Die Welt versucht unter anderem Russland und Putin in den Dreck zu ziehen. Wenn ich wählen sollte wer auf der Erdkugel als nominelles Staatsoberhaupt die allergrößte Null ist, so wäre meine Entscheidung glasklar, ich sage nur "Hurrikan".

Da auch das russische Volk beleidigt wird will ich hier feststellen: es wurde unter Jelzin ausgeplündert von "Oligarchen" unter Beihilfe der "Chicago Boys". Dem setzte Putin ein Ende.

Die Welt scheint nichts zu wissen von der Belastbarkeit und der Leidensfähigkeit des russischen Volkes, der wir das Ende der Hitler-Diktatur zu danken haben. Oder, was wahrscheinlicher ist: es gibt Anweisung bei Der Welt in welche Richtung zu schreiben ist.

Widmen wir uns dem Theme "Hampelmänner". Ich erkläre ausdrücklich: NICHT alle US-Amerikaner sind Hampelmänner! Aber hier sind welche: Die hier sind doof, doofer geht es nicht. Man beachte auch die Figuren und Physiognomien und den Sprachstil.

Vergleichen wir mit Russen, die mit praktisch bloßen Händen ERFOLGREICH Waldbrände bekämpfen (annakuehne.twoday.net) das sind wahrlich keine Hampelmänner.

Warum eigentlich ging die russische Armee vor, als seien die von US-Eliteeinheiten 4 Jahre ausgebildeten georgischen Truppen nicht vorhanden gewesen? Ich weiß warum. Ich kannte mal einen "Green Barrett". My ass.

In meinen Augen ist unsere Kanzlerin eine Hampelfrau.

Obama vuole un paese migliore di come lo ha lasciato Bush, dice che anche gli americani lo vogliono. Secondo me, e dico secondo me, bisognerebbe provare a sentire cosa vogliono Iracheni, Afghani e via dicendo. Secondo me anche loro vogliono un paese migliore di come lo ha lasciato Bush. Voi che dite? Sempre restando in ambito di politica estera; sento parlare di guerra fredda. Dico che sento, perché alla conta dei fatti quello che vedo non mi pare uno scenario da guerra fredda, almeno non dalla caduta del muro ad oggi. Anzi, mi sembra che il clima sia abbastanza caldo. Di freddo per ora non ho visto nulla, nemmeno i fatti ossezi mi sembran freddi. A dire il vero nemmeno la guerra fredda era fredda. Pensiamo a tutti gli scontri bellici durante il suo periodo storico, portati avanti dalle varie fazioni o chi per loro. L'unica cosa che mi porta a presumere la prossima tensione tra Russia e occidente come fredda sarà per via dei riscaldamenti spenti, ipoteticamente causa rubinetti chiusi dall'alto della Duma. Quella sarà, presumibilmente, l'unica cosa ad avere a che fare col freddo.

Da poco prima della caduta del muro ad oggi, calcolando che ne ho tralasciate alcune:

• Birmania-Karen 30 mila morti dal 1988
• India-Kashmir 90 mila morti dal 1989
• Prima guerra del golfo 1990
• Georgia-Ossezia 2.800 morti dal 1991
• Algeria 150 mila morti dal 1991
• Somalia 500 mila morti dal 1991
• Georgia-Abkhazia 28 mila morti dal 1992
• Russia-Cecenia 250 mila morti dal 1994
• Ciad 50 mila morti dal 1996
• Congo R.D. 4 milioni di morti dal 1998
• Nigeria 11 mila morti dal 1999
• Israele-Palestina 5 mila morti dal 2000
• Afghanistan 25 mila morti dal 2001
• Costa d'Avorio 5 mila morti dal 2002
• Iraq 80 mila morti dal 2003
• Sudan-Darfur 250 mila morti dal 2003
• Rep.Centrafricana 2 mila morti dal 2003
• Seconda guerra del golfo 2003 tra le 150.000 e oltre 400.000 (non si è ancora in grado di fare una stima veritiera).
• Haiti 1.500 morti dal 2004
• Thailandia-Sud 2 mila morti dal 2004
• Pakistan-Waziristan 3 mila dal 2004
• Pakistan-Balucistan 450 morti dal 2005
• Libano 1.200 dal 2006
• Georgia-Ossezia 2008
• Ipotetica ripresa della guerra Fredda: Bah, sarà così...intanto consiglio ai contendenti un bel polaretto nel...freddo, quello si.

Elenco delle guerre, tutte

Ovviamente le stime riportate non sono corrette, ma indicative. In alcuni casi non aggiornate. Cosa per altro ardua persino per gli osservatori internazionali. Ad esempio in Afghanistan o in Iraq, zone in cui il conflitto prosegue, è molto difficile fare delle stime anche sommarie. In guerra, io credo, è sempre difficile capire chi e quanti sono, purtroppo caduti. L'unica certezza è che sono sempre troppi.

The new plan is intended to replace the revenue sharing models that left earlier talks at a sore stalemate. China Mobile president Wang Jianzou initially revealed iPhone negotiations in November of 2007.

Stocks for today: COIN , MBI , FSLR , JRJC, PMI BPOP

Passati i deflagranti anni ‘90, ora vuole tornare al centro del palcoscenico mondiale, non per meriti culturali od economici ma grazie ad una rinvigorita “forza fisica”.

Ma la Russia di Putin, per quanto in questi giorni stia mostrando i muscoli al mondo, soffre di un malessere patologico profondo: pur essendo il paese più vasto al mondo, con territori che vanno dall’Europa fino al Nord America, passando per l’Asia, “biologicamente” sta lentamente morendo.

La sistematica riduzione della popolazione, per i sociologi un evidente segno del decadimento di un popolo e quindi del Popolo Russo, è qualcosa di naturale e terribile al tempo stesso.

Le fiammate di questi giorni, a prima vista sorprendono, perché apparentemente la Russia non necessiterebbe di nuovi territori su cui espandere una propria crescita interna.

Al contrario, potrebbe serenamente continuare a ridursi, qualificando il proprio tenore di vita, uscito disintegrato dall’esperienza della Guerra Fredda.

Ma forse, quando detto, visto dalla parte dei Russi è tutto un altro film.

