PUTIN DEFIES US OVER IRAN, GEORGIA, AS RUSSIA BECOMES CONTROLLER OF HALF OF WORLD'S ENERGY RESERVES
Russia is all over the news this past month.
The 'Spy Crisis' with neighbouring Georgia is just the latest headline grabber, and appears to be more about backing the United States out of the region than major concerns about how Georgia detaining spies linked back to Putin's Kremlin.
From killing the US sanction that were directly aimed at destroying Iran's booming economy and supplying Iran with nuclear fuel for its contentious nuclear energy program, to quietly soaking up the majority of the world's oil and energy reserves, Russia is using this time when the United States is crippled by a series of crises of its making (monstrous foreign debt, the wars in Iraq & Afghanistan) to reassert itself on the world stage as a rising new superpower.
One that could soon rival, and overtake, Bush's America.
China, meanwhile, is happy to get cheap acccess to Russia's energy while the EU grows nervous about being outbid on Russia's essential energy pipeline supplies.
And together, Russia and Chin are moving on Africa's energy resources, outbidding the US for the best raw fuels and the most likely sites to uncover new oil and gas reserves.
Russia is set to enter something close to a new Golden Age of power and prosperity. But the US is unlikely to let it dominate the world (via China, Iran and Africa) without a fight.
PRESIDENT BUSH SIGNS NEW SANCTIONS BILL TARGETING IRAN'S KEY ALLIES, CHINA AND RUSSIA
Although it does not name any countries, the (sanctions) measure is seen as a clear warning to Russia and China, two permanent members of the UN Security Council that have resisted calls for new international sanctions against Tehran in response to its refusal to halt uranium enrichment...
Russia is involved in an 800-million-dollar project to help Iran build a nuclear power plant in Bushehr and sells it modern weaponry. China has been accused of supplying the Islamic republic with advanced missile technology.
RUSSIA COULD SOON CONTROL 50% OF WORLD'S OIL AND GAS RESERVES
Most likely (the) Kremlin's next step will be a very close relationship with Canada and some of the countries in Middle East. That will make Russian Oil Block even stronger.
GEORGIA BULKS UP MILITARY AGAINST RUSSIA WITH US HELP AS 'SPY CRISIS' GROWS MORE INTENSE
....Much to the discomfort of Russia, the United States has been supplying Georgia with military training and some equipment. Partly, this is in response to Georgia's sending of 800 peacekeepers to Iraq.
The principal reason for the military build-up is the existence of secessionist regimes in two provinces, Abkhazia and South Ossetia. There are also some 6,000 Russian troops, leftovers from Soviet Union era garrisons. Georgia has been trying get all the Russian soldiers out since the Soviet Union collapsed (and Georgia became independent once more) in 1991.
PUTIN ACCUSES GEORGIA OF "STATE TERRORISM", USING TACTICS FROM STALIN ERA
Russian President Vladimir Putin accused Georgia of state terrorism and adopting tactics similar to the secret police of Joseph Stalin after the former Soviet republic put four Russian officers on trial for spying.
The arrests are "an act of state terrorism involving hostage-taking,'' Putin, 53, told a meeting of Russia's Security Council in Moscow yesterday...
RUSSIAN LONG RANGE BOMBERS ENTER UNITED STATES AIRSPACE 'BUFFER ZONE'
Russian long-range bombers flew within 15 miles of U.S. airspace off Alaska, Denver Post website reported.
Fully-armed U.S. fighter jets responded, intercepting the two bombers...
RUSSIAN SHIPS JOIN TURKISH SECURITY OPERATION
Russian ships have started a mission in the Black Sea in line with a Turkey-led international operation designed to combat terrorism and prevent the proliferation of nuclear weapons, the Navy's press service said.
In March 2004, Turkey proposed a new security initiative, Black Sea Harmony, as a move to improve communication and shadow suspicious ships, and has recently invited other littoral states, including Russia and Ukraine, to participate in the operation.
Some countries consider Black Sea Harmony an attempt to maintain Turkey's dominance in the area by preventing NATO from extending its Operation Active Endeavor, which has similar objectives in the Mediterranean, into the Black Sea.PUTIN'S RUSSIA FACES GROWING CHORUS OF CRITICISM FROM UNITED STATES
The “solid friendship” that President Bush cited last month in describing his relationship with Russian President Vladimir Putin is now stacked against growing criticism for Putin’s alleged attempts to revert Russia to a “police state.”
....(Russia is on) Iran’s, not America’s, side, when it comes to the controversy involving Iran’s nuclear program.
“The Russians have built the Iranian nuclear capacity. The Russians have provided the Iranian government with the most advanced anti-aircraft system available to them in order to prevent an American-Israeli strike against those people who, among other things, call for the elimination of the State of Israel from the map of the world...”
