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Russia planes rush to Greek fires
BBC NEWS ^ | 2007/07/26 17:29:01 GMT | BBC NEWS

Posted on 07/27/2007 7:56:55 PM PDT by JohnA

Russia is to send firefighting aircraft to help Greece combat forest fires raging amid record high temperatures.

Five aircraft will be sent to Greece on Friday in response to an appeal by Prime Minister Costas Karamanlis, Russia's Itar-Tass news agency said.

Greek emergency crews are fighting fires in at least 15 parts of the country, officials said. There are also fires in Bulgaria, Italy and Macedonia.

Hundreds of people have died in sweltering heat in South-East Europe.

Cooler weather is expected to arrive over the weekend.

'Difficult situation'

Prime Minister Karamanlis earlier telephoned Russian President Vladimir Putin asking for help in fighting the fires.

According to Itar-Tass, Russian aircraft due to arrive in Greece include the Il-76 "water bomber", capable of discharging 42 tonnes of water from the air.

Other aircraft reportedly in the group include an amphibious plane and three helicopters, each capable of carrying of five tonnes of water.

Russia has already sent a firefighting helicopter to Greece, the agency says.

Already this summer, Greece has been supplied with extra firefighting planes from its European Union partners, the BBC's Malcolm Brabant reports from Athens.

Greece faces "a particularly difficult situation" because of the "simultaneous appearance of a large number of forest fires and unprecedented weather conditions", Mr Karamanlis' office said.

The worst blazes in Greece were reported near Aegio in the south, on the island of Cephallonia and near the border with Macedonia and Albania.

Hundreds of people, including tourists, have been evacuated from areas at risk from fires in the Peloponnese and Cephallonia.

At least two people died after being trapped in fires in Greece on Wednesday.

One of the biggest blazes, near the southern town of Aegio, destroyed homes in at least eight villages and forced the temporary closure of the highway linking Athens to the port of Patras.

Greece's electricity grid has been close to breaking point as demand has soared. Searing temperatures have also evaporated rivers used to create hydro-electric power.

The authorities have urged people to limit their use of air conditioners to avoid putting a strain on electricity supplies.

Meanwhile in northern Europe, the UK has seen unseasonably heavy rainfall and severe flooding.

South-East Europe's heat and the UK's wet weather have both been blamed on changes in the jet stream - a seasonal band of air from the Atlantic that has taken a more southerly path across Europe this year.

SUMMER 2006 In a 'normal' summer, the Atlantic jet stream directs areas of low pressure, which bring cloud and rain, to the north of the UK. High pressure systems over Europe and the Atlantic bring warm, settled conditions. Pressure chart: 29/6/06. Source: Met Office

SUMMER 2007 This summer, the jet stream is flowing further south, allowing low pressure systems to sweep straight over the centre of Britain. It is also pulling in warmer air from the sub-tropics and Africa, which is sweeping over south-eastern Europe. Pressure chart: 24/07/07. Source: Met Office


TOPICS: Foreign Affairs; Government; Russia
KEYWORDS: greece; il76; waterbomber; wildfires

1 posted on 07/27/2007 7:56:57 PM PDT by JohnA
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To: JohnA
In Greece the Communists are very influential. Even today you’ll see Communist literature, graffiti, etc everywhere. The Greeks are so-so. It’s no coincidence that Greece looks to Russia. Hell, the Greek civil war which lasted into the 50s was more or less a communist insurgency post WWII not much unlike Iraq today! In fact we intervened in Greece pretty significantly beginning with Harry Truman in 1947. Even today Greece is not only very left leaning, but awash with communist radical groups bent on overthrowing the government. The terrorist attack on the US embassy in Athens this year was an attack by one such group.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/16587785

http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory?id=2821793

http://www.cnn.com/2007/WORLD/europe/01/12/athens.blast/index.html

This quickly faded from the radar of the MSM, but Greece is not safe, nor is it even really stable, and the Communist undertones and movements in that country run very strong. Putin quickly jumping on an opportunity like this disaster is no coincidence. This is about influence and perceptions. It’s a courting more so than any real help.