Analizzando infatti i territori “contesi” e quelli contendibili a breve nell’area caucasica, anche minuscoli, si nota come questi non soffrano della stessa “sindrome” biologica riduttiva di cui soffre la Russia.

Tanto più ci si sposta nella parte asiatica dei confini Russi, tanto più questo differenza si accentua.

E’ come dire che al di là dei confini russi la vita trionfi, mentre al di qua, la vita si stia “lentamente spegnendo”.

La sensazione che si trae è quindi che la Russia probabilmente non tema tanto l’isolamento economico o politico, ma al contrario senta la necessità di espandersi per interrompere una spirale che la porterebbe all’estinzione biologica.

Questo fatto probabilmente spiega, più di tante parole, le ragioni profonde alla base di alcune delle “strane” mosse Russe, come ad esempio l’attribuzione “a pioggia” del passaporto Russo ai Georgiani dell’Ossezia del Sud.

Atti che forse hanno ben poco di nazionalistico in senso stretto ma servono per perpetuare la propria razza.

In un mondo in continua crescita demografica, i Russi sembrano accusare il colpo e cominciano a temere questa lenta estinzione.

Ciò può aver fatto scattare la molla di un agire, a questo punto del tutto spiegabile, quasi fosse uno spaventato animale in via di estinzione, braccato nella foresta dal “ticchettio della storia” che scorre troppo velocemente.

Molti commentatori, nell’analizzare quanto accaduto in Georgia, parlano infatti non di una manifestazione di forza ma i segni evidenti di qualche profonda paura che attanagli i Russi e i suoi vertici politici e militari.

Probabilmente le questione economiche, energetiche e di supremazia tout-court contano fino ad un certo punto, non bastano a spiegare il ritorno alla necessità di “conquista” che sembra ispirare la dirigenza russa di questi giorni.

Tolto il velo superficiale, sotto sotto sembra quindi che i Russi abbiano accettato l’azzardo del ritorno ad un approccio “antico”, che consentirebbe loro di crescere e così di perpetuarsi nella storia futura dell’umanità.

Qualcosa di profondo nella storia umana, fatta di cicli e ricicli e di popolo che si estinguevano e lasciavano il posto ad altri.

Cicli naturali, apparentemente irreversibili, al quale i Russi sembra però abbiano deciso di opporsi.

C’è quindi da star certi che lo faranno con tutte le forze di cui dispongono, visto che in gioco c’è la loro sopravvivenza biologica futura.
Ora bisogna comprendere come evitare che le “paure” russe, scatenino una pericolosa escalation di livello mondiale.

Occorre comprendere quali potranno essere i prossimi passi “dell’orso russo”, che sentendo la “morte attorno a sé “, sta ribellandosi e cercare di convincerlo che ormai tutto ciò, in un mondo moderno e globalizzato come quello attuale, appare un approccio superato e retrogrado.

Un inutile tentativo di opposi alla naturale evoluzione della biologia umana che finirà per attenuare e fondere tra loro, molte delle differenze attuali e dove gli occhi a mandorla, la pelle più scura e i capelli neri, saranno un comune patrimonio di tutti noi, unica razza umana, su questa unica terra.

August 29, 2008

Since the very first minute we on 4international said that the Saaklashvili attack on Tskhinvali and South Ossetia represented the first real shot int he war of Imperialism against China and Russia.

This attack by Saakashvili also showed the limits of bourgeois nationalism. This was no ordinary Georgian nationalism, this was a Georgian "nationalism" captured by Soros and Imperialism and acting as a puppet for Imperialism.

In this which was the first blow struck by decadent capitalism, especially US and British capitalism (Imperialism) against Russia and China, the Russians are the victims as well as the Ossetians.

This is why all of the Media, including Jewish blogs like Israpundit, have done everything in their power in order to hide the reality of the Saakashvili attack. Israpundit and other American and Canadian blogs have yet to cover the fact that the Jewish Quarter in Tskhinvali was destroyed by Saakashvili and his American Imperialist and believe it or not Israeli supporters. The question is raised are they Jewish, or are they American Imperialist aided by the British?

So the statement yesterday that the US was directly behind the attack on Tskhinvali by Prime Minister of Russia Putin is of great importance. It has been covered by great Serbian blog Byzantine Blog today:

[Begin quote here]

August 28, 2008

I dagens Dagbladet forklarer folk fra Forsvarets Forskningsinstitutt hvordan Russlands militære heller ikke er mye å skryte av. Okey, de har fortsatt mange atomraketter, men det er faktisk et lite effektivt maktmiddel etter den kalde krigen.

Og media kan skrive hva de vil: Det verken er, eller vil bli, en ny kald krig. Den kalde krigen besto i hovedsak av to elementer:
-En ideologisk konfrontasjon mellom kommunisme og kapitalisme.
-Et (atom)våpenkappløp.
Dette foregikk innenfor rammen av et bipolart verdenssystem, hvor to supermakter hadde våpen nok til å utslette både hverandre og resten av verden på null komma niks. Atomkrig var et plausibelt alternativ.

Ingen av disse faktorene er gjeldende i dag. Derfor er det ukorrekt å snakke om en ny kald krig, selv om retorikken til tider kan bringe minnene tilbake til begynnelsen av åttitallet.

Putin's comments came shortly after France declared that the EU is considering sanctions in Russia for the recent conflict. 

Mr Putin told CNN US citizens were "in the area" during the conflict over South Ossetia and were "taking direct orders from their leaders".

Check out this video ---> http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/7586823.stm

He said his defence officials had told him the provocation was to benefit one of the US presidential candidates.

The White House dismissed the allegations as "not rational".

Georgia tried to retake the Russian-backed separatist region of South Ossetia this month by force after a series of clashes.

Russian forces subsequently launched a counter-attack and the conflict ended with the ejection of Georgian troops from both South Ossetia and another rebel region, Abkhazia, and an EU-brokered ceasefire.

Diplomatic wrangling

Mr Putin said in the interview: "The fact is that US citizens were indeed in the area in conflict during the hostilities.

"It should be admitted that they would do so only following direct orders from their leaders."

Mr Putin added: "The American side in effect armed and trained the Georgian army.

"Why... seek a difficult compromise solution in the peacekeeping process? It is easier to arm one of the sides and provoke it into killing another side. And the job is done.

