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Maybe Iraq isn't Such a Quagmire After All?
Filed under: Middle East
If two scholars from the left-wing Brookings Institution, writing in the New York Times (of all places) say that we might be turning the corner in Iraq, then you'd better prick up your ears:Viewed from Iraq, where we just spent eight days meeting with American and Iraqi military and civilian personnel, the political debate in Washington is surreal. The Bush administration has over four years lost essentially all credibility. Yet now the administration's critics, in part as a result, seem unaware of the significant changes taking place. Here is the most important thing Americans need to understand: We are finally getting somewhere in Iraq, at least in military terms. As two analysts who have harshly criticized the Bush administration's miserable handling of Iraq, we were surprised by the gains we saw and the potential to produce not necessarily "victory" but a sustainable stability that both we and the Iraqis could live with. Today, morale is high. The soldiers and marines told us they feel that they now have a superb commander in Gen. David Petraeus; they are confident in his strategy, they see real results, and they feel now they have the numbers needed to make a real difference. All across the country, the dependability of Iraqi security forces over the long term remains a major question mark. But for now, things look much better than before. American advisers told us that many of the corrupt and sectarian Iraqi commanders who once infested the force have been removed. The American high command assesses that more than three-quarters of the Iraqi Army battalion commanders in Baghdad are now reliable partners (at least for as long as American forces remain in Iraq). In addition, far more Iraqi units are well integrated in terms of ethnicity and religion. The Iraqi Army's highly effective Third Infantry Division started out as overwhelmingly Kurdish in 2005. Today, it is 45 percent Shiite, 28 percent Kurdish, and 27 percent Sunni Arab. Another surprise was how well the coalition's new Embedded Provincial Reconstruction Teams are working. Wherever we found a fully staffed team, we also found local Iraqi leaders and businessmen cooperating with it to revive the local economy and build new political structures. Although much more needs to be done to create jobs, a new emphasis on microloans and small-scale projects was having some success where the previous aid programs often built white elephants.
Has the world once again underestimated American capabilities?
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redditWhither Siberia?
Filed under: Russia
Surely one of the most compelling issues in international politics over the next few decades will be the fate of the Russian region of Siberia. As Russia's population gets ever smaller (losing up to 1 million per year) and China's explodes, it seems inevitable that a muscular China, seeking elbow room, will shove Russia aside to an ever greater extent. Is Russia prepared to defend Siberia militarily?
But now Russia scholar Paul Goble offers a fascinating additional side to this question: Where does Siberia itself want to go? If you think the answer is clear, you're mistaken. Ham-handed neo-Soviet policies enacted by Russian dictator Vladimir Putin have polarized and alienated the people of Russia's far eastern regions just as Putin has alienated Western Europe and incited new cold war. It begins to appear that the so-called "Russians" in Siberia may actually prefer alliance with China, and certainly independence, to continued subjugation by Moscow. In that case, the question becomes: Is Russia prepared to adopt the tactics of Stalin to keep these recalcitrant "Russians" in the their place?
Reader comments on this crucial question of world affairs (Siberia, of course, is full of oil) are most welcome.
del.icio.us | digg | technorati | stumble upon | furl | redditSix Strikes and Russia is Out of the G-8?
Filed under: Russia
Prague Watchdog reports that Russia has now been convicted for the sixth time in just this year alone for gross human rights violations in Chechnya by the European Court for Human Rights, including numerous acts of state-sponsored murder.
SIX times in ONE YEAR? Whatever happened to the good old "three strikes and you're out"? Russia has far more cases pending before the ECHR than any other nation and, outrageously, is currently taking steps to limit ECHR access by Russians rather than actually changing its behavior justifying the prosecutions.
