.jpg)
To be added or removed from this list, Please FReepmail me...
Posted on 10/11/2006 6:28:16 PM PDT by Tailgunner Joe
Monday, Rush Limbaugh interviewed me on Epicenter for the November issue of The Limbaugh Letter. For about 45 minutes, we discused how since taking office in 2000, former KGB chief-turned Russian President Vladimir Putin has built strong personal, political and military ties to Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and North Korean dictator Kim Jong Il. Putin has sold Iran and North Korea billions of dollars worth of arms and even nuclear technology. He is arming America's worst enemies for war, and in so doing, Russia has joined the "Axis of Evil." Yet on this critical issue, official Washington seems to be in a true state of denial.
As I document in the book, Russia signed a $1 billion arms deal with Iran in December 2005, providing the radical Islamic regime in Tehran high-speed missile and other high-tech weaponry, despite Ahmadinejad's call to annihilate the U.S. and Israel two months earlier. Russia is building nuclear facilities for Iran, training over 1,000 Iranian nuclear scientists, and running political interference for Iran at the U.N. to prevent us for imposing economic sanctions that could slow down Ahmadinejad's feverish bid for nuclear weapons.
But there's much more to the story. Consider Putin's dangerously close ties to Kim Jong Il:
* On July 19-20, 2000, Putin became the first President of Russia ever to visit Pyongyang. He met with Kim Jong Il and explored ways to rebuild the once-close relationship between Russia and North Korea.The Bush administration and Congress must confront Putin directly on Russia's increasingly dangerous ties to North Korea and Iran. Time is running out.* In December 2000, the Kremlin announced its desire to dramatically increase military sales to North Korea.
* In April 2001, the Kremlin announced an official agreement to modernize North Korea's military. Sales have soared since then. "In 2001, Pyongyang imported combat plane parts, armored vehicles, helicopters and gunpowder worth $120 million from China and Russia," said one report. "In 2000 it bought aircraft parts, air-search radars, engines, automatic navigation devices, military jeeps and others worth $100 million" from Russia, China, Belarus and others.
* In August 2001, Kim Jong Il visited Russia and met with Putin in Moscow.
* In August 2002, Kim Jong Il visited Russia again, meeting Putin in Vladivostok.
* In 2003, the Kremlin refused to rule out further arms sales to North Korea, despite increasingly dangeorus and provocative moves by Kim Jong Il.
* In 2003, Asian intelligence services became increasingly concerned that "North Korea and Iran are in talks over a plan to export Pyongyang's Taepodong-2 long-range ballistic missiles to Tehran and to jointly develop nuclear warheads....The two countries have been negotiating the deal for about a year and are likely to reach an agreement in mid-October," according to defense sources "familiar with North Korean affairs."
* In 2004, the CIA estimated that North Korea had “at least” six nuclear weapons and by 2007 could produce enough highly enriched uranium to produce six new nuclear weapons a year.
* In 2004, the New York Times reported that the International Atomic Energy Agency recently found strong evidence that the 1.7 metric tons of the uranium in Libya’s possession came from North Korea. The uranium was described as being unusable for nuclear fuel, but was enough material to make one nuclear bomb, noted the web site MissileThreat.com. The Times said "that a new level of suspicion now lurks, that North may have sold uranium to other countries or to terrorists."
* In August and September 2004, U.S. intelligence officials and analysts began worrying openly about the threat of North Korea and Iran firing nuclear missiles at American cities off the back of commercial container ships, giving us little or no warning before impact and detonation. Defense Secretary Don Rumsfeld said one Middle East nation already has "launched a ballistic missile from a cargo vessel," referring to Iran. "They had taken a short-range, probably Scud missile, put it on a transporter-erector launcher, lowered it in, taken the vessel out into the water, peeled back the top, erected it, fired it, lowered it, covered it up. And the ship that they used was using a radar and electronic equipment that was no different than 50, 60, 100 other ships operating in the immediate area." According to Bill Gertz of the Washington Times: Air Force Gen. Ralph Eberhart, commander of the U.S. Northern Command, also said recently that the danger of ship-based missiles is growing. "I believe it's just a matter of time until the terrorists try to use a...maritime attack against us. I believe that attack could come in terms of bringing a ship into port, whether it's [carrying] high explosives or whether it's weapons of mass destruction." Noted Asian intelligence specialist Richard Fisher: "Should North Korea adopt this strategy, it would have the option of trying to infiltrate and pre-position its missiles in Canada, Central America or even the continental United States. U.S. missile defenses do not currently defend against either launches from the south of or within the contiguous 50 states." (I write more about Iran's efforts to develop a ship-launch capability in Epicenter.)
