Posted on 03/09/2006 8:08:17 PM PST by spanalot
WASHINGTON, March 9 (UPI) -- The recent visit to Moscow by leaders of Hamas should not be viewed as just another attempt by the Kremlin to create confusion in Washington.
The Hamas meeting, coupled with Russia's agreement to sell arms to the terrorist group now in charge of the Palestinian Authority, indicates something much more problematic in U.S.-Russia relations, namely Moscow's desire to return to the Middle East with a well-planned campaign to unite all parties dissatisfied with American policy in the region.
In fact, the Kremlin's latest moves suggest that Russian President Vladimir Putin may be reviving the cold war-era Primakov Doctrine. Originated by former Soviet hard-liner and current Putin adviser Yevgeny Primakov, the strategy was designed to challenge the United States and its NATO allies on every major political and strategic front.
Some Kremlin experts in Washington believe Russia has only a reactive foreign policy, responding to events as they occur without any specific long-term agenda. But an arms sale to Syria, a missile deal with Iran and the get together with Hamas hardly fit that pattern.
All of this indicates a growing political struggle between Washington and Moscow.
(Excerpt) Read more at upi.com ...
I'm afraid so. This has grown more and more obvious over the past year or so. It looked as if we could ally with Russia against our common enemies or potential enemies, Islam and China. Evidently not. Putin is really blowing it, IMHO.
"Putin is really blowing it, IMHO"
If he's letting Primakov anywhere near his foreign policy he already blew it. And, the recent ME moves they made do reek of Primakov. I give Putin high marks for his first term, but this second term continues to be horrific. They're making huge gambles and they're going to end up way behind the rest of the former SU and Warsaw Pact if they continue to p.o. the West.
Pingski!
The Soviet model has already been a disaster for Russia. It's about to be again.
STATE.gov - U.S. DEPARTMENT OF STATE: "INTERVIEW WITH BOB SCHIEFFER OF CBS's FACE THE NATION" (SNIPPET: "On Hamas, yes, the Russians make the point that they, unlike us, have not listed Hamas as a terrorist organization. Let me be very clear. Hamas is a terrorist organization for us and for the European Union. But Russia is signed on to a Quartet statement, the Quartet being the UN, the United States, the EU and Russia, that is the sort of guardian of the roadmap process in the Middle East; that the Quartet has signed on to the statement that says a Palestinian government must recognize Israel's right to exist, must give up violence, must accept the two-state solution and so on.") (February 12, 2006)
MEMRI.org - Special Dispatch Series - No. 1087: "HAMAS LEADER KHALED MASH'AL AT A DAMASCUS MOSQUE: THE NATION OF ISLAM WILL SIT AT THE THONE OF THE WORLD AND THE WEST WILL BE FULL OF REMORSE - WHEN IT'S TOO LATE" (February 7, 2006)
MEMRI.org - Special Dispatch Series - No. 1081: "Hamas Leader Khaled Mash'al Presents Hamas Plan on Al-Jazeera TV: 'We are Committed to the Resistance and Adhere to its Weapons...As for Recognizing [Israel] and Amending Our Charter - Hamas is Not the Kind of Movement That Succumbs to Pressure...We Will Not Recognize it, No Matter how Much Time Passes...We Believe in Acting According to Stages...'" (January 31, 2006)
MEMRI.org - Special Dispatch Series -No. 1051: "Sheikh Al-Qaradhawi on Hamas Jerusalem Day Online: 'We are a Nation of Jihad and Martyrdom'; 'The Resistance in Palestine, Iraq, and Lebanon Must Go On'; 'We Stand Alongside Our Brothers in Hamas and Islamic Jihad'" (December 18, 2005)
FreeRepublic.com (http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3159944,00.html): "ARAB EMIRATES: HAMAS FOUNDER DIES" (SNIPPET: "Halil Quka, one of the founders of Hamas, died at the age of 58 in the United Arab Emirates. In the 1980s Quka was considered one of the Muslim Brotherhood leaders in Gaza, second only to Sheikh Ahmed Yassin. He was banished from Gaza in the mid-1980s.") (October 26, 2005)