"The suspicion arises that someone in the United States especially created this conflict with the aim of making the situation more tense and creating a competitive advantage for one of the candidates fighting for the post of US president."

White House spokeswoman Dana Perino rejected the allegation.

"To suggest that the United States orchestrated this on behalf of a political candidate - it sounds not rational," she said.

"Those claims first and foremost are patently false, but it also sounds like his defence officials who said they believed this to be true are giving him really bad advice."

SOUTH OSSETIA & ABKHAZIA South Ossetia Population: About 70,000 (before recent conflict) Capital: Tskhinvali President: Eduard Kokoity Abkhazia Population: About 250,000 (2003) Capital: Sukhumi President: Sergei Bagapsh Profile: South Ossetia Profile: Abkhazia Q&A: Conflict in Georgia

Diplomatic wrangling over Russia's actions in Georgia continued on Thursday with the Georgian parliament urging its government to cut diplomatic ties with Moscow.

Earlier, French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner suggested some EU countries were considering sanctions against Russia.

Mr Kouchner insisted France had made no proposals for sanctions itself but, as current president of the EU, would aim to get consensus among all 27 countries of the bloc if sanctions were envisaged.

France has called an emergency EU summit on Monday to reassess relations with Russia.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov described talk of sanctions as the working of "a sick imagination".

Such talk was an emotional response that demonstrated Western confusion over the situation, he said.

The US has said it is now considering scrapping a US-Russia civilian nuclear co-operation pact in response to the conflict.

The White House has also announced that up to $5.75m (£3.1m) will be freed to help Georgia meet "unexpected and urgent refugee and migration needs".

'Specious'

Late on Thursday, the UN held an open meeting to discuss the situation in Georgia but it descended into an angry exchange.

Russian ambassador to the UN, Vitaly Churkin, launched a scathing attack on some council members.

Russia's Vitaly Churkin launched an angry attack in the UN

He questioned their criticism of the use of force, asking the US representative: "Did you find any weapons of mass destruction in Iraq?"

He compared council members' defence of the territorial integrity of states with what he said was a failure to do so for Serbia over Kosovo.

US deputy ambassador Alejandro Wolff said such "specious comparisons cannot detract from the facts before us".

He said Russia had invaded Georgia and was "dismembering" Georgia.

Irakli Alasania, Georgia's ambassador to the UN, said Russia's actions were "all pre-planned".

He called for swift humanitarian aid and a UN presence in upper Abkhazia.

Requests for representatives of South Ossetia and Abkhazia to participate in the formal council meeting were rejected.

Earlier on Thursday, Russia failed to get strong backing from its Asian allies over the Georgia conflict.

The Shanghai Co-operation Organisation (SCO), comprising Russia, China and Central Asian nations, met in Dushanbe, Tajikistan, and spoke of its deep concern.

The group did not follow Russia in recognising the independence of South Ossetia and Abkhazia.

Russian President Dmitry Medvedev insisted he had the backing of the nations over Moscow's actions.

While the rest of us are watching an election on TV this guy is doing everything he can to make the situation worse. He needs to turn the European public even further against the US. Their governments have their own intel and don't even give it a second thought but the populations. Especially the Russian population are going to eat it up.

I believe there is only one reason for this kind of talk, Putin feels he needs the conflict for political gain. If I am not wrong, he will get it.

Mr. Putin’s comments in a television interview, his most extensive to date on Russia’s decision to send troops into Georgia earlier this month, sought to present the military operation as a response to brazen, cold war-style provocations by the United States.

Click here for the rest of an article about this.

"Obama America" and his side kick "Joey B." are being worshiped by crazed followers at the DNC. While awarding this nonsense with excessive coverage, the media doesn't to do their job and gives minimal air time or fails to report important and tangible news.

Seems like Vladimir Putin (Don Putione) now is blaming the GOP for Russia's week long occupation of Georgia...Isn't that something? Althogh he didn't show prove of any of this, Putin said that some people in the U.S. purposefully created this conflict in South Ossetia in order to swing votes in the upcoming elections, of course we all know which political party is way stronger in National Defense, it sure ain't Jimmy Carter's.

Funny how our enemies always pull for the Dems, not only terrorist groups, but also Heads of States, or in Putin's case self appointed Prime Ministers.

Lettera del presidente russo all'Occidente
Dmitri Medvedev ha scritto ai capi di Stato dei più importanti paesi occidentali per cercare di spiegare le ragioni dell'invasione russa in Georgia, delle morti e delle distruzioni arrecate.

"Nello spirito delle nostre relazioni di fiducia reciproca desidero informarLa che la Federazione Russa si trova di fronte alla necessità di prendere la decisione difficile - ma l'unica possibile, in queste condizioni - di riconoscere l'indipendenza e la sovranità dell'Ossezia del Sud e dell'Abkhazia.
L'aggressione del regime di Mikhail Saakashvili contro l'Ossezia del Sud ha cancellato le vite di molti dei nostri cittadini, compresi i militari che facevano parte del contingente multinazionale per il mantenimento della pace. Avendo dato l'ordine criminale di attaccare l'Ossezia del Sud, Saakashvili contava di realizzare un'operazione lampo e di mettere la comunità internazionale di fronte al fatto compiuto di una "sistemazione" del conflitto tra la Georgia e l'Ossezia del Sud alle condizioni di Tbilisi.

Contemporaneamente, lui stava preparando un'azione militare anche contro l'Abkhazia. Questi piani si sono scontrati con la resistenza dei popoli dell'Ossezia del Sud e dell'Abkhazia e sono stati stroncati dalle azioni decisive del rafforzato contingente di pace russo.
Da quando, all'inizio degli anni '90, il presidente georgiano Gamsakhurdia lanciò l'appello per una "Georgia per i georgiani" e abolì gli Stati autonomi dell'Abkhazia e dell'Ossezia del Sud, ordinando di prendere d'assalto Sukhumi e Tskhinvali, la Russia fece tutto quanto in suo potere per impedire il genocidio e le pulizie etniche. La Russia, come mediatrice e pacificatrice, voleva arrivare a una soluzione politica dei conflitti. Allo stesso tempo, ci siamo sempre basati sul riconoscimento dell'integrità territoriale della Georgia.
Tuttavia la dirigenza georgiana faceva spesso saltare il processo negoziale rinnegando le intese precedenti. Faceva uso di ingegnose provocazioni politiche e militari violando gravemente il regime stabilito con il sostegno dell'Onu e dell'Osce nelle zone del conflitto. Tutto questo era accompagnato da azioni antirusse, attacchi ai militari del contingente di pace, arresti dei nostri ufficiali e deportazioni dei nostri diplomatici.
Non abbiamo raccolto le provocazioni, abbiamo dimostrato fermezza e pazienza, abbiamo cercato in ogni modo di far rinsavire il regime di Tbilisi, farlo tornare al tavolo delle trattative. Non abbiamo abbandonato questa nostra posizione di principio neanche dopo la proclamazione unilaterale dell'indipendenza del Kosovo.

