Free Republic

July 21, 2006 -- Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez is due in Minsk on July 22 as part of a tour that also includes Russia and Iran. Chavez, a strong critic of U.S. policy, is a rare foreign visitor to Belarus, whose president, Alyaksandr Lukashenka, is shunned by Western leaders who accuse him of totalitarian policies. Chavez is due in Russia on July 25. Russian Defense Minister Sergei Ivanov said today that Russia will sell Venezuela 30 Su-30 fighter jets and 30 helicopters for $1 billion.

The Kremlin chief of staff puts a positive spin on disagreements with the WestTHE Kremlin has launched a diplomatic offensive to repair frayed relations between Russia and the West and rescue preparations for a key summit that President Putin will host in St Petersburg this summer. Amid fears of a return to Cold War suspicion, the Russian presidential chief of staff made an unprecedented visit to Downing Street this week to defuse tensions that could undermine the annual G8 meeting of the world’s most powerful leaders. Sergei Sobyanin, who held talks with Jonathan Powell, his British counterpart, said that he...

Has anybody questioned the alleged video from the ABC affiliate itself? What is the date certain? It seems unlikely early in the war that soldiers would be breaking into bunkers, opening barrel lids, handling bottles, etc. without the use of chemical suits. The video does not show any officers (as far as I can tell). This smells very fishy - did they get the video from CBS?