One more step and its another cold war.
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Jamesblonde
- Posts: 80
- Joined: Tue Apr 17, 2007 12:07 am
One more step and its another cold war.
Good for them. It's about time that somebody stood up to be counted.
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Bill Sikes
- Posts: 5515
- Joined: Fri Aug 20, 2004 2:21 am
One more step and its another cold war.
Scrat;600675 wrote: Russia may opt out of CFE Treaty
27-04-07 05:13
Where did that text come from? Here's another, from the UK's "Daily Telegraph", which looks a little different:
From: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jh ... ssia27.xml
Russia to pull out of arms treaty, says Putin
By Adrian Blomfield in Moscow
Last Updated: 5:51am BST 27/04/2007
Russia is to withdraw from Europe's key arms control treaty in response to United States plans to install missile defence systems in Eastern Europe, Vladimir Putin announced yesterday.
President Vladimir Putin speaks in Moscow yesterday while protesters in Prague rally under a banner saying, ‘Yankees, Leave Your Radar at Home’ America wants to site radar in the Czech Republic
The Conventional Forces in Europe Treaty, which was signed in the dying months of the Cold War, is regarded as the cornerstone of stability in Europe. It places limits on the number of conventional weapons and foreign forces that can be deployed among member nations.
In his annual state of the nation address, the Russian president accused the United States of a plot to build up its military forces on Russia's western borders.
"Our partners are conducting themselves incorrectly to say the least, gaining one-sided advances," he said.
"They are using the complicated situation to expand military bases near our borders. Moreover they plan to locate elements of a missile defence system in the Czech Republic and Poland."
Already strained relations between the two Cold War superpowers deteriorated markedly when the Pentagon announced plans to place 10 interceptor missiles in Poland and a radar system in the Czech Republic.
Moscow has rejected Washington's pleas that the shield was meant to defend Europe from a rogue missile attack by Iran, claiming that Russia's nuclear arsenal was the target.
American attempts to mollify the Kremlin by inviting Russia to inspect the proposed sites and co-operate in the project have been rebuffed.
In the first indication that the United States was losing patience with Moscow's intransigence on the issue, Condoleezza Rice, the secretary of state, yesterday described Russia's fears as "ludicrous".
"The Russians have thousands of warheads," she told a press conference in Oslo prior to a Nato meeting.
"The idea that somehow you can stop the Russian strategic nuclear deterrent with a few interceptors just doesn't make sense."
Mr Putin said he had decided to declare a moratorium on an updated version of the treaty because Nato powers had failed to ratify it. The United States and its Nato allies have said they would not ratify the treaty until Russia withdrew its troops from Moscow-backed breakaway republics in Georgia and Moldova - an argument the Kremlin dismisses as a pretext to allow Washington to boost its military presence in eastern Europe.
Yesterday, Miss Rice urged Russia to live up to its commitments. "These are treaty obligations and everyone is expected to live up to treaty obligations," Miss Rice said.
It is unclear what Moscow would gain by withdrawing from the treaty beyond being freed to move additional troops into western Russia, or possibly into Belarus, which shares a border with the European Union.
Analysts suggested that there was a certain amount of posturing on Mr Putin's part. Already regarded as an energy superpower, Russia is desperate to be taken seriously as a military power too.
Defence spending has quadrupled under Mr Putin and an ambitious strategy to modernise the military was announced last year, including plans for a new generation of ballistic missiles capable of breaching US defences.
With these grandiose plans under his belt, Mr Putin is aggrieved that he is not being given the respect he feels he deserves by the United States, analysts say.
Washington has dragged its feet on Russian proposals for a new bilateral treaty on reducing nuclear weapons, similar to those signed during the Cold War, which would give Mr Putin enormous domestic prestige.
With a presidential election due early next year, Mr Putin's protests may also have a domestic dimension. By teaching Russians that the United States is again a military threat, they are less likely to vote for the liberal opposition, which, Mr Putin claimed in his speech, was being funded by western governments.