Ciononostante la dirigenza georgiana non ha potuto e non ha nemmeno voluto apprezzare la nostra linea costruttiva, cadendo sempre più nella febbre militarista. Un ruolo chiaramente distruttivo è stato giocato dai protettori esterni di Saakashvili, che l'hanno aiutato a riarmarsi fino ai denti, favorendo di fatto le sue intenzioni aggressive e rafforzando la sua fiducia nell'impunità.
I nostri insistenti appelli a Tbilisi per la stipula di accordi sull'impegno al non uso della forza in Abkhazia e Ossezia del Sud sono stati respinti dalla dirigenza georgiana e ignorati dall'Unione europea e dalla Nato.
Nella notte dell'8 agosto 2008 Tbilisi ha fatto la sua scelta, iniziando la guerra contro il popolo sudosseto il quale - stando alle dichiarazioni di Saakashvili - è considerato una parte del suo Stato. Con il suo ordine criminale di iniziare la guerra, il presidente georgiano ha cancellato di propria mano tutte le speranze per il ristabilimento dell'integrità territoriale e la coesistenza pacifica di sudosseti, abkhazi e georgiani in un unico Stato. I popoli dell'Abkhazia e dell'Ossezia del Sud si sono espressi più volte con referendum a favore dell'indipendenza delle proprie Repubbliche. Ciò che è successo in Ossezia del Sud e si stava pianificando di fare anche in Abkhazia ha fatto traboccare il vaso della pazienza.

In questi giorni i presidenti Bagapsh e Kokojty, sulla base della delibera dei loro Parlamenti, si sono rivolti alla dirigenza russa per la richiesta del riconoscimento della sovranità di Stato dell'Abkhazia e dell'Ossezia del Sud. Il consiglio della Federazione e la Duma di Stato in modo unanime si sono espresse a sostegno di questo appello. Questa posizione è condivisa dalla stragrande maggioranza dei nostri cittadini. Basandosi sulla situazione che si è venuta a creare, tenendo conto della volontà espressa dai popoli dell'Abkhazia e dell'Ossezia del Sud, attenendosi alle disposizioni dello statuto Onu e alla dichiarazione sui principi e il diritto internazionale riguardanti le relazioni amichevoli tra gli Stati, all'atto finale di Helsinki e agli altri documenti internazionali di parte, è stata presa la decisione del riconoscimento da parte della Federazione Russa dell'indipendenza della Repubblica di Abkhazia e della Repubblica dell'Ossezia del Sud. I rispettivi decreti saranno da me firmati il 26 agosto 2008.

Conto sulla Sua comprensione e sul Suo sostegno.
Inoltre spero che i 6 principi concordati a Mosca il 12 agosto per la sistemazione dei conflitti rimarranno in vigore per quanto riguarda l'adozione delle misure contro la riapertura delle attività militari. A tal fine faremo tutto il necessario, comprese la azioni coordinate con gli osservatori dell'Osce. Siamo pronti a concordare un regime efficace per la zona di sicurezza attorno all'Ossezia del Sud affinché sia posta una barriera contro le provocazioni e i nuovi preparativi militari. Saremo a favore di un ruolo dell'Unione europea in questi sforzi sotto l'egida dell'Osce."

Patetico.

Prime Minister Vladimir Putin on Thursday accused the United States of orchestrating the military conflict in Georgia in order to boost the chances of a U.S. presidential candidate.

In an interview that was to air on CNN late Thursday, Putin said Washington had encouraged Tbilisi to attack South Ossetia to give one presidential candidate an edge in the hotly contested U.S. election, CNN said on its web site.

Republican John McCain, a weathered foreign policy hawk and a staunch critic of Russia, is in a neck-and-neck race with Democrat Barack Obama for the White House.

Putin did not specify a candidate. Reached by telephone, Putin's spokesman Dmitry Peskov declined to say which one he was referring to.

McCain is an ally of outgoing U.S. President George W. Bush. Following Russia's invasion of Georgia, McCain lashed out at Russia, calling on the Bush administration to pull out from a joint space exploration project with Russia and repeating a demand that Russia be kicked out of the Group of Eight.

The White House press office had no immediate comment on Putin's statement.

At the onset of the conflict with Georgia earlier this month, Sergei Markov, a Kremlin-connected spin doctor and United Russia deputy in the State Duma, described the escalation as a strategy by U.S. neo-cons to boost McCain's popularity. In televised comments, Markov accused U.S. Vice President Dick Cheney of masterminding the strategy. Cheney will visit Georgia next week.

Speaking at the Black Sea resort of Sochi, Putin told CNN that Russia had to send its troops into South Ossetia to rebuff Georgian forces in order to avert a humanitarian catastrophe.

He also rebuked the U.S. administration for not having done more to stop Georgia's attack early Aug. 8. Led by U.S.-educated President Mikheil Saakashvili, Georgia is the most enthusiastic U.S. ally among the former Soviet republics.

"In the interview with CNN, there were lots of tough but truthful comments," Peskov said. "But in the interview, you also can see a desire and readiness to cooperate with all countries."

Putin has stepped into U.S. elections before. In June 2004, when Bush was struggling for re-election amid criticism for going to war with Iraq without just cause, then-President Vladimir Putin announced that Russian secret services had obtained information that Iraq had weapons of mass destruction. Putin's announcement appeared to stun the White House, and analysts at the time dismissed it as a clumsy attempt by Putin to help Bush win re-election.

