Posted on 11/16/2001 1:16:57 PM PST by bert
W and Vladimir are getting along great and embedded in the Afghani war is the greatest event of the centuary so far. America and Russia are friends.
I remember this too. I must be just a few years younger than you... I remember taking part in these drills once or twice in kindergarten (we never had any more drills after that). It was a frightening experience, just the thought of the "big, bad Russians" launching a nuclear attack on us... several of my classmates cried during the drills. We have certainly come a long way from those days!
You do not get this kind of interaction between leaders who dislike each other. The bonding between W and Putin is a very positive thing - a very STABILIZING thing - which is happening not out of calculation, but simply because W believes in the goodness of everyone he meets until proven otherwise.
If you think W has his plate full, you ought to size up what PUTIN has to deal with. He's got a nation full of corruption, low tax collections, rampant organize crime, a crew of screaming left-wing communist hardliners on one side and several factions to his right. He has a nation of people so very unprepared for capitalism that they literally don't know what to do next. And he has a horrendous lack of capital, despite a wealth of natural resources. That man has a VERY full plate indeed.
To see the two of them together is a glimpse of a portion of the world's makeup of the next 20 years. There is about to be a total realignment of all the world's powers.
I said in another thread a couple of weeks ago that a world map of 20 years hence would be almost unrecognizeable from today's political maps. Amended. I make it FIVE. Changes in Iran. Changes in Iraq. New, for-the-moment stable government in A'stan. Changes in P'stan. Changes in Saudi Arabia. Israel is the wild card. Ringo will meet a fate, and the dynamics will change.
I have the ultimate faith in this administration. Said it 2 years ago. Stand by it today.
Michael
Will one out of two help any? This was on the Putins arrival at Bush's ranch yesterday ..... on their way from the helicopter to the pick-up truck.
This meeting in Crawford is one of the most remarkable events in American history ..... it is incredible! And the appearance at the school today was just wonderful!
you have got it right. Russia has no way to go but up. They have hit the bottom. The corrupt are rich and may not be the problem they have been for the last 10 years.
The value of the W/Vlad friendship being conveyed can not be calculated either in $$$ or world opinion. The value is incalculatable.
He has a nation of people who have been "dumbed down" for generations. When I was in Moscow in the 80s, every intersection in that huge city that had a stop light had a kiosk with 4 guys in uniforms sitting there deciding when to change the lights. Very productive use of manpower.
Wanna bet? I'll just bet the DU will find a way to spin it, and if not, they'll just make it up.
:-) :-) :-)!!!!
:-) :-) :-)!!!!
Mega-dittoes to that!!!
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