Russia, Iraq May OK $40B Deal

AP | 8-18-02 | JIM HEINTZ

[A. Pole]

This "deal" could also be just an attempt to make Russia look neutral towards the Islamic world and thereby reduce the threat of terrorism against Russia by Islamic radicals. It could also be a negotiating ploy to receive more debt repayments from the new Iraqi government that will follow the current regime.

I think that $40,000,000,000 for Russia is a HUGE deal. Maybe it is time to remove the Brezhniev era punitive Vanik sanctions so Russia could trade with America instead of being forced to deal with Iraq, Iran etc ...? Why Russia is under sanctions when China has the Most Favored Nation status?

[bok]

The russians have very good strategy going here, it effectively black-mails the US in paying them billions of dollars to "protect" their nuclear arsenals while they continue this build-up. Putin is a former KGB officer and i trust them about as far as i can throw a a 100lb lead ball.

[ATOMIC_PUNK]

Eze 38:1 And the word of the LORD came to me, saying,
Eze 38:2 Son of man, set thy face against Gog, the land of Magog, the chief prince of Meshech and Tubal, and prophesy against him.
Eze 38:3 And say, Thus saith the Lord GOD: Behold, I [am] against thee, O Gog, the chief prince of Meshech and Tubal:
Eze 38:4 And I will turn thee back, and put hooks into thy jaws, and I will bring thee forth, and all thy army, horses and horsemen, all of them clothed with all sorts [of armor], [even] a great company [with] bucklers and shields, all of them handling swords:
Eze 38:5 Persia, Cush, and Phut with them; all of them with shield and helmet:
Eze 38:6 Gomer, and all his bands; the house of Togarmah of the north quarters, and all his bands: [and] many people with thee.
Eze 38:7 Be thou prepared, and prepare for thyself, thou, and all thy company that are assembled to thee, and be thou a guard to them.
Eze 38:8 After many days thou shalt be visited: in the latter years thou shalt come into the land [that is] brought back from the sword, [and is] gathered out of many people, against the mountains of Israel, which have been always waste: but it is brought forth out of the nations, and they shall all dwell in safety.
Eze 38:9 Thou shalt ascend and come like a storm, thou shalt be like a cloud to cover the land, thou, and all thy bands, and many people with thee.

[Stavka2]

And this is different from the reactors that the US is building for N. Korea, how? N. Korea already said it will not allow monitoring....well, well.

[My Favorite Headache]

We just need to stop giving them money. Watch his people starve and then see what he thinks.

[A. Pole]

We just need to stop giving them money.

This is fascinating! Can you provide when, for what and how much money US gave to Russia? Please provide the source too.

[My Favorite Headache]

Right now we are giving them like 25 billion a year in aid for reform. I say cut them off and let someone else pay them to kill us down the road.

[A. Pole]

Right now we are giving them like 25 billion a year in aid for reform.

Do you have sources for this claim? I am sorry to be blunt, but it is a complete baloney. And your nose is getting longer.

[enrg]

I'd say 25 billion from 1992-Now might be realistic (not sure though), and that is accounting for all types of "reform".

[enrg]

Ping

Do you have some info on the amount of US aid to Russia?

[stalin]

It's absolutely imperative that we take out Iraq. We can't just change the government. We must occupy it with American troops and install a government that will do America's bidding.

We must show decisively that these arangments that other governments are making to their benefit and in suport of Iraq were fruitless or we will be inviting more of this sort of profiteering against Americas policies in the future.

[My Favorite Headache]

Dude...do your own homework. I am not cruising the internet for your figures that you are in denial over. Check out www.LOC.GOV and have a looksee in there.

[fivecatsandadog]

``First of all we need moral, political and diplomatic support. Because Iraq knows how to defend itself,'' he said. ``The main thing for us is that American aggression does not go through the U.N. Security Council and that America does not receive a U.N. mandate. ... Let America act (alone) as an aggressor. It will be condemned from all sides.''

Khalaf said he saw no contradiction between Russia's friendship with Iraq and its ties with Washington, which have strengthened since the Sept. 11 attacks.

Guess it all depends on which way the wind blows on a particular day.

[A. Pole]

I am not cruising the internet for your figures that you are in denial over. Check out www.LOC.GOV and have a looksee in there.