WorldNetDaily.com: "HAMAS 'CAPABLE OF U.S. ATTACKS' Terrorism experts warning nation potentially at risk from militants" by Aaron Klein (ARTICLE SNIPPET: "JERUSALEM - Hamas has cells inside the United States that are technically capable of attacking the country, terrorism experts and senior security officials told WorldNetDaily.") (October 16, 2005)
ADNK.com (AKI): Tel Aviv - "MIDDLE EAST: FIRST HAMAS FEMALE BOMB MAKER CAUGHT, SAYS ISRAEL" (ARTICLE SNIPPET: "The Israeli military has detained a Gaza Strip woman suspected of being the first female bomb-maker employed by the militant Palestinian group Hamas, an Israeli newspaper has reported. Samar Sabih, 22, was sent by Hamas' military wing in the Gaza Strip to the West Bank to train new explosive experts, Tel Aviv daily Haaretz said on Tuesday. Sabih was among a number of suspected militants in recent Israeli military raids, the report said.") (October 11, 2005)
INTELLIGENCE.org.il - INTELLIGENCE AND TERRORISM INFORMATION CENTER at the Center for Special Studies (C.S.S.): "'HAMASTAN' - A PALESTINIAN RADICAL ISLAMIST STATE, RULED BY HAMAS" (ARTICLE SNIPPET: "The socio-political makeup of “Hamastan” (a Palestinian radical Islamist state, ruled by Hamas), as described in interviews granted by Mahmoud al-Zahar, a senior Hamas figure in the Gaza Strip. An alternative to the Palestinian Authority, the agenda presented by Mahmoud al-Zahar is based on strict enforcement of radical Islamic codes in politics, society, and culture. “Hamastan”, according to Al-Zahar, will become an inseparable part of the global radical Islamic effort spearheaded by the Muslim Brotherhood.") (October 9, 2005)
JIHAD WATCH.org (HAARETZ): "ASSAD SAID TO HAVE GIVEN HAMAS, JIHAD GREEN LIGHT FOR TERRORISM" (ARTICLE SNIPPET: "Syrian President Bashar Assad earlier this month gave Hamas and Islamic Jihad representatives in Damascus a green light to carry out terror attacks and escalate fighting against Israel, Israel Radio said Wednesday, quoting a high-level Palestinian Authority intelligence dispatch, which was reportedly passed on to Egypt and Israel. Deputy Defense Minister Ze'ev Boim said Wednesday that Israel was aquainted with the dispatch.") (September 28, 2005)
MEMRI.org - Special Dispatch Series - No. 983: "COMMANDER OF HAMAS MILITARY WING WOMEN'S UNIT: 'Our Members Yearn for Martyrdom'" (September 9, 2005) (Read More...)
JNEWSWIRE.com: "HAMAS: CHRISTIAN ZIONISM IS OUR ENEMY" by Jerusalem Newswire Editiorial Staff (ARTICLE SNIPPET: "The Hamas terrorist organization has singled out Christian supporters of Israel, putting them on notice that it views their actions as "criminal," making them enemies of the Palestinian Arabs.") (August 22, 2005)
MEMRI.org - Special Dispatch Series - No. 964: "AN INTERVIEW WITH HAMAS LEADER DR. MAHMOUD AL-ZAHAR" (ARTICLE SNIPPET: "The following are excerpts from an interview with Hamas leader Mahmoud Al-Zahar that appeared in Asharq Al-Awsat on August 18, 2005.") (August 19, 2005)
MEMRITV.org - Transcript - Clip No. 731: "HAMAS REPRESENTATIVE IN LEBANON OSAMA HAMDAN: THERE IS A BEGINNING OF EUROPEAN UNDERSTANDING TOWARDS ARMED RESISTANCE" (TRANSCRIPT SNIPPET: "The following are excerpts from an interview with Hamas representative in Lebanon Osama Hamdan, which aired on Al-Arabiya TV on June 24, 2005") (June 27, 2005)
ARUTZ SHEVA.com: "HAMAS BOMB-MAKER STAR OF SYRIAN PRODUCED TV SERIES A 12-part series on the life of the “father of suicide bombings,” Hamas bomb-maker Yihye Ayyash is set to be aired on the Lebanese-based Hizbullah satellite television station al-Manar." (April 18, 2005)
JIHAD WATCH.org (YNET): "PALESTINIAN GIRL HIDES GUN IN UNDIES" (ARTICLE SNIPPET: "The soldiers in the Balata refugee camp, a terrorist hotbed, found the gunman inside his house and ordered him to surrender his weapon. He refused, saying he didn't have it. After questioning, they found the man's sister had hidden it her underwear. Troops then arrested the Hamas terrorist. They also found a gun holster and bullets inside the building.") (April 16, 2005) (Read More...)
