highsea

VovaLee, I don't think you'll get a rise out of anyone here for those articles. Ames is pretty much considered an idiot. That article is just more of the same wrt his moonbatty rants.

I don't think anyone can seriously say America has "Putin envy", lol.

__________________
My baby called me up. She said- Why don't you ever take me out? Pick me up in your brand new car....You shake the short change from the old fruit jar...

Dreadnought

I dont think I can keep a straight face without laughing while discussing Putin envy. Yeah I want to live in that country...NOT! I could think of atleast 10 other countries I would rather live in then Russia. But no need I live in the BEST! The only way Russia will ever need us again is if we are needed to intervene between them and Georgia or if they need some military hardware to copy...LMAO

__________________
Fortitude.....The strength to persist...The courage to endure.

VovaLee

We can solve the Georgian problem without USA.
And USA can't to prevent to us.

But I agree with highsea, this text author is very "original" person.

Dreadnought

The only way is by cutting them off from the money their families that work in Russia provides and hitting them with sanctions. God forbid democracy take root people just might open their eyes and realize how much it sucks to live in Russia's shadow. I do hope they join Nato amoung the other countries that want better for themselves reason being not just for their democracy from Russia but also for being a thorn in the U.N. over Iran and NK you know the countries you sell arms to that threaten their neighbors. And we'll be there to help in one way or another

VovaLee

Then you should to give billions dollars to Georgia.
But Georgia wanna to join to NATO now and Russia loses nothing by economic sanctions.

Dreadnought

True, The US has given billions to nations for the very same reason. Russia doesnt loose anything by sanctions. But in the big picture it looses part of its own back yard to Democracy and if it joins NATO then you may be looking at a NATO base there as well. So now who looses?

SRB

So you are talking about some NATO-Russia war?

I dont see that Georgians live much better today than before revolution.
USA give large amount of money for weapons but not too much for people.
Also Georgian police arrest couple of oposition leaders couple of weeks before, is it democracy?
And year earlier major opponent to Gerogian president was found dead in his firend flat,very strange death.

VovaLee

Heh... georgian president mr Saakashvili is so big democrat...
He has win an election with 96,7% rating.
He and they executive administration draw salary from USA budget.
He arrests the oppositions.
And He have enrapture from Stalin and Beria.
...

SRB

Same thing with that Uzbekistan president he was US ally even they knew that he cook two oposition men.

canoe

To be fair the issues your describing are fairly common across the Russia and the formor Warsaw countries.

Virtually all democractic countries that exist today have had a period where they had to struggle and find a way to overcome corruption. The U.S has a huge issue with the Mafia back in the 40's.

That said a certain level of corruption is just a reality in most democractic societies its just a matter of keeping it to a minimum and under control. Most of that eventually comes with having free press, a transparent government and strong policing.

That way someone is always watching someone else, makes it tough to get away with anything.

Dreadnought

War? No not at all. We were speaking about how upset Putin is over Georgia wanting to join Nato. In addition to the sanctions they are facing from Russia for attempting to break away. If Georgia were to join NATO then who knows conditions may get much better given the fact of how many other nations belong to it this would help Georgia along its way to becoming better then what the past has been. In addition we discussed that if they do join NATO then Russia may be looking at a NATO base somewhere close by but nothing is for certain as of now and were positive Russia would be pissed to say the least if NATO turned up in their back yard.

Dreadnought

This is what we were discussing:

Russia objects to Nato expansion

Lavrov has linked the tension with Georgia to Nato influence
Russian Foreign Minister, Sergey Lavrov, has told Europe's democracy watchdog that there is no reason for Nato to expand further towards Russia.
At the Council of Europe in Strasbourg, Mr Lavrov said that Russia could not physically prevent Nato expanding.

He said Nato's steady enlargement perpetuated an old "bloc" approach to resolving international problems.

Nato has extended to the Russian border since it admitted Poland and the Baltic states in 2004.

Let's not erect new dividing lines

Sergey Lavrov
Russian foreign minister

"There are so many other ways to solve common security issues," Mr Lavrov said after addressing the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe.

"Let's not erect new dividing lines," he added.

Tensions

Georgia's stated aim of joining Nato in 2008 is a major cause for concern for Russia and part of the current tension between Russia and Georgia, correspondents say.

In July, US President George Bush voiced his support for Georgia's bid to become a Nato member, when he met Georgian President Mikhail Saakashvili in Washington.

Mr Lavrov has implied there is a link between the US and Nato and Georgia's recent detention of four Russian army officers on accusations of spying.

Although the four have been released, Russia has imposed sanctions on Georgia.

"The root cause of the situation is the consistent connivance on the part of some countries, which makes it possible for Georgia to pursue an anti-Russian policy," he said in Strasbourg.

Russia is also unhappy that it is official Ukrainian policy to seek Nato membership.

However, Ukrainian Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovich said in Brussels last month that there was no public support for making the issue a priority.

