Is this really an internal power grab?
Russian President Vladimir Putin has proposed legislation to widen the responsibility of the National Guard, an entity created last year and headed by Putin's former chief bodyguard, to include protecting regional governors.
The bill was published on the website of the State Duma, the lower house of parliament, on November 6.
The Duma is dominated by the Kremlin-controlled United Russia party and supports almost all Kremlin initiatives.
The proposed change could enhance Putin's ability to crack down on dissent or seek to impose order if there is unrest in Russia's far-flung regions.
The National Guard reports directly to the president. Its director, Viktor Zolotov, was chief of the presidential security service from 2000-13.
Is the threat of insurrection, rebellion, or secession really high enough for Putin to worry?
Or would this new law allow the National Guard to take on police power in a newly acquired region (like Belarus)--freshly annexed after Russia invades--perhaps to force submission by people less happy than Crimeans to be absorbed into the proto-police state that Putin is rebuilding from its peak Soviet days?
Heck, the National Guard might do the invading if the regular army balks at carrying out that order or if Putin wants to seriously deny invading in defiance of reality.
I've mentioned my view on the Russian National Guard's potential for taking and pacifying a target people rather than being a civil war-focused armed force before.
As for the paper term limits problem for Putin? Don't make me laugh. That's not a problem.