The formal pretext for the U.S. invasion of Iraq -- spelled out by Bush in 2003 -- was Iraq's possession of weapons of mass destruction and its refusal to allow United Nations monitors to inspect them. No traces of the weapons of mass destruction have been found in Iraq.

Separately Thursday, Putin announced that 19 U.S. poultry companies would be banned from exporting to Russia after Russian health and agriculture officials randomly tested their products and discovered they were full of antibiotics and arsenic, CNN reported.

The ban is unrelated to the Georgia conflict, Putin said.

read more | digg story

I laughed it off as nonsense and put it away until I read this:

SOCHI, Russia (CNN) -- Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin has accused the United States of orchestrating the conflict in Georgia to benefit one of its presidential election candidates.

Russian PM Vladimir Putin has accused the U.S. of orchestrating the conflict in Georgia.

 

In an exclusive interview with CNN's Matthew Chance in the Black Sea city of Sochi Thursday, Putin said the U.S. had encouraged Georgia to attack the autonomous region of South Ossetia.

Putin told CNN his defense officials had told him it was done to benefit a presidential candidate -- Republican John McCain and Democrat Barack Obama are competing to succeed George W. Bush -- although he presented no evidence to back it up....

When I initially thought about this, I started putting together a conspiracy theory, one that was sort of like "Wag the Dog." Remember that 1997 movie starring Robert DeNiro and Dustin Hoffman? A fake war is cooked up to distract attention from a presidential sex scandal. Driving and listening to POTUS '08 on XM Radio, I began to think: "Wouldn't it help McCain be able to boast about this foreign policy experience and Obama's lack thereof? Wouldn't this force Obama to choose a running mate with foreign policy experience? That would then set up the choice of either Joe Biden or Hillary Clinton."

Then, the Republicans could use Obama's own running mate against him because, if you remember, both Biden and Clinton were critical of Obama's experience.

Maybe it is crazy. Maybe I am just another liberal with Karl Rove on the brain. But what does Putin have to gain from saying this? And if Putin is so crazy, then what does that have to say for President Bush who claims to understand the Russian prime minister. If you remember, Bush claims to have been able to "get a sense of his soul" when meeting Putin back in 2001.

I say anything is possible. And maybe the idea is not all that farfetched.

___________

Russia warns US naval build-up may lead to war and accuses America of shipping arms to Georgia

• Miliband: 'No question' of war with Russia
• France: EU is considering sanctions against Russia
• Unmanned Georgian spy plane shot down
  

Tensions between Russia and the West were ratcheted even higher today after Moscow warned that the American naval build-up in the Black Sea could be seen as a 'declaration of war'.

As the fallout over the Kremlin's invasion of Georgia continued, Russian military chiefs warned that they were monitoring closely the appearance of US warships in the region.

Russia's foreign minister also accused Foreign Secretary David Miliband of being 'hypocritical' in his criticism of Moscow, pointing out that Britain had itself rushed to defend the Falklands.

But today Mr Miliband said there was 'no question' of a war with Russia.

The US Coast Guard cutter Dallas at Georgia's Black Sea port of Batumi

Thank you: Captain John Moore of the Dallas is greeted by Georgians as he delivers aid

He also said the situation marked 'a clear end to the relative and growing calm in and around Europe since the collapse of the Soviet Union', telling the BBC that the conflict heralded a new instability.

The rhetoric flew as a South Ossetian interior minister claimed an unmanned Georgian spy plane had been shot down in the territory this morning.

Mikhail Mindzayev said the drone was shot down over South Ossetia today by local forces. He said it had crossed into South Ossetia from the south, meaning it was of Georgian origin.

A Georgian official denied that the country had sent any drone over South Ossetia. Georgian Interior Ministry spokesman Shota Utiashvili says Mindzayev is 'seeing things'.

Hardline: David Miliband has called for a review of relations with Russia

Adding to the tension, French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner said European Union leaders are considering imposing sanctions against Russia ahead of a summit on Monday to discuss the situation in Georgia.

Russia hit back, saying such talk was the product of a 'sick imagination' and Western confusion.

'Apart from that my friend Kouchner also said that we will soon attack Moldova and Ukraine and the Crimea,'  Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said today.

'But that is a sick imagination and probably that applies to sanctions as well,' Lavrov told reporters in the Tajik capital.

'I think it is a demonstration of complete confusion,' he said.

At the same time Russia's fellow members of the G8 group of rich nations - Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United States and the UK - issued a statement deploring 'Russia's excessive use of military force'.

Meanwhile, Russian president Dmitri Medvedev threatened to use his country's military machine to respond to the deployment of an American anti-missile defence system in Poland and the Czech Republic.

A senior Russian general, Anatoly Nogovitsyn, criticised the arrival of the US Coastguard cutter Dallas at the Black Sea port of Batumi today, the second of an expected three US ships sent to deliver aid to Georgia.

The Dallas had been due to land in the Georgian port of Poti, where Russian troops are still manning checkpoints. But without explanation it docked 50 miles south in Batumi, a port outside Russian control.

Nato has said it is also undertaking pre-arranged exercises in the Black Sea involving US, German, Spanish and Polish ships.

Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin in his Moscow office today

Russian President Dmitry Medvedev accused the Americans of bringing in weapons for war-torn Georgia under the guise of humanitarian aid - a charge dismissed by the White House as 'ridiculous'.

Mr Miliband, asked whether Nato would go to war against Moscow if it were to attack a neighbouring country or ally again, said: 'We don't want all-out war with Russia ... There's no question of launching an all-out war against Russia.'

With Russian newspapers and TV stations today highlighting maps showing the build-up of Western forces in the region, General Nogovitsyn warned the Nato presence could not be allowed to grow 'indefinitely'.

Dmitry Rogozin, Russia's ambassador to Nato, warned against Western interference in Georgia's breakaway regions, which were recognised as independent by Moscow on Tuesday.

'If Nato takes military actions against Abkhazia and South Ossetia, acting solely in support of Tbilisi, this will mean a declaration of war on Russia,' he said.

Accusation: Russian president Dmitry Medvedev claims the US ship was bringing in arms for Georgia

Prime minister Vladimir Putin reasserted his own influence as he met president Medvedev.

Mr Putin's spokesman said: 'Certainly some measures of precaution are being taken. It's not a common practice to deliver humanitarian aid using battleships.'

Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov last night lashed out against Britain and Nato following Mr Miliband's heavy criticism of Russia's conflict with Georgia.

'The moralising that we hear from our Western colleagues is not based on facts,' Mr Lavrov said.

'It's strange that our actions to defend our citizens right on our borders should be criticised by Britain, considering its actions in the Falkland Islands, which are the other side of the world.'

In one small gesture of co-operation, Russian forces turned over 12 Georgian soldiers on the border of Abkhazia.

Georgia's former president Eduard Shevardnadze  - who was also foreign minister in the former Soviet Union  -  said Russia would live to regret its recognition of rebel regions and called for a boycott of the 2014 Winter Olympics in the Russian city of Sochi.

As the drama unfolded, the Foreign Secretary urged the West to make Russia pay for its decision to use military force to carve up the fledgling democracy on its doorstep.

Mr Miliband accused the Russians of encouraging the 'festering divisions' of the Cold War after they used military might to impose their authority in the Caucasus region.

His provocative intervention came in Kiev, the capital of Ukraine, which diplomats fear could be the next target.

On a day of rising tensions yesterday:

• Ukraine threatened to increase the rent it charges the Russian fleet for the use of its Black Sea port;

• France predicted that Ukraine and Moldova could be the next Russian targets;

• Mikhail Gorbachev compared the showdown to the 1962 Cuban missile crisis, when the world teetered on the brink of nuclear war.

Mr Miliband told the Ukrainians: 'We need to support your rights, and raise the costs to Russia of disregarding its responsibilities.'

The Foreign Secretary flew to Kiev to stage a show of support for the Ukraine, which like Georgia has a pro-Western president with ambitions of joining both Nato and the European Union, a move away from Moscow's sphere of influence which has angered the Kremlin.

Ukraine also has a large Russian-speaking population, but is much bigger than Georgia.

Enlarge

Two children play in Tskhinvali, capital of Georgia's breakaway province of South Ossetia yesterday

Mr Miliband said: 'Russia is more isolated, less trusted and less respected than two weeks ago. It has made military gains in the short term.

'But over time it will feel the economic and political losses.

'If she truly wants respect and influence, and the benefits which flow from it, then Russia needs to change course.'

He said Russia was breaking the terms of a ceasefire and suggested Moscow could be made to pay a heavy economic price for its actions.

Mr Miliband accused Mr Medvedev of trying to 'redraw the map' of the Caucasus through his unilateral recognition of the breakaway provinces of South Ossetia and Abkhazia and said he had a 'big responsibility not to start' a new Cold War.

The response of the EU and Nato to such 'aggression' should be one of 'hard-headed engagement' in reviewing relations with Russia.

'That means bolstering our allies, rebalancing the energy relationship with Russia, defending the rules of international institutions, and renewing efforts to tackle "unresolved conflicts",' he said.

Enlarge

And Mr Gorbachev urged political leaders in the Kremlin and the West to act now to stop matters running out of control.

'The time is ripe to stop scaring each other and to do something constructive,' he said.

'It is a vital need to warn of the disastrous effects any impulsive, ill-considered step may trigger.'

Earlier, Ukraine said it wanted to discuss charging Russia more for the lease of a Black Sea naval base at Sevastopol in the Crimea.

Russia has said any renegotiation would break a 1997 agreement between the two countries, under which it leases the base for £50million a year until 2017.

Gordon Brown will attend an unprecedented meeting of leaders of the EU's 27 member states on Monday to discuss their response to Russia's actions.

Source: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/worldnews/article-1050064/Russia-warns-US-naval-build-lead-war-accuses-America-shipping-arms-Georgia.html

__________

Military help for Georgia is a 'declaration of war', says Moscow in extraordinary warning to the West

Moscow has issued an extraordinary warning to the West that military assistance to Georgia for use against South Ossetia or Abkhazia would be viewed as a "declaration of war" by Russia.

The extreme rhetoric from the Kremlin's envoy to NATO came as President Dmitry Medvedev stressed he will make a military response to US missile defense installations in eastern Europe, sending new shudders across countries whose people were once blighted by the Iron Curtain.

And Moscow also emphasised it was closely monitoring what it claims is a build-up of NATO firepower in the Black Sea.

Enlarge

Russian President Dmitry Medvedev (right) meets with Prime Minister Vladimir Putin - the 'real architect' of the Georgia conflict - and the Security Council (unseen) in Sochi yesterday

The incendiary warning on Western military involvement in Georgia - where NATO nations have long played a role in training and equipping the small state - came in an interview with Dmitry Rogozin, a former nationalist politician who is now ambassador to the North Atlantic Alliance.

"If NATO suddenly takes military actions against Abkhazia and South Ossetia, acting solely in support of Tbilisi, this will mean a declaration of war on Russia," he stated.

Yesterday likened the current world crisis to the fevered atmosphere before the start of the First World War.

Rogozin said he did not believe the crisis would descend to war between the West and Russia.

But his use of such intemperate language will be seen as dowsing a fire with petrol.

Enlarge

The U.S. Coast Guard cutter Dallas at Georgia's Black Sea port of Batumi today, carrying what the U.S. says is humanitarian aid

Top military figure Colonel General Leonid Ivashov, president of the Academy of Geopolitical Studies in Moscow, alleged that the US and NATO had been arming Georgia as a dress rehearsal for a future military operation in Iran.

"We are close to a serious conflict - U.S. and NATO preparations on a strategic scale are ongoing. In the operation the West conducted on Georgian soil against Russia - South Ossetians were the victims or hostages of it - we can see a rehearsal for an attack on Iran."

He claimed Washington was fine tuning a new type of warfare and that the threat of an attack on Iran was growing by the day bringing "chaos and instability" in its wake.

With the real architect of the worsening Georgian conflict - prime minister Vladimir Putin - remaining in the background, Medvedev followed up on Rogozin's broadside with a threat to use the Russian military machine to respond to the deployment of the American anti-missile defence system in Poland and the Czech republic.

Poland agreed this month to place ten interceptor missiles on its territory, and Moscow has already hinted it would become a nuclear target for Russia in the event of conflict.

