http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,177566,00.html


They suffer from the encroachment of Islam, yet fund its anti-civilizational aims. Such is the moral bankruptcy, and desparation, of what remains of communism and its affinity for things fascist.

Putin flexing his muscles, arming Iran:

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,183272,00.html


http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,177616,00.html


http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,177566,00.html

quote:

Putin said he had shown the working principles of the missile systems to French President Jacques Chirac during a visit to a Russian military facility.
"He knows what I'm talking about," RIA-Novosti quoted Putin as telling reporters after state-run news channels cut their live broadcast of the news conference.

Why would he be showing them to Jock Strap? I knew I didn�t like France for a reason.

Where did Russia get the money for this?

And the expected polemics continue. Europe, Russia, and China absolutely cannot afford a sovereign Israel free of Islamic scorn and violence:


http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20060209/ts_nm/mideast_dc

...somebody needs to call Hal Lindsey....
http://www.jewishworldreview.c...006/glick100606.php3

I wonder what Russia think it would have to gain by taking sides against Israel? Ideologically, they have little in common with the Jihadists. What do you think is going on, here, AMH?

The enemy of my enemy is . . . . .

My first thought is that it is true that Russia, in a continuation of Cold War thinking, continues to oppose most, if not all, US policies and positions. This seems to be particularly true vis-�-vis Israel. I am not sure how much is driven by pure anti-Jewish sentiment, though the author believes that this is typical, and she shares recent examples of this. I also think that Russia is continuing its efforts to maintain (or reestablish) its role as a major player in world affairs beyond the Middle East.

I also believe Russia�s strategic geo-political concerns in the region (Middle East, Persian Gulf, and Central Asia) are part of their overall thinking as well. The Soviets/Russians have been very interested and active in the region since the end of WWII (or earlier if you consider Imperial Russia�s historic desire for a warm water port). Since Russia shares borders with many Muslim nations, they are very aware of the threat of radical Islamic incursions and so they are putting on a show of support towards the Arab/Muslim world. By appointing a Muslim military officer and sending �former rebel� troops into Lebanon, Russia is trying to curry favor with the local Muslim regimes This seems to be a bit na�ve in that there is no love lost between the Muslim world and Russia proper. From my vantage point, it seems that the US and Russia share many of the same concerns and should actually be working together to combat terror and Islamic radicalism. This is complicated by the war in Chechnya, which the Russian�s refer to as a war against terrorists, whereas the US and the West do not see it as such. Since Russia is still very much �threatened� by the US, they will continue to take a mostly anti-US position in most things.

AMH:

Here are a few NRO articles that explore what you're talking about:

http://article.nationalreview....MWJlYjYyZDliODZkOGM=


"The Kremlin may be the main winner in the Lebanon war. Israel has been attacked with Soviet Kalashnikovs and Katyushas, Russian Fajr-1 and Fajr-3 rockets, Russian AT-5 Spandrel antitank missiles and Kornet antitank rockets. Russia�s outmoded weapons are now all the rage with terrorists everywhere in the world, and the bad guys know exactly where to get them. The weapons cases abandoned by Hezbollah were marked: �Customer: Ministry of Defense of Syria. Supplier: KBP, Tula, Russia.�


Today�s international terrorism was conceived at the Lubyanka, the headquarters of the KGB, in the aftermath of the1967 Six-Day War in the Middle East. I witnessed its birth in my other life, as a Communist general. Israel humiliated Egypt and Syria, whose bellicose governments were being run by Soviet razvedka (Russian for �foreign intelligence�) advisers, whereupon the Kremlin decided to arm Israel�s enemy neighbors, the Palestinians, and draw them into a terrorist war against Israel.

General Aleksandr Sakharovsky, who created Communist Romania�s intelligence structure and then rose to head up all of Soviet Russia�s foreign intelligence, often lectured me: �In today�s world, when nuclear arms have made military force obsolete, terrorism should become our main weapon.�


http://www.nationalreview.com/...rman200502180741.asp


http://article.nationalreview....MmMyZmU5NDEyMGQ4ODg=

Thanks, WC! All 3 articles show the continued, dangerous complexity of US/Russian relations. Lt. General Pacepa's first hand account of Soviet/Russian involvement in creating the modern terrorist is astonishing.

This is like something out of a spy thriller

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,232028,00.html

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,232067,00.html

This is also complicated by the fact that Litvenenko became a British citizen about a month ago.

More of the same story... this guy even makes the Ian Fleming point...

http://article.nationalreview....ZGE5OTM0Y2RhZTI4MDc=

Here is the right-wing, libertarian, antiwar, gay,
chain-smoking, pot-toking, muscle building, gun-toting, tax-resisting, Founding Father quoting, vitriolic, anti-authoritarian, anarcho-capitalist, anti-neocon freind of Pat Buchanan,(who believes Putin is being set up), and iconoclastic Justin Raimondo
weighing in on the Litivenko poisoning.

http://antiwar.com/justin/

This is my latest discovery. I've been pouring over the website and I just love this guy! Cute, but wrong gender and justin-ot my type.

more on the Litvinenko poisoning...

