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The Kremlin announced Saturday that President Vladimir Putin had signed a decree suspending Russias application of the 1990 Conventional Forces in Europe (CFE) treaty.
The CFE treaty, which came into force in 1992, is one of the key post-Cold War security accords in Europe.
It limits deployments of tanks and troops in countries belonging to NATO and the former Warsaw Pact in eastern Europe and lays down measures aimed at confidence-building, transparency and cooperation between member states.
Russia had threatened several times to pull out of the treaty amid unease over U.S. military encroachment into territory once part of the former Soviet Union.
Moscow particularly objected to U.S. plans to place elements of a missile defense shield in Poland and the Czech Republic.
http://defensenews.com/story.php?F=2899604&C=europe
Moscow destroyed almost two decades of European-Russian efforts to avoid military tensions late last week when President Vladimir Putin withdrew his nation from a key nonaggression treaty, Polish Defense Minister Aleksander Szczyglo said.
By pulling out of the treaty, Putin has shown that Russia is not a partner of Poland on efforts aimed at keeping the peace between the former Soviet Union and its regional neighbors, Szczyglo told Defense News July 16.
The Russian government announced July 14 that Putin had opted to sign a decree that suspended Russias application to the 1990 Conventional Forces in Europe (CFE) treaty. Russia had threatened several times to pull out of the treaty amid unease over U.S. military encroachment into territory once part of the former Soviet Union.
The move comes as Putin and other top Kremlin officials continue panning a proposed U.S.-hatched plan to deploy parts of a missile defense system in Poland and the Czech Republic, as well as a string of other brash actions and talk from Moscow.
It seems we are returning to the Cold War times, said Szczyglo. Its sad to see that the Putin regime is taking the security system of Europe as part of internal politics.
http://defensenews.com/story.php?F=2902664&C=europe
Suspending the CFE Treaty means that military tension and possible confrontation have returned. This is what bankrupted the old Soviets in the 1980s. Putin is a more refined version of Chavez, but just as totalitarian. It's going to get ugly with the Russians during the next ten years, as the old Soviet bosses reassert their authority with new petro dollars. Europe will regret that it has spent less than 2 percent GDP on defense during the past 20 years.It's been going on for quite awhile now, Putin seems to have consolidated his power, knocked off serious voices of the press, and is now just making it official.
Suspending the CFE Treaty means that military tension and possible confrontation have returned. This is what bankrupted the old Soviets in the 1980s. Putin is a more refined version of Chavez, but just as totalitarian. It's going to get ugly with the Russians during the next ten years, as the old Soviet bosses reassert their authority with new petro dollars. Europe will regret that it has spent less than 2 percent GDP on defense during the past 20 years.
Well done to UK govenment... not often I say that!
Perry de Havilland (London) Russia UK affairs
I am delighted that contrary to my early expectations they they would do nothing at all other than make an official grimace and then politely forget about the whole affair, the UK government's action in expelling Russian diplomats is both all but openly stating the Russian government was behind the Litvinenko assassination and actually trying to impose some political cost on Putin's regime. It is only a small step but psychologically it is a very important one.
As Blair was showing signs of going soft on this horrendous issue,this is a welcome indication that the Brown government is really not going to let Putin's regime murder people in Britain in an ostentatiously obvious manner and let it pass with a shrug.
I was pleased that Downing Street is actively discouraging British companies from investing in Russia in the aftermath of the Shell Oil Sakhalin Island appropriations but more pressure over the Litvineko affair is now needed, if only to discourage more of the same. Of course I expect the Russian government to over-react at all but being called murderers and thereby help the process of de-normalising relations with that far from normal state. There is truly no upside to allowing Putin and his cronies to imagine they can do what they want in Britain without consequences.
They're back. Putin has decided that Russias interests are best served in an adversarial role against NATO and the United States. So be it. America defeated the old Soviets and it will defeat the new Soviets. Putin has curtailed democracy, nationalized industry, and gagged the media. Yuri Andropov would be proud.
During the 1980s Soviet war in Afghanistan, the US never aided Al Qaeda or the Taliban. Rather the US aided Pakistan and its intelligence service. It was Pakistan that directly aided insurgents in the Afghan war against the Soviets. US money funded to Pakistan for this purpose was called Operation Cyclone. The US maintains that its money was used to fund Afghan rebels and was never used to fund foreign Arabs or mujahideen.Russia and Putin are still angry about being run out of Afghanistan in the 1980s by the U.S. backed Al-Quada & Taliban. Now that Russia has finished licking her wounds of humiliation, she's trying to serve up America some of her own military and political medicine in the Middle East, by siding with America's foes.
RAF Scrambles to Intercept Russian Bombers
Richard Beeston, Diplomatic Editor
Times Online 7/18/07
Complete article: http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/europe/article2093759.ece
RAF fighter jets were scrambled to intercept two Russian strategic bombers heading for British airspace yesterday, as the spirit of the Cold War returned to the North Atlantic once again.
The incident, described as rare by the RAF, served as a telling metaphor for the stand-off between London and Moscow over the murder of Alexander Litvinenko.
While the Kremlin hesitated before responding to Britains expulsion of four diplomats, the Russian military engaged in some old-fashioned sabre-rattling.
Two Tu95 Bear bombers were dispatched from their base on the Kola Peninsula in the Arctic Circle and headed towards British airspace.
Moscow revives history of silencing enemies
Russian exiles have always feared that the Kremlin would try to silence them, wherever they were living and the fears are growing
Russian military aircraft based near the northern port city of Murmansk fly patrols off the Norwegian coast regularly, but the RAF said that it was highly unusual for them to stray as far south as Scotland.
