Bass fishing diplomacy has it limits.... actually, our relationship with Russia is much worse after The Decider's yukking-it-up press conference early this month with Russia's President Putin after their Kennebunkport fishing summit to resolve U.S. anti-missile plans for Russia's backyard.
Putin made a show of cooperating with the defense system, offering to place it on Russian soil if Bush abandoned plans for facilities in Poland and the Czech Republic.
When Bush didn't go along with Putin's plan, on Saturday Putin announced that Russia would pull out of the CFE treaty, a landmark pact limiting post-Cold War military strength. "Russia rebuffs NATO talks offer on arms pact." (WaPo)
A hopefully sobered Bush, pushing ahead with his anti-missile plans, met with the Polish President Kaczynski at the White House on Monday.
Great Britain also has serious disagreements with Russia who is refusing to cooperate on a terrorist incident.... just days after London kicked four Russians out of the country, a retaliating "Russia Expels 4 British Diplomats" (WaPo)
Moscow continues to refuse to extradite the Russian former KGB officer, Andrei Lugovoy, who the British accuse of poisoning Alexander Litvinenko.... a fierce critic of Putin.... in London last November using polonium-210.
The case is particularly charged because Litvinenko, who fled from Russia to Britain in 2000 and became a British citizen, suffered a slow and gruesome death. In addition, hundreds of Londoners feared they were exposed when the radioactive substance was found in numerous places causing alarm and panic in the city last November.
British Prime Minister Gordon Brown said this week that he could not tolerate "lawlessness" in London and would make "no apologies for the action we have taken."
Hear! Hear! Good show, Brown!
Bush should take note of how grownups deal with an increasingly dangerous Putin.... drop the Bush frat boy buddy-buddy approach.... Putin isn't looking for friends.
Showing posts with label Litvinenko. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Litvinenko. Show all posts
Thursday, July 19, 2007
Tuesday, May 22, 2007
No Curtain Calls for Gonzales
"British officials said Tuesday there was 'sufficient evidence' to charge a Russian former KGB agent with murder and seek his extradition from Moscow in the sensational poisoning death of Alexander Litvinenko." (WaPo)
Livinenko was an outspoken critic of Russian President Valdimir Putin, and pointed the finger of blame for his poisoning at Putin from his deathbed.
But, Moscow has already made it clear they wouldn't cooperate with any British attempt to extradite Andrei Lugovoy who met with Litvinenko for tea at a London hotel on the day he fell ill.
The timing for the British in filing these charges is curious.
Tomorrow, the G8 Justice and Interior Ministers.... from Germany, France, Italy, Japan, Canada, United Kingdom, Russia and the United States.... are meeting in Munich in advance of the G8 Summit in early June.
Ironically, the ministers will be discussing among other things "international judicial cooperation, particularly in the fields of counter-terrorism."
Surely the poisoning of Litvinenko in London by a former KGB agent using a rare and deadly isotope.... 97 percent of which is manufactured in Russia.... would qualify as terrorism. This would be the perfect opportunity to exercise "international judicial cooperation."
A Litvinenko family spokesman, Alex Goldfarb, said the British investigators "have pretty strong evidence" based on the radioactive trail.... where it came from and who was handling it.
So, will these icons of world justice meeting tomorrow demand Russia's cooperation with Britain's prosecution?
Don't hold your breath.
Not when the likes of Attorney General Alberto Gonzales is the person representing law and justice for the United States at the G8 meeting.... The Decider's legal strawman who has prostituted his legal moral authority.
So, the G8 justice ministers will probably ignore the hot potato of extradition in the diplomatic confrontation between London and Moscow.
But, perhaps not all justice will be denied.
Sometime in the next two weeks the Senate is planning a vote of no confidence in Gonzales. A move The Decider has called pure "political theater."
However, if Gonzales doesn't resign after a bipartisan no confidence vote, and, The Decider doesn't fire him, the "I" word is being urged on Congress as a means of ridding us of this legal pestilence.
For Gonzales, theater it is, and the curtain will be going down.
Livinenko was an outspoken critic of Russian President Valdimir Putin, and pointed the finger of blame for his poisoning at Putin from his deathbed.
But, Moscow has already made it clear they wouldn't cooperate with any British attempt to extradite Andrei Lugovoy who met with Litvinenko for tea at a London hotel on the day he fell ill.
The timing for the British in filing these charges is curious.
Tomorrow, the G8 Justice and Interior Ministers.... from Germany, France, Italy, Japan, Canada, United Kingdom, Russia and the United States.... are meeting in Munich in advance of the G8 Summit in early June.
Ironically, the ministers will be discussing among other things "international judicial cooperation, particularly in the fields of counter-terrorism."
Surely the poisoning of Litvinenko in London by a former KGB agent using a rare and deadly isotope.... 97 percent of which is manufactured in Russia.... would qualify as terrorism. This would be the perfect opportunity to exercise "international judicial cooperation."
A Litvinenko family spokesman, Alex Goldfarb, said the British investigators "have pretty strong evidence" based on the radioactive trail.... where it came from and who was handling it.
So, will these icons of world justice meeting tomorrow demand Russia's cooperation with Britain's prosecution?
