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Belarus Says to Prepare Against U.S. Attack
Reuters ^
| December 26, 2003
| Reuters
Posted on 12/27/2003 5:21:37 PM PST by Land_of_Lincoln_John
MINSK (Reuters) - President Alexander Lukashenko, isolated by the West for his lack of political and economic reforms, said on Friday Belarus must be prepared to defend itself against U.S. attack.
Lukashenko, once called Europe's last dictator by U.S. officials, has criticized Washington's military campaign against Iraq, saying it had created a precedent whereby undesirable leaders could be unseated with military force.
"Belarus has to be vigilant and pay particular attention to strengthening its fighting efficiency. The world has returned to times when war and brute force were real instruments of foreign policy," Official news agency BelTA quoted him as saying.
"The United States declared its particular right to use military force toward countries that dare to implement independent foreign and internal policies," he said.
Washington and the European Union, which will share a border with Belarus when it absorbs Poland, Latvia and Lithuania next year, have criticized Lukashenko for breaching human rights, cracking down on the opposition, suppressing demonstrations and having a poor record on press freedom.
Belarus, an impoverished former Soviet country of 10 million, had achieved considerable progress in reforming its armed forces, Lukashenko said, pledging to increase state financing for the military next year.
"We are not going to do any saber-rattling. We are not going to threaten anybody. We are talking only about defending our motherland," he said.
TOPICS: Foreign Affairs; News/Current Events; Russia
KEYWORDS: belarus; centralasia; dictators; lukashenko
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To: Land_of_Lincoln_John
Belarus today. France tomorrow.
21
posted on
12/27/2003 6:36:48 PM PST
by
Drango
(Democratic fundraising....If PBS won't do it, who will?)
Comment #22 Removed by Moderator
To: Land_of_Lincoln_John
"criticized Washington's military campaign against Iraq, saying it had created a precedent whereby undesirable leaders could be unseated with military force."
Obviously, he has never heard of Hitler, Mussolini, Tojo, Napoleon, Cromwell, etc.; to say nothing of those such as Somoza and Batista who were curiously exempt from the sacrosanct status the left assigns to other dictators.
23
posted on
12/27/2003 6:52:32 PM PST
by
atomic conspiracy
( Progressives: Vote Green! Nader/Kaczynski '04!)
To: thoughtomator
Dictator-looking-for-some-threat,-any-possible-threat,-to-get-his-people-to-rally-behind-him alert...
To: Land_of_Lincoln_John
I think Belaurus is protected from attack by virtue of the fact that most people forgot it existed.
25
posted on
12/27/2003 6:54:23 PM PST
by
BCrago66
To: Land_of_Lincoln_John
Like the Mouse that Roared... A good way to get aid (when the lose the war ;)
26
posted on
12/27/2003 6:59:08 PM PST
by
Libertina
(I got a time out for forgetting my tagline...)
To: John Beresford Tipton
Is the Bishop of East Anglia involved in any way? If so, they could be in over their heads.
27
posted on
12/27/2003 7:01:18 PM PST
by
babaloo999
(Zionist troll since 2001)
To: Land_of_Lincoln_John
Troop of Boy Scouts should be able to do the job in a week or so.
28
posted on
12/27/2003 7:07:54 PM PST
by
vladog
To: Land_of_Lincoln_John
How many nukes does Belarus control?
29
posted on
12/27/2003 7:12:00 PM PST
by
mac_truck
(Aide toi et dieu l’aidera)
To: Land_of_Lincoln_John
He is an admirer of Joseph Stalin. The only way that man will leave is via a bullet to the head or poison for the heart.
To: baltodog
I'm one of those who never knew it existed. When I saw the name I thought it was the name of the creator of the TV series JAG.
31
posted on
12/27/2003 7:17:48 PM PST
by
pctech
To: Land_of_Lincoln_John
Washington's military campaign against Iraq ... had created a precedent whereby undesirable leaders could be unseated with military force. Yeah. We wouldn't want THAT, would we?
32
posted on
12/27/2003 7:55:36 PM PST
by
IronJack
To: All
LOL, sounds like the Argentine "Malvinas Syndrome." Things are going crappy on the homefront, or someone does not know that the old ways of commie-ism have past away in Europe, behold all government things have become new," i.e., democratic, so let's look for enemies abroad. Yeah, right. No democratic nation has to fear attack by the US, unless you are doing something to merit that attack. Uh, what are you doing that would invite an attack, Ivan???
33
posted on
12/27/2003 8:08:34 PM PST
by
Malcolm
(not on the bandwagon, but not contrary for contrary's sake either)
To: Land_of_Lincoln_John
We have hosted a young girl (11) from Belarus for the last 2 summers. It is a program through ABRO (the American Belarussian Relief Organization) www.abro.org
They bring over 600 children to the US each summer for 6 weeks to give their bodies a break from the radiation. Over 60% or Chernobyl radiation fell in Belarus. I can tell you from what this girl shared with us that the Belarussian people are pro-American, They love Bush and believe him to be a good man and they do not like Lukashenko.
To: Land_of_Lincoln_John
Makes you wonder what they're up to that they're trying so hard to hide... are they selling old Soviet nukes on the black market?
To: mac_truck
As of July 1996, a total of 63 of the initial 81 single-warhead mobile SS-25 Topol missiles, had been withdrawn, with the remaining 18 yet to be removed to Russia. However, Belarusian President Alyaksandr Lukashenka announced that Belarus would suspend the withdrawal of nuclear missiles from Belarus to Russia. Lukashenka said the decision to withdraw the weapons was a political mistake made by the previous leadership, and that it was unnecessary since Belarus and Russia may soon unite. The weapons had been dismantled and were no longer a military threat, and were finally returned to Russia in late November 1996.
Belarus became a non-nuclear weapons state in November 1996.
Belarus special weapons
To: babaloo999
"Is the Bishop of East Anglia involved"
Oh, Oh,
The Angles too?
A nasty bunch:
some of them are right and some of them are obtuse, but very few are sharp or acute.
To: jimtorr
"why does cargo go by ship, and a shipment goes by car?"
Because people got tired of waiting for the arrival of the non-stop flight of the air freight company.
38
posted on
12/27/2003 9:31:49 PM PST
by
GladesGuru
(In a society predicated upon liberty, it is essential to examine principles - -)
To: Land_of_Lincoln_John
Alexander Lukashenko + 1 Bunker Buster bomb = No more dictators in Europe.
39
posted on
12/27/2003 10:08:09 PM PST
by
jagrmeister
(I'm not a conservative. I don't seek to conserve, I seek to reform.)
To: DefCon
I think Gallager, in the best tradition of comedians worldwide, stole that routine from George Carlin.
My favorite bit from '90's comedians is, "I'm a bit of a phsycic. I can see the future, but only way out to the sides. I'm a peripheral visionary." That comic, whose name I can't remember right now, gets my award for comedic word play.
40
posted on
12/28/2003 4:31:34 AM PST
by
jimtorr
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