27-04-07 05:13
Where did that text come from? Here's another, from the UK's "Daily Telegraph", which looks a little different:
From: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jh ... ssia27.xml
Russia to pull out of arms treaty, says Putin
By Adrian Blomfield in Moscow
Last Updated: 5:51am BST 27/04/2007
Russia is to withdraw from Europe's key arms control treaty in response to United States plans to install missile defence systems in Eastern Europe, Vladimir Putin announced yesterday.
President Vladimir Putin speaks in Moscow yesterday while protesters in Prague rally under a banner saying, ‘Yankees, Leave Your Radar at Home’ America wants to site radar in the Czech Republic
The Conventional Forces in Europe Treaty, which was signed in the dying months of the Cold War, is regarded as the cornerstone of stability in Europe. It places limits on the number of conventional weapons and foreign forces that can be deployed among member nations.
In his annual state of the nation address, the Russian president accused the United States of a plot to build up its military forces on Russia's western borders.
"Our partners are conducting themselves incorrectly to say the least, gaining one-sided advances," he said.
"They are using the complicated situation to expand military bases near our borders. Moreover they plan to locate elements of a missile defence system in the Czech Republic and Poland."
Already strained relations between the two Cold War superpowers deteriorated markedly when the Pentagon announced plans to place 10 interceptor missiles in Poland and a radar system in the Czech Republic.
Moscow has rejected Washington's pleas that the shield was meant to defend Europe from a rogue missile attack by Iran, claiming that Russia's nuclear arsenal was the target.
American attempts to mollify the Kremlin by inviting Russia to inspect the proposed sites and co-operate in the project have been rebuffed.
In the first indication that the United States was losing patience with Moscow's intransigence on the issue, Condoleezza Rice, the secretary of state, yesterday described Russia's fears as "ludicrous".
"The Russians have thousands of warheads," she told a press conference in Oslo prior to a Nato meeting.
"The idea that somehow you can stop the Russian strategic nuclear deterrent with a few interceptors just doesn't make sense."
Mr Putin said he had decided to declare a moratorium on an updated version of the treaty because Nato powers had failed to ratify it. The United States and its Nato allies have said they would not ratify the treaty until Russia withdrew its troops from Moscow-backed breakaway republics in Georgia and Moldova - an argument the Kremlin dismisses as a pretext to allow Washington to boost its military presence in eastern Europe.
Yesterday, Miss Rice urged Russia to live up to its commitments. "These are treaty obligations and everyone is expected to live up to treaty obligations," Miss Rice said.
It is unclear what Moscow would gain by withdrawing from the treaty beyond being freed to move additional troops into western Russia, or possibly into Belarus, which shares a border with the European Union.
Analysts suggested that there was a certain amount of posturing on Mr Putin's part. Already regarded as an energy superpower, Russia is desperate to be taken seriously as a military power too.
Defence spending has quadrupled under Mr Putin and an ambitious strategy to modernise the military was announced last year, including plans for a new generation of ballistic missiles capable of breaching US defences.
With these grandiose plans under his belt, Mr Putin is aggrieved that he is not being given the respect he feels he deserves by the United States, analysts say.
Washington has dragged its feet on Russian proposals for a new bilateral treaty on reducing nuclear weapons, similar to those signed during the Cold War, which would give Mr Putin enormous domestic prestige.
With a presidential election due early next year, Mr Putin's protests may also have a domestic dimension. By teaching Russians that the United States is again a military threat, they are less likely to vote for the liberal opposition, which, Mr Putin claimed in his speech, was being funded by western governments.
One more step and its another cold war.
No left wing dreamer this but nowadays I suspect he would be regarded as a tree hugging liberal lacking in patriotism.
http://coursesa.matrix.msu.edu/~hst306/ ... ndust.html
Another factor in maintaining balance involves the element of time. As we peer into society's future, we -- you and I, and our government -- must avoid the impulse to live only for today, plundering, for our own ease and convenience, the precious resources of tomorrow. We cannot mortgage the material assets of our grandchildren without risking the loss also of their political and spiritual heritage. We want democracy to survive for all generations to come, not to become the insolvent phantom of tomorrow.