Don't hold your breath.
Not when the likes of Attorney General Alberto Gonzales is the person representing law and justice for the United States at the G8 meeting.... The Decider's legal strawman who has prostituted his legal moral authority.
So, the G8 justice ministers will probably ignore the hot potato of extradition in the diplomatic confrontation between London and Moscow.
But, perhaps not all justice will be denied.
Sometime in the next two weeks the Senate is planning a vote of no confidence in Gonzales. A move The Decider has called pure "political theater."
However, if Gonzales doesn't resign after a bipartisan no confidence vote, and, The Decider doesn't fire him, the "I" word is being urged on Congress as a means of ridding us of this legal pestilence.
For Gonzales, theater it is, and the curtain will be going down.
Wednesday, March 07, 2007
"From Russia With Love...."
Last week, just four days after Paul Joyal, a 53-year-old expert on Russian intelligence, appeared on NBC's "Dateline" alleging that Putin was involved in the fatal polonium-210 poisoning of former KGB agent Alexander Litvinenko. Joyal was shot in the groin by two men as he exited his car in his Prince George County, MD driveway.
The men immediately fled. Although the WaPo had reported that unnamed law enforcement said that Joyal's wallet and briefcase were taken, thus giving the shooting the appearance of a robbery, his wife and son have denied that his wallet was taken, showing the billfold to reporters, and his briefcase has been accounted for.
Another participant in the "Dateline" show recently died from a heart attack in London.
The FBI is "looking into the shooting." Joyal is still in critical condition although the doctors are now "cautiously optimistic" that he will recover.
Is this "random shooting" more Putin's KGB-sharpened tentacles reaching out to stifle dissent?.... IN OUR COUNTRY!
The silencing of Putin's critics is old news in Russia.
Last Friday Moscow journalist Ivan Safronov plunged to his death from his apartment building.... he was working on a story about Russian plans to sell weapons to Iran and Syria via Belarus. A subject which would greatly upset the U.S. and Israel.
Safronov had traveled to the United Arab Emirates arms fair last month where he called his editors from Abu Dhabi to confirm rumors that Russia planned to sell S-300 missiles to Iran and Su-30 fighter jets to Syria.
Upon his return, Safronov told colleagues he also had learned about Russia's plans to provide Syria with Iskander missiles, MiG-29 fighter jets and Pantsyr-S1 air defense systems. The Iskander has a range of 175 miles and would give Syria the capability to strike targets in Israel with very high precision.
Russian authorities are calling Safronov's death a suicide.
Independent analyst Pavel Felgenhauer, who knew Safronov and met with him shortly before his death, said "It's quite probable that such deals have been signed, and it's also probable that he [Safronov] was killed because of that."
He said a Russian military affairs officer was brutally beaten by Russian military intelligence agents several years ago over his report on arms sales. "I also feel scared since I'm writing about similar subjects," Felgenhauer said.
The men immediately fled. Although the WaPo had reported that unnamed law enforcement said that Joyal's wallet and briefcase were taken, thus giving the shooting the appearance of a robbery, his wife and son have denied that his wallet was taken, showing the billfold to reporters, and his briefcase has been accounted for.
Another participant in the "Dateline" show recently died from a heart attack in London.
The FBI is "looking into the shooting." Joyal is still in critical condition although the doctors are now "cautiously optimistic" that he will recover.
Is this "random shooting" more Putin's KGB-sharpened tentacles reaching out to stifle dissent?.... IN OUR COUNTRY!
The silencing of Putin's critics is old news in Russia.
Last Friday Moscow journalist Ivan Safronov plunged to his death from his apartment building.... he was working on a story about Russian plans to sell weapons to Iran and Syria via Belarus. A subject which would greatly upset the U.S. and Israel.
Safronov had traveled to the United Arab Emirates arms fair last month where he called his editors from Abu Dhabi to confirm rumors that Russia planned to sell S-300 missiles to Iran and Su-30 fighter jets to Syria.
Upon his return, Safronov told colleagues he also had learned about Russia's plans to provide Syria with Iskander missiles, MiG-29 fighter jets and Pantsyr-S1 air defense systems. The Iskander has a range of 175 miles and would give Syria the capability to strike targets in Israel with very high precision.
Russian authorities are calling Safronov's death a suicide.
Independent analyst Pavel Felgenhauer, who knew Safronov and met with him shortly before his death, said "It's quite probable that such deals have been signed, and it's also probable that he [Safronov] was killed because of that."
He said a Russian military affairs officer was brutally beaten by Russian military intelligence agents several years ago over his report on arms sales. "I also feel scared since I'm writing about similar subjects," Felgenhauer said.
Safronov's death comes amid a rash of attacks on Russian journalists who write about official corruption, Chechnya and other abuses.... "13 journalists have been killed in contract-style murders since Putin took office in 2000."
A dazzled Bush looked into Putin's soul and proclaimed he was a man Bush could trust.... just what did he see to admire in this ruthless and dangerous authoritarian.
The Cold War arms race is on again, only this time our enemies are much more dangerous. And our government.... Condi the Clueless, Congress the Confused, Bush the Unready.... seem unable, or unwilling, to confront reality.
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)