As if we don't have enough to worry about......Kissinger & Putin?

[snappyturtle]

I have been away from DU a few days....only had time just to peek a bit! But, I found this earlier and if it's been posted please forgive. I find it quite interesting in light of the international political jigsaw puzzle of today. HAD to post it to see what y'all (do I sound Texan yet?) think.

www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=6365

Kissinger Secret Meeting with Putin

"When a political heavyweight, like Henry Kissinger, jets-off on a secret mission to Moscow; it usually shows up in the news.

Not this time.

This time the media completely ignored---or should we say censored—Kissinger’s trip to Russia and his meetings with Russian President Vladimir Putin. In fact, apart from a few short blurps in the Moscow Times and one measly article in the UK Guardian, no major news organization even covered the story. There hasn’t been as much as a peep out of anyone in the American media.

Nothing. That means the meetings were probably arranged by Dick Cheney. The secretive Veep doesn’t like anyone knowing what he’s up to.

Kissinger was accompanied on his junket by a delegation of high-powered political and corporate big-wigs including former Secretary of State George Schultz, former Treasury Secretary Robert Rubin, former Special Representative for Arms Control, Nonproliferation and Disarmament Ambassador Thomas Graham Jr., former Senator Sam Nunn and Chevron Chairman and Chief Executive Officer David O'Reilly.

Wow. Now, there’s an impressive line up.

The group was (presumably) sent to carry out official government business as discreetly as possible. The media obviously complied with White House requests and kept their mouths shut."

there's MORE at link! I wonder how all this behind the scenes goings on fits in. This was reported July 18th. There's a reference in the above article to a Times Online piece...I checked it out..basically about the RAF intercept.

[snappyturtle]

1. I'm talking to myself here. Self:" I find this very interesting."

Back to Self: "So do I!"

It will be interesting what others think about this and why we ( both selves) didn't hear anything about it and what Kissinger was 'up to'....what kind of message was being delivered to Putin? Bush must have sent them.....??? brb but in the meantime---discuss!

[CGowen]

11. Bush didn't send him, Kissinger is advising Bush not the other way round

http://www.rawstory.com/news/2006/Woodward_Henry_Kissinger_pays_regular_visits_0928.html


"One thing the book will tell us is that former Secretary of State and National Security Adviser Henry Kissinger is a regular visitor to President Bush," wrote Smith.

"The president likes to receive visits from Nixon's former and most famous aide, and he urges Dr. Kissinger to call him anytime he is in Washington," the column continued.

"This will come as a surprise to the many who think the president doesn't listen to anybody," Smith wrote.

[snappyturtle]

17. Thanks,,,,that's interesting.....they're both evil though! n/t

[poverlay]

2. There is definitely some weird and suspicious happenings with chimpy's

soul brother and his father's comrades.

[snappyturtle]

3. Yes! I think so too....thank you! Kissinger? Does he have a title

in this administration? Old crony? Former old crony? What? And he's negotiating with Putin? WT???

[poverlay]

8. There's so much going on that we don't know about. I firmly believe that most of the political game

we play is simply that: A game intended to distract and occupy while the "grownups"(Or whatever you like to call them.) run the world. All they have to do is deny, deny, deny. Not enough people would ever believe it, and they can easily discredit by labeling "conspiracy theorists", "crackpots", and "paranoid delusionists".
A simple strategy that gives them the breathing room they need to maintain power indefinitely. The "cronies", or whatever, are kept so close it's downright incestuous. Once a lackey, always a lackey...

[Bongo Prophet]

4. Odds are...Iran scenarios, most likely

Make sure to cut some deals in the 'Stans, and maybe some pipeline routes to boot.
Cuttin' some cake, as they say.

Good to know they are thinking proactively, huh.:grr:
Is that a decent guess, ya think?

Nice find, snappyturtle!:hi:
K und R.

[snappyturtle]

5. Thanks...I found it early this afternoon and couldn't get it out of my mind.

For those not inclined to read the short article, here's a snippet that addresses your "Iran scenarios"........

"The array of talent in Kissinger’s delegation suggests that the US and Russia are engaged in sensitive, high-level talks on issues ranging from nonproliferation and Missile Defense, to energy exploration and development, to the Iranian “enrichment” program and partitioning of Serbia (Kosovo), to the falling dollar and the massive US current account deficit. The US and Russia are at loggerheads on many of these issues and relations between the two countries has steadily deteriorated.