* In 2005, Putin actually personally awarded a medal of honor to the North Korean dictator who is starving his own people and threatening the world with nuclear war.
* In August 2006, a Russian newspaper reported that U.S. officials are increasingly concerned that North Korea is laundering money through Russian banks and in the process helping North Korea sell ballistic missile technology to Iran, Syria and Pakistan. “The American Center for Nonproliferation Studies released a report yesterday claiming that North Korean authorities, with the help of private Russian companies, are providing ballistic missile to third countries, Iran, Syria and Pakistan in particular. This information comes at the same time as a scandal is unfolding over the North Korean regime's transfer of a considerable part of its bank accounts to Russia, skirting American sanctions. Although these accusations are only coming from NGOs right now, they may become the case of the next strain in Russian-American relations." U.S. officials are increasingly concerned that “Russian firms help North Korea develop missile technology, Pyongyang sells it to other problem countries, and the proceeds from those sales are deposited in North Korean accounts in Russian banks. It is only a small step form that picture to the accusation of violating nonproliferation rules.”
"Russia and her miserable people are eternal enemies of the United States."What makes any ordinary Russian, and not the KGB-led government, "an eternal enemy of United States"? And does "eternal" mean to you it was always that way, even before 1917, etc? If you believe that to be true, then you are simply an irrational bigot. You sound like an inverse of a typical paranoid Russian ultra-nationalist, who claim the West was always "out to get Russia". And why specifically St. Pete's? Almost sounds like a you have a personal problem with it for some reason.
Can you provide the source, where you quoting from?
It's getting scary and, yeah, the press and the dems are on the side of the enemy.
April 30, 2001 - Russian military forces intervened in a mock nuclear conflict between China and the United States over Taiwan during strategic exercises that included Russian preparations to use nuclear weapons on U.S. forces in Asia, The Washington Times has learned.
Russian forces help China in mock conflict
Feb 2002 - China's military is covertly buying U.S. commercial satellite photographs of Taiwan that U.S. intelligence officials say will be used to target the island with the mainland's growing arsenal of cruise and ballistic missiles. Satellite photographs of most of the island are being purchased by China through a South Korean company, U.S. intelligence officials say.
Nov 2003 - In a tough statement, the Vice-Minister at Beijing's Taiwan Affairs Office Wang Zaixi said Taiwan President Chen Shui-bian's recent pro-separatist activities had crossed Beijing's "red line" and that they "run the risk of triggering a war" with the mainland. "War will break out if the island declares formal independence," state media on Wednesday quoted Wang as saying.
July 26, 2004 - About 18,000 Chinese troops using their country's most advanced weapons systems last week rehearsed coordinated air, sea and ground attacks on Dongshan, an island in the South China Sea that resembles Taiwan in terrain and weather.
Feb 7, 2005 - Quietly, with almost no notice taken in the U.S. media, Russia and China have just stepped up their military cooperation to a level not seen in half a century since the end of the Korean War.
Mar 8, 2005 — China unveiled a law Tuesday authorizing an attack if Taiwan moves toward formal independence, increasing pressure on the self-ruled island while warning other countries not to interfere.
June 26, 2005 - China is building its military forces faster than U.S. intelligence and military analysts expected, prompting fears that Beijing will attack Taiwan in the next two years, according to Pentagon officials. U.S. defense and intelligence officials say all the signs point in one troubling direction: Beijing then will be forced to go to war with the United States, which has vowed to defend Taiwan against a Chinese attack.
June 28, 2005 - China's decision to open up massive bomb shelters to the public, ostensibly to provide a respite from summer heat, has U.S. intelligence analysts concerned about a possible strategic deception by Beijing, reports Joseph Farah's G2 Bulletin. The Chinese specialist agreed with others knowledgeable about nuclear arms that such a maneuver – opening up large fallout shelters to the public on a regular basis would serve two strategic purposes for Beijing: It would familiarize the Chinese people to the shelters, making it easier to evacuate the public in times of potential nuclear attack; It would confuse Western intelligence analysts who monitor movements of the Chinese public by satellite as evidence of the government's intentions; In addition to monitoring missile launches, U.S. national security officials keep an eye on large-scale public movements in countries like China. If, for instance, city residents were seen moving in large numbers into fallout shelters, it would be a sign the government might be preparing for an attack of some kind.
