Posted on 08/07/2007 4:18:51 AM PDT by Renfield
it’s a good article.
putin is a thug.
RE Putin. What would you do if all you had was a KGB education and you faced rebuilding a country that had imploded seven years ago, was found to have had its nukes embezzled, was found to have wrecked its oil-producing wealth, had debased its currency, had become infiltrated by thousands of criminal “families....what COULD you do?
“what COULD you do?”
Follow the footsteps of the past and sell weapons to third world countries, make false claims on oil reserves, lie to your countrymen and kill anyone who dares to disagree. Did I miss anything?
...”labour” camps.
...”labour” camps.
Ahh yes, those stop off grounds PRIOR to death.
Here’s this, from Captain’s Quarters: (http://www.captainsquartersblog.com/mt/archives/010882.php)
Georgian officials claim that Russian jets invaded their airspace last night and fired a missile, which turned out to be a dud. The incident appears to be an escalation of Russian hostility towards its former republic and NATO aspirant:
“...Russia has been accused of launching an airstrike in an “act of aggression” against neighbouring Georgia.
Russia, which has a long history of tense relations with the former Soviet state, has denied the claim.
Georgian officials said that two Russian jet fighters violated its airspace and fired a missile which did not explode.
A Georgian government spokesman said that the intrusion took place on Monday night when the aircraft entered Georgia’s airspace over the northeastern Gori region and fired a missile which fell near the village of Tsitelubani, around 40 miles west of the capital, Tbilisi....”
This puts a rather interesting twist on Georgia’s relationship with NATO. They have made no secret about their desire for membership, but NATO has hesitated to provoke Russia with an offer. Russia has made clear that they would see NATO membership for either Ukraine or Georgia as a provocation, having drawn a diplomatic line in the sand last month on that issue.
However, Georgian independence should matter to the West, and an attack on Georgia should not go unanswered by NATO. The last thing we need in the Caucasus is another flashpoint for border wars. Violating Georgian air space and firing a missile constitutes two acts of war, especially the latter, and Georgia has to give some response to that provocation. Likely that will be a diplomatic response. Georgia doesn’t have the resources to make good on a military attack, and it would probably give Vladimir Putin an excuse to invade Georgia.
Do you suppose Putin is embarrassed over the dud? Had the missile exploded, it might have been harder to prove that the attack came from Russia. If Georgia has the missile intact, though, it will show that Russia attacked Georgia, and that Russian armament leaves a lot to be desired.
Russia under Vladimir Putin seems intent on remaking its empire through any means necessary. If we value Georgian independence as a check on Russian imperial ambitions, and we should, we had better make clear to Putin that we find this unacceptable, and offer a few consequences of our own. That NATO membership application could be dusted off at any time.
(Quoted text taken from: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2007/08/07/wgeorgia107.xml )
Did I miss anything?
claim to be a Christian
You pretty much summed it up. Putin had to analyze his strengths and put an emphesis there. He has almost no manufacturing capability except weapons. He really has no choice but to make weapons and hope he can sell them.
That is make weapons, deliver them and then receive hard currency cash. His predecessors did all that except collect the cash.
I admire the man simply because he is carrying an extremely heavy burden of a nearly dysfunctional ans dying population with an economy that by world standrds is fourth rate.
waking up to all that is probably very disconserting.
No. Oil is power. And they’ve got lots of it.
Like I’ve said many times... He who has the last barrel of oil will rule the world.
While former Warsaw Pact members and Soviet republics strive desperately to join the West, Russia continues a tradtion of existing on the margin of Europe, seeking none of its benefits from the intellectual to the economic. Thus, unlike the Ukraine which is rushing pell-mell into the 21st century, Russia is stuck in the 20th and remains truly an Asian despotism. One wonders how long the Russian core of 100 million people will be able to hold on to its periphery (Siberia, the Caucasus).
I will give credit to the KGB Putin, he hates Muslim terrorists. Guess they disagree a bit too much with him.
“...I will give credit to the KGB Putin, he hates Muslim terrorists. Guess they disagree a bit too much with him....”
I have believed for a long time that Putin uses Muslim fanatics as proxies against us. He doesn’t hate them at all, he sees them as his allies (or, at least, useful idiots) in his struggle against the U.S.
Remember, the PLO was entirely a creation of the KGB.
Oil is power? Yaaa, I guess that’s why Saudi Arabia is the world’s
leading superpower.
No, he who has the last barrel of oil will have the last barrel of
oil. Nothing more. And you can bet that he who has the last
bareel of oil will not be the bearer of the next energy technology.
The article actually speaks some truth. Refer to US “diplomatic”
activity in the former southern repubs of the former USSR during
the 90s. Alos refer to an op-ed by James Pinkerton from June 2005
I belivee re the US Arc of Power. US military overseas re-alignmnts
scheduled to begin next yr bear out what the article says.
US bases throughout Central Asia (all in former USSR repubs) and
bases to be hosted by E European nations. Sounds like the Berlin
Wall is shifting about 900mi east. And coming around the southern
soft white underbelly of the fomrer ‘empire”. This one designed
to keep Putin at home w/ the promise of putting his landmass at
risk.
MV
Yes, pass a flat tax. Prosecute robber barons. Steadily improve the economy. Promote Christianity. Develop programs to increase the birth rate. Monitor and check the MSM out to destroy its' host sovereignty.
Do a good job and have a 60%+ approval rating from the people. Don't fool yourself, Russia is steadily moving forward.
Why so many FRs think we need Russia and Mexico as enemies, instead of focusing on the Islamists threat is beyond me.
We showed him how. First in Afghanistan, then in Bosnia. What else would you expect?
Things that make you hmmmmm....
If it weren’t for oil, Saudi Arabia would be nothing but a big sandbox.
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