Putin’s Political Rival Was Assassinated Last Night. How Convenient?

Boris Nemtsov had spent the better part of his adult life fighting the system. He had always been an ardent critic of Vladimir Putin, and was determined to convince his countrymen that liberalism and democracy were the only ways to prevent Russia from becoming a “pariah country.”

Last night, Nemtsov was leaving a restaurant in Moscow, while accompanied by Ukrainian model Anna Duritskaya, when a passing car opened fire on him, leaving him dead in the street.

His body isn’t even cold, and theories abound as to who is responsible for the killing. For some, the most obvious culprit would be Putin. Russia has a long history eliminating those who oppose the prevailing regime, and Putin’s time in power has seen the deaths and detention of numerous journalists, defectors, and dissidents. However, it’s hard to say if the death of Nemtsov was really in Putin’s best interest.

Putin has enjoyed the overwhelming support of most Russians in recent years (most polls place this support at around 80 percent), and it doesn’t appear that Nemtsov was really a threat to his rule. In the Russian political scene, being liberal or democratic is synonymous with being pro-US or even CIA run. These movements are marginal at best, and have even less support than the modern version of the Communist Party. Nemtsov was a fly on the back of Putin’s Russia, and killing him would only bolster a movement that was no threat to him.

Others have suggested that he may have been killed by Islamic extremists, due to his position on the Charlie Hebdo attack. However, the nature of his murder doesn’t seem to indicate terrorism. The gunman shot him with a makarov pistol, and six empty shell casings were found at the scene. Each one was manufactured by a different company, making them difficult to trace. To me, that doesn’t sound like the MO of a terrorist organization. That sounds like a professional hit. Plus, they’re usually quite open about what they do, and are quick to admit to any attack. They thrive on PR, and don’t like to hide in the shadows. When they kill someone, they want you to know they were responsible, but no one has fessed up to this crime.

The other possibility was that he was killed by Russian separatists for his criticism of the war in Ukraine. But this theory runs into the same problem as the Putin theory. The vast majority of Russians support the war in Ukraine, and Nemtsov was never in any position to stop that war. Killing him would only turn him into a martyr, and convince others to join his cause.

Then there is the ever popular “lone gunman” theory that is paraded about every time a public figure is killed. The idea that some crazy guy decided to kill him for crazy reasons, is the perfect scapegoat for whoever really killed him. According to his family, he had recently received several death threats on twitter, but that’s pretty much par for the course for any public figure. To me, this sounds like the laziest of all the theories.

So who else could be responsible for this?

Is there any chance that the West could have murdered him? It would certainly benefit Washington for all the reason listed above. It has the potential to demonize Putin in the eyes of the people (though I think the Russian people will see through this), and it will turn Nemtsov into the perfect object of adoration for Western propaganda. Just imagine it; the lone voice of freedom and democracy, preaching peaceful resistance against a war mongering, anti-gay regime, is slain by a tyrant for standing up for what’s right. It’s almost too perfect.

The most interesting part of this whole situation, is that if the West was responsible for his murder, Putin predicted it would happen three years ago.

If that is the case, then let this be a warning to everyone who is a shill for the Washington regime. Nemtsov spent 30 years pushing for Western reform, and enjoyed the avid support of the American establishment. But when it became convenient for them, he was killed. Waving the banner of Western democracy is the fastest way to make yourself expendable.