How is it possible that this barbaric nation holds a veto on the U.N. Security Council and a seat on the G-8 team of elite democracies? How can anyone even think of investing money in this uncivilized dictatorship or of attending the Olympic games there -- right in the very region where all these breathtaking state-sponsored murders are taking place? Speaking of the Olympics, it seems that American IOC voters are the ones that gave Russia the 2014 games, a final outrage by the failed Bush administration that will live in infamy but which, at least, totally refutes any claimed anti-Russian bias in the United States.
del.icio.us | digg | technorati | stumble upon | furl | redditHezbollah's Youth
Filed under: Middle East
I stumbled upon one of the many articles on Hizbullah. This one is pretty interesting. I observed during the years that young men and women (though I personally met only few) that are part of one of HA structures always speak with great passion and conviction about the party ideology, what they think is their duty etc. Those whom I have met were all intelligent, well mannered persuasive and passionate individuals. Entering into a debate with any of them was a challenge. The idea is that not all are as some think a bunch of stupid, crazy people. I am not discussing here about the masses. If I say this, and I am not a fan imagine the impact HA has on Muslims. If we want to succeed we should keep ourselves well informed.
"My problem with Israel, says Bashar, is not only that it marched into Lebanon uninvited and stole parts of our land but is that we cannot survive as long as Israel exists. It is a foul entity that is consistently ever-ready to attack. I believe it to be the cause of all conflict in the Middle East."
Realizing that he said something the party will not admit (publicly) he backs down: "I may aspire to wipe Israel off the map, but I realize that this is not our responsibility. My responsibility as a young Lebanese is to liberate my land, and bring our prisoners of war back home."
Read the whole piece here.
Update: You can read here and here, Sheikh Nasrallah's latest interview with Al Jazeera.
del.icio.us | digg | technorati | stumble upon | furl | redditLies and the Lying Lancets Who Tell Them
Filed under: Middle East
Uber-blogger Michelle Malkin shows that the previously published estimate of 100,000 civilian casualties in Iraq following the U.S. invasion has been proven scientifically bogus. Upon review, the pseudo-study upon which the claim was based turns out to be unable to establish any significant increase in civilian fatalities, much less 100,000.
del.icio.us | digg | technorati | stumble upon | furl | redditJihad on Horseback
Filed under: Africa
"Two years ago, Al Arabiya producer Nabil Kassem was asked to put together a documentary film on Darfur. What he witnessed there, and recorded in this film, were scenes of unspeakable brutality and untold suffering, scenes he thought would surely wake up an Arab public all too willing to let Darfur pass by. But Jihad on Horseback never made it across the airwaves. Watch the film to see perhaps the most provocative Arab documentary ever made." ( Atlas Shrugs)
You can see the video here.
del.icio.us | digg | technorati | stumble upon | furl | redditHas the government gone mad?
Filed under: Middle East
The Education Ministry has authorized Arab schools to use a history book featuring the establishment of the State of Israel as being disastrous (Nabka) for the Palestinians, Israel Radio reported Sunday. Read more about it here
It is not only that the current Israeli government is weak, it seems they are stupid too!
del.icio.us | digg | technorati | stumble upon | furl | redditDanish Candidate MP - OK to Attack Danish Troops in Iraq
Filed under: Europe
"Asmaa Abdol-Hamid told BT that she supports the Iraqi resistance movement against the occupation forces and that they have the right to live in a country where they can make their own decisions. She therefore does not want to distance herself from Iraqis using weapons against Danish forces in Iraq either. In a reaction to the controversy which her interview started, she maintains her support for the Iraqi resistance, and even goes as far as to compare them to the Danish resistance movement against the German occupation during Second World War. She thinks resistance against a foreign occupation is not only legitimate but even a human right."
Some appear to think that she is confused. I doubt it. She is just being honest.
del.icio.us | digg | technorati | stumble upon | furl | redditThe American Left, Foundering
Filed under: US Elections
Maniacal "professor" Ward L. Churchill has been fired by the University of Colorado for academic dishonesty including plagiarism and fraudulent research (echoes of Joe Biden). You may remember that, as the LA Times reports, "in 2005, when Churchill was slated to speak at Hamilton College in New York, critics seized on a little-read essay he wrote after the Sept. 11 attacks titled Some People Push Back: On the Justice of Roosting Chickens. In it, he argued that workers in the World Trade Center were 'a technocratic corps at the very heart of America's global financial empire,' and compared them to the Nazi leader Adolf Eichmann who carried out superiors' orders for genocide."