Enlarge

A South Ossetian separatist fighter prepares to fire his weapon as another raises the South Ossetian and Russian flags, in Tskhinvali, the capital of Georgia's separatist-controlled territory of South Ossetia yesterday

"These missiles are close to our borders and constitute a threat to us," Medvedev told Al-Jazeera television. "This will create additional tension and we will have to respond to it in some way, naturally using military means."

The Russian president said that offering NATO membership to Georgia and Ukraine, two former Soviet republics, would only aggravate the situation.

Moscow has consistently expressed its opposition to the U.S. missile shield, saying it threatens its national security.

The U.S. claims the shield is designed to thwart missile attacks by what it calls "rogue states," including Iran.

Meanwhile, Russia - seen by the West as flouting international law - today demanded NATO abide by an obscure agreement signed before the Second World War limiting its warships in the Black Sea.

Russian ambassador to NATO Dmitry Rogozin

"In light of the build-up of NATO naval forces in the Black Sea, our fleet has also taken on the task of monitoring their activities," said hawkish deputy head of Russia's general staff, Anatoly Nogovitsyn.

The Montreux Convention, as it is called, sets a weight restriction of 45,000 tonnes on the number of warships that countries outside the Black Sea region can deploy in the basin.

"Can NATO indefinitely build up its forces and means there? It turns out it cannot," said Nogovitsyn.

NATO has said it is undertaking pre-arranged exercises in the Black Sea involving US, German, Spanish and Polish ships. Two other US warships sailed to Georgian waters with humanitarian aid.

Georgia is poised to sever diplomatic relations with Russia, or reduce them to a bare minimum.

"We will drastically cut our diplomatic ties with Russia," said a top official.

President Mikhail Saakashvili said he was frightened to leave Georgia to attend the EU summit on the crisis.

"If I leave Georgia, the Russians will close our airspace and prevent me from returning home," he said.

Russia sought Chinese backing for its action - but the Communist regime in Beijing appeared reluctant to offer support, instead issuing a statement saying it was "concerned" about recent developments.

NATO called for Russia to reverse its decision on recognition for the two enclaves, both Georgian under international law.

But the new 'president' of South Ossetia, Eduard Kokoyty, called for Russian military bases on his territory.

French foreign minister Bernard Kouchner warned today that an marauding Russian bear could trample over other ex-Soviet states.

"That is very dangerous," he said, pointing at Ukraine and Moldova.

Source: http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/news/article-23545668-details/Military+help+for+Georgia+is+a+%27declaration+of+war%27%2C+says+Moscow+in+extraordinary+warning+to+the+West/article.do#readerComments

"They were acting in implementing those orders doing as they were ordered, and the only one who can give such orders is their leader."

This, if true, is definitely shocking and scary.

By OLGA TUTUBALINA and PETER LEONARD, Associated Press Writers

DUSHANBE, Tajikistan - China and several Central Asian nations rebuffed Russia's hopes of international support for its actions in Georgia, issuing a statement Thursday denouncing the use of force and calling for the respect of every country's territorial integrity.

A joint declaration from the six-member Shanghai Cooperation Organization also offered some support for Russia's "active role in promoting peace" following a cease-fire, but overall it appeared to increase Moscow's international isolation.

Russia's search for support in Asia had raised fears that the alliance would turn the furor over Georgia into a broader confrontation between East and West, pitting the U.S. and Europe against their two main Cold War foes.

Russian President Dmitry Medvedev had appealed to the Asian alliance, which is made up of China, Russia and four ex-Soviet Central Asian nations, for unanimous support of Moscow's response to Georgia's "aggression."

But the alliance, which was created in 2001 to improve regional coordination on terrorism and border security, opted to take a neutral position and urged all sides to resolve the conflict through "peaceful dialogue."

"The participants ... underscore the need for respect of the historical and cultural traditions of each country and each people, and for efforts aimed at preserving the unity of the state and its territorial integrity," the alliance's statement said.

None of the other alliance members joined Russia in recognizing the independence claims of Abkhazia and South Ossetia.

Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, in an interview with CNN, accused the U.S. of orchestrating the conflict in Georgia to provide a talking point in the American presidential campaign. The White House press secretary Dana Perino called the claims "patently false."

Russia's decision to recognize Georgia's separatist regions Tuesday sparked another storm of criticism from the West because both provinces make up roughly 20 percent of Georgia's territory. The West had already criticized Russia for what it calls a disproportionate use of force in fighting this month with Georgia, its small southern neighbor that wants to join NATO.

In Washington, State Department spokesman Robert Wood expressed satisfaction about the Asian group's statement, saying "it wasn't what I would call an endorsement of Russia's recognition of Abkhazia and South Ossetia."

China has traditionally been wary of endorsing separatists abroad, mindful of its own problems with Tibet and Muslims in the western territory of Xinjiang. The joint statement, which was unanimously endorsed, made a point of stressing the sanctity of borders — two days after Russia sought to redraw Georgia's territory.

The Asian alliance's statement offered some praise of Moscow's actions, at least in the context of the peace deal signed five days after the war began Aug. 7. The alliance said it supports "the active role of Russia in promoting peace and cooperation in the given region."

The four Central Asian members of the group — Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan — all seemed reluctant to damage their relations with Europe and the U.S.

Kazakhstan enjoys significant Western investment in its rich hydrocarbon sector, and impoverished Kyrgyzstan earns $150 million in aid and rent for hosting a U.S. air base that supports military operations in Afghanistan.

The alliance conducts joint military exercises and aspires to become a counterweight to NATO. In 2005, its members called for a timetable for U.S. forces to leave Central Asian bases the U.S. uses to support operations in Afghanistan.

Despite continuing Western protests and a visit by U.S. warships to Georgia's Black Sea coast, Russian troops remain at checkpoints inside areas controlled by Georgia prior to the recent conflict.

While a cease-fire agreement calls for both sides to withdraw to their previous positions, the Kremlin says the agreement allows Russian forces to occupy "security zones" outside the rebel regions.