No one really knows what took place at the meetings, but judging by Kissinger’s parting remarks; things did not go smoothly. He said to one reporter, ``We appreciate the time that President Putin gave us and the frank manner in which he explained his point of view.”

[Bongo Prophet]

7. I see, it is more general than that. I jumped the gun a bit.

I had the article in another tab in my browser, but posted thoughts before heading to the store, and without reading it.
Guilty of doing something i have sighed at others for doing. Oopsie.
Still, this secret diplomacy using characters with known histories to us raises suspicions, does it not?
I am just an open government type personality i guess.
Interesting that Robert Rubin and Chevron rep is in the mix. the full cast implies more broad ranging deal-making going on.

Big picture stuff, no doubt.
The great game as they say.
oy.

[Selatius]

9. It sounds like Vladimir Putin told Cheney's handmaiden to get lost.

Putin has been burned by Bush on the ABM Treaty and again on a missile shield in Europe.

[bonito]

6. Kick n /t

[CGowen]

10. preventing WWIII or nuclear conflict, I hope

"I do not think that expansion is a problem of the period. The problem of the period is how to avoid nuclear conflict and in this case we believe that Russia and America should have common objectives."

http://en.rian.ru/russia/20070713/68933469.html

[snappyturtle]

19. I find that article interesting but I think the "peace topic" has little

to do with the meeting....it just sounds good to the public. Afterall, since when do we care about peace? I think they were meeting to discuss how to rape the world's resources and Russia's access to the artic.

[spanone]

12. Hasn't Kissinger fucked up this world enough?????

[DutchLiberal]

13. The only thing I keep asking myself whenever I read about Kissinger is:

Why is he not in jail for war crimes?

Oh, and same goes for Putin.

So, what we've got here is a meeting between two war criminals who both hold enormous power. So what else is new?

[dkofos]

18. Because he never travels to the wrong country.

[DutchLiberal]

21. I'm not sure I understand...

[dkofos]

22. Research

[CGowen]

23. I'm not sure but this could be it

With the recent declassification of Nixon and Ford administration documents relating to U.S. policy toward South America and East Timor, Kissinger has come under fire from certain journalists and human rights advocacy groups, both in the U.S. and abroad;<1> author and journalist Christopher Hitchens is prominent among them. Following the release of these documents, officials in France, Brazil, Chile, Spain, and Argentina have sought him for questioning in connection with suspected war crimes such as Operation Condor, hindering his travel abroad.<2>

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_Kissinger






In late 2001, the Brazilian government canceled an invitation for Kissinger to speak in Sao Paulo because it could no longer guarantee his immunity. Earlier this year, a London court agreed to hear an application for Kissinger's imprisonment on war crimes charges while he was briefly in the United Kingdom. It is known that there are many countries to which he cannot travel at all, and it is also known that he takes legal advice before traveling anywhere. Does the Bush administration feel proud of appointing a man who is wanted in so many places, and wanted furthermore for his association with terrorism and crimes against humanity? Or does it hope to limit the scope of the inquiry to those areas where Kissinger has clients?
http://www.slate.com/?id=2074678

[DutchLiberal]

27. Aha, thanks! But I think it's SO dumb they only NOW are seeking him.

This was known for years and years! Nobody can tell me they were surprised when they read the released CIA-files, or just now understands Kissinger's role.

[Subdivisions]

14. David O'Reilly?

Ummm...why is an oil company exec on a mission of State?

[snappyturtle]

16. Best I could tell it's about natural gas.....but I too think it's "odd",

to say the least, that an oil company person would be along on the trip.

I'm certain it's part of our national, or should I say 'homeland'(?), security policy! :sarcasm:

[Wednesdays]

15. It's an oil deal, I'm sure

They're negotiating for Russian oil, trying to get the price to plummet for a year or so. Lower gas prices mean far better prospects for the GOP in 2008.

[snappyturtle]

20. The last few paragraphs of the article show a larger political

picture of the meeting(this is the author's viewpoint):

"America’s preeminence in the world depends to great extend on its ability to control the global economic system. That system requires that the dollar continue to be linked to oil reserves. But everywhere the petrodollar is under attack. The only solution is to control two-thirds of the world’s remaining petroleum –which is in the Caspian Basin—and demand payment in dollars.

