovakia in 1968, the attack on Georgia in 2008, and hundreds of atrocities towards people whom the Kremlin recognized as opponents or critics.
In Smolensk, Russia had everything served on a platter – the entire hated delegation in a single plane. The Russians’ experience in causing plane catastrophes by misleading the crew allowed them to use an excellent occasion to eliminate all of the participants of the delegation and solve many problems in one carefully organized plane catastrophe.
The suspect, in this affair, thus had - I repeat once more - the motive and resources needed to commit this horrible crime.
The Russians examined the catastrophe, violating international norms, destroying or withholding key pieces of evidence. Even though two years have passed since the tragedy occurred, we still did not receive the remnants of the plane and the black boxes. Would the American authorities allow the Russians to act in such a way if the leader of the US died in Russia?
If an American plane carrying representatives of our country crashed in Smolensk, the Russians would have carried out the same farce. The size or the power of a country does not mean much here. Russia would have tried to blame the victims and cover up the affair anyway. Throughout the whole world, as well as in the US, there are many people who, out of naïveté or other reasons, would not have questioned such acts; there are also many lawyers who, when required, would have found a way to avoid the necessity of abiding by international agreements. And since the Smolensk disaster occurred with the participation of a smaller and weaker neighbour –and the Russians knew the US is immersed in the Middle Eastern situation – it was decided that they could get away with such a crime. This is a common scenario: you hurt the smaller countries when the bigger ones are occupied with other affairs.
And something very valuable was at stake in Smolensk – the taking of control over Poland and the insertion of pro-Russian politicians at the highest levels of power. And this indeed happened – after the catastrophe, the pro-Russian camp took over the levers of power in Poland and it dutifully acts on the orders it receives. One of the first ones was not asking questions about the criminal proceedings of Russia and not explaining the Smolensk tragedy. The next was to put aside the disaster topic and make the country forget about it, as well as to discredit those who keep asking about Smolensk and question the especially suspicious investigation into the catastrophe.
Suspicious? The Polish government does not see anything improper about Russia’s proceedings.
The Russian proceedings soon after the catastrophe are the typical actions of a murderer who is trying to cover up the tracks of the crime, trying to destroy or hide key pieces of evidence. In committing a crime, though, countries, unlike individuals, can lie and cover up the affair pretty easily, hide the facts, steer the investigation towards false tracks and force their own “official” version of events – even on to the international arena.
In Smolensk, the Russians rapidly occupied the scene of the catastrophe, where one could find evidence contradicting the thesis that this was an accident. They blamed the pilot and bad weather, and above all, they removed a key witness into the shadows – the director of flight control, whose testimony would not have supported the “official version”. They took control over the bodies and put them in sealed caskets – without an examination and autopsy. All of the Russian acts occurred alongside the infringement of international agreements about flight catastrophes. If the tragedy was an accident, as the Russians maintain, the records from the black boxes would support their version. The Russians, however, confiscated the recorders. Is it possible to still have any doubts that this was an attempt to wipe out their tracks?
Two months before the catastrophe, Tomasz Turowski was returned to his job at the Polish Ministry of Foreign Affairs – according to government documents, he was a communist spy who, in the People’s Republic of Poland worked in a unit tightly monitored by Soviet intelligence. During the Smolensk catastrophe, he was at the airport. Could this have been a coincidence?
It is clear that Russia made sure that as many Polish government offices as possible were occupied by people who are more loyal towards Moscow than Warsaw. The Russian secret service lives, works, and has deep roots in Poland. No nation suffered as much as the Poles; it is thus necessary to ask when Poland will draw conclusions from its own history.
On April 6, 2010, there was a huge malfunction in the newest building of the Polish MSZ, known as the “spier”. The telephones, fax machines, and internet broke down; there were problems with the electrical system. It was similar on the day of the Smolensk disaster – Radoslaw Sikorski could not even get a list of the victims through e-mail. Could this have been a cyber-attack carried out by Russian intelligence?