VovaLee

http://www.themoscowtimes.com/storie...10/05/001.html
Putin Says Russia Won't Be Bullied
By Anastasia Lebedev and Anatoly Medetsky
Staff Writers

President Vladimir Putin issued a stern warning to the world Wednesday not to interfere in Russia's increasingly heated conflict with Georgia or try to force Moscow to back down.

"I would not advise anyone to talk with Russia in the language of provocation and blackmail," Putin said in a meeting with State Duma leaders.

Underscoring the Kremlin's tough stance against Georgia, the president called for measures to curb illegal migration.

The president's comments came on the same day that Georgia reiterated its threat to block Russia's entry to the World Trade Organization.

Roman Gotsiridze, the president of Georgia's National Bank, said Georgia, a WTO member, would oppose Russian entry to the trade group until Russia lifted its economic sanctions on its neighbor to the south. Earlier this year, Russia banned Georgian wine and mineral water.

"These sanctions are the behavior of an uncivilized country, and it is hard to imagine that a country that imposes a blockade on its neighbor is a member of the Group of Eight," Gotsiridze said, Reuters reported.

He said Russia's recent moves to cut ties with Georgia would neither weaken the Georgian lari nor spur inflation.

The showdown between Moscow and Tbilisi was sparked by Georgia's arrest last Thursday of four Russian military officers accused of spying. While Georgia released the officers Monday, that did not stop Russia from suspending all transportation and postal links with the country the following day.

As Russian authorities appeared to be mobilizing for a protracted standoff, the Duma voiced strong support Wednesday for the Kremlin.

In a resolution that passed 418-1, with one member abstaining, deputies declared that the measures taken by Russia so far were justified and that, if Georgia did anything to jeopardize regional stability, "other, more severe measures" would be acceptable.

The Duma statement went on to say that Georgia's actions did not serve the interests of the Georgian people.

The deputies, most of whom have backed bills expected to hurt opposition parties in next year's parliamentary elections in Russia, also lashed out at Georgian authorities for arresting opposition leaders in Georgia, calling the arrests "anti-democratic."

And they lambasted what was portrayed as Georgia's attempt to provoke Russian peacekeepers in the Georgian breakaway regions of Abkhazia and South Ossetia.

Putin thanked Duma leaders for backing the government's effort to protect "the rights, dignity and lives of our citizens abroad." In a sign of more legislative measures to come, Putin also called for amendments to laws granting immigrants the right to hold jobs or conduct business in Russia.

The Russian Navy, meanwhile, held exercises Wednesday in the Black Sea, prompting Georgia to protest the maneuvers.

And authorities in Moscow ratcheted up pressure on Georgian nationals and Georgian-owned businesses, evicting families from their homes, targeting illegal migrants, closing a major casino and arresting Georgians suspected of ties to organized crime.

The Golden Palace casino was owned by the same Georgian mafia bosses who ran the Kristall casino, which was raided Tuesday, the Interior Ministry's Economic Security Department said, Interfax reported.

The Interior Ministry also reported Wednesday clamping down on a gang of 20 Georgians and Abkhazians suspected of contract murders, blackmail and real estate scams. And the ministry said a gang of Georgian car thieves had been apprehended in the Oryol region.

Filipp Zolotnitsky, a spokesman for the Moscow police department's economic crimes division, said two Georgian restaurants were being investigated for possible wrongdoing.

Suggesting that the investigations had nothing to do with the ongoing conflict, Zolotnitsky said other Georgian restaurants had been checked before; so, too, he said, had Japanese restaurants. But he refused to say directly whether the inquiries were tied to the showdown.

Georgians working at marketplaces and construction sites have been subjected to increased harassment by police in the past few days, national newspapers reported.

Those reports were backed up by a Georgian florist near Belorussky Station. The florist, who would only give her first name, Nino, said she had heard from friends and relatives who work at open-air markets of police harassment. She added that she expected police to raid vendors' stalls near Belorussky in the near future.

And two Georgian women selling tea and coffee at Timiryazevsky market said they had heard of other raids and detentions of Georgians working at the Cherkizovsky and Lianozovsky markets. The women, who would only give their first names, Marina and Yekaterina, for fear of being deported, added that they had not been harassed themselves.

Also on Wednesday, the Georgian professional arm wrestler Georgy Kvichiani was killed by skinheads in Moscow, Georgian media reported. The reports remain unconfirmed.

"The state is legitimizing xenophobia and discrimination," said Galina Kozhevnikova, deputy head of the Sova Center, which monitors hate crimes.

Kozhevnikova predicted an eruption in the number of assaults on natives of the Caucasus.

Dreadnought

My friend its pretty bad when you have to use scare tactics against your own people because they wish to have something better out of life for themselves. Russia just proved its own ignorance to human rights pure and simple.

Dreadnought

With the way that Russia blocks UN sanctions against Iran and North Korea because of their own interests I think there going to find it diffacult for the rest of the world to turn a blind eye to them terrorizing their own people. We shall see.