VI.
Down the long lane of the history yet to be written America knows that this world of ours, ever growing smaller, must avoid becoming a community of dreadful fear and hate, and be instead, a proud confederation of mutual trust and respect.
Such a confederation must be one of equals. The weakest must come to the conference table with the same confidence as do we, protected as we are by our moral, economic, and military strength. That table, though scarred by many past frustrations, cannot be abandoned for the certain agony of the battlefield.
Disarmament, with mutual honor and confidence, is a continuing imperative. Together we must learn how to compose differences, not with arms, but with intellect and decent purpose. Because this need is so sharp and apparent I confess that I lay down my official responsibilities in this field with a definite sense of disappointment. As one who has witnessed the horror and the lingering sadness of war -- as one who knows that another war could utterly destroy this civilization which has been so slowly and painfully built over thousands of years -- I wish I could say tonight that a lasting peace is in sight.
http://coursesa.matrix.msu.edu/~hst306/ ... ndust.html
Another factor in maintaining balance involves the element of time. As we peer into society's future, we -- you and I, and our government -- must avoid the impulse to live only for today, plundering, for our own ease and convenience, the precious resources of tomorrow. We cannot mortgage the material assets of our grandchildren without risking the loss also of their political and spiritual heritage. We want democracy to survive for all generations to come, not to become the insolvent phantom of tomorrow.
VI.
Down the long lane of the history yet to be written America knows that this world of ours, ever growing smaller, must avoid becoming a community of dreadful fear and hate, and be instead, a proud confederation of mutual trust and respect.
Such a confederation must be one of equals. The weakest must come to the conference table with the same confidence as do we, protected as we are by our moral, economic, and military strength. That table, though scarred by many past frustrations, cannot be abandoned for the certain agony of the battlefield.
Disarmament, with mutual honor and confidence, is a continuing imperative. Together we must learn how to compose differences, not with arms, but with intellect and decent purpose. Because this need is so sharp and apparent I confess that I lay down my official responsibilities in this field with a definite sense of disappointment. As one who has witnessed the horror and the lingering sadness of war -- as one who knows that another war could utterly destroy this civilization which has been so slowly and painfully built over thousands of years -- I wish I could say tonight that a lasting peace is in sight.
One more step and its another cold war.
posted by bill sikes
Where did that text come from? Here's another, from the UK's "Daily Telegraph", which looks a little different:
In what way? The basic facts of the story are the same.
Can't resist this one.
Yesterday, Miss Rice urged Russia to live up to its commitments. "These are treaty obligations and everyone is expected to live up to treaty obligations," Miss Rice said.
Unless of course they are inconvenient like the geneva conventions on the treatment of prisoners in which case you can unilaterally ignore them or you can just not sign up to them in the first place so you can do what you like.
Where did that text come from? Here's another, from the UK's "Daily Telegraph", which looks a little different:
In what way? The basic facts of the story are the same.
Can't resist this one.
Yesterday, Miss Rice urged Russia to live up to its commitments. "These are treaty obligations and everyone is expected to live up to treaty obligations," Miss Rice said.
Unless of course they are inconvenient like the geneva conventions on the treatment of prisoners in which case you can unilaterally ignore them or you can just not sign up to them in the first place so you can do what you like.
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Jamesblonde
- Posts: 80
- Joined: Tue Apr 17, 2007 12:07 am
One more step and its another cold war.
Well if the Russians were only bluffing I am sure that an incompetent idiot like rice will push them over the edge. I have seen more diplomacy in a wet dish rag.
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Jamesblonde
- Posts: 80
- Joined: Tue Apr 17, 2007 12:07 am
One more step and its another cold war.
Putin would eat her for lunch without even spitting out the bones. That guy is a hard-case and extremely clever. He didn't get to the top in Russia just by being an old pal of Boris Yeltsin.
Alas, poor Boris eh?
Those were the days.
Alas, poor Boris eh?
Those were the days.