WorldNetDaily.com: "DOCUMENTS SHOW ARAFAT PAID FOR DISCO BOMBING Sent Thank-You Note to Family of Terrorist Who Killed 21, Injured 120" by Aaron Klein (ARTICLE SNIPPET: "The attack on the Dolphinarium was one of the most brutal massacres of the Palestinian intifadah, killing 21 people, mostly teens, on a Friday night in June 2001. More than 120 people were injured in the powerful blast carried out by Hamas terrorist Hassan Khutari.") (September 15, 2004)
IACSP.com: "ABDULLAH ASSAM: THE MAN BEFORE BIN LADEN" by Steve Emerson (ARTICLE SNIPPET: "Those who met Azzam were dazzled by his spellbinding oratorical skills, his capabilities as a military strategist, his religious leadership, and his interminable energy. Azzam helped bring about the mobilization of the Muslim Brotherhood movement more than any other leader. Today, the military wing of Hamas in the West Bank is called the Abdellah Azzam Brigades.")
COME ON, IS THAT ALL YA GOT?
YA GOT NOTHING.
A joke, good job.
Thank you for the pingski. :-)
Looks like Putin is stepping back in time.
I could understand it if it was to the benefit of Russia. Or even if it netted Putin more power. But it seems to me that this can only result in Russia going further backward.
Russian expansionism made a certain kind of sense when there were a lot of Russians. They wanted warm water ports, they wanted to control their neighborhood, and while it was not always pleasant, at least it was understandable.
Now the Russians are going backward, are bleeding population, are failing to reproduce themselves, and seem to think they can move in and run all the neighboring countries and make friends with the Muslims who hate them.
Not very sensible. The U.S. would be a valuable ally, and will never be the kind of threat to Russia that their neighbors are: China, and the Muslims along their southern borders.
Steyn has pointed out that demography is destiny. What kind of game is Russia playing, with the Muslims surrounding them having large families, while the Russians abort and contracept themselves to death? It's too dangerous a neighborhood to be doing that.
Smiling, thanks Joe.
Russian leadership has always been cursed by the "Kremlin Syndrome".
Govt resides in a walled fortress and that is the mentality it breeds - remote, authoritarian, and despotic.
Czars, Commies, Perestroika, Putie - its all the same.
You're absolutely correct. It this country we have those who believe Russia only has evil intent and suspect everything they do. The same is true for Russia - they have quite a few influential people, especially in the military, who suspect our each and every move. While these people seemed down and out during Putin's first term, they have been pretty successful during his second term. Russia needs to see that we do not have intentions of boxing them in and that we should be their most valuable "ally." As it currently stands, I think we're far from that sort of thinking in Russia.
Putin is a dictator who likes the Communist foreign policy.
"Putin is a dictator who likes the Communist foreign policy."
So, you've reduced yourself to repetitive slogans? Your "Putin is a dictator who likes the Communist foreign policy" shows you're not very educated on such things and makes you look foolish. There's plenty to criticize Putin on, but you're wrong on the "Communist foreign policy" and "dictator" charges. Surely you don't really intend to look uneducated? Do a little more research instead of throwing out nonsensical "slogans" in an attempt to pass them off as "fact."
Oh, I forgot, you're the one who wants Belarus' attacked if (when) Lukashenko steals the election, but remain strangely silent when offered to be put in touch with a military recruiter in your neck-of-the-woods....
I guess Perestroika was just another Ruse*
ruse
P
Pronunciation Key (rs, rz)
n.
A crafty stratagem; a subterfuge. See Synonyms at wile.
[Middle English, detour, dodging, from Old French, from ruser, to drive back
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