Russia is not our friend...

[retread]

You'll not see this story anywhere except maybe; "The Magic City Morning Star".

http://magic-city-news.com/article_6542.shtml

[Teiwaz]

I doubt any of this is news to your Government. They have enough flunkies and weanies to be keeping an eye on Russia, and I doubt anyone would be stupid enough to think they are your best buddies now. They take a longer view of the world being an older culture, and they have long memories and lots of patience with huge national pride. They will want to regain their old prestige and influence.

[retread]

Russian Footprints

What does Moscow have to do with the recent war in Lebanon?

http://article.nationalreview.com/?q=NjUzMGU4NTMyOTdkOTdmNTA1MWJlYjYyZDliODZkOGM=

[Teiwaz]

Russia, or the USSR and the KGB previously, has been tinkering in the Middle East like an unethical genetic engineer for decades. The hell of it is, the Russians are exceedingly GOOD at this sort of social engineering and influence.

That article is simply frightening. It reads like a Tom Clancy novel plot summary. Except it appears to simply be history. And what's worse, it seems that history is only an indicator of what they are up to now, particularly when you look at the pedigree of the guys running the show.

["shazbat"]

Even if Russia is not directly involved in "tinkering" in world affairs they still are a nation with a struggling infrastructure.
A good source of income for them is the sale of weapons to whom ever is willing to buy.
Thin wallets and tighened belts make for a relaxed conscience and they have a huge and deteriorating arsenal ripe for sale.

[retread]

Even if Russia is not directly involved in "tinkering" in world affairs they still are a nation with a struggling infrastructure.
A good source of income for them is the sale of weapons to whom ever is willing to buy.
Thin wallets and tighened belts make for a relaxed conscience and they have a huge and deteriorating arsenal ripe for sale.

The latest news is that Russia now produces more Oil than Saudia Arabia...

http://www.mosnews.com/money/2006/08/23/russiaoil.shtml

[nelson]

Thanks for that good article retread, and I also did not realize the weapons sales and direct historical involvement cited in the second article; Teiwaz said it - that is simply frightening.

For lack of time to write an entire novel (Mark Steinberg has published a great lecture series (http://www.teach12.com/ttc/assets/coursedescriptions/8380.asp)), Russia has a long history of backwardsness, always craving for some degree of westernization, taking great strides under Peter I and a few more under Catherine II, followed by a slow descent into social and governmental turmoil, then a brief rise to villanous greatness, and finally a very hard and shameful fall. The wounds from that fall are still fresh and that is the underlying reason that today Russia is not our friend.