Kazakhstan unrest seems to fade as the president says he survived a coup attempt.

 

Kazakh security forces in Almaty. BBC/Reuters.

Kazakhstan unrest seems to fade as the president says he survived a coup attempt. BBC. President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev said the unrest came from a single center while Russian President Vladimir Putin said that the country had been targeted by international terrorism and said Russia would not tolerate new "color" revolutions. Rioting broke out after a major increase of fuel prices and left several people dead. However the government says that they have stabilized the situation and are now in a clean up phase. 

My Comment:

Looks like whatever was happening in Kazakhstan has failed. It seems that the government, along with the help of Russia and its allies, has held back the massive wave of riots and protests. Given how widespread and violent these protests were that is a major accomplishment. 

With that being said, I am not sure I trust the government of Kazakhstan when they say the situation is under control. I remember seeing a lot of weapons being stolen and I doubt they have been recovered yet. With those weapons unaccounted for the violence could certainly continue. But it does sound like many of the rioters have been arrested. 

I still think that this was an organic protest against a government that stopped caring about its people. They didn't do anything to stop the massive increase in fuel prices and in a country as poor as Kazakhstan that's a huge deal. People were right to be upset. 

But I doubt Russia or Kazakhstan believes that. It really doesn't matter if it is true or not, they see this as a failed attempt at a color revolution, like the ones that hit Ukraine and Georgia in the past. They have a right to be suspicious, after all, Ukraine was obviously a CIA operation.  

I don't think this was a color revolution. The violence erupted too fast for this to be a CIA thing. Plus, the CIA is not anywhere near as competent as they used to be. Given how progressives have captured the agency I can't see them successfully pulling off anything, let alone a coup attempt like this. 

Russia doesn't know that and it is not a good thing as tensions are already extremely high. They feel pressured on all fronts and are facing a President in Joe Biden that hates them and wants war. They are going to be paranoid, and for good reason, that a color revolution is going to happen in Russia. 

That is the one thing that scares Vladimir Putin. I am sure he remembers what happened to Mummar Gadhafi and Saddam Hussein. He's afraid he will end up like them, either at the end of a rope or getting raped to death by terrorists. It's not a fate he cares for and I see him doing anything he can to avoid that fate. 

With that being the context, I don't see much happening with talks between the United States and Russia. It's clear at this point we have backed Putin into a corner and even though we should back down I don't see Biden doing it. When offered a choice he always chooses wrong...