Russia Travel: An American in Moscow

Don't think being an American will protect you in Russia.

Paul Klebnikov, an American editor of the Russian edition of Forbes magazine, was shot to death outside of his offices. Forbes had been working on publishing a series of articles, including a list of the richest Russians. Klebnikov also had articles published exposing organized crime.

After he was shot, he was left to bleed to death in the lobby of the hospital. No one was ever arrested for the crime.

That's the New Russia for you.

Travel to Mother Russia!

So Russia is spending big bucks, according to the Washington Post, to improve its image abroad. And it might even work.

Forget Anna Politkovskaya, the journalist who was killed for reporting about the use of torture by the Russian government. Or the Russian editor of Fortune magazine who was gunned down in the lobby of his office building and then help was delayed until after he was dead. Forget the Russian expat who was murdered in London.

And that's what will happen. No one will remember or care that good, decent people who spoke out for basic human rights were killed by the Russian state. They won't think about the implications of that for their own lives, either.