Then there's the recent bankruptcy and closure of liberal bastion Antioch College. And how about the bankruptcy of the Air America radio network, including the utterly humiliating ejection of Lying Liar Al Franken, who had proclaimed he'd take down Rush Limbaugh. Rush is still there, sitting pretty, though, and heavily in the black, while Air America has been "bailed out" by perennial electoral loser Mark Green (it's like Edsel bailing out Chrysler). In Congress, there's the fact that {a} the new left-wing-controlled legislature has even lower approval numbers than the excoriated president and {b} the alienation and defection of senior Democratic statesman Joe Lieberman and {c} the corruption indictment of William Jefferson and the reelection, despite impeachment, of Alcee Hastings. Speaking of William Jefferson, the last time the Democrats had a president he {a} abolished federal welfare, {b} balanced the federal budget, {c} was photographed carrying a gun, {d} turned over both houses of Congress to the Republicans, {e} failed to get a majority of the popular vote in two tries and {f} faced impeachment. Before him, the last time the Democrats had reelected a president to a second elected term was the Great Depression. And in the statehouses? Well, the Democrats proudly took over the governorship of New York last year, and no sooner had they done so than their man Elliot Spitzer became enmeshed in a massive corruption scandal closely similar to Watergate. Even the ultra-liberal New York Times editors ripped him a new one.
Perhaps the ultimate failure is that all this comes at a time when the popularity of Republicans is perhaps at its lowest ebb since Watergate, an obvious moment of opportunity for the moonbats. But, as usual, they're too busy destroying themselves to take advantage.
del.icio.us | digg | technorati | stumble upon | furl | redditAnnals of World Travel
Filed under: Travel
Did you know that it's now possible to board a bus in London, England, and ride it all the way to Sydney, Australia -- virtually every mile being overland except for a short ferry hop at the beginning and end? It's called Oz Bus and you can check out the journey here. A budding blogger plans to quit his job, board the bus and blog the ride in a few weeks. Here's the blog in progress. Their motto is: "We will make it, one way or another."
del.icio.us | digg | technorati | stumble upon | furl | redditBritain: Litvinenko Killing was State-Sponsored Terrorism
Filed under: Russia
The senior British official was unequivocal. The murder of the former KGB man Alexander Litvinenko was "undeniably state-sponsored terrorism on Moscow's part. That is the view at the highest levels of the British government." This official had access to the latest police and intelligence findings, and he was reflecting the views of senior Home Office counter-terrorism officials, Scotland Yard detectives and others with close knowledge of the murder investigation. All confirmed last week that they believe the plot to poison Litvinenko in London last year was ordered by the Russian secret service, the FSB.
The Times of London, July 22, 2007.
del.icio.us | digg | technorati | stumble upon | furl | redditThe World Bank Gives Russia a Big Fat "F"
Filed under: Russia
The World Bank has issued its World Governance Indicators report for 2007, and Vladimir Putin's Russia has -- once again -- been given a dunce cap.
The World Bank reviewed Russia, and 211 other countries, in six governance categories: i) Voice & Accountability, ii) Political Stability and Lack of Violence/Terrorism, iii) Government Effectiveness, iv) Regulatory Quality v) Rule of Law and vi) Control of Corruption.
In five of the six categories, all but stability, Putin's Russia received a lower score this year than it got last year. In "Rule of Law," Russia's score dipped into the bottom 20% of all countries surveyed. The significance of this result is staggering: Russia sits on the G-8 and has a veto in the United Nations Security Council, but 80% of the world's nations, four out of five surveyed, have greater respect for the institution of the law than neo-Soviet Russia does. And lets not forget that Russia has far more convictions and pending cases in the European Court for Human Rights than any other nation; it's been convicted there of political, state-sponsored murder and ordered to pay damages to victim families. To put it mildly, Russia is not qualified to hold roles in these law-based institutions.
The extent of Vladimir Putin's failure to effectively govern Russia is also quite staggering. In "Control of Corruption" and "Accountability," Russia's score dipped into the bottom quartile. In "Regulatory Quality," Russia experienced its biggest drop of any category, a massive 20% slide to approach the bottom third of all countries on the list. In "Stability," Russia experienced its only increase in score, but it still remained in the bottom quartile of all countries surveyed in that category. Its highest score is now for "Government Effectiveness," but here Russia's percentile score dropped from 41 in last year to 38 this year, rapidly approaching the bottom third in this category as well.
The conclusion? Two-thirds of the world's nations are better-governed than Russia. In many specific criteria, three-fourths. That's total, abject failure for a nation with Russia's resources, long history and level of technical sophistication.
There's little new here, only confirmation of a horrifying pattern. Russia's scores from international review entities are consistently appalling, and its World Bank scores last year were also nearly universally lower than the year before.
What's really shocking is not Putin's inability to govern, that's to be expected given his total lack of qualifications. Rather, we should be surprised that Putin continues to enjoy 70%+ public opinion polls approval even as Russia's population plummets and it becomes an isolated pariah in the community of nations due to its neo-Soviet foreign policy, all while its government fails miserably in governing the people who are lucky enough to be left alive. And even more amazing is our own inability to recognize this disaster in the making and respond appropriately.
Putin is offering Russia marginal stability (though still at a horrifyingly low level by international standards) at the cost of every other aspect of civilized society. That's exactly what Stalin offered. How can Russia avoid meeting the USSR's fate?
del.icio.us | digg | technorati | stumble upon | furl | redditSure, He's a Criminal . . . but at Least He's a GREEN Criminal!
Filed under: US Elections
It's not easy, being green
Back in April, we told you about how former Vice President Al Gore Jr., in the guise of protecting the environment, was imperiling democracy in the developing world and, in fact, polluting the environment. To follow up on this story, we bring you the tale of Al Gore III, pictured above by way of mugshot. Two weeks ago last Wednesday, sweet little Trey was pulled over in Los Angeles for doing more than 100 mph in his green little Toyota Prius (not the best gas-saving velocity to choose, but apparently his daddy's "carbon credit" logic means that, since it's a Prius, the speeding is a wash; what rationalization will be used when somebody gets killed is unclear). When the officer approached the driver, he was overpowered by the smell of marijuana, indicating that Trey was driving under the influence, and when he searched the driver he discovered not only a quantity of weed but also "the prescription drugs Xanax, Valium, Vicodin and Adderall" -- and no prescriptions for any of them. Trey was arrested, and yesterday he was charged with drug possession and speeding -- all told, three felonies and one misdemeanor. See it now. If convicted on all charges, he faces a maximum sentence of three years and eight months in prison, according to the local District Attorney's office.
Trey is a repeat offender, who could easily have killed someone by now, and not just by emitting noxious fumes by driving at a wasteful velocity. This is his fourth strike, in his fourth state, which apparently is what you're entitled to when your daddy is rich, powerful, and so in love with trees. As CNN tells it, in August 2000, North Carolina police charged him with reckless driving and speeding for driving 94 mph in a 55 mph zone. The reckless driving charges were, miraculously, later dropped, but he was fined $125 for speeding and his driving privileges in the state were suspended. In September 2002 he was ticketed for drunken driving in Virginia but, inexplicably, not arrested. He was arrested on a marijuana possession charge in 2003. In that case, police in Montgomery County, Maryland, pulled him over for not using his headlights. As with the latest incident, the officer "smelled the odor of marijuana coming from inside the car." In a 2004 plea deal, Gore was sentenced to a substance abuse program. Three serious violations, no jail time: Marijuana is not the only thing that smells here, is it?