2 posted on 07/27/2007 9:28:15 PM PDT by Red6 (Come and take it.)
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To: JohnA

“Other aircraft reportedly in the group include an amphibious plane and three helicopters, each capable of carrying of five tonnes of water.”

Water on a grease fire? They need to put a lid on it.


3 posted on 07/27/2007 9:52:44 PM PDT by hiho hiho
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To: Red6

In Greece Orthodox Christians are very influential.

Under Putin’s influence the Russian Orthodox Church canonized the last Tsar and his family. Putin was the first Russian head of state to visit Mount Athos while in office—no Tsar ever did.

This is Orthodox solidarity, not a Cold War hold over.

Yes, yes, I know, because Russia only has Sunni Muslim enemies, they get to play balance-of-power politics using the Iranian lunatics as a counter-weight to the US. Of course they haven’t used military power to steal Western Christian or Western secularist land to give to the Muslims like we have stolen Orthodox land in Serbia and Bosnia to give to Muslims, so maybe complaining that they make money selling arms to the Iranian the way we make money selling arms to the Saudis is a bit off-base.


4 posted on 07/27/2007 11:38:49 PM PDT by The_Reader_David (And when they behead your own people in the wars which are to come, then you will know. . .)
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To: Red6
Politics aside, this isn't the first time IL-76 waterbombers have seen action on Greek fires. Last time it was called out; 1998; it was called the aircraft that saved Athens and a miracle.

Next time Greece has fires, you will likely have a fleet of DC-10 waterbombers. If you have as much luck deploying those as you've had with pipeline deals with Greece, you'll not be deploying DC-10s.

As the world develops an appetite for v-large waterbombers, the cream will rise to the top. Good luck with the duct tape and crew training refresher course.
5 posted on 07/28/2007 4:18:51 AM PDT by JohnA
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To: Red6

You just cannot view Greek Politics in terms of Communists and AntiCommunists. The Communists got waxed years ago.. They don’t want a repeat engagement.. But they are open and active.. (Just as the Communist/Socialist Sacks are here in the US (universities,media, etc..) The media just portrays them differently.

Greece is the only EU Country that requires one to state their faith on the National ID Card.. There is but one Mosque is Greece and has been since the Greeks defeated the Turks. The Greek Army is a Christian Army well organized and maintained..The Turks spend their days quite aware that Greece has a more robust and capable Amphibious Assault capability in the region than even the US could generate.

Greece is a mixed bag just like US.

W


6 posted on 07/28/2007 8:46:34 AM PDT by WLR
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To: The_Reader_David

Sure, this is about religion. /sarc

Russia is a secular state. Mr. Putin, the KGB agent, doesn’t give a rat’s ass about your religion, except that it matters to you and people like you, making this is an angle that can be worked.

This is all about Cold War; it always has been; during the insurgency 1944-1949 when the Soviets and Yugoslavia were backing the Communists in Greece. All through the 60s while not in outright civil war, Greece was a far cry from stable, with the primary cause of problems being leftist organizations, many sponsored from outside.

Russia today wants to reestablish itself as a power and is actively seeking to increase its sphere of influence. From the Republic of Georgia, Ukraine, or Kyrgyzstan this is obviously visible. There are dead former intelligence officers scattered throughout Europe that didn’t play ball, even though some don’t want to see that either. Maybe it’s their withdraw from the Conventional Forces Europe treaty that should be a clue, maybe it’s their new military build up, or their massive increase in intelligence activity in Western Europe and North America that should clue you in. I can give you an endless list of indicators. Greece is powerfully left leaning with people like Papandreou and even former hard line communists or former terrorists in government like Vafiadis.