OK, I search on this site and the proof for your outlandish claim of $25,000,000,000 help to Russia is not there. Your nose is getting longer and longer.

[I'm_With_Orwell]

This "deal" could also be just an attempt to make Russia look neutral towards the Islamic world and thereby reduce the threat of terrorism against Russia by Islamic radicals. It could also be a negotiating ploy to receive more debt repayments from the new Iraqi government that will follow the current regime.

It could also be that they are as poor as paupers, as corrupt as Clinton, and have more Islamic voters than any other democratic country on the planet.

This doesn't make it "a good thing" that they're selling anything bigger than a firecracker to those crazy Irani imams, but it goes some way to explaining it.

I don't mean to preach, but at the end of the First World War, the Allies went out of their way to destroy Germany financially and then proceeded to ignore it.

In 1933, H.G. Wells wrote:-

"...it will certainly return upon a still more disastrous scale in twenty or thirty years' time if no political unification anticipates and prevents it. States organized for war will make wars as surely as hens will lay eggs, but the feeling of these distressed and war-worn countries disregarded this fact, and the whole of the defeated peoples were treated as morally and materially responsible for all the damage, as they would no doubt have treated the victor people had the issue of the war been different."

He was right, but it wasn't 20-30 years, it was 6 years after he wrote these lines that another conflict returned. At the end of WWII, we had learned something and, rather than punishing two entire countries, we gave Germany and Japan every assistance to rebuild. Now look at them.

In 1989, after the fall of the Berlin Wall, the West left the former USSR without any substantial assistance in re-building a political and economic framework along Western lines.

Granted, re-building a country which stretched almost halfway around the World was a daunting task, but we seem to have forgotten the lessons learned from WWI.

Russia is now bankrupt, corrupt, desperate, envious and increasingly disenchanted with the indifference shown by Europe, America and others towards its plight.

Hitler was elected by popular vote as the last act of a starving people surrounded by relative prosperity. Russia is in a very similar position to the post-WWI Germany at the moment and is equally open to the prospect of a crazy, charismatic dictator making his move.

Russia selling the bomb to Iran (because there's no doubt that this is what they're doing) is not the concern, because Iran is not really the concern.

The worry is what this means about the desperation of Russia and the extent to which they just don't care what we say anymore.

If we continue to ignore this, Russia won't be a democracy for any longer than it takes for another Hitler to rise up through the ranks. Very scary!

[A. Pole]

It could also be that they are as poor as paupers, as corrupt as Clinton, and have more Islamic voters than any other democratic country on the planet.

This doesn't make it "a good thing" that they're selling anything bigger than a firecracker to those crazy Irani imams, but it goes some way to explaining it.

Maybe it is time to stop applying punitive anti-Soviet sanctions against Russia at the time when China and Saudies enjoy preferential trade with America? Why to force Russia to trade with others?

[Destro]

These Russians seem to be playing games with the U.S. Consider Putin/Russia's relationship with China and signing a friendship pact(ever wonder what they discuss in private concerning the U.S.?).

Actually everyone does and it happened under Yeltsin when Clinton was President.

It went something like this. Holy Spit! The USA has lost it's mind! Did you see that? They have used the pretext of an Islamic insurgency in Kosovo to prepare an invasion of Yugoslavia! Both us here in China and Russia are fighting these Muslim bastards and NATO may turn around and do the same thing to us. We are not as strong as we used to be commrades. Maybe India would like to join us? I mean they have been fighting Muslim insurgents too? Now with NATO dropping the self defense clause of its charter it can wage on offensive war fo rthe forst time and it will ignore the UN Security Council at will. We need to at least build a common front against this new threat.

I hope I jogged some memories of what Clinton's little war in Kosovo did.

[stuck_in_new_orleans]

I wonder if this could be done to make Russia look neutral OR maybe Iraq and Russia inks a deal and then Saddam goes down and then as compensation Russia would take some Iraqi oil fields and they could say, "But comrade, you owe us 40 billion!"

[Destro]

Maybe the USA should be asking Russia for economic assistance these days? Russian Cabinet OKs Draft Budget (Russia's third surplus budget)

[Destro]

Ever nation on Earth makes deals with Iraq some big some small. Even American companies are doing so as we speak.