Russia Matches U.K. Diplomat Expulsions
Complete article: http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2007/07/19/world/main3074638.shtml
July 19, 2007(CBS/AP) Russia said Thursday it was expelling four British diplomats in retaliation for a similar move by Britain, as a confrontation mounted between Moscow and London over the murder of former KGB agent Alexander Litvinenko.
After Russia refused to extradite Andrei Lugovoi, who is accused of killing Litvinenko in London, Britain said Monday it would expel four Russian diplomats and place restrictions on visas issued to Russian government officials.
Russian Foreign Ministry spokesman Mikhail Kamynin announced the British expulsions after British Ambassador Anthony Brenton was summoned to the ministry earlier in the day.
Kamynin described Russia's response as "targeted, balanced and the minimum necessary."
Kamynin also said Russia would stop issuing visas to British officials and seeking British visas for Russian officials. He said Russia would halt counterterrorism cooperation with Britain.
"To our regret, cooperation between Russia and Britain on issues of fighting terrorism becomes impossible," he said.
During the 1980s Soviet war in Afghanistan, the US never aided Al Qaeda or the Taliban. Rather the US aided Pakistan and its intelligence service. It was Pakistan that directly aided insurgents in the Afghan war against the Soviets. US money funded to Pakistan for this purpose was called Operation Cyclone. The US maintains that its money was used to fund Afghan rebels and was never used to fund foreign Arabs or mujahideen.
Us gave money, weapons and instructors to the Afghans. Undirectly, they built what would became few years after the Talibans.
Us gave money, weapons and instructors to the Afghans. Undirectly, they built what would became few years after the Talibans.
They're back. Putin has decided that Russias interests are best served in an adversarial role against NATO and the United States. So be it. America defeated the old Soviets and it will defeat the new Soviets. Putin has curtailed democracy, nationalized industry, and gagged the media. Yuri Andropov would be proud.
Russia has suspended CFE-treaty for 150 days.
CFE-Treaty gives maximuim numbers of Artillery, jets, battle tanks and the human personal on European continent. It was negotiated between Warsaw Pact and NATO in 1990 and went into effect in 1992.
In 1999 numbers were adjusted by both sides to take notice of new environment after Soviet collapsed.
NATO-states did not ratified this 1999 adjustment.
Russia's temporarily intermission of CFE-treaty is to give this message:
"You ratify as we did, or we again will rearm on European continent."
Russia does not have to spend billions of Dollars in rearming, allthough it actually does. Russia can just redeploy military hardware from behind Ural to European side of Russia.
Also Baltic states were in 1999 not NATO-states. Russia wants these baltic states also part of CFE-Treaty between NATO and Russia. NATO on the other side wants from Russia to withdraw from Georgia (which will be 2008 the case) and from Moldavia.
The solution to this is simple. NATO, together with new NATO-states, ratify CFE-treaty from 1999 or Russia will suspend. Because currently NATO did arm-up for 8 years since 1999 while Russia had already ratified the modified 1999 CFE-treaty.
In this particular case Russia has a point. A VERY valid point. We would never agree to be limited by an agreement the other side was ignoring.
http://www.russiatoday.ru/documentary/release/714/videoThere are fears that Russia is still an aggressive state. Its image abroad is that Russia is the country with big geopolitical ambitions, a potential invader that wants to rule the world. But how many countries has it invaded in the last 20 years? Mark Ames is looking for answers to this and many other geopolitical questions in the new installment of the Cracking the Myths documentary series.
Thank's for the propaganda tips. Fits right in with your Brothers of the Black Sea spew. Everyone knows that the media in the New Soviet Union reports to Putin and the FSB. It is really obnoxious that someone from a country that America protected from the old Soviets for 50 years now wants us to watch the government sanctioned propaganda of the new Soviets. Thanks, canavar. Have fun with your new totalitarian pals.Here is a very good analysis by Gorbatchov's foreign advisor about current geopolitics of Russia and USA/Nato.
It is published on a swiss website, so expect failures of machine translations:
http://babelfish.altavista.com/babe...n/2007/nr28-vom-1672007/schlacht-um-russland/
http://translate.google.com/transla...&hl=de&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&prev=/language_tools
I also suggest watching TV channel "Russia Today". It is being aired by satellite. It is a news channel about Russia in English and by other Frequency and Symbol rate in Arabic language and they are airing very good documentaries about world geopolitics from Russian view.
Today was aired "cracking the myth of geopolitics" where, to simply put, it was about how bad Russia is portrayed by westerners on different issues of world-politics, but the westerners are the more worse.
You can watch it online, too:
http://www.russiatoday.ru/documentary/release/714/video
I Liked it.
Tomorrow comes documentary:
Russia's foreign policy and "red lines"
If american audience do not receive Russia Today in America regions, they can alwas watch the documentaries on website, once they have been aired out on TV.
You can also watch TV live via their website.
Thank's for the propaganda tips. Fits right in with your Brothers of the Black Sea spew. Everyone knows that the media in the New Soviet Union reports to Putin and the FSB. It is really obnoxious that someone from a country that America protected from the old Soviets for 50 years now wants us to watch the government sanctioned propaganda of the new Soviets. Thanks, canavar. Have fun with your new totalitarian pals.
PS. Is your new avatar some kind of bad joke? The way Turk politics are going, your grandchildren will still be on the outside of the EU looking in.