Yes. The Russian secret services understand the possible role that a cyber-attack can play – while spying in times of peace as well as while performing acts of warfare. The Russians developed effective offensive and defensive methods of warfare in cyberspace. Kaspersky Laboratory, a Russian company specializing in digital technology, is considered to be one of the best organizations in the world in this branch.
It is these experts from Kaspersky that recently identified and described a new computer virus known as Flame (this is the biggest and most complicated virus that ever existed). It is the Russian cyber-attacks that paralyzed the economy and the system of rule in Estonia. I can tell you that the affair was so serious that experts from NATO had to help bring the country back to normal. Russia also waged a cyber-attack on Georgia; it preceded conventional warfare. Such sudden and noticeable events before the Smolensk catastrophe should thus immediately have caused suspicion in Poland and have led to the postponement of President Kaczynski’s visit to Russia. This is because these attacks should have been considered to be a potential threat of enemy actions soon occurring.
Let’s remember that in the West, cyberspace signifies freedom of communication and speech; on the other hand, Russia sees the virtual environment as a weapon that can be used to attack enemies and also as a tool for deceit, neutralizing chosen targets, as well as covering up crimes.
During the Smolensk catastrophe, there were no officials from the Government Protection Bureau (BOR) at the airport. After the tragedy, the leader of BOR, Gen. Marian Janicki, nevertheless received one of the highest Polish distinctions.
It is clear that Poland does not have any real protection from enemy actions, attacks, and illegal acts from Russia; I am not talking here about universal war, in which NATO could engage. For the officials of the American Secret Service [the counterpart to BOR, according to Gazeta Polska], it would be unthinkable to use an airplane produced by an opponent or enemy for VIP flights, and the Secret Service would definitely not allow such a plane to be sent for inspection or modernization to Russia. There, I have no doubts, was where, among other things, were installed hundreds of hidden eavesdropping devices in the plane.
Yes, exactly … Before the catastrophe, the Tupolev was renovated by two Russian companies. The first belongs to Oleg Deripaska, an oligarch and friend of Putin investigated by the West and suspected of mafia contacts. The second firm was controlled by Sergey Chemezov, a former KGB agent who worked in the 80s in the German Democratic Republic with Putin.
Sending the Tu-154 to be renovated in Russia was a serious mistake. As long as Poland is this politically divided, there will exist pressure from the side of those who favour Russian interests and Russian business, eliminating the possibility of transforming your country into a lawful western democracy. As long as Poland does not shake off the Russian yoke once and for all as Estonia did, it must expect constant interference, betrayal, and sabotage on the part of Russia. That is why Poles must proceed with great caution, although I realize that this is not easy.
When the Polish airplane with the president on board was nearing the Smolensk airport, the Russian air traffic controllers performed their own missions in a quiet understanding with Gen. Vladimir Benediktov in Moscow. He is one of the highest leaders of the air forces in Russia; his resume includes leading the special operations in Chechnya. Is this normal procedure while directing airplanes carrying leaders of foreign countries?
In my opinion, the actions of Gen. Benediktov as well as the Russian air traffic controllers during the approach and after the catastrophe are normal procedures while preparing a crime. The air traffic controllers lied to the Polish pilots that they were on course and on the right path – I have no doubts that they did this under the direction of people placed in significantly higher positions.
The Polish rulers did not ask the Americans for help in the investigation into the disaster. Moreover, they did not reveal the satellite images from the day of the tragedy that they received from an American agency. They also did not allow Prof. Michael Baden, a renowned American pathologist, to participate in the autopsies of the exhumed victims. Are you surprised by the conduct of the Polish government?
