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2007-07-15 Caucasus/Russia/Central Asia

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Posted by lotp 2007-07-15 00:00|| || Front Page|| [4 views ] Top

#1 Idiot. Only a fool misruling a country of 140 million impoverished peasants wants to get into an arms race with 800 million (soon to be 900) of the richest people on the planet.

Posted by ed 2007-07-15 01:32|| 2007-07-15 01:32|| Front Page Top

#2 Esp. with the dragon looking at Siberia...

Posted by 3dc 2007-07-15 01:47|| 2007-07-15 01:47|| Front Page Top

#3 Yep, 3dc. Pooty's looking westward (not really worriedly--he knows that he's looking on an already thinning swarm of euro-invertebre), while they'll start chewing on his behind pretty soon in far east.

Posted by twobyfour 2007-07-15 02:09|| 2007-07-15 02:09|| Front Page Top

#4 I suspect he's already written off anything east of the Urals, at least for now. The eastern European states were easy pickings for the Soviets. The far east is a lot harder to exploit -- and where they did so, they left incredible ecological devastation behind. Lake Baikal. Norilsk.

Still are massive natural resources out there, tho.

Posted by lotp 2007-07-15 07:35|| 2007-07-15 07:35|| Front Page Top

#5 I think Putin's offer of Azerbaijan makes perfect sense. Putin just doesn't realize the lesson we just learned, Bush has a stone in his head. Putin should negotiate with the EU.
On the other hand, Putin is playing hard and fast with other peoples' lives. What's with that ?

Posted by wxjames 2007-07-15 11:49|| 2007-07-15 11:49|| Front Page Top

#6 Disagree with you re: Azerbaijan. The Iranians have long claimed the Azeri region as 'natural extensions' of Iran itself. It's got the world's 2nd largest Shi'ite population, after Iran, which looks to Iran for religious guidance. Putin was being disingenuous, to say the least, when 'offering' it as a site for US BMD.

Posted by lotp 2007-07-15 12:25|| 2007-07-15 12:25|| Front Page Top

#7 The eastern European states were easy pickings for the Soviets.

You're referring to the Russians who've had their asses handed to them on a number of occasions by the muzzie Chetnyians. Not what I'd call an effective or efficient organization on either side. So, you really think the Russkis want to try the Poles, this time without German help? Anything less than nuclear blackmail would be very expensive and subject to humiliating failure and absolutely give the Chinese a go ahead into Siberia. Resorting to absolute nuclear blackmail would give both the Chinese and the US the opening to play that card in turn in regions the Russians currently obstruct the former parties interests. The Great Game part deux.

Posted by Procopius2k 2007-07-15 12:46|| 2007-07-15 12:46|| Front Page Top

#8 Russia's proposal to share a potent radar station wid the USA so close to Iran didn't go down well wid Iran's govt. Besides being JOTH = close to Iran's borders, it also hinted that Russia does not and will never consider Azerbaijan as sovereign or independent from Moscow. ala China + North Korea. Lest we fergit, during the Cold War the USSR's definition of "conventional forces" was inclusive of "dual-use" battlefield-tactical Nuke-WMD missles and tube artillery.

Posted by JosephMendiola 2007-07-15 19:59|| 2007-07-15 19:59|| Front Page Top

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