Read the rest:
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080828/a
p_on_re_eu/georgia;_ylt
=AgaAhCkQ7QoyteNZ7apcKuOs0NUE

In the mind of the electorate, the President is endowed with superhuman powers, but instead of leaping a tall building he (or she) can bring a rogue regime into compliance through the mere force of rhetoric and instead of running faster than a speeding bullet he can lift the entire nation out of recession with an effortless clean and jerk. To be fair, the electorate is not entirely to blame for its misperceptions. The candidates' statements make it sound as though fixing all of the country's woes is cake, or at least that solutions are both readily knowable and feasibly implementable. I suspect they later rue their words, and perhaps their career decision, when the world is on fire and they are being suffocated by teeming masses who expect them to fix it posthaste.  

In point of fact, Presidents are not omnipotent and face imposing constraints and limitations. In an economy as vast, complex, and market-oriented as our own, and with an active central bank to boot, the President's power of fiscal policy is somewhat puny. The President can send out fiscal stimulus checks, but people may use them to pay off debt or put them away for a rainy day (both of which defeat the purpose). He (or she) can increase or decrease government spending, but by the time those actions have an effect, the situation they are targeting may be completely changed.

Even with the mightiest military the world has ever known at his command, a President cannot impose order upon the world. We know that we are now strained to the utmost with our military today, and that the idea that we could force Russia to flee Georgia is one that no one, save possibly President Saakasvilli, gave a moment's thought.

As someone who once dreamed of being President, but who now wouldn't take the job for a billion dollars, free ice cream for life, and permanent exemptions from death and taxes, I have a few pieces of advice for whichever poor sap gets the job.

1.) You can't segregate your messages - get used to it, and speak strategically:In the old days- if you were say, George Washington, or probably even Teddy Roosevelt for that matter- you could send one message to your domestic constituencies and another to foreign listeners, and, therein, have the best of both worlds by delivering vitriol to one audience and diplomatic-speak to  the other. Today, a highlighted transcript of the speech you give to the Elks Club of Des Moines- in which you compare a foreign leader to Joseph Stalin- will be sitting on the desk of the aforementioned Stalinesque leader by the time you are shaking hands on the way to your limo. 

Rhetoric is almost always a dish served for domestic consumption. The more impotent a President is to deal with a situation, the more likely that person is to say things that will put the situation straight into the crapper, because he wants to show strength of leadership to the domestic audience. Allowing foreign leaders to save face may be instrumental to achieving success, and the limited levers that a President does have available may be weakened if he or she cannot suppress the desire to mouth-off to the cameras. This need to save face, far from being a rare cultural anomaly, is virtually universal. I realize that reconciling diplomacy, in which compromise is a virtue, with politics, in which it is considered a vice, is no easy task. However, I think cultivating the ability to elevate the discourse and to be above petty frays can allow a leader to maintain their aura of leadership in the face of adversity. How would the Cuban Missile Crisis have ended if Kennedy had had the removal of missiles from Turkey rubbed in his face, or had Khruschev been personally ridiculed before a global media outlet. Before our relations with Russia completely revert to the Cold War paradigm, the next President is going to have to be able to be firm with Russia in a manner that does not marginalize them. Otherwise, the that President will end up reigning over a period with all the worst features of the Cold War concurrent to a global war against extremism. Just when you thought things couldn't get worse...

2.) Take the long-view, and get out in front of the runaway locomotives of national destruction: If, one hundred years from now, you don't want to be a Millard Fillmore or a Grover Cleavland but rather a Roosevelt, Lincoln, or Jefferson, you will need to take on some of the problems that threaten to bring the US to its knees (otherwise you could become the one that makes Hoover look great by comparison.) There are a few problems that are not yet crises, but that could gain enough momentum to become hegemon-killers.

One of these has to do with entitlement programs. Our pay-go Social Security system (current recipients  paid from the money collected from current payers) cannot survive the perpetually declining worker-to-retiree ratio. It is simply a mathematical impossibility.  There are a range of possible fixes, but they all become harder with each passing year in which the political establishment plays hot-potato with the issue. As a person who hopes to not face a retirement age of 97, I am eager to see someone take on this problem meaningfully.

A second factor has to do with public debt. We have been able to pile up massive debt because there have always been willing purchasers of that debt. In other words, Chinese and Japanese people have been happily buying up our government bond issues. However, this could end catastrophically if there is a widespread loss of faith in the dollar as an instrument of investment. If foreigners decide they don't want to hold US debt instruments, interest rates will have to rise. (If no one wants to buy the bonds, the government will have to offer more of a return on them as an enticement.) The interest rate increases will ripple through the economy because other institutions will have to pay comparative returns to compete with the rising government bond rates, and soon consumers are deciding not to buy that car or house and businesses are opting not to put in that new factory.

Energy security, infrastructure refurbishment, and education (particularly in some key areas) are all other issues that could become factors in our national decline or, at least, a slump in the quality of life for Americans; but they are ones that have been dealt with enough in other postings and ones to which I will frequently return.

3.) Talking to the enemy is not a sign of weakness: Somewhere along the line it was determined that we should not have diplomatic relations with states with which we are in opposition. It is easy to lay this entirely at the doorstep of the current Bush Administration because they have certainly been more a part of the problem than of the solution in this regard, but we were not talking to the Iranians before President G W Bush arrived and it took a couple decades to open relations with Vietnam after the war there. Both the Clinton and current Bush Administrations have had some degree of success in talking to the North Koreans despite the immense difficulties of bargaining with Kim Jong Il, a task which seems to be not unlike negotiating with a nine year old who is willing to snatch up his ball under his arm and go huffing and puffing all the way home at any instant. Having diplomatic relations with the Soviets during the Cold War was, of course, critically important to our (species not national) survival.

4.) Reducing the relevance of nuclear weapons will make you a hero to the world - whether they recognize it at first or not: Disarmament is no easy task, and it must begin by making nuclear weapons less fundamental to national defense. Of course, this also involves great feats of diplomacy in order to convince other states- who are, in most cases, not nearly as conventionally strong- that they should also reduce the importance of nuclear weapons to their defence.  Whether this is done separating warheads from boosters or else wise, there are a tremendous number of technical, diplomatic, and strategic considerations that must be ironed out ahead of time. Reducing arsenals as part of a road to disarmament is a daunting task, and it will take a brave soul to take it on because being taken seriously may be a challenge. However, it appears that we may be entering an era in which a politician can state an intention to move toward nuclear disarmament in a significant way without being regarded as if he had said he was abducted by a UFO or has an invisible friend.

...he didn't need the US to orchestrate this conflict...