Russia’s President Dmitry Medvedev listens to a question during an interview at the presidential residence in Gorki outside Moscow prior to the Russia-EU Summit, November 13, 2008. REUTERS/RIA Novosti/Kremlin/Astakhov Dmitry

Medvedev: ready to respond if U.S. ends missile plan

Thu Nov 13, 2008 2:36am EST

PARIS (Reuters) – Russia could cancel its deployment of missiles near the Polish border if U.S. President-elect Barack Obama scraps plans for a missile defense system in central Europe, Russian President Dmitry Medvedev said.

Daily Grunge Report

Cadets in historical uniforms take part in a military parade in the Red Square in Moscow, November 7, 2008. Moscow marked the anniversary of a historical parade in 1941 when Soviet soldiers marched through the Red Square to the front lines of World War II. REUTERS/Denis Sinyakov

Russia rejects U.S. missile proposals

Wed Nov 12, 2008 8:30am EST, By Guy Faulconbridge

MOSCOW (Reuters) – The Kremlin on Wednesday rejected U.S. proposals aimed at easing concerns over a missile defense system in Europe and said it would try again to resolve the row once Barack Obama is in the White House.

Daily Grunge Report

It doesn’t have to be this way.

WORLD FOOD DAY: Eating Less, Paying More

By Ali Gharib WASHINGTON, Oct 15 (IPS) – Despite wall-to-wall media coverage of the financial crisis rocking the U.S. and, increasingly, other financial systems around the world, a crisis with a larger scope is brewing with little attention.

Daily Grunge Report

Tom Clancy’s EndWar Screenshot (courtesy TeamXbox dot com)

Russia ratchets up US tensions with arms sales to Iran and Venezuela

From Times (UK) Online September 18, 2008 Tony Halpin in Moscow — Russia snubbed its nose at the United States today by announcing plans to sell military equipment to both Iran and Venezuela.

Photo courtesy Rein Nomm, (see more at http://nomm.com/)

By Ambrose Evans-Pritchard, Daily Telegraph UK, Last Updated: 4:02pm BST 29/08/2008 Fears are mounting that Russia may restrict oil deliveries to Western Europe over coming days, in response to the threat of EU sanctions and Nato naval actions in the Black Sea. Any such move would be a dramatic escalation of the Georgia crisis and play havoc with the oil markets.

The Russian cruiser Moskva (foreground) conducting a counter-terrorism exercise with the Spanish frigate SPS Navarra and the British destroyer HMS Nottingham. Photo: NATO.

Reuters | Tuesday, 26 August 2008 Russia’s flagship cruiser has re-entered the Black Sea for weapons tests hours after the Russian military complained about the presence of US and other Nato naval ships near the Georgian coast.

Russia, cruiser, weapons, Black Sea, Nato naval ships, Georgian coast, US Navy ships, Moskva, Abkhazia, Ukrainian, Sevastopol, Black Sea, Igor Dygalo, Interfax, Reuters, US warships, Spain, Poland, Turkey, Anatoly Nogovitsyn, USS McFaul, Bryan Whitman, US Coast Guard, Dallas, USS Mount Whitney, Tomahawk cruise missiles, RIA news agency

Abkhazia and S. Ossetia follow Kosovo’s example
Russian MPs have voted for the recognition of the independence of Abkhazia and South Ossetia. This is just the first major consequence of Kosovo’s declaration of independence, says political analyst Aleksandr Pavic, from the Belgrade Institute of Political Research.

BBC graphic

The US and Poland have signed a deal to locate part of the US’s controversial missile defence system on Polish soil.

US, Poland, missile, deal, Russia, Moscow, Condoleezza Rice, rogue elements, Middle East, Iran, Radek Sikorski, Donald Tusk, Nato, Warsaw, defensive, Baltic Sea coast, Patriot missiles, Moscow infuriated, Georgia, Gen Anatoly Nogovitsyn, military balance, Lech Kaczynski, missile defence shield, automated warheads, Czech Republic

Conflict in Georgia changes Poland’s mood
Nearly 18 months of negotiations have come to an end as U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice arrives in Warsaw to sign an anti-missile defence deal. Poland has agreed to a U.S. proposal to host parts of a global anti-missile system despite strong protests from neighbouring Russia. Moscow is against the move and says it will further damage its already delicate relations with Washington.

