Why Putin Earns His Keep, and Iraqi Lawmakers Don't (Kitabat, Iraq)
"Thanks to Putin's wise policies, Syria was able to dodge a
strike by the U.S.-led West, stand put in the face of the most vicious attack against
an Arab/Asian state in a decade, and stand side-by-side with neighboring Iraq
in the fight against militant groups. He has mastered the game of international
politics and holds a diverse set of powerful cards. ... Yet his annual salary is
just over $100,000, whereas our slothful Council of Representatives speaker earns
four times that amount. ... For reasons that remain a mystery, our lawmakers
consider themselves better than Vladimir Putin."
Vladimir
Putin is a man who managed to restore prestige to the Russian bear, so it is
again a player to be reckoned with, both regionally and internationally. Thanks
to Putin's wise policies, Syria was able to dodge a strike by the U.S.-led
West, stand put in the face of the most vicious attack against an Arab/Asian
state in a decade, and stand side-by-side with neighboring Iraq in the fight
against militant groups. There is a difference between Syria and Iraq, though. While
the West, the Gulf states, and Israel, back Syria-based militant groups, Russia,
Iran, China and a few Arab states to varying degrees back Assad, who remains steadfast
despite a two-and-half-year conflict. Iraq, on the other hand, is backed politically
by both sides: the West, which exerts pressure on Iraq's political opponents and
supports Iraqi efforts for a democratic transition, and Putin, who offers full
military and political support to demonstrate to the Iraqi government and
people his support for their fight against terrorism.
We are fans of Vladimir Putin, for he is a man who defends the interests of both his
country and its allies with all means possible. He has mastered the game of
international politics and holds a diverse set of powerful cards in his hands.
He is an effective executor of foreign policy that proven his statesmanship on
more than one time and place, particularly in dealing with the Syrian and the
Crimean crisis, to say nothing of the Iranian nuclear file with which he is
quickly restoring a global balance of power by introducing a new pole to thepreviously unipolar system. Yet despite the
enormous efforts of this man, his salary is less than that of a member of the
Iraqi National Assembly, let alone Iraq's president, prime minister or speaker of
the Council of Representatives [Nouri Al Maliki, JalalTalabani, and Usama
al-Nujayfi, respectively].
According
to a list of senior government salaries, the annual salary of the president of
Russian is just over $100,000, whereas our slothful Council of Representatives speaker
earns four times that amount, and upon retirement, Council representatives receive
the equivalent of $100,000 pension, or equal to the Russian president's annual
salary.
Posted By Worldmeets.US
Russia
has a fearsome army that has earned the title "Red Army." It has a booming
economy, doesn't suffer from an accumulation of waste and water pollution,
epidemics of cancer, nor does it suffer for lack of essential services. Meanwhile,
my country suffers terrorist bombings almost every day and has weak security
forces crippled by corruption. My people suffer chronic diseases, particularly
cancer, and are flung amid the waves of financial and administrative
corruption, countless pollutants, and electricity that remains unreliable despite
the passage of over a decade since the fall of the tyrant of the century.
Yet
our national officials insist that they deserve pensions that match Putin's normal
pay! We don't even know the totality of their privileges, since political
disputes and partisan interests have prevented passage of this year's budget, and
will continue to do until after the legislative elections. For reasons that
remain a mystery, our lawmakers consider themselves better than Vladimir Putin.
Indeed "the longer I live, the more wonders of life I see." [Paraphrase attributable
to Prophet Mohammad's daughter, Fatima Al Zahra].
