FLASH
Shkruar nga Garry Kasparov
But I fear that Western politicians prefer dissidents to be martyrs. They can leave flowers and say nice words during negotiations with the killer. No one challenges such hypocrisy.
Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny was killed in a prison north of the Arctic Circle on Friday.
There is no need for semantic blame games when a political prisoner dies.
It's a murder by dictatorship, as damned as if Vladimir Putin pulled the trigger himself.
Putin tried and failed to assassinate Navalny quickly and secretly by poisoning him in 2020, and has now killed him slowly and publicly in prison.
Navalny's only crime was that he exposed Putin and his mafia for the thugs they are, and he did it with charisma and humor.
Navalny and I disagreed on many things about Russia's past and future. But we agreed that Putin had to go and that none of our differences mattered until that happened.
Now Alexei is dead and with him the last gasp of Russian society that let him down, let down Russia and let down the world with its apathy.
He was a man of optimism and action, in a nihilistic world, a tragic quality that he shared with me and our colleague Boris Nemtsov, who returned to Russia only to be killed on the street in front of the Kremlin in 2015 .
Putin killed Navalny, but there is enough guilt to involve others. First, we Russians who failed to stand up to Alexei's courage and end Putin's dictatorship and war cannot escape responsibility. Some of us tried and he marched with us in numbers that now seem like a fantasy. It wasn't enough.
Is it wrong to wonder what might have been? If we had been as brave as the Ukrainians a few years later, when they took to the streets and risked their lives to be free?
Perhaps the last, best chance was the huge demonstration in Moscow on December 24, 2011, not long before the regime cracked down on such actions. Navalny must have felt the moment when he took the stage in front of tens of thousands of protesters.
"I see there are enough men here to capture the Kremlin and the White House, even the seat of the federal government. Now. We are a peaceful force and we won't. But if these crooks and thieves try to continue to deceive us, if they continue they tell us lies and steal, we will take what belongs to us with our own hands!".
Would people have followed us? Would thousands of policemen have opened fire or would they have joined us? Would we be free now, or long dead? The regret of inaction is ten times the regret of action.
Also to be blamed are Western politicians who treated Navalny's poisoning in 2020 and imprisonment the following year as just another bargaining chip with Putin. Lots of talk, no action, more empty peace talks and corrupt deals, more blood on their hands.
President Biden's threat in 2021 of "devastating" consequences if anything happens to Navalny in prison will now be put to the test. After decades of crimes and aggression, Putin has crossed another bloody red line.
Ukraine is the weak point in Mr Putin's armour. Biden cannot hide behind Republicans' blocking of aid to Ukraine, reprehensible as it is.
The White House does not need Congress to send Ukraine long-range artillery such as ATACMS and fighter jets essential to protect civilians from Russia's incessant bombing.
Nor can Mr. Biden blame MAGA's obstruction for failing to seize more than $300 billion in Russian Central Bank assets and use them to help Ukraine. The acquisition and sale of luxury yachts and real estate in the West belonging to Mr. Putin and his oligarchs would also be a fitting tribute to Navalny, whose anti-corruption campaigns exposed their looted wealth.
But I fear that Western politicians prefer dissidents to be martyrs. They can leave flowers and say nice words during negotiations with the killer. No one challenges such hypocrisy.
We can also use this tragic moment to shame those who openly support Mr. Putin, from Viktor Orbán and Donald Trump to propagandists like Tucker Carlson and amplifiers like Elon Musk. But should we worry when they can't be shamed?
Why kill Navalny now? Mr Putin obviously felt confident about getting the job done and, as a coward and a bully, he is always at his most dangerous when he feels confident and triumphant.
In discussions at the Munich Security Conference, Navalny's killing threatened to "overshadow" the daily deaths of innocent Ukrainians. The North Atlantic Treaty Organization and the leaders of the free world are treading water while Ukrainians bleed. If Mr. Biden and the rest of the free world really want to strike a "devastating" blow against the killer in the Kremlin, they need only provide the Ukrainians with the weapons they need.
The West seems intent on doubling down on Russian apathy in the face of Mr. Putin's aggression, and the results will be the same. He will become bolder and the price of stopping him will continue to rise. The risk to Ukraine, the Baltic states and Poland will increase along with the threat to other political prisoners such as activist Vladimir Kara-Murza and Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich.
Alexei Navalny was a man of courage and action, and only courage and action can honor him now. / Taken from the Wall Street Journal, adapted Pamphlet
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