Political cartoon by Ingram Pinn of the Financial Times UK (see more here: http://www.ft.com/comment/columnists/ingrampinn)

By Paul Reynolds World affairs correspondent, BBC News website On the eve of a special meeting of their foreign ministers to discuss the conflict in Georgia, Nato governments are divided on what to do about Russia.

Nato, Russia, Georgia, Eastern Europe, David Miliband, Condoleezza Rice, Warsaw, missiles, Poland, Frank-Walter Steinmeier, G8, World Trade Organisation, South Ossetia, international monitors, Ukraine

Russian mobile ICBM

Yet, rather than refrain from further antagonizing this fearsome beast the supposedly lame duck Bush administration makes another foolish jab, pushing a deal for placement of US missiles in Poland. Any way you slice it these nuclear-capable weapons systems would pose a clear and present danger to Moscow. We’re back to the Cuban Missile Crisis and the Cold War all over again. Now though, the tables are turned and America no longer enjoys any military, financial or moral advantage. As US Sec. of Defense Gates himself recently put it, “We’re in a compromised position.” That’s putting it mildly. And if this deal were allowed to go forward – hopefully the US Congress and the Polish Parliament will stop it – it would almost certainly result in more military conflict and the deaths of many innocent civilians. Are the Poles really so eager to become Russia’s bitch, again and as the now humiliated Georgians have become? The stupidity of both the American and Polish leadership leaves me breathless, save for two words, RAYTHEON and LOCKHEAD.

I often wonder how many other Americans realize the grave dilemma we now face, and how much more harm George W. Bush can do before we’re rid of him? How many of my fellow countrymen understand no election is going to ease the pain to come, or the burden we have already placed on the young. Don’t get me wrong, a change at the top could make a vital difference and slow the bleeding enough to give the patient a chance. Still the recovery will be long and arduous because we’re already standing in a pool of blood as our social institutions hemorrhage after years of deliberate neglect and abuse. Thanks to Bush our national honor, our place in the world, is now as tattered and ruined as the Gregorian cities of Tskhinvali and Gori and the Saakashvili regime itself.

This is one American who is not waiting. Many years ago as a young army recruit I took an oath similar to the one Bush took as Commander in Chief, although I took it seriously. In part, “To protect and defend the Constitution… against all enemies… foreign or domestic.” It’s clear to me, George Bush is an enemy to our beloved Constitution and to humanity itself. He has to go and the sooner the better. Hopefully we can accomplish this through peaceful and lawful means. To that end I have signed the Impeach Bush petition now being circulated by Congressman Dennis Kucinich of Ohio. I encourage all my fellow citizens to do likewise and help Rep. Kucinich gather 1 million electronic signatures by Sept. 10 so that, as he puts it, “September 10th the day before the world changed, could be the day WE change the world.”

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov (R) and U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice at a news conference after their talks in the ‘two-plus-two’ format in Moscow, Oct. 12, 2007. Russia and the United States had failed to reach any agreement on missile defense. (Xinhua Photo)

By Katya Andrusz Aug. 14 (Bloomberg) — The U.S. and Poland signed a preliminary accord today that will allow for 10 U.S. interceptor missiles to be based in the eastern European country, completing a defense system that Russia opposes.

U.S., Poland, Agreement, Missile Defense, Raytheon, Lockhead, Rice, Sergei Larov

ITN (International Television News [UK])
The United States and Poland have rushed to sign a deal for a missile defence shield following Russia’s conflict with Georgia

Russia Today
George Friedman from political intelligence analysts Stratfor said the U.S. will use the South Ossetian conflict as proof that a missile defence system is needed in Europe.