Posted on 04/27/2006 5:42:57 PM PDT by blam
'Russia has left the western orbit'
Missile deals with the 'axis of evil' are just the latest sign that Moscow is sick of kowtowing to the US and Europe, writes Tom Parfitt
Thursday April 27, 2006
Moscow could be on the verge of clinching an arms deal with Syria or Iran that would send the US and Israel into pop-eyed rage. A few days ago a Russian arms manufacturer let slip at an arms fair in Kuala Lumpur that his state-run weapons design bureau was close to sealing a foreign sale of Iskander-E missiles. The destination of the hardware was secret, he said, but the most obvious market is clear: the Middle East.
Last year, Israel was furious when it emerged that Moscow was planning to sell the Iskander to Damascus. The Iskander is like the Scuds that Iraq used during the Gulf war but many times more accurate and better equipped to avoid defensive weapons such as the Patriot missile. Syria - part of George Bush's "axis of evil" - would love to be able to trundle some of these short-range ballistic missiles (range: 180 miles) down to its southern border to point at Israel in the event of a conflict.
No doubt the Iranian regime of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is also itching to get its hands on some of these weapons - whose sale is not restricted by any treaty. Earlier this month Iran tested an underwater missile that looked suspiciously like a Russian Shkval.
President Vladimir Putin, under pressure from the Israeli prime minister, Ariel Sharon, was forced to step in and reverse the Syrian missile deal. These days, one might surmise, he would not give a fig.
Everything about Russia's stance in the international arena suggests a new confidence that radiates "don't bully me".
(Excerpt) Read more at guardian.co.uk ...
What a shame - Russia had the potential to join the rest of the civilized world - now its reverted back to debased thuggery.
(IBTRWC)
I believe it's all being done with Bush's knowledge and approval...with a wink and a nod. Goad them on!
It's the only way we're going to put an end to this crap. Gives us a reason to use our latest weapons...for N. Korea and China to see.
[ removes tin-foil hat ]
The Guardian always reads like it's written by children.
To refrain from selling to thug regimes is not "kowtowing" and its odd that anyone would think it was. Its odder yet that anyone would want to sell advanced weaponry to thug regimes.
They were never in it, Despite Peter the Great's attempt to open a "window on the West" they were never part of what is considered The West.
Russia was never in the western orbit they have always supported the worst people on earth.
Time to dust the old ICBM's off round two! Ding Ding!
That's a chess move not a checkers move. Bush is a checkers player.
Russia has never, repeat never, been a part of the civilized world. Its people only think they have. The great 19th Century argument between the Slavophiles and the Westernizers was no contest. The Slavophile know-nothings won hands down. In case one is tempted to think I am too harsh, try reading the accounts of the Russian court in the 19th Century. Then follow that with the Gulag Archipelago. Then read a biography of the nasty piece of goods who is running the show now. What is happening in Russia is only to be expected, and it seems to prove that the pollyanna Condoleeza Rice learned nothing by her study of Russia and the Soviet Empire.
LOL! I saw Dennis Miller too!
You had me going till that little snidebit.
WTH is Putin thinking? Didn't he learn anything from the school massacre by the Chechnyans?
Extend NATO right up to Russia's own damn doorstep. Put missile bases in Ukraine and Estonia. **** the Russians.
"Russia has left the Western Orbit"
They never entered.
Pushing Ukraine too fast could damage relations inside of it, and could backfire with the Russians taking over. Treat Ukraine like a neutral country for now, until it's political problems resolve themselves. (Another Yushenko win with a full sweepout of the Yaknovuche and pro-Russia parties would suffice)
Much of Russia is more like the Wild West or the Robber Baron era than it is a modern society.
Col Putin marches on with his new "neo-Soviet Union".
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