Russia is at it again!

[Shadow]

I'm sure Russia will spin this one and blame the charging tiger on Georgia. Or perhaps he will claim the US armed that tiger. It was attacking Russians, and Putin has pledged to protect Russians wherever they may be. God bless the savior. 

No no not that. This is clearly a threat of Putin that he will diasble the Baltic tiger soon. 

By the way the story is as follows : The film crew and Putin were in a wildpark. The tiger was already sedated, in order o get a collar for tracking, but he woke up too early. Putin shot the tiger with a tranquillizer and it went back to sleep.
If any of you have seen a cat after a narcosis, you will know that they are having major problems with balance and speed.
So while not without danger when close, the tiger would in the first couple of minutes be easily avoided.

After the tiger was sleeping he got a good night kiss from Putin. Or, if the FSB/Mafia conspiracy is true, that kiss may have had another meaning

[wxman]

I heard that Dick Cheney was there too. He was shooting the reporters that were not writing the correct story, while Putin was shooting that charging tiger. 

[Ronnie]

That may be the true story but the real story as far as the Russian viewing public was concerned is that Putin saved the TV crew with quick thinking and uncanny marksmanship.

 

[BC]

That may be the true story but the real story as far as the Russian viewing public was concerned is that Putin saved the TV crew with quick thinking and uncanny marksmanship.

 

And what's wrong with that?  He's probably a good marksman and with his martial arts skills is surely able to think quick on his feet.

[Ronnie]

Brian, I see you've joined the Vlad Putin fan club.  I think I did see a  photo of him in a martial arts uniform once.  As I recall there were no other men in the photo...
Apparently he couldn't get footwear fitted with heel lifts.

Oh, I just found this photo taken of Putin standing next t Angela Merkel,  Putin was whispering, "Anzhela, you promised me you'd wear flats today!"  To which Frau Merkel burst out in laughter.

[wxman]

Putin was using his famous crouching tiger routine to subdue that tiger. 

[BC]

Brian, I see you've joined the Vlad Putin fan club.  I think I did see a  photo of him in a martial arts uniform once.  As I recall there were no other men in the photo...
Apparently he couldn't get footwear fitted with heel lifts.

Oh, I just found this photo taken of Putin standing next t Angela Merkel,  Putin was whispering, "Anzhela, you promised me you'd were flats today!"  To which Frau Merkel burst out in nervous laughter.

Ronnie,

Yeah, I admit I do find Putin quite interesting.. in fact very interesting if not fascinating.

I mentioned quite a while back that if given the choice to meet Bush or Putin I wouldn't have to think long at all.

He may be short in stature but somehow seems to have a way with women..  after all there are more women than men in RU or ????????????????  What was the last I heard.. something like 8 to 1?

Democracy at work.
 

[BC]

On a more serious note, Georgia has now admitted to dropping cluster bombs on OS targets.

http://edition.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/europe/09/01/russia.georgia.summit.sanctions/index.html

near the bottom..

edit:

wonder where they got them in the first place..

[Ronnie]

On a more serious note, Georgia has now admitted to dropping cluster bombs on OS targets.

http://edition.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/europe/09/01/russia.georgia.summit.sanctions/index.html

near the bottom..

edit:

wonder where they got them in the first place..

FYI... M-85 Cluster munitions are made in Israel.

[Mishenka]

Yes it was Israel that trained and supplied the Georgian military.  Not sure why Putin wants to blame USA for so many things. Again, its all propaganda speeches for the media to slant the world view. I guess its to be expected. Im sure things will cool off soon. Im traveling through Moscow in 2 weeks. I nearly changed my flight but man the prices have gone up! since May when I returned home from the last trip over.

[BC]

Yes it was Israel that trained and supplied the Georgian military.  Not sure why Putin wants to blame USA for so many things.

Israel does seem to help out in a pinch, especially when covert US operations are involved.

Sale of non-U.S. arms to Pakistan for destination to Afghanistan was facilitated by Israel.[9][10]
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Cyclone

A while back I posted reports that Israel and France cut way back on arms they were sending to Georgia when they noticed many 'rush' orders a couple months before Georgia invaded SO.

The USA of course knew everything that was going on.

[BC]

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601085&sid=aArHZ2Zpdoo0&refer=europe

EU, Reliant on Russian Gas, Skips Georgia Sanctions

Russia today welcomed the EU's ``responsible approach'' in avoiding economic reprisals. While expressing ``regret'' at the postponement of the trade pact, the Foreign Ministry said the EU's internal quarrels had already thrown up ``artificial obstacles'' to the talks.

