Security second in Putin’s move to hold power

MOSCOW – Russian President Vladimir Putin’s move to enhance his own power in response to a wave of terrorism does not take on the real problem: the corrupt and unreformed security services that produced Putin in the first place, according to many politicians and analysts.

Putin, a former KGB officer who later headed its domestic successor, the Federal Security Service, had been planning to centralize more political authority for months and took advantage of the school seizure in Beslan to unveil the decision, according to his allies. But he left in place security officials who have failed to prevent repeated terrorist strikes in the last few years.

The performance of the security services in Beslan, where at least 338 children and adults died this month, has drawn intense criticism from other veterans of Russia’s military and law enforcement agencies. A police officer reportedly aided the terrorists who took over the school demanding an end to the war in Chechnya. By official accounts, the security services responding to the standoff were hobbled by disorganization, miscommunication and poor preparation.

“Looking back on the Beslan experience, we learned our lessons,” said retired Gen. Arkady Baskayev. “There was no unified professional management of this operation.”

Baskayev, who commanded the military garrison in Grozny during the first war in Chechnya, noted that the government promised to reform the security agencies after the 2002 Moscow theater siege, with no results. “Unfortunately, nothing has been done yet,” he said. “If nothing is going to be done, we’ll simply see such significant consequences that even Beslan will seem like a small tragedy.”

Instead of focusing on the security agencies, Putin decided to rein in other democratically elected leaders. He proposed eliminating the popular election of governors and independent members of parliament, giving himself the power to appoint leaders of Russia’s 89 regions and political parties such as his United Russia.

The moves alarmed many in Russia and abroad who saw them as unraveling democratic institutions adopted in the post-Soviet era. U.S. officials, as well as the original author of Russia’s glasnost reforms, Mikhail Gorbachev, called Putin’s plan a major step back.

“What counts most is that this will undoubtedly limit people’s rights,” Gorbachev, who has been largely supportive of Putin, told the Interfax news agency. “This may become another step toward stripping citizens of their voting rights.”

One figure who remained quiet was former President Boris Yeltsin, who ushered in reforms including elected governors. Many analysts and politicians believe Yeltsin cut a deal when he retired in which Putin agreed to shield him from prosecution in exchange for his deference.

Business mogul Boris Berezovsky, a former Kremlin insider who helped propel Putin to power in 1999 and later turned against him, challenged Yeltsin to break his silence.

“You’ve kept your mouth shut for an unforgivably long time,” Berezovsky, who now lives in exile in London, wrote in a letter published in his newspaper Kommersant. “It’s hard to believe now that once upon a time you climbed atop a tank to defend the future of Russia. And lately, your silence has been particularly, defiantly unforgivable.”

However, most of the Russian political world acceded to Putin’s decision, praising it. “Regional leaders hail Putin’s latest moves as panacea for all Russia’s ills,” read the headline on a dispatch from Itar-Tass news agency.

The focus on Putin’s political power obscured the failure of the security apparatus. The services remain notoriously corrupt, and individual officers are susceptible to bribes, while failing to stem a tide of terrorism that has killed more than 1,000 people over two years. Most Russians in polls fault security agencies for the Beslan siege and want them overhauled. Putin instead announced Tuesday that he planned to invest another $5.4 billion in law enforcement agencies and the military.