Shortly after Trey's arrest, Gore Jr. told Larry King: "We're very happy he's sought and is getting the treatment that he needs. Beyond that we appreciate the good wishes that have come our way." He added that his son is "doing well." Is Gore Jr. going to "take care" of our country the same way he's taken care of his son? Is he going to be just as "happy" with the results? Guess we'll just have to wait and see.
del.icio.us | digg | technorati | stumble upon | furl | redditNightmare on Kremlin Street: Senators and Lawyers Go Missing in Russia, and Nobody Seems to Notice
Filed under: Russia
Scenario: You wake up this morning and George Bush has announced he has ordered the majority leader of the Senate to fire four Democratic senators who are critical of his Iraq policy. He announces that after they leave office, he's going to put one of them on trial for corruption charges. When a prominent lawyer steps forward to defend that senator in court, Bush announces criminal charges against the lawyer, who is forced to flee the country. After you learn this, what's your view of the state of American civil society?
Guess what. This isn't a hypothetical scenario where Russia is concerned, it's recent history. On June 8th, Andrei Smirnov of the Jamestown Foundation reported that " Russia continues to be rocked by purges of the Federation Council, the upper house of the Russian parliament, where deputies (often called "senators") represent regional governments. On May 14, Sergei Mironov, speaker of the Federation Council, dismissed four members of the Council." Mironov is a Kremlin sycophant, who has called for altering the Russian Constitution to allow "President" Putin to remain in power. Two weeks later, a fifth senator was history. Smirnov writes: "On June 2, Senator Levon Chakhmakhchyan was arrested by officers of the Federal Security Service (FSB) on charges of bribery. Chakhmakhchyan represents Kalmykia, a region in southern Russia is and vice-president of the Association for Russian-Armenian Business Cooperation."
On July 19th, attorney Robert Amsterdam reported:
Today's news that the highly regarded lawyer Boris Kuznetsov is fleeing Russia after an absurdly baseless order for his arrest under the allegation of "revealing state secrets" represents yet another outrageous example of the state's abuse of the legal system. The arrest order stems from Kuznetsov's defense of Duma member Levon Chakhmakhchyan, who had been illegally wiretapped by the FSB without court permission in an effort to purge him on corruption charges. It seems beyond arguable doubt that there are influential individuals within Russia's intelligence services that believe that once they are unable to defeat an opponent through legal means, that attacking that person's counsel is a perfectly acceptable tactic.
The Washington Post has more details on the criminal probe the Kremlin has opened against Kuznetsov. This isn't the first time the Kremlin has gone after lawyers who tried to represent dissident political figures. Others who have been attacked include Svetlana Bakhmina and Karina Moskalenko, as well as Amsterdam himself.
del.icio.us | digg | technorati | stumble upon | furl | redditMichael Moore Exposed as a Shameless Liar on Cuba
Filed under: Cuba
Whatever you do, don't get near the mouth . . .
Did you know that when Michael Moore bashed the USA for having a low score on medical care from the World Health Organization, pointing out that it is lower than many other developed countries and praising Cuba as offering better medical care, he neglected to mention* that Cuba actually has a lower score (#39 -- see page 152) from WHO than the USA (#37 -- see page 155) does? So when he packed up a bunch of sick Americans to take them to Cuba for treatment in his movie "SICKO," he was actually taking them to a place with worse medical care than the one they were in. Moonbat logic is a scary thing.
And that's not the half of it. It now turns out that the Cuban medical care he documents in his film SICKO isn't representative. Reuters reports:
Three New York rescue workers injured in the September 11 attacks got the best treatment Cuba can offer in Michael Moore's film critique of U.S. health care, the Cuban doctors who attended them said this week. Communist Cuba's universal free health system has achieved low child mortality and high longevity rates on a par with rich nations since Fidel Castro's 1959 revolution. But the hospital where SiCKO's patients were treated is an exception in Cuba, where patients of many other hospitals complain they have to take their own sheets and food.
It seems not to have occurred to anyone that the grotesquely obese Mr. Moore is hardly a role model for good health even if he told the truth; since he's a known pathological liar and propagandist, taking medical advice from him is probably the worst thing you could do for your health.
