Estonian officer kidnapped into Russia, after Obama warns Putin not to invade Estonia

[conservaphobe]

On Friday morning, less than 48 hours after President Obama delivered a speech in Estonia warning against Russian aggression, an officer with Estonia's state security bureau was kidnapped at gunpoint and taken into Russia.

It's not clear whether or not the attack has anything to do with the Russian government — Russian organized crime is active throughout the region. But the incident comes at an extremely tense moment between Russia and Estonia, one in which the United States has publicly committed to Estonia's military defense, meaning that a Russian invasion of Estonia would trigger war between Russia and the US.

"Unidentified persons coming from Russia took the freedom of an officer of Estonian Scurity police officer on the territory of Estonia," Estonia's state prosecutor's office announced. "The officer was taken to Russia using physical force and at gunpoint."

The kidnappers, who were somehow able to jam Estonian police radios, were clearly not your everyday criminals. The statement continues: "The officer was fulfilling his duties in connection to preventing a cross-border crime in taking place. The use of smoke grenades and intense interference with operative radio connections preceded the incident."

Estonian President Toomas Hendrik Ilves tweeted almost immediately about the kidnapping, indicating that the government considers it a major incident. His government quickly summoned the Russian ambassador.

http://www.vox.com/2014/9/5/6110037/estonia-russia-officer-kidnapped

[GeorgeGist]

1. Estonian President Toomas Hendrik Ilves tweeted almost immediately about the kidnapping,

suggesting that it's a false flag operation.

[geek tragedy]

3. No, we don't have Putinapologists here.

No sir. None at all.

[conservaphobe]

5. How dare you, sir. They're just 'another' everyday 'liberal'.

[LiberalEsto]

7. Estonia is one of the most tech-savvy, computer-oriented nations in the world

Ilves's tweet just means that he's more accustomed to rapid e-communication than your average head of government. After all, Estonia is the home of Skype, and 98 percent of banking in Estonia is done online.

For a good article on Ilves's background and Estonia's computer technology, read this:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/post-politics/wp/2014/09/03/estonias-president-came-to-tallinn-by-way-of-the-jersey-turnpike/

"TALLINN, ESTONIA - The president of Estonia grew up in a spot that couldn't be farther in distance or spirit from this medieval walled city: northern New Jersey.

Toomas Hendrik Ilves was born in Sweden to Estonian refugee parents but spent his formative years and early adulthood in Jersey. Ilves may now be president of Estonia, but the guy from Leonia but still claims Garden State bona fides.

"I knew who Bruce Springsteen was before he had his first record," he told USA Today last year - something President Obama noted when the two held a press conference here Wednesday afternoon. "

BTW Ilves and I both grew up on north Jersey and attended the same Estonian school on Saturdays, but I don't recall meeting him. He is a few years younger than I.And I paid $1.75 to see Springsteen perform in the Rutgers gym long before he recoded his first album.

[The Magistrate]

2. Obviously A 'False Flag' NATO Provocation, Sir

A C.I.A. team infiltrated into Russia carried out the snatch, and has doubtless now spirited the fellow further off to Shangri-La, just to make Russia look bad and aggressive and suggest Dear Leader Vladimir harbors further desires to regain former Soviet territory from fascists....

And you will see this being seriously claimed within hours....

"If you have seven pencils and four apples, how many pancakes fit on the roof? Purple! Because aliens don't wear hats!"

On edit: See above, it has been claimed immediately, while I was composing this post and locally to boot....

[geek tragedy]

4. You underestimate them, sir. See above. nt

[The Magistrate]

6. I Just Noticed It, Sir

While I was composing my post, that went up; there was no reply yet when I opened the window.

I confess that, for all my efforts and even experience, I still am unable to fully plumb the vast chasm of human stupidity....

What odds that Pepe Escobar and Robert Parry will have followed our Mr. Gist's lead before the work-week starts?

[LiberalEsto]

8. LOL

The pro-Putin propagandistas don't miss a hippopotamus.

[conservaphobe]

9. A team of Disney writers were enlisted by Victoria Nuland to devise this false flag.

Robert Parry has reported several boxes of 'ACME Instant Reichstag' on the border of Russia and Estonia...

Seen with labels: 'JUST ADD WATER' and 'MADE IN USA'

This victimization of Vlad, Boy Scout extraordinaire, has got to stop.

[Xithras]

10. The mob theory is most likely the correct one.

The guy was an intelligence officer gathering info on corrupt Estonian border agents who were allowing illegal smuggling across the border. Smuggling, in Russia, is generally controlled by the mob. The Russian mob has a long history of being very violent, and of "removing" law enforcement officers who attempt to get in its way.

[The Magistrate]

11. The Line Between 'Mob' And 'Police' Is Very Porous In Russia, Sir

And one can be offered up as cover for another, since this is well known....

[Xithras]

12. That's true of many parts of the world.

The Russian mob is really no different than the Italian mafia, the Yakuza, the Triads, the Cartels in Central America, or any of the dozens of other large crime organizations worldwide. They're violent, they don't tolerate opposition, and they are very adept at getting law enforcement and government officials on their payrolls.

Occams Razor applies here. The guy was screwing with the Russian mob when he was suddenly attacked by a group of armed men and vanished. Could he have been kidnapped by the Russian government? Anything is possible, but it's far more likely that the mob was simply removing a "problem" and sending a message.

[The Magistrate]

13. Yet This, Sir, Is The Estonian Border

None of those other places are.

I make no definite statement, because not enough is known. But it would be premature to rule out that some operation by Moscow to get an irridentist movement started in Estonia was rumbled by increased vigilance at the border, and steps were taken accordingly.

[The Magistrate]

14. Bit Of a Follow Up: Russia Says It Arrested An Estonian Spy....

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-29078400

Russia says it detained an Estonian security official on a "spying operation" on Russian territory.

The FSB in Moscow told Russian news agencies that a Kapo official named Eston Kohver had been detained on Russian territory and was now being investigated.