Putin attacks 'very dangerous' US

[Carrera]

Quote Vladimir Putin today:

"Nobody feels secure anymore because nobody can hide behind international law. This is nourishing an arms race with the desire of countries to get nuclear weapons."

This is a reference by Putin to America's apparent lack of respect for the barriers of international law, using the hype of freedom and democracy as a smokescreen to carry out a hidden agenda and, thereby, encouraging vulnerable countries to go nuclear.
It's also a reference to recent attempts by the U.S. to exploit and fan the flames of divisions between Moscow, Gerogia and the Ukraine and the declared intention of installing missile systems within Poland.
Hardliners in Rusisa suspect the U.S. is seeking to create division in order to exploit Caspian oil, and indeed Chechnyan oil.
Russia has threatened to respond assertively if missiles are indeed installed in Poland, possibly by pulling out of arm control pacts and modifying the Russian nuclear and conventional arsenal.
BBC defence and security correspondent Rob Watson, in Munich, said Mr Putin's speech was a strident performance which may well be remembered as "a turning point in international relations".
It seems as if the tables have turned somewhat. After WW2, it was Churchill who warned against Communist Russia, whereas today it's a Russian leader warning the West about a fundamentalist, western power. Furthermore, the comment seems to have some real sympathy in Germany and France and even in Australia (excluding John Howard).

 

[Carrera]

"A string of recent hostile remarks has revived memories of the Cold War, capped by a speech by Russian President Vladimir Putin last week commemorating the defeat of Nazi Germany, when he seemed to compare U.S. foreign policy to that of the Third Reich.
Announcing a suspension of Moscow’s participation in the Conventional Forces in Europe (CFE) Treaty, president Vladimir Putin accused the United States of a plot to build up its military forces on Russia’s western borders.
Mr Putin said he had decided to declare a moratorium on an updated version of the CFE treaty because Nato powers had failed to ratify it. The treaty, which was signed in the dying months of the Cold War, is regarded as the cornerstone of security and stability in Europe. It places limits on the number of conventional weapons and foreign forces that can be deployed among member nations.
Already regarded as an energy superpower, Russia is desperate to be taken seriously as a military power, too. Defence spending has quadrupled since Mr Putin came to power in 2000, and an ambitious strategy to modernize the military was announced last year, including plans to develop a new generation of ballistic missiles capable of breaching US defences."

 

[Carrera]

By Sebastian Smith

"President Vladimir Putin's move to suspend Russia from a key Soviet-era arms treaty is more than just Cold War-style rhetoric and could presage a redrawing of the European security map, analysts said Friday.
Putin's statement on Thursday that Moscow was imposing a "moratorium" on its participation in the Conventional Forces in Europe (CFE) treaty raised the stakes in an increasingly bad-tempered debate over the military balance across the continent.

"Russia has switched to the language of ultimatums," Kommersant daily newspaper wrote. Putin "demonstrated that he is ready to step up from words to deeds."

Since 1990 the CFE treaty has imposed strict limits on deployment of tanks, troops and other forces in countries belonging to NATO and to what was then still the Soviet-dominated Warsaw Pact. The deal brought a certain degree of predictability and trust to a divided continent.

Putin is now threatening to tear up the treaty unless all NATO countries ratify a revised, post-Soviet version struck in 1999. NATO members counter they cannot do so because Russia, despite ratifying, is violating its commitments by keeping troops in the former Soviet reupblics of Georgia and Moldova.

The CFE row is at the heart of a complex and accelerating shift in what was once the frozen landscape of an East-West military standoff.

Over the last 15 years NATO has expanded deep into Moscow's former backyard, taking in a swathe from Bulgaria to the Baltic Sea.

"This is a real threat to our national security," the state-run newspaper Rossiikaya Gazeta wrote.

Washington and its allies devote major diplomatic effort to persuading Moscow of their peaceful intentions, but under Putin Russia has become increasingly suspicious.

