I read with interest and anger the June 27, 2007 article in The Wall Street Journal entitled “J’accuse!” by Alex Goldfarb and Marina Litvinenko. The opinions set forth in the article are understandable given the fact that Marina Litvinenko is the widow of the late Alexander Litvinenko – whom she refers to as Sasha, at least from an emotional perspective. However, the assertions are little more than “yellow” journalism, or perhaps it should now be referred to in this context as “red” journalism.

            Despite giving Mrs. Litvinenko great deference in her op-ed piece because of her loss, I take issue with the article as it assumes unsubstantiated facts and it propagates the current Western media negativity toward the so-called “New Russia”. Mrs. Litvinenko refers to Russia as a “rogue” state and “evil empire” and claims that she has been “hijacked” by the FSB. She further avers that the Kremlin and Mr. Putin are responsible for the murder of her husband.

The claims made by Mrs. Litvinenko are fashionable, contemporary Western opinions about Russia, yet they are inaccurate and hypocritical. Mrs. Litvinenko calls Russia a “rogue’ state, yet there is no credible basis for this. Is Russia now a ‘rogue’ state because she has a newly-asserted voice in world politics, because she has recently paid off her Soviet-era debt, because she has objected to the encroachment of NATO in her backyard, because the Christian church has the blessings of the Russian state, or because she sells her oil and gas for market prices? Mrs. Litvinenko and Mr. Goldfarb accuse Mr. Putin of murder while denouncing Russia for failing to extradite Mr. Lugovoi from Russia based on accusations that Mr. Lugovoi is responsible for the murder of her husband. Let us not forget that Mr. Lugovoi is innocent until proven guilty. This is one of the Western values which we so often herald. By the way, the Russian Constitution, Article 49, also affords Mr. Lugovoi the same presumption. Mr. Berezovsky, a Russian citizen who fled to Britain and the reputed sponsor of Mr. Litvinenko, has sought asylum in Britain from prosecution in Russia for a variety of charges. Britain has refused Russia’s request to extradite Mr. Berezovsky. Why should Russia’s extradition request be denied while Britain’s should be granted? Does this make Britain a ‘rogue’ state? Is one nation more sovereign than the other?

Mrs. Litvinenko accuses President Putin of murder and President Bush of complicity by ignoring the murder of her husband because President Bush is hosting President Putin at his summer home in Maine. Mrs. Litvinenko’s depiction of U.S. foreign policy toward Russia misapprehends current U.S. policy toward Russia. Current U.S. policy toward Russia is anything but amicable. U.S. policy is now apparently misguided by Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice, who has an obvious cold war vision and mentality, which is evident by the U.S. policy of encroachment and interference in the Russian hemisphere. The U.S. has led the charge of NATO into former Soviet Republics as well as former Comecon nations, has sought to implement an air “defense” system in the Czech Republic, has attempted to influence elections in Ukraine and Georgia, has established a military airbase in Uzbekistan, and has publicly criticized Russia over her energy policy, and over the arrest and conviction of Mr. Mikhail Khodorkovsky.

For Mrs. Litvinenko and Mr. Goldfarb to claim complicity by Messrs. Putin and Bush is misguided and inaccurate. The accusations against President Putin and President Bush are baseless and myopic. In addition, readers should take into consideration the source. Mrs. Litvinenko is the widow of a former FSB officer who was a fugitive from Russian justice. Once his conviction was overturned in the Russian judicial system, he fled to Britain and reputedly lived on money provided to him by Mr. Berezovsky, another fugitive from Russian justice. Why should Russia honor the request of Britain to extradite Mr. Lugovoi when Britain refuses Russia’s extradition requests for Mr. Berezovsky? The alleged criminal exploits of Boris Berezovsky are detailed in a book written by the late Paul Klebnikov entitled “Godfather of the Kremlin – Boris Berezovsky and The Looting of Russia”. Following Mr. Klebnikov’s publication of this book, he was murdered in Moscow. Who had a better motive to kill Mr. Klebnikov than Boris Berezovsky? Mr. Klebnikov’s book was quite critical of Mr. Berezovsky. Mr. Klebnikov was then brutally murdered. Yet, to affirmatively implicate Boris Berezovsky would be as reckless as the accusation that President Putin is responsible for the murder of Mr. Litvinenko.

The death of Mr. Litvinenko is unfortunate and I do not intend to minimize Mrs. Litvinenko’s loss. However, the cold war-esque, empty rhetoric contained in her article is little more than “red” journalism, the new “yellow” journalism, as it is misleading and assumes unproven facts which only propagate the old world ideas of automatic, reactionary antagonism toward Russia.

Russia has a democratically-elected President and representative government based on a republican form of government. Russia has elected executive and legislative branches, and a judicial branch created by a democratically-enacted Constitution. Russia has not invaded any of its neighboring states and has not threatened any states with its nuclear arsenal – despite the Western media’s report that Mr. Putin rhetorically stated that he would redirect Russia’s nuclear arsenal toward Europe in response to the proposed installation of a missile defense system in the Czech Republic. The real issue is a question of sovereignty. The Western states should afford Russia the same rights and respect for her sovereignty that they assert and demand and the world will enjoy even greater stability than it did during the Cold War. On the other hand, to propagate myths about a Russia as a “rogue” state serves no beneficial purpose.