Poutine cherche un bouc-émissaire

Les interventions d'Hillary Clinton pour expliquer les résultats de la dernière élection?

"Mr. Putin could have acknowledged voters’ dissatisfaction — his party’s parliamentary majority plummeted from 315 to 238 seats — and tried to address it, like democratic leaders might do. Instead, on Thursday, he accused Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton of instigating street protests. He warned that Russia must protect against “interference” by foreign governments and hinted darkly at reprisals against demonstrators.

The charges are bizarre. After international observers reported widespread fraud by Putin supporters, Mrs. Clinton expressed “serious concerns” on Monday and Tuesday that the vote was neither free nor fair. It was ludicrous for Mr. Putin to claim that that was a “signal” that brought Russians to the streets three days running despite a heavy police presence and more than 1,000 detentions. The protesters were clear what motivated them: They were outraged by the fraud and tired of the status quo and Mr. Putin.

It’s true that Golos, Russia’s only independent electoral monitoring group, receives grants from the United States and Europe. But, as a member of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, Russia agreed that foreign and domestic election observers enhance the electoral process. The Soviet Union also signed a series of agreements on human rights that it ignored.

Mrs. Clinton and the White House did the right thing on Thursday by repeating their criticisms of the vote. She also expressed support for the “rights and aspirations” of the Russian people. They will need to keep speaking out; government opponents plan another protest for Saturday."

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/12/09/opinion/mr-putin-seeks-a-scapegoat.html?nl=todaysheadlines&emc=tha211