Bottom line: The Soviet Union and today Russia seek to eliminate Greek and Turkish security ties to NATO and to the United States. If not outright break these links, through Greece and Turkey Russia can have greater influence within NATO and the EU. Both of these nations and especially Greece are easy targets with a high probability of success as well as payoff for them. The efforts since 1945 have all centered on diplomatic, economic, propagandistic and clandestine means to bring about these results. ALL indicators support my position. And I’m sorry, NOTHING has changed, not one single thing, although people like you don’t see that today either.


7 posted on 07/28/2007 9:15:13 PM PDT by Red6 (Come and take it.)
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To: Red6

You should read a biography of Putin that was published in The Atlantic Monthly a few years back. Even before the fall of Communism, there seems to have been an internal debate in the KGB whether or not state atheism hadn’t been a hideous mistake. It’s clear which side Putin was on. Putin’s conversion to Holy Orthodoxy followed almost immediately almost losing his family in a fire at their dacha, and is considered deep and sincere by observers who know him well, including some very spiritually perceptive monastic elders.

Putin gives considerably more than a ‘rat’s ass’ about my, and his religion: he makes his confession and communes regularly, asked the blessing of the Patriarch of Moscow upon assuming office each term, makes pilgrimages to monasteries and keeps the fasts. When visiting Bush in Crawford during Great Lent, he refused the proffered steaks because of the fast, and obliged his host to find something within the canons (I think Bush managed to throw some shrimp on the barbie as they say Down Under). He was instrumental in the return of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside Russsia to the Patriarchate (and thus full communion with the rest of Holy Orthodoxy).

Russia reestablishing its natural sphere of influence—over the Orthodox Christian countries and the Muslim areas that Tsars and commisars alike had kept in check—is a good thing. Unless, of course, you support the state-atheism-lite of George Soros and his pals, or think replacing the original version of Christianity, Holy Orthodoxy, with the thin, Christianity as an ideology based on a text, of that historical-latecomer ‘evangelical’ protestantism is a good thing. The West seems content to throw the Orthodox to the jihadi crocodile in hope of being eaten last, as our behavior in Bosnia and Kosovo plainly shows. Having a Russian state that again acts as the Tsars did, as protector of the Orthodox, is in the long run a good thing for the West, even if a lot in the West don’t see it. Of course, from the attitude expressed in your posts, perhaps you’re part of that problem.


8 posted on 07/29/2007 8:06:32 AM PDT by The_Reader_David (And when they behead your own people in the wars which are to come, then you will know. . .)
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To: The_Reader_David
Yea, and Paris Hilton found God while incarcerated as well.

You’re a waste of my time, and frankly, you make my point without even realizing it.

“Putin gives considerably more than a ‘rat’s ass’ about my, and his religion: he makes his confession and communes regularly, asked the blessing of the Patriarch of Moscow upon assuming office each term, makes pilgrimages to monasteries and keeps the fasts. When visiting Bush in Crawford during Great Lent, he refused the proffered steaks because of the fast, and obliged his host to find something within the canons (I think Bush managed to throw some shrimp on the barbie as they say Down Under). He was instrumental in the return of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside Russsia to the Patriarchate (and thus full communion with the rest of Holy Orthodoxy).”

Sure, Putin is a real Christian AND a communist KGB agent..... lol

9 posted on 07/29/2007 2:31:01 PM PDT by Red6 (Come and take it.)
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To: Red6

You’re a waste of my time. Your attempt to tar the man who reestablished Christian education in Russian schools as still a communist makes me wonder what kind of Red your screen name refers to.


10 posted on 07/29/2007 4:02:06 PM PDT by The_Reader_David (And when they behead your own people in the wars which are to come, then you will know. . .)
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To: Red6
Red6, I take it you have not been up to date with Russian News lately:

Putin's Reunited Russian Church.

Kremlin mobilizes youth to bolster Putin's cause: Russian Church urges youth to strengthen interethnic peace as main basis of Russia’s stability.

Even blind SueMary can see this move by Russia was more Orthodoxy related then Communism

11 posted on 07/30/2007 11:39:03 AM PDT by apro
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