But that plan has failed. The war in Iraq is lost and the longer America stays, the harder the fall will be. Oil will not continue to be traded in petrodollars, the USD will lose its place as the world’s “reserve currency”, and America will slide into a long and agonizing economic downturn.

The machinations and secret “shuttle diplomacy” of Kissinger and his cohorts will amount to nothing. The situation is irreversible. Geography is fate.

We need to extend the olive branch to Russia and prepare for the inevitable shifting of world power. In the meantime we need to withdrawal from Iraq and let the inescapable struggle for political power begin. Our presence only increases the violence.

American leadership can still be salvaged if we eradicate the cancer that has infected the body-politic and restore the principles of republican government. But that won’t be easy. The small cadres of ruling elites who control policy are driven by a force more powerful than the procreative urge or even the will to survive. They are overwhelmed by a sense of “entitlement”---the fanatical belief that they were born to run the world. This is the rich man’s fundamentalism.

The only way the US can play a productive role in the world’s future, and participate in the species-threatening decisions which face us all (global warming, peak oil, nuclear proliferation, famine, disease) is by removing this poisonous element from our political life and holding them accountable for their long list of crimes. Otherwise our confrontations with Russia, Venezuela, Iran and others will become increasingly uncontrollable and violent causing suffering and death on an unimaginable scale.

It’s up to us.

Mike Whitney is a frequent contributor to Global Research. Global Research Articles by Mike Whitney

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

[snappyturtle]

24. Kick! n/t

[CGowen]

25. more on Putin

http://www.ft.com/cms/s/a77af2ba-177c-11dc-86d1-000b5df10621.html

Putin calls for new financial world order
..

His speech on financial institutions suggested that, along with an aggressive recent campaign against US “unilateralism” in foreign policy, he was also seeking to challenge western dominance of the world economic order.

Mr Putin said 50 years ago, 60 per cent of world gross domestic product came from the Group of Seven industrial nations. Today, 60 per cent of world GDP came from outside the G7.

“The interests of stable economic development would be best served by a new architecture of international economic relations based on trust and mutually beneficial integration,” Mr Putin said.

...



Putin draws parallels between U.S. and Nazi Germany

MOSCOW — Who was President Vladimir Putin talking about when he said the world faces threats to peace like those that led to World War II?

Putin's statement at a Victory Day parade on Red Square on Wednesday was artfully phrased to be both blunt and vague — but political observers have little doubt he was criticizing the United States for "disrespect for human life, claims to global exclusiveness and dictate, just as it was in the time of the Third Reich."

While Putin didn't name any particular country in the speech marking the 1945 defeat of Nazi Germany, the remarks echoed his increasingly strong criticism of the perceived U.S. domination in global affairs.

Political analysts close to the Kremlin say that Putin referred to the United States in his remarks, expressing Russia's dismay at what it views as U.S. unilateralism in world affairs and disrespect for other countries' interests.

"Hitler was striving for global domination, and the United States is striving for global domination now," Sergei Markov, the Kremlin-connected head of the Moscow-based Institute for Political Research told The Associated Press. "Hitler thought he was above the League of Nations, and the United States thinks it is above the United Nations. Their action is similar."

...
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/nationworld/2003701305_webputin10.html



Russia's Wrong Direction

Fifteen years after the collapse of the Soviet Union, “U.S.-Russia relations are clearly headed in the wrong direction,” finds an Independent Task Force on U.S. policy toward Russia sponsored by the Council on Foreign Relations. “Contention is crowding out consensus. The very idea of a ‘strategic partnership’ no longer seems realistic,” it concludes.

..

The Task Force notes significant recent economic progress in Russia. “Between 2000 and 2004 the number of Russians living below the government’s poverty line dropped from forty-two million to twenty-six million. The national unemployment rate—over 10 percent in 2000—is now about 7 percent ... a middle class appears to be emerging.”

...

http://www.cfr.org/publication/9997/

[snappyturtle]

26. Thank you! n/t

[donkeyotay]

28. It's about oil/gas and where in the new world order to put pooty poot

after he retires. Remember Yukos oil? Putin does. UpInArms had some links a while back about some of the intrigue that's been going on behind the scenes in a fight over Russian assets. Abramoff also lobbied for some Russians, but I think that was gas. I think Putin is jockeying for his retirement. Which private equity gang will he work for?