*A helpful reader has pointed out in the comments that this criticism, made by CNN, has been challenged by Moore on his website. What the reader, not so helpfully, fails to mention is that the website only says a picture of the list was shown in the movie. It doesn't have a transcript of how the film handles in information so as to show whether it emphasized this reality appropriately for the viewer.
del.icio.us | digg | technorati | stumble upon | furl | redditReturn of the Evil Empire
Filed under: Russia
In what must surely be viewed as one of the most outrageous policy actions taken in Russia's sordid history, the Kremlin has responded to Britain's expulsion of four Russian diplomats from London not by merely expelling four British diplomats from Moscow but by refusing to cooperate on counter-terrorism activities. This means that Russia is willing to sacrifice not only innocent British citizens to become victims of preventable acts of terrorism, but innocent Russian citizens as well. "To our regret, cooperation between Russia and Britain on issues of fighting terrorism becomes impossible," Foreign Ministry spokesman Mikhail Kamynin said, giving no explanation whatsoever as to how the two issues are related. Russia even went so far as to menace British airspace with strategic bombers. In a childish, petulant and utterly irresponsible way, Russia is cutting its own citizens off from information about terrorism not only from Britain's vaunted intelligence services but also, inevitably, from the USA, EU and NATO as well. Yesterday the EU rallied to Britain's defense, and today U.S. Secretary of State Condi Rice did the same. How is this possible in the land of Beslan and Dubrovka? How is it possible that a country with a sub-60 adult male lifespan and a $3/hour minimum wage, with a per capita GDP rivaled by third-world states, can imagine it is positioned to provoke the entire world? It's possible because the Kremlin, drunk with hatred and blind with ambition and greed, has always been willing to sacrifice its own citizens for policy goals that include imperialism and subjugation.
In other words, it's the Evil Empire all over again. Neo-Soviet Russia is finally laid bare, in all its horror, for the world to gape at.
del.icio.us | digg | technorati | stumble upon | furl | redditSyria's audacious democracy
Filed under: Middle East
President Bashar al Assad began his second term (7 years) in office on Tuesday. Once again Syria as other Arab and Muslim countries gave us a valuable lesson on democracy and basic human rights. 1) Assad was the only candidate to the Presidential Chair and 2) 97% of voters supported him
Let us not forget that Bashar inherited (mind you this is synonym with democratic elections in Mid East) his position from his father, Hafez al Assad in 2000. I suspect that we are about to see the same thing happening in Egypt soon enough. Any thoughts on that?
del.icio.us | digg | technorati | stumble upon | furl | redditIron (Curtain) Chef Britain: Battle Berezovsky
Filed under: Russia
Fascinating developments in regard to exiled dissident Russian "oligarch" Boris Berezovsky. First, a Brazilian prosecutor announced an indictment of Mr. B for money laundering, and then Berezovsky informed the British tabloid The Sun that he's been informed by Scotland Yard of an attempt by the Kremlin to assassinate him. Some may well ask whether the second revelation is not remarkably convenient in the aftermath of the first; but then, those same people might fail to ask whether the first revelation is not remarkably convenient in light of Britain's expulsion of Russian diplomats over Russia's failure to extradite accused Litvinenko killer Andrei Lugovoi and Britain's refusal to extradite Berezovsky, who has been given political asylum from Russia in light of the Khodorkovsky prosecution. If, as Berezovsky claims, British authorities really did foil an attempt to kill him launched by the Kremlin, then the Brazilian action could be seen as a further Russian attempt to get revenge on Russia's most prominent and powerful dissident. But -- Does Russia have that kind of influence in Brazil? If not, why did Brazil suddenly choose this moment, most opportune for Russia, to move against Berezovsky? Such Russian influence is certainly conceivable, given its efforts to provide huge quantities of weapons (including even submarines!) to Venezuelan madman Hugo Chavez. If it is gaining such influence, that is a terrifying new front in the new Cold War. Alternatively, could Russia have simply duped the Brazilians? It's a situation that obviously must be watched closely. Comments from readers with knowledge of the situation in Brazil most welcome.
UPDATE #1: British authorities have announced an arrest in the Berezovsky assassination attempt. Looks like it was not just his imagination.