Europe's weak hand in confronting Russia ``could lead to a trans-Atlantic rift, but it would be a pointless rift because both sides are equally powerless,'' Jan Techau, an EU and security expert at the German Council on Foreign Relations in Berlin, said in an interview.

``Russians need our energy markets and we need Russian energy -- it's as simple as that,'' Finnish Foreign Minister Alexander Stubb said in a Bloomberg Television interview.

Russia said it won't let up until Georgia ousts its president, Mikheil Saakashvili, who has sought closer ties with the U.S. and is bidding for Georgia to join the North Atlantic Treaty Organization.

So there it is folks.. There seems to be a balance of power after all.

I highly doubt further expansion of NATO in any direction for some time to come.  Any negative rhetoric against the EU from the other side of the Atlantic will only shift debate westwards, further isolating not only RU but US as well.

I wouldn't be surprised if all this turns up in history books as one of the most cunning political moves ever made by the 'new' RU.

Did someone say Putin was dumb?

[Misha]

A few days ago there was an article on the BBC website:  "Energy-hungry Europe warms to Norway." It reports how Great Britain and Norway built a new pipeline to deliver Norwegian natural gas to Great Britain. They report: "The pipeline, whose name means "giant serpent" in old Norse will stretch from the Norwegian North Sea fields to Easington on the East Yorkshire coast. Some 745 miles of steel tubing have been painstaking laid up and down the canyons of the seabed, designed to deliver about 20% of the UK's domestic gas needs for the next 50 years. It came on stream late last year. "

Source: "http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/7588746.stm"

The events in Georgia will certainly encourage more European states to quietly look for other sources of energy. Norway will certainly benefit from this push.

Is Putin "dumb"? I can't speak of the man, but the relevant question remains as to the longterm consequences of Russian policies. I would say that the war with Georgia will cost the Russian state in the long term.

[BC]

Is Putin "dumb"? I can't speak of the man, but the relevant question remains as to the longterm consequences of Russian policies. I would say that the war with Georgia will cost the Russian state in the long term.

I'm sure it will indeed cost them, but think that they might see this as an investment on longer term goals.  They most certainly have their next steps figured out already.

[Misha]

I'm sure it will indeed cost them, but think that they might see this as an investment on longer term goals.  They most certainly have their next steps figured out already.

Well, I am sure they, the ruling elite, have their longer term goals, but I do not believe that their longer term goals are necessarily for the greater good of the Russian people.

[kievstar]

Putin is a very smart and clever man.  You can question what he does and how he does it but he wants Russia to be the strongest country and have other countries take Russia seriously.  This is not about the people but about the country. 

I have read several books on him and he is highly educated and determined.  The only thing I would like to know is what his family thinks of him.  Wife and children?  I heard he keeps them far from the public eye. 

[Misha]

Putin is a very smart and clever man.  You can question what he does and how he does it but he wants Russia to be the strongest country and have other countries take Russia seriously.

How does that saying go: the road to hell is paved with good intentions....

[Ronnie]

Putin highly educated? OMG!  Compared to whom?  Certainly not Saakashvili!  BTW, Putin was caught plagarizing a paper while in university...no surprise really given the character of the man.

Putin wants what's best for Russia?  That would certainly explain his estimated $50,000,000,000 personal fortune...all stolen from Russia.

Of course Putin is dimwitted.  Most criminals are, so that shouldn't come as a surprise to anyone.  What he does "for Russia" he does to build his own personal power and wealth..nothing more than that...it's totally about him.

Brian, there is no "balance of power" issue here.  What there is between the Putin gang and the west is a imbalance of intellect and civil behavior.  The west may be scrambling trying to decide how to surgically apply proper punishment to Putin's gang without it affecting innocent Russian people.  This is no different from the conundrum that faced the west with Saddam Hussein's Iraq.  Did that mean Iraq had achieved an equilibrium of power with the west for those eleven years? 

If insanity balances sanity, then you may have something.

[wxman]

Any intelligent fool can make things bigger, more complex, and more violent. It takes a touch of genius -- and a lot of courage -- to move in the opposite direction. 
-- Albert Einstein

[Shadow]

  That would certainly explain his estimated $50,000,000,000 personal fortune...all stolen from Russia.

Of course Putin is dimwitted. 

Sometimes I would like to be dimwitted, don't you ? 

[BC]

Putin wants what's best for Russia?  That would certainly explain his estimated $50,000,000,000 personal fortune...all stolen from Russia.

Of course Putin is dimwitted.  Most criminals are, so that shouldn't come as a surprise to anyone.  What he does "for Russia" he does to build his own personal power and wealth..nothing more than that...it's totally about him.