The chief bugbear now is a US plan to base a limited anti-missile system in Poland and the Czech Republic, two former Warsaw Pact territories that are now in NATO.

According to Washington the shield would be aimed only at minor military powers such as Iran and could have no effect against Russia's enormous missile arsenal. But Moscow describes the system as heralding a creeping NATO advance."

 

[Ssushi]

The only suprise is that it's taken a global politician 3 years or more to state this. GWB has been spewing rhetoric since the trace center attacks, which combined with his invasions, would only serve to escalate tensions and arms purchacing.

Of course NK would look towards a nuclear deterent, with the USA invading Iraq. Of course Iran would do the same.

It was also only last year or the year before that the USA was complaining at EU nations for not spending enough on defence. Incidentally, spending on defence is generally good for defence companies

 

[Carrera]

Most people understandably sympathised with the 9/11 attacks which was an attack on innocent civilians carried out by a group of fanatics. The harsh reality, though, is Bush and his allies exploited this tragedy to carry out their own hidden agenda. You can see quite clearly how Bush has been siding with Georgia or cosying up to the most recent dictatorships which emerged from former USSR States.
It amazes me how the Religious Republican Right are quite happy to preach and proclaim the evils of Saddam Hussein while praising Georgia or other tin- pot dictators of the same ilk.
It's ironic, though, how Russia is now paying the price of its own former misconduct as only Germany and France seem to be heeding Putin's warnings while Poland and Romania (plus the Baltic States) are allying with Bush. It's a strange irony since now we see the U.S. making exactly the same mistake as the USSR made, disregarding human rights and alienating allies.
That is, the USSR deported and dictated to the Baltic peoples and Poles to the point it left a lot of bitterness towards the new, progressively democratic Russia. This is how Russia lost its former allies such as Poland.
Now we see the U.S. slowly making the same mistake. While countries such as Australia, Germany, Italy and Spain used to respect the U.S. as a libertarian, peaceful global power, this perception is fragmenting.
As Putin stated, we're witnessing a total, blatant disregard for the U.N., International Law, Europe, human rights and the Geneva Convention. There seems to be an emerging, fundamentalist/Christian elite that has taken control of the U.S. and displaced the cool minds that prevailed during the Cold War.
Everywhere there's a knock-on effect, even in the U.K. where Blair has been pushed out of office.

The only suprise is that it's taken a global politician 3 years or more to state this. GWB has been spewing rhetoric since the trace center attacks, which combined with his invasions, would only serve to escalate tensions and arms purchacing.

Of course NK would look towards a nuclear deterent, with the USA invading Iraq. Of course Iran would do the same.

It was also only last year or the year before that the USA was complaining at EU nations for not spending enough on defence. Incidentally, spending on defence is generally good for defence companies

 

[Carrera]

Seems like Putin has to draw on every ounce of his political shrewdness to avoid disaster. Serious attempts are being made to drive a wedge between Russia and the Ukraine. There is also tension between Russia and Georgia. It seems pretty obvious there are pressure groups in the U.S. (and to some degree in Europe) who are after Russian oil.
The only big plus in Russia's favour is Putin turned round the economy and did a far better job than Yeltsin who could have sunk Russia completely.
The reason Bush grumbles about lack of democracy in Russia is he doesn't like the idea of Russia being stable which doesn't suit the big international oil companies. Putin has basicallly pulled the rug out from under the feet of the Repubs by bringing some degree of stability back to Moscow's economy and also nationalising Russian oil.
In the face of such corporate greed, the last thing Russia needs at the moment is full blown democracy. They need a strong man at the helm for the time being to stop the country falling apart and Putin is no pushover. Even Gorbachev likes him.

 

[bkaapcke]

You only need to look at Iraq to realize America is a dangerous state. We attacked it for no other reason than the neocons wanted to. We didn't like Saddam, so we invaded and took him out. It won't be long before we pull out and leave the place in a shambles. What could be more dangerous than that. A superpower that KNOWS NO RESTRAINT AND HASN'T GOT ANY STAYING POWER. bk