Posts with the tag 'Putin'
The news story:
A U.S. military ship loaded with aid docked at a southern Georgian port Wednesday, and Russia sent three missile boats to another Georgian port as the standoff escalated over a nation devastated by war with Russia.
Georgia’s government said its short war with Russia had caused $1 billion in damages, while European leaders called the Kremlin’s moves in two breakaway Georgian regions an unacceptable attempt to unilaterally redraw the map of the Caucasus region.
The dockings came a day after Russian President Dmitry Medvedev recognized the Georgian territories of South Ossetia and Abkhazia as independent states, which Georgia answered Wednesday by recalling all but two diplomats from its embassy in Moscow.
The U.S. Coast Guard cutter Dallas, carrying 34 tons of humanitarian aid, docked in the Black Sea port of Batumi, south of the zone of this month’s fighting between Russia and Georgia. The arrival avoided Georgia’s main cargo port of Poti, still controlled by Russian soldiers.
Why the Coast Guard? Probably has to do with the mission being more humanitarian than military (Dallas has one 76mm gun and one Phalanx anti-missile gun) and, also, its rather tricky to send combat ships through the Dardanelles. Still, its a sign that we remain committed to Georgia and any American forces in Georgia lessens the likelihood of further unprovoked Russian aggression.
But it is dangerous, and we should say a prayer for our men and women now in harms way in that corner of the world - Russia under Putin has proven itself irresponsible and dangerous, so we cannot rely upon the Russians applying common sense to the issue. They may strike again, and may even deliberately strike our forces in some bizarre attempt to teach us a lesson, or some such chest-thumping by the Bear.
Also good to keep in mind: the world is a dangerous place, and the White House is no place for a heretofor empty suit to learn the ropes.
Tags: Georgia, Putin, Russia, South Ossetia, US Military
August 27th, 2008
I think that Russia’s adventure in Georgia just might turn out to be a fiasco:
Ukraine offers satellite defence co-operation with Europe and US
The proposal, made amid growing outrage among Russia’s neighbours over its military campaign in Georgia, could see Ukraine added to Moscow’s nuclear hitlist. A Russian general declared Poland a target for its arsenal after Warsaw signed a deal with Washington to host interceptor missiles for America’s anti-nuclear shield.
The move came as the Russian president, Dmitry Medvedev, signed a cease-fire deal that sets the stage for a Russian troop withdrawal after more than a week of warfare with its neighbour Georgia.
Russia has created a mountain of crisis, looks like it will obtain a mole hill of territory, and has angered just about everyone in Europe. Not a very slick move on Putin’s part. The analogy here is the Agadir crisis of 1911 - Germany stamped on its neighbor’s foot and the only real result of the aggressive act was a stronger anti-German alliance.
One thing we have to keep in mind here is that Putin and his gangsters aren’t all of Russia. While we do have to react in various anti-Russian ways, we must always keep the door open to more sensible Russians who may be able to force Putin out at some future date and re-set Russia on the patch of democracy.
Oh, as an aside: don’t you lefties who fought so hard against SDI feel like, well, a bunch of stupid fools? You know, like a bunch of suckers who fell first for communist propaganda about it, and now have fallen for Putin’s semi-fascist propaganda about it? Man, its gotta suck to be wrong about everything, all the time.
Tags: Georgia, Poland, Putin, Russia, South Ossetia, Strategic Defense Initiative, Ukraine
August 17th, 2008
Given a choice between a successful general, a beloved author, a former vice President and a tyrant, Time naturally went with the tyrant:
He stands, above all, for stability—stability before freedom, stability before choice, stability in a country that has hardly seen it for a hundred years.
Err, umm…Russia has seen lots of stability over the past 100 years…the stability of the grave, courtesy of Lenin, Stalin, Kruschev, Brezhnev…and now their bloody-handed successor, Putin. What in heck is the lure of “stability” for the pinheads of the media elite? Something frozen is stable, something chained is stable…something dead is stable. That which is living and striving and free - that is unstable; and God bless it.
For Time, it is enough that Putin has put Russia back on the map - what map is that? What is really clear, from their article, is that the editors of Time miss the Cold War:
Throughout much of the 20th century, the Soviet Union cast an ominous shadow over the world. It was the U.S.’s dark twin. But after the fall of the Berlin Wall, Russia receded from the American consciousness as we became mired in our own polarized politics. And it lost its place in the great game of geopolitics, its significance dwarfed not just by the U.S. but also by the rising giants of China and India. That view was always naive. Russia is central to our world—and the new world that is being born.
Ah, the good, old days - when America was held in check by a superpower capable of restraining us from…bringing democracy to the world.
Sick, sick, sick…Time needs to close it doors, it has entirely dishonored itself.
Tags: Putin, Russia
December 19th, 2007
Putin’s party is said to have won nearly 63% of the vote. Putin-allied parties are set to gain nearly 17% of the vote. When the ruling party gets that high a percentage and its primary opposition is actually shut out of Parlaiment all together, that in and of itself smells of fraud…when you add in all the voting irregularities reported, it becomes pretty clear that Putin has engineered himself an absolute majority which will now be able to adjust Russian law however necessary to allow Putin to remain in power, even if he officially leaves office at the end of his current terms as President.
Its really rather sad, and extraordinarily foolish of Putin to pull this - even supposing that Putin and his party are best equipped to govern Russia equitibly (and that is a bit of a stretch), Putin should realise that all he’s done is set up a dictatorial system which is bound to suppress Russia’s ability to fully harness its resources while at the same time opening up the myriad opportunities for corruption which has always been the bane of Russian progress. Watching from afar, I get the impression of a Great Russian patriot in Putin but like all too many such in Russia’s history, Putin lacks that sense of proportion which would allow him to share power with others - Putin will, I believe, be classed with Witte, Stolypin and Kruschev who set out to remake Russia, and made a hash of it.
All we can do is class Russia as a potential enemy in world affairs, and build our alliances with Poland, Georgia and other nations on Russia’s periphery who would like very much to stay out of Russia’s grasp.
Tags: Democracy, Putin, Russia
December 3rd, 2007
