Towards a global perspective . . .

Apparently, the OSCE, Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, will soon be sending Peacekeepers  to Kyrgystan to police the upheaval that has followed the recent coup that deposed a corrupt and unpopular President Bakyev.   Though Kyrgystan is a member of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, which is China and Russia’s regional platform,  China and Russia have stood down.   Not only have they not rushed to the aid of their beleaguered member state, but they have  turned away from formal pleas for assistance from the new government, which, we are told is more sincere, less corrupt and more popular than the deposed President Bakyev.    It appears that they have given over a corner of their world to the West.   Why?  Is it evidence of  internal weakness or weakness within the SCO?  Is it due to a conciliatory political pragmatism that defers to the real power in the world?   Maybe they think they are giving a bone to the wild dog pack?

I am sure there are all kinds of complex regional currents in the conflict.   It is true that Kyrgystan is a member of the SCO, and for purposes of local trade and regional solidarity, that makes sense.  However, the explanation for Russia and China’s reticence is very simple.  The US has it’s largest supply base for the Afghan war located in Kyrgystan.   The US has spent a fortune unconditionally supporting deposed President Bakyev to maintain this base, as they did with the corrupt government before him.    In that light, this base has most likely been a thorn in the side of the leaders of the SCO all along, so their boundaries are already compromised.   Now, if they go in to assist the new government in regaining order, their efforts will ultimately fall in one of two directions.  Either they will be expending their resources to protect US interests in the region, or they will be drawn into a proxy war against the US and it’s pawns.

Let me explain.   Read the rest of this entry »

The London Times online headline says Israel Stations Nuclear Missile Subs off Iran.   The article says that the subs have already spent time in the region, but a “decision has now been taken to insure the presence of at least one of the subs.” The New York Times headline says U.N. Says Iran Has Fuel for Two Nuclear Weapons.  They go on to say that “Iran has now produced a stockpile of nuclear fuel that experts say would be enough, with further enrichment, to build 2 nuclear bombs. ” What does that mean?   Iran has had the same amount of nuclear materials from the start.   It has taken them 10 years to enrich it to to 3%.   To be used in a bomb, it has to be enriched to 95%.   With relation to Iran, The NY Times is constantly trying to find a way to make newsworthy the absence of news.

But, there is some real news and the world press is reporting it: Read the rest of this entry »

According to Eurasianet.org, Tbilisi is wooing Tehran.    Georgian President Saakashvili is now making overtures to Iran.   They have mutually waived the need for visas and initiated programs to increase their interstate trade and tourism.  Iran is investing in Georgia.  Read the rest of this entry »

Apparently someone out there is determined to antagonize the Russian.  I want to hope that they are keeping up on their meditation practices over there, and can refrain from taking the bait.   After all, NATO is not only the US.  It is also our European allies who are located in spitting distance from Russia, and many of whom are dependent on Russia for Gas and Oil to meet their energy requirements.  The question is, why are we baiting them?   If we are only interested in safe passage for our own gas pipes, wouldn’t you think there would be a better way to accomplish that?   What possible good can it do to antagonize the Russians and make them resent our presence on their border?

I really don’t think this has anything to do with Georgia or the Georgian government which is something of a joke at present.   After President Saakashvili humiliated himself last summer by invading South Ossetia and attacking the capital city in the middle of the night while the people and their Russian Peacekeepers were sleeping, one would have thought that would be the end for him.  But no!    Not only is he still president despite huge protests by the people attempting to remove him from office and, possibly, a little rebellion by some military people, but he’s are man.   Of course he is still in office.   We didn’t spend all that money educating him and training him in the US just to dump him when the going gets a little rough.  Read the rest of this entry »

The upcoming election is getting pretty hairy.   Only a couple of weeks ago, I was planning on voting for Cynthia McKinney to make a statement about the options.  I live in a solid blue state after all, so it is unlikely to affect the outcome of the election.  However, since the Georgia fiasco, the violent repression of dissent AND the PRESS at the RNC, and Sarah Palin coming on line, I have changed my mind.  It’s time to step back from the brink, and so I will have to vote for Obama.

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I think that the dark powers  have succeeded.   I have been watching the situation in Georgia closely, watching how a brazen illegal act by a small, weak client of the US on Russia’s border has tempted Putin to cross the line and retaliate.  Having received millions of dollars worth of US and Israeli weapons, and intensive training by US and Israeli experts, Saakashvili, Georgia’s increasingly autocratic president felt emboldened to strike the bear sharply on the nose and bloody one of her cubs.

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