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,233578,00.html

quote:

The Scaramella connection comes on the heels of an Italian press report Thursday that the shadowy security and nuclear waste expert was hired to probe possible ties between Prime Minister Romano Prodi and the KGB.

quote:

In a bizarre twist to the story, aides to former Russian Prime Minister Yegor Gaidar, who fell ill in Ireland a day after Litvinenko's death, said Thursday that doctors in Russia believe he, too, was poisoned.

"Doctors don't see a natural reason for the poisoning and they have not been able to detect any natural substance known to them" in Gaidar's body, his spokesman Valery Natarov said. "So obviously we're talking about poisoning (and) it was not natural poisoning."

In a letter from prison released Friday, former Russian security service officer Mikhail Trepashkin said he had warned Litvinenko years ago that the KGB's main successor agency had formed a death squadron to kill him and other Kremlin foes.

If true, this is unbelievably audacious.

More speculation regarding motives and possible perpetrators...

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/a...0,,3-2482861,00.html

quote:

According to security sources, investigators are looking at the former spy�s dealings with Russian businessmen involved in the lucrative energy sector and the shadowy world of private security

The fact that nuclear material was used is omnious to say the least...

"Russian sub plants flag under North Pole"

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/200...m/russia_arctic_dc_7

quote:

But Canada mocked Russia's ambitions and said the expedition was nothing more than a show.

"This isn't the 15th century. You can't go around the world and just plant flags and say 'We're claiming this territory'," Canadian Foreign Minister Peter MacKay told CTV television.

Under international law, the five states with territory inside the Arctic Circle -- Canada, Norway, Russia, the United States and Denmark via its control of Greenland -- have a 320 km (200 mile) economic zone around the north of their coastline.

Russia is claiming a larger slice extending as far as the pole because, Moscow says, the Arctic seabed and Siberia are linked by one continental shelf.

"Then Russia can give foundation to its claim to more than a million square kilometers of the oceanic shelf," said a newsreader for Russia's state news channel Vesti-24, which made the expedition their top news story.

I am sure that Russia is "very concerned" with the Canadian Minister's history lesson.

What year is this?

"Russia, China hold joint war games "

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/200...ia_china_maneuvers_1

quote:

The war games in the southern Ural Mountains involved some 6,000 troops from Russia and China along with a handful of soldiers from four ex-Soviet Central Asian nations that are part of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, a regional group dominated by Moscow and Beijing.

The drills coincided with a massive Russian air force exercise in which dozens of Russian strategic bombers ranged far over the Atlantic, Pacific and Arctic oceans.

"Russia steps up military expansion"

http://www.guardian.co.uk/russ...e/0,,2153669,00.html

"Typhoons scrambled to intercept Russian aircraft"

http://www.guardian.co.uk/russ...e/0,,2153678,00.html

quote:

In a sign of heightened tension between Russia and NATO,

Oh, it's NATO now - I thought Western Europe was rethinking its NATO commitiment, etc. etc.

I think they sometimes miss their superpower glory days. Or maybe Mr. Putin has a need to compensate for his short height?

quote:

Oh, it's NATO now - I thought Western Europe was rethinking its NATO commitiment, etc. etc.

LOL! Maybe they haven't completely lost their Red/Blue energy (a la Spiral Dynamics). Seems it was gradually disappearing, however.

Perhaps we can learn more than we expect from Russia?

Here is a good (exceptional!) example:

"Russian mayor bans poor excuses"

That's pretty good! The mayor was also quoted as saying," Anyone caught using these banned excuses will be sent to Siberia." He then paused, and remarked,"Hey, wait a minute, we're in Siberia!"

In all seriousness, I hope they don't use this excuse making exercise to analyze why they haven't invaded Western Europe.

"Let's take back the old Eastern Bloc, including East Germany."
"But NATO will use tactical nuclear weapons."
"Enough excuses already, General!"

quote:

Originally posted by AMH:
That's pretty good! The mayor was also quoted as saying," Anyone caught using these banned excuses will be sent to Siberia." He then paused, and remarked,"Hey, wait a minute, we're in Siberia!"

That�s a beautiful sense of self-deprecating irony, very reminiscent of the best of Russian humour.

"Putin accepts Cabinet�s resignation"
http://www.itar-tass.com/eng/l...html?NewsID=11864756

quote:

At a meeting with the head of state in the Kremlin Fradkov said his request was related to the �forthcoming major political events in the country and the wish to give the president a free hand in decision-making, including personnel appointments.�

.
Q: What�s the definition of a brisling?

A: A whale that has survived communism.