US reaping whirlwind of resurgent Russia

[NNN0LHI]

http://www.khaleejtimes.ae/DisplayArticleNew.asp?xfile=data/theworld/2007/July/theworld_July568.xml§ion=theworld

WASHINGTON - Barely three weeks have passed since the United States and Russia angled to patch up their differences at a ‘lobster summit’ and already new strains have exploded into the open.

Since the meeting between presidents George W. Bush and Vladimir Putin, Russia has suspended a treaty limiting conventional forces in Europe while it is now locked in a diplomatic standoff with staunch US ally Britain.

And Moscow has issued a veiled threat to deploy rockets on the European Union’s border in response to US missile defence plans, throwing oil on the fire of the biggest escalation in tensions since the Cold War.

For all the bonhomie he likes to project into his encounters with Putin, Bush stands accused of missing serial opportunities for better relations by unnecessarily antagonizing Russia. snip

Putin was brushed aside when he rallied to the US cause after the September 11 attacks of 2001, pundits say. Weeks after those strikes, Bush announced that the United States was abandoning the Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty.

The US withdrawal from the ABM pact, a cornerstone of attempts to prevent the Cold War from turning hot, allowed Bush to press ahead with his anti-missile defence scheme -- a decision that is now coming home to roost.

[JeffR]

1. We ( largely) paid for that resurgent Russia

As always, we didn't get the extended warranty on what we bought...

[MatrixEscape]

2. Russia ...

actually wanted to cut back on the entire nuclear game because it could not financially support it and America declined.

Any nuclear arms race we have today, or might face in the future, is the choice of the American powers that be. We cannot, and should not, blame Russia for what is clearly an American power-play in a time when one would think that MAD would be the dominate, unarguable issue.

And yet, in Orwell's world view, the dominant parties or controlling interests simply play these issues before the public in order to profit and divert the production of many in order to serve the prevalent and compelling,desires of a few. If you don't see that yet and respond to it as a majority, then the result you and yours will experience will be shocking and unavoidable!

The writing has always been on the wall. Today, it is getting so clear and observable that that response of the other side is getting more synthetically optimistic and gadget-filled that you could not help seeing what side you are on if only you were able to ask the question about what side you should be on for your own best interests.

[spirald]

3. Regression

This administration is determined not only to bring us back to the dark ages, but to re-experience every major conflict that has occurred since then. We're losing civil rights, enduring a Vietnam-like quagmire, re-entering the Cold War. What's next, a world war? A great depression? A repeat of the civil war? A fight for independence from King George? A crusade to Jerusalem? These possibilities should be preposterous, yet they are unfortunately resonant right now, however remote the probability. This is the road to hell if there is one.

[Swamp Rat]

4. Welcome to DU!

:hi: