First US military unit to be continuously stationed in Poland activated

Pretty cool...

Obama must decide whether to talk to the Taliban

Neighboring countries and most Afghans believe that the endgame has begun for a post-U.S. Afghanistan. There are just 14 months for the U.S. military surge to show results while Washington simultaneously prepares to begin its July 2011 troop withdrawal and handover to the Afghan government. Already, efforts to jockey for future control of Afghanistan have been seen among Pakistan, India, Iran and even Russia. Several NATO countries eager to withdraw forces are frustrated. It is clear in the region that someone will have to mediate with the Taliban, but in the absence of U.S. leadership, a tug of war is taking place over who will do it, when, how and where.

Kyrgyzstan: Did Moscow Subvert a U.S. Central Asian Ally?

Um... yes?

Obama Narrows the Range of Possible Targets in New National Nuclear-Weapons Policy

French Plan To Sell Warship to Russia

Mistral-class Littoral Combat Ship

If this ship contains sensitive technology, which it probably doesn't given that it is used in the littorals, it gives us one more reason to question why NATO still exists. If it is a floating scrapheap, like most of the Russian Navy, then more power to the French.

Bombs Away: The real reason why Russia and China aren’t interested in stopping Iran’s nuclear program.

Russian Laws on Use of Force Expanded

Star Wars on a Saturday night...

This sounds like a good plan to me, despite the complaints from the developing countries of Eastern Europe. We can do much more for those nations through microfinance, NATO training missions, strengthening nation-state partnership programs with National Guard units, and educating their populace in our universities...

Among the alternatives are dropping either the Polish or Czech site, or both sites, and instead building launching pads or radar installations in Turkey or the Balkans, while developing land-based versions of the Aegis SM-3, a ship-based anti-missile system, officials said. The changes, they said, would be intended not to mollify Russia, but to adjust to what they see as an accelerating threat from shorter-range Iranian missiles.

One year later... What we still don't know about the Russian-Georgian War

Good article by Joshua A. Tucker, an Associate Professor of Politics at New York University and a National Security Fellow at the Truman National Security Project. The COO at the Truman National Security Project is Jon Powers, an OIF veteran.

Obama May Bypass Senate to Implement New START Treaty

I don't think the fact that Russia is cutting the number of its aging nuclear warheads, which costs a ton each year to maintain, is really a big strategic accomplishment. However, I do think it is pretty amazing that Russia will allow us to run logistics convoys through their territory in support of the War in Afghanistan - I think that must have been a direct result of some kind of promise not to harp on the missile defense shield in Eastern Europe...

U.S.-Russian Team Deems Missile Shield in Europe Ineffective

Not surprising, if you ask me. The key to this piece is in the second paragraph when it states, "if Iran attempted such an attack, the experts say, it would ensure its own destruction." Are we returning to the days of mutually assured destruction (MAD)? While we are on MAD, here is a lovely song by Nena from 1983:

Shell, Gazprom Sign Gas Deal

An interesting part of this deal is how Shell will provide Gazprom the ability to transport their product through their LNG terminal in Baja California, Mexico, to Southern California.

Gazprom is trying to make a very serious entry into the American natural gas market, which is dominated by the U.S. who has the most proven reserves in the Americas. Perhaps Gazprom could provide so much natural gas at lower prices that U.S. natural gas companies go out of business? Share

Blast Kills 7 Russian Troops in South Ossetia

And the fight against the "occupiers" begins in South Ossetia. Although many greeted the Russians as liberators, some, obviously, are not as happy about their continued presence.

The Russian Defense Ministry described the explosion as "a deliberately planned terrorist act," and the Foreign Ministry blamed "certain forces" trying to destabilize the area and undermine the cease-fire, the official RIA Novosti news agency said.
The Georgian government denied the allegation and accused Russia of masterminding the attack to justify a new delay in withdrawing its troops. "If provocations and tensions are in the interest of anyone, it's the Russians," Shota Utiashvili, the Interior Ministry spokesman, told the Reuters news agency. "They are doing everything not to pull troops out within the set term."

U.S. operates anti-missile radar in Israel: report

We are improving our relations with the Arab world, Iran, and Russia, on a daily basis!

JERUSALEM (AFP) — The United States has recently deployed an anti-missile radar in Israel that is mainly to warn of incoming Iranian ballistic missiles, Israeli state radio reported Sunday.

The radar with a range of more than 2,000 kilometres (1,240 miles) is sited in the south of the country, the radio added.

It is operated by a permanent 120-strong US army staff.

Questioned by AFP, a defence ministry spokesman said he did "not know about such a deployment".

A senior Pentagon official had said in late July that US Defense Secretary Robert Gates agreed to explore deploying a powerful missile defense targeting radar in Israel.

"The idea here is to help Israel create a layered missile defense capability to protect it from all sorts of threats in the region, near and far," said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity.

Besides the radar, Gates also agreed to explore sharing missile early warning launch data, as well as US funding for two costly Israeli projects designed to counter short-range rockets and mortars, he said.