UPDATE #2: The European Union has strongly backed Britain in the confrontation. Putin has led his impoverished, dying country into a second cold war with NATO, the EU and the USA. Game on, people. Time to get serious.
del.icio.us | digg | technorati | stumble upon | furl | redditIron Curtain, Part II
Filed under: Russia
I have a strong admiration and regard for the valiant Russian people and for my wartime comrade, Marshal Stalin. There is deep sympathy and goodwill in Britain -- and I doubt not here also -- toward the peoples of all the Russias and a resolve to persevere through many differences and rebuffs in establishing lasting friendships. It is my duty, however, to place before you certain facts about the present position in Europe. From Stettin in the Baltic to Trieste in the Adriatic an iron curtain has descended across the Continent. Behind that line lie all the capitals of the ancient states of Central and Eastern Europe. Warsaw, Berlin, Prague, Vienna, Budapest, Belgrade, Bucharest and Sofia; all these famous cities and the populations around them lie in what I must call the Soviet sphere, and all are subject, in one form or another, not only to Soviet influence but to a very high and in some cases increasing measure of control from Moscow. The safety of the world, ladies and gentlemen, requires a unity in Europe, from which no nation should be permanently outcast. It is from the quarrels of the strong parent races in Europe that the world wars we have witnessed, or which occurred in former times, have sprung.--Winston Churchill, Fulton Missouri, March 5, 1946
Just as it was the British who warned us half a century ago of the dangers brewing in the USSR, the valiant Britons once again step to the forefront to warn us in the strongest, clearest terms about the threat we now face from neo-Soviet Russia. Faced with Russian refusal to extradite accused Litvinenko killer Andrei Lugovoi (as we've already shown, the Kremlin's constitution-based excuses are a pure sham), Britain has done the only thing it could do, respond with an appropriate show of force, and expelled four Russian diplomats from London.
Do you dare to imagine the reaction of the Russians, dear reader, if a publicly anti-American U.S. defector, living in Russia, were suddenly killed by radioactive poisoning in Moscow, with contamination spread around the city endangering thousands, and the Kremlin announced it knew who the killer was, and he was in Washington DC, and America refused to extradite him for trial in Russia? Can you imagine how the headlines of Russia's state-owned newspapers would scream?
It is time for the world to hear Britain's valiant warning and act on it, to rally to Britain's cause and demand that Russia give the Litvinenko killing justice rather than obstruction. It is time for the people of Russia to feel the consequences of endorsing KGB rule of their country, time to stand up for the values of democracy that have given us such a high standard of living, so far above the squalor that is modern Russia (with its sub-60 male lifespan and $3/hour average wage). America in particular must stand resolutely beside her British allies, just as Tony Blair stood beside George Bush before the US Congress in the aftermath of 9/11.
For once again, an Iron Curtain has descended across the continent.
del.icio.us | digg | technorati | stumble upon | furl | redditNeo-Soviet Russia Voids the CFE
Filed under: Russia
We reported back at the end of April on Russian "President" Vladimir Putin's threats to unilaterally repudiate the Conventional Forces in Europe arms limitation treaty. At that time, the Russophile apologists for Russia said that Putin was only blowing off steam, that his remarks were for "domestic consumption," that Russia was merely "flexing its muscles." Russia wouldn't really go as far as to unilaterally withdraw from a major bulwark of stability in Europe.
Well, now Russia has actually done it. Do you dare to imagine how the world would react if President Bush took an action of this kind? Do you dare to imagine how the world would screech and wail about American arrogance and unilateralism? Hopefully, the reaction will be the same where Russia is concerned. A Washington Post story, quoting Russian analyst Pavel Felgenhaur, stated:
"This will be a major irritant. It will seriously spoil relations. The kind of soothing effect from the last summit with Putin and (President) Bush will evaporate swiftly," he said referring a summit between the leaders earlier this month at the Bush family home in Kennebunkport, Maine. Felgenhauer also said that there is no provision under the treaty for a moratorium, suggesting Russia was acting illegally. "This is basically non-compliance, and this is an illegal move," he said.