I am not surprised by the conduct of the Polish or American officials. The behaviour of both was, in my opinion, bad and regretful. Poland should ask the Americans for help. The United States, on the other hand, should demand that the investigation into the catastrophe occur in agreement with the standards of the Chicago Convention, which regulates proceedings in case of international flight catastrophes, as well as the 1993 bilateral agreement requiring common proceedings in such situations. Of course, it is not certain that the US, if asked for aid – surrounded by many of its own complicated problems in international politics – would have reacted quickly enough. It is a given that Russia broke standard procedures and it should not be allowed to get away with it, but sometimes, such actions slip under the radar of international opinion because big countries have their own interests or are busy with other problems. I think that the Russians took this into account in their actions, not unlike a thief who decides to rob a house, knowing that the owner left for vacation.
The Republican candidate in the upcoming presidential elections in the US, Mitt Romney, said Russia was the number one geopolitical enemy of America. Also, Barack Obama is a bit more reserved towards Moscow than two or three years ago. Is there a chance that the United States will abandon the politics of reset in the upcoming years?
Since a few years back, the White House has been pressing , hitting, and pummelling at the worn out “reset” key with Russia and unfortunately is still counting on future relations with Moscow not being antagonistic, but based on trust. This form of pro-Russian politics is supported by the vice president of the US, Joe Biden, who, referring to the words of Romney, stated that this politician “acts like he thinks the Cold War is still on”. Well, the Cold War perhaps is over since Joe Biden and the White House said so. However, Michelle van Cleeve, the former head of American counterintelligence, recently stated that the activity of Russian intelligence within the US is growing. As she indicated, nothing is done about this mainly because our Department of Justice is, owing to the actions of the White House, occupied with legal battles over hearings of Islamic terrorists who attacked the World Trade Center. Last year’s arrest of ten deeply hidden Russian spies ended with, for example, a simple deportation without any hearings. Also, the former officer of Russia’s Foreign Intelligence Service, Sergei Tretyakov (who fled to the West in 2000) admitted that nothing has changed – the Russian secret service is still active in the US. It is also active in Poland.
Concerning the upcoming presidential elections, Putin holds great hope in his supporter from the White House and –understandably – is cheering the Obama campaign. The victory of the current president would mean a further tightening of American-Russian relations and an end to plans for the anti-missile defence system. If, on the other hand, Mitt Romney wins, Putin would have to deal with someone else who is more independent; with someone who would not tolerate the Russian game of preservation and manipulation. Then these special relations between the US and Russia would be history.
Can we then count on the catastrophe being accounted for and on those who caused it being punished?
There exist strong circumstantial evidence implicating the suspect that, over many years, committed similar crimes and that, over many years, covered up many of its other crimes; that had a strong motive, resources and knowledge to commit such a crime. But even if this big country fabricated the evidence itself, without concrete, certain proof or trustworthy witnesses, the court would not be able to judge who is to blame. Unfortunately, history knows of many such instances. Of course, the court of public opinion will not have any trouble in pointing to the perpetrator, but for those who lost their leaders, close loved ones, or friends, this is not a big consolation. For them, public protests are not enough because they won’t bring the perpetrator to face justice. The history of many countries is filled with similar examples of injustice.
It is not out of the question that Poland too will have to live through this bitter experience. Yet, it will never be able to forget it; it should also put it to use: to forever change its attitude and implement a rule of very limited trust. When enemies of a certain country have a very strong influence within it – as it is now in Poland – each move must be executed with dexterity, which will allow for the country to avoid falling into another trap set by people who are conspiring with them.
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Dr. Eugene Poteat – long-time high-level CIA officer, president of the Association of Former Intelligence Officers, worked in the National Reconnaissance Office, one of the most secret agencies of American intelligence, as well as projects for the U-2, A-12, and SR-71 spy planes; he was the executive director of the CIA’s Intelligence Research and Development Council, and the director of the Strategic Research Group for the Electronic Warfare Association; he served abroad in London, in Scandinavia, in the Middle East, and in Asia; he was awarded with the CIA’s Medal of Merit.
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http://www.iwp.edu/news_publications/detail/prof-poteat-interviewed-on-suspicious-smolensk-plane-crash
source: niezalezna.pl and freepl.info