Fear and Intimidation

Its funny how a sentence will jump off the page and set your mind to work. I was reading an article about this fellow, Andrei Kozlov, who was shot and killed by unidentified assailants. He was the top deputy chairman of Russia's Central Bank. It is suspected that he was killed for his efforts to clean up the banking system through an ambitious program to reduce criminality and money laundering.

 

But that's not what caught my eye.

 

The last paragraph of this article is a quote of Tim Ash, an analyst with the investment firm Bear Stearns. He posited the shooting of Mr. Kozlov constituted a direct affront to Putin's government. He went on to say:

"We would expect Putin to set the resolution of this case as an absolute priority for the country's security services. Failure to apprehend the killers would send a signal to others that intimidation of government officials is once again an option."

Interesting. Mr. Ash is saying--indirectly--that governments shouldn't fear their people; people should fear their governments. I've got news for Mr. Ash. Fear and intimidation are exactly what's prescribed to keep government officials in check. History books are replete with accounts of government officials oppressing their people because the "fear factor" has shifted away from the government and onto the people.

 

I'm not condoning murder, mind you. However, I do believe that retaliation--meted out by whatever necessary and appropriate means--is justified when faced with aggressive and oppressive force by government officials. As Edward R. Murrow once stated, "A nation of sheep will beget a government of wolves." How true.