The official said deploying the X-band radar was a near-term proposition, adding "all this is moving pretty quickly."

"We are going to station this land-based system there, and the Israelis would plug into it," said the official.

An X-band radar is a powerful phased array radar that can target the warhead of a long or medium range missile in space. The United States has deployed one in Japan and plans to install a larger X-band radar in the Czech Republic.

The official linked the assistance to the US administration's push for progress on a roadmap for peace between Israel and the Palestinians.

But it appeared to be more directly related to Israel's concern about Iran's nuclear program.

Russia sends ship to Somali coast to fight piracy

Led by Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, pictured above modeling his "моряк" fashion line, the Russian Navy is going to take on the Somali pirates that seized a "Ukrainian vessel carrying 33 battle tanks and a hoard of ammunition" off of the Horn of Africa.

Somali Pirates

Russia offers Chavez nuclear help amid US tensions

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez was to meet Russian counterpart Dmitry Medvedev on Friday after Russia risked Washington's wrath by offering the fierce US foe help developing nuclear energy.

The two were to meet in the city of Orenburg after hawkish Prime Minister Vladimir Putin told Chavez in Moscow on Thursday that Russia was "ready to consider the possibility of cooperation in nuclear energy..."

"Today like never before all that you said on the multi-polar world becomes reality. Let us not lose time," Chavez told Putin. "The world is fast developing geopolitically..."

"Latin America has become an important chain-link in creating a multipolar world, and we will pay more attention to this vector," [Putin] said.

See also:
Chavez, Medvedev oversee signing of oil, gas deals, increasing Russian-Venezuelan ties

Russian Star Wars

He said that Russia must modernise its nuclear defences within eight years, including the creation of a “system of air and space defence”.

The announcement puts Russia in a new arms race with the United States, which has infuriated the Kremlin by seeking to establish an anti-missile shield in eastern Europe. The US argues that the shield is aimed at rogue states such as Iran, but Russia is convinced that its own security is threatened.

Mr Medvedev told military commanders that “all combat formations must be upgraded to the permanent readiness category” by 2020. He added that Russia would begin “mass production of warships, primarily nuclear cruisers carrying cruise missiles and multi-purpose submarines”.

“A guaranteed nuclear deterrent system for various military and political circumstances must be provided by 2020,” he said after attending military exercises in the southern Urals region of Orenburg.

BP tests Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan (BTC) line; oil flow to resume 'next week'

Hmmmmmmmm.............................

More on Russia...

The Death of 1989

Interesting article dealing primarily with the Russian psyche. An excerpt:

And yet, their fear is entirely doctrinal--which is to say, imaginary. Russia's situation is not, in fact, like Israel's. No foreign power since the end of the Cold War has entertained a plan of attacking Russia or destroying Russia's power and wealth. The Russian fear rests merely on a somewhat paranoid interpretation of world events. Fears based on paranoid interpretations cannot be assuaged.

The Kosovo Card

Ruth Wedgwood, a professor at The Johns Hopkins SAIS, does a good job analyzing the Russian attempt to make Georgia and Abkhazia into an issue of self-determination and democracy. Here is an excerpt:

"Can the Ossetians and the Abkhaz--and do they want to--be a part of Georgia?" And with style sovietique, Medvedev graciously adds, "This question should be put to them and they will give their own, unambiguous answer..."

This is a vulgar attempt to misuse the Kosovo card. The Kremlin view seems to be cold-blooded theory of imperium--if the Europeans and the Americans can take Kosovo from Serbia, Russia can take South Ossetia and Abkhazia from Georgia.

But, ethically and legally, this is a false analogy. Georgia has not invaded independent neighbors, as Serbia did. Georgia has not mimicked Slobodan Milosevic's attempt to systematically repress a minority population. Georgia was admitted to the United Nations in 1992 as a newly sovereign state, with borders that embraced both Abkhazia and South Ossetia. The U.N. charter plainly states that the territorial integrity of each member state should be respected. The right of "self-determination of peoples" mentioned in the U.N. charter is far from a unilateral right to secession. Rather, in modern international law, absent extraordinary circumstances such as genocide, self-determination is taken to be the right to enjoy the preservation of culture and language within another country.

The practical solution to an irreducible clash of cultures may be autonomy. But it does not include ripping strategic territory away from a democratic state by the local vote of dissidents. Most certainly, self-determination does not mean the "right" to be forced to join the Russia Federation. 90,000 ethnic Abkhaz and 70,000 South Ossetians are not in a position to form viable states, only client states. Moscow may try to use the figleaf of faux democracy, suggesting that there should a referendum on the territories of Abkhazia and South Ossetia. If the votes are counted by Russia, don't be surprised to see a Central Asian style tally of 99.5 percent victory.

Russia 'ready to sell Syria arms'

"I want to voice support for Russia over the situation around Abkhazia and South Ossetia... We understand the essence of the Russian position and consider its military reaction a response to provocation by the Georgian side," said Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.