Newsweek Interviews Viktor Ivanov

I had no idea that he was the type of guy to return calls from reporters, but here Anna Nemtsova at Newsweek has an interesting Q&A with one of the Kremlin’s top three most powerful siloviki, Viktor Ivanov.  The NATO-bashing was expected, but the emphasis Ivanov made with regard to the drug trade funding terrorism in Russia signals some new ideas among Russia’s elite – and considering the accusations some weeks ago that the West is waging a determined campaign of “narco-aggression” via Afghanistan, I wonder if we see this rhetoric take a few more steps.

How much did the bombs that killed 38 people in Moscow last week cost?
Last Monday’s terror act cost the equivalent of one kilo of heroin. A terrorist attack is the most powerfully destructive act that these people can commit. It is horror, it is blood, it multiplies by mass media–it traumatizes even those who were not injured. It always feels like a giant tragedy. But it’s not the only destructive act. Tens of thousands of Russians die quietly every year from drugs. It is a cancer that our society is sick with.