Ronnie,

I'm sure Putin is a wealthy man now, no one will know how wealthy.  You would think with figures such as you report, which are heresay, the RU public would revolt.. but they aren't, so I guess they pretty much accept whatever is hapening.

There is a saying that most politicians are all crooks anyway, and I believe that..  the discourse is about a grey area and there is a lot of grey to throw around.  Do I believe Bush and Cheney took office just for the salary?  Cheney certainly not. Bush?.. I'm sure there are some benefits down the road for him.. Multi milionaires don't want to work for nothing and the salary is a pittance against what top echelon businessmen make.. So what, that's the game, one that everybody knows and gives implied consent with their vote.

Brian, there is no "balance of power" issue here.  What there is between the Putin gang and the west is a imbalance of intellect and civil behavior.  The west may be scrambling trying to decide how to surgically apply proper punishment to Putin's gang without it affecting innocent Russian people.  This is no different from the conundrum that faced the west with Saddam Hussein's Iraq.  Did that mean Iraq had achieved an equilibrium of power with the west for those eleven years? 

If insanity balances sanity, then you may have something.

Again, I don't see any of this as black/white or right/wrong.. it's kind of a line that is drawn with a string.. each side stretching it a bit one way or the other.. as long as it doesn't break we're quite ok.  Putin is now playing US vs EU vs RU..  Sure someone is probably dreaming of some way to do tit for tat punishment but everything we have seen so far is rhetoric.  True imbalance would have been evidenced by significant actions, of which there are none so far..  I'm surprised Bush did not pound the EU a bit for showing what he likely believes is a 'very weak response'.. Instead he praised just as much as Putin did and the 'tat' ends up being another billion dollars for Georgia.  What could your town, county or even state do with an extra billion or two to make your life better? 

[Ronnie]

Sometimes I would like to be dimwitted, don't you ? 

John,
You can be wealthy too. All you need is a Makarov and no qualms about using it.  It's how Putin got his start.

[Ronnie]

Ronnie,

I'm sure Putin is a wealthy man now, no one will know how wealthy.  You would think with figures such as you report, which are heresay, the RU public would revolt.. but they aren't, so I guess they pretty much accept whatever is hapening.

There is a saying that most politicians are all crooks anyway, and I believe that..  the discourse is about a grey area and there is a lot of grey to throw around.  Do I believe Bush and Cheney took office just for the salary?  Cheney certainly not. Bush?.. I'm sure there are some benefits down the road for him.. Multi milionaires don't want to work for nothing and the salary is a pittance against what top echelon businessmen make.. So what, that's the game, one that everybody knows and gives implied consent with their vote.

Again, I don't see any of this as black/white or right/wrong.. it's kind of a line that is drawn with a string.. each side stretching it a bit one way or the other.. as long as it doesn't break we're quite ok.  Putin is now playing US vs EU vs RU..  Sure someone is probably dreaming of some way to do tit for tat punishment but everything we have seen so far is rhetoric.  True imbalance would have been evidenced by significant actions, of which there are none so far..  I'm surprised Bush did not pound the EU a bit for showing what he likely believes is a 'very weak response'.. Instead he praised just as much as Putin did and the 'tat' ends up being another billion dollars for Georgia.  What could your town, county or even state do with an extra billion or two to make your life better? 

Brian,
Just curious.  Do you ever get tired of playing the devil's advocate?  It must be very taxing on your intellect to lash non-sequiturs together like that.  I'll be interested to see what justifications to attempt when Bush and Cheney are retired...the job of Kremlin apologist will get even more difficult then I suspect.

[Shadow]

John,
You can be wealthy too. All you need is a Makarov and no qualms about using it.  It's how Putin got his start.

I would rather stay on the peaceful side. In the past I have said that it would be best to keep me from willing to use force. I am like Russia in that, once provoked enough I will use whatever means to reach my goals, without being scared of or avoiding the consecquenses.
And as soon as goals are reached, I turn back in to the previous undisturbable state, much to the surprise of others.

[BC]

Brian,
Just curious.  Do you ever get tired of playing the devil's advocate?  It must be very taxing on your intellect to lash non-sequiturs together like that.  I'll be interested to see what justifications to attempt when Bush and Cheney are retired...the job of Kremlin apologist will get even more difficult then I suspect.

Ronnie,

Just following suit..

Yes, we both shall see what happens in the end and will have to accept our fate.

Taxing -naaaaaa....

You make me chuckle.  I do enjoy discourse with you as you indeed present an interesting challenge.

All the above said in the most friendly of manners.