But if such massive movements became routine – because shelters are opened up in the heat of summer and in the cold of winter to provide shelters from the elements – then such movements would more likely be disregarded as militarily insignificant in the West.
"Think about it," said one U.S. intelligence source. "If you were planning, at some point in the future, to launch a pre-emptive first strike on some enemy, wouldn't it make sense to do what the Chinese are doing?"
Anyone else hear a drum beat? I truly do think China and Russia are miffed at NK right now...Kim Jong Mentally-Il's ego has overstepped the boundaries of what they all have planned. Finally, IMHO, although the articles above discuss Taiwan, I fear a strike on Japan by NK will be the first blow in a huge battle to come.
No.
And, please keep in mind, none of this is directed at you personally. ;p But you asked for a reason. And I'm giving you an honest answer.
It's because they are careening towards totalitarianism, with heavy approval from the people. Also, because there are deep pockeys of xenophobia. And massive stockpiles, frequently poorly guarded, of WMDs. And powerful organized crime out of control, and which has infilitrated high levels of military and government because of a culture of corruption. And because the average lifespan of a Russian male is plummeting to third world levels (I believe average male lifespan is 58 is the statistic I last saw).
Also, because they are trying to play not just both sides, but all sides, and then play each other. And because they are not sure whether they want to be European or Asian. And because they don't have the capability to guard their eastern marches against Chinese encroachment. And because civil liberties don't seem to be as enshrined in their value set as it does in the west. Also, because of the last 15-20 years of instability, and the Soviet dictatorship before that gives me little opportunity to hope.
I don't think that Russia is without hope, or value. And its not that I don't think that Russians as a people aren't cool (well, at least the ones I know in Canada...I only know one Russian-Russian, and he was a university student.) But independent policy, and sometimes openly hostile (not to mention counterproductive) policies are two different, but not mutually exclusive things.
That Russia exercises an independent policy, and does not follow the US, should surprise and disappoint exactly one guy in eastern Angola. Noone grudges them that. But if they think they can continue on their present course and not alarm or provoke anyone, they are delusional.
I suppose I see communism and other totalitarian ideas as a religion because of the idolatry I see in them. Worship of the State, and worship of the leader. You see demonstrations all the time in the Middle east in which the participants hold portraits of their favorite imam or ayatollah high in the air. You see heroic-looking statues of the leader in every town square, and bigger-than-life murals on the sides of the buildings. They demand to be worshiped and are worshiped by many.
It is NOT a worship in the least. I come from the former USSR. On TV you might have seen similar crowds there, too: in advance of such an "event" at their working places the people you saw on the demonstrations would be CONSCRIPTED to attend such "events" in support or protest whatever it was du jour. There were enough informers and "activists" to ensure that people [we are not talking elite, but peons] came, and those who did not would be facing consequences. This is what is meant by: ideology is "behave, or else". When in the 16th century the failure to attend the church meant a summons to the Inquisition office or its analogs in early Protestant countries, the religion was showing its ideological aspect.
Isn't that what Lenin was talking about in his essay "Leftwing Communism, an Infantile Disorder"?
Basically, he said all idealistic/religious believers in Marxism needed to be purged from the party because they were incapable of carrying out *both* Marxist and anti-Marxist actions in order to further the revolution. In other words, they were just plain useless, or worse, they go in the way!
You are getting it. Another source of confusion is that the word "communism" denotes, properly speaking, the way of life, supported and promoted by an ideology which is also called "communism". This way of life, however, could, and did, exist with a different ideological garnish as well. To avoid unnecessary sophistry and duplication and substitution between the word meanings, when one calls putin a commie, one means first and foremost his adherence to this way of life [as manifested in sociological behavior] - i.e. that he is a behavioral commie, that he behaves as a commie nomenklaturist, and not that he parrots marxist quotes, is humming "International", carries a party card or is waving a red banner. In this sense our own clintons are commies, too.
Do you think there is still some sort of party control in Russia, or have they truly evolved into a multi-party system? In other words, who's in charge in Russia right now *and* are they in charge in the same way as they were during the Cold War?
He has always been a member.
To be added or removed from this list, Please FReepmail me...
Russia will move against Israel in the future,along with persia. I only hope the US isnt the modern day babylon that is destroyed in under a day. If we are to fall in the future I hope we launch all the big ones at russia and china.
Russia, Iran and China will move against Israel and our forces in the Middle East, and North Korea, China and Russia will move against Japan and Taiwan. They will fail.
The Our Russia (Putin's) party is the continuation of the CPSU. The KPRF is a bunch of old Stalinists and are usually allied with the Our Russia party.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.