Let's not forget the basic reality: The US alone has an economy 12 times larger than Russia's and a military establishment as large as the next six largest countries combined. That's to say nothing of the NATO alliance countries,who are directly affected by this outrageous Russian provocation. It's as if Russia has decided to take a "do-over" on the Cold War, certain it can win "this time" and heedless of the stakes or the odds. We shouldn't be surprised by this, since Russia has, just like the USSR, virtually cut itself off from the flow of information about the real world by killing off journalists, shutting down publishing houses and obliterating opposition political groups. So, quite literally, it doesn't know what it's doing (just as the USSR didn't).
Welcome to Cold War, Part II. They said Russia "couldn't go back" to Soviet thinking. It happened. They said Russia wouldn't violate this treaty. It happened. Time to stop listening to what they say, isn't it?
del.icio.us | digg | technorati | stumble upon | furl | redditWe Want YOU!
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del.icio.us | digg | technorati | stumble upon | furl | redditThe Condom Corps: Annals of Chinese Protest Babes
Filed under: Asia ~ Protest Babes
Click the jump to see a fashion show spread on Chinese protest babes decked out in outfits (including chapeaux) made from condoms in an effort to promote safe sex. Courtesy of Pravda. These are women who truly come prepared -- especially the wedding gown! Now if only they could adopt the same pro-active attitude towards their government . . .
del.icio.us | digg | technorati | stumble upon | furl | redditNew entry in the blogosphere
Filed under: Middle East
For those interested in the Mid East economy a new blog under MEMRI banner has just started. You can find it here
Nimrod Raphaeli explains why the interest in such a project. "There are gaps - some would say large gaps - in the Western media of coverage of economic news and development in the Middle East. For example, while the Islamic banking sector rapidly grows, elevating terminology like sukuk [Islamic bonds] and murabaha [profit sharing in lieu of interest which is prohibited by Islam] to world recognition, much of this phenomenon is overshadowed by the more dramatic political events in the region. Middle Eastern economic news is often relegated to secondary, if not marginal, coverage, and the MEMRI Economic Blog will strive to compensate for it."
del.icio.us | digg | technorati | stumble upon | furl | redditImperialism: a phase Iran is going through
Filed under: Iran
Hussein Shariatmadari, one of the Supreme Leader (Ayatollah Khamenei) delegate said recently that Bahrain is a part of Iran and that three-disputed UAE Islands in the Gulf are Iranian. (Akhbar Al Khaleej, July 12 article by Sayyid Zahra)
Iran's role in the region is on the wave and it is causing destruction and despair from Iraq to Lebanon (Hezbollah), territories (Hamas), Afghanistan and now they got to Bahrain. Is there a clash in site between Arabs and Iran? It might if we continue to sit on our hands and allow the mad mullahs take control through their terrorist networks.
p.s I did not mention Syria, because Assad willingly (that is open to debate though) follows Iran
del.icio.us | digg | technorati | stumble upon | furl | redditAnnals of Betraying Democracy: Going Postol
Filed under: Russia
There is an old adage that says: "Those who can, do. Those who can't, teach. Those who can't teach, teach gym."
One might add this corollary: "Those who who can, make foreign policy. Those who can't make foreign policy teach political science. Those who can't teach political science teach political science at MIT. And those who can't teach political science at MIT lecture us in the pages of the New York Times."
Teaching political science at MIT is like teaching quantum physics at Le Cordon Bleu. And let's not forget that the Times told us Jimmy Carter's visit to North Korea was going to solve that problem, so it's hardly a reliable source of advice in defending America from its enemies.
Which brings us to the point: In an op-ed column in Wednesday's edition of the New York Times Theodore Postol (pictured above), identified only as "a professor of science, technology and national security policy at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology," lectured us as to the wisdom of accepting dictator Vladimir Putin's offer of an alternative missile defense system not based in Eastern Europe (Russia has shown neo-Soviet level panic over the idea of a missile defense system being installed in Europe which could block a Russian attack, threatening to place offensive missiles in Kaliningrad to overwhelm such a system). Professor Postol is exactly the same sort of traitor to democracy as was Neville Chamberlain.
Click the jump to read the details of this latest outrage against American national security by those who would betray us to our enemies.