Putin.

Editor,

I am accused of being an admirer of Vladimir Putin. Nothing could be further from the truth. My point, which seems to go over the heads of many readers, is that the aggressive American posture towards Mr. Putin is transformed by American media and the NY Times in particular into an aggressive posture by him. Defensive moves that he is pushed into by the USA and its allies are sold to the American public as aggression by him.

According to the American line, Baltic states' fear of Russia based on previous behavior by the USSR is justified, but Russia's fear of the West based on military adventures by Napoleon and Hitler that cost the USSR 27 million lives in WWII -- 11 million of whom were civilians, most of whom starved to death -- is not.

You don't have to be a genius to put two and two together. Russia is a vast, mostly undeveloped country rich in mineral, carbon, and other resources that the West would like for free. Putin the autocrat bad, Abdullah the autocrat good; Russian oligarchs bad, American oligarchs good; Russian incursions into Georgia and Crimea bad, American invasions of Vietnam and Iraq (to name just two, killing more than 3 million people between them) "mistakes."

My issue is American motives for demonizing Mr. Putin. I could care less about how good or bad he is. I care about American intentions, and I resent being manipulated by mainstream press propaganda.

Re: "Mr. Putin’s Global Courtships " (12/27/2014)