[Cuttnhorse]

Excellent article

"Kim realized that there was no way to force the United States to talk to him tete-a-tete about a non-aggression pact; also, as knowledgeable people in Pyongyang are whispering, he was very much impressed by the success and especially the swiftness of the US military operation in Iraq."

[The Great Satan]

Hot damn, Putin is really taking it in the shorts from Bush now for his treachery, isn't he? Washington is "clearly hinting" that it "might" no longer consider Russia part of the "so-called G8" group and -- wait, there's more! -- Russia may not be invited to North Korean arms talks. Wow! Still, since the Daily Telegraph has reported that Putin was brazenly offering Saddam lists of contract killers he could use to assassinate Western leaders during the run up to our invasion, I guess this is the least Bush could do under the circumstances.

[Cuttnhorse]

The blow delivered by Beijing to the Kremlin's self-esteem is equally serious. I like it when these two are not getting along.

[Batrachian]

I should hope that there is more of a price to pay than just what is stated in this article. For example, now that Saddam is gone and we (hopefully) have a friendly regime in Iraq, there is no pressure to help Russia modernize its crummy oil industry.

We have to let the Axis of Weasels know in the strongest terms that there is a price to pay for stabbing the U.S. in the back, especially for the reasons that it was done in this case.

[TenthAmendmentChampion]

All I can say is, "Neener!" :-P

[ET(end tyranny)]

Parts that make you go hmmmmm

First of all, Moscow believed that as one of the best foreign buddies of North Korea's Dear Leader Kim Jong-il,

China is also the only country in the world that renders real economic assistance to the Pyongyang regime and, besides, has a military treaty with North Korea.

Parts that make you go... LOL

The clear signal from Washington and humiliating message to the Russian leadership is that from now on Washington will deal only with real political players, not has-beens or wannabes.

As for Russia, it seems that Moscow has overplayed its hand, and now it is paying the price.

C'est la vie, Monsieur Putin....