[Rhodes22-list] South Ossetia - not sailing but international 'politics' - Art please note politics was at end until I amended subject line for you

[Brad Haslett]

Robert,

He does!  While watching the opening of the Olympics I noticed Putin rose
from his seat and greeted Laura and President Bush as they took their
seats.  I read today that they were observed having a heated discussion
during the ceremonies.  You have to wonder if W still sees someone "he can
trust" in those blue eyes.  What leverage do we have over Russia?  Europe is
hostage to Russia for energy.  The UN is toothless - NATO?  I always did
feel we declared the peace dividend to early after the end of the Cold War.
Time will tell.  The world remains a brutish and nasty globe.

Brad

On Sun, Aug 10, 2008 at 6:01 PM, Robert Skinner <Robert at squirrelhaven.com>wrote:

> Putin plays a good game of chess.
> /Robert
>
> Brad Haslett wrote:
> > Ed,
> >
> > Here's an interesting observation from blogger Bob Krum (attached).
> >
> > Brad
> >
> > ---------------------
> >
> > August 10, 2008 Georgia on my mind
> > <http://www.bobkrumm.com/blog/?p=1934> Byline:
> > bob <http://www.bobkrumm.com/blog/?author=1> | Category: Foreign
> > Policy<http://www.bobkrumm.com/blog/?cat=23>,
> > Above the Fold <http://www.bobkrumm.com/blog/?cat=7> | Posted at: 11:55
> am
> >
> > BAGHDAD - Last night in the mess hall two Georgian officers sat down at
> the
> > table opposite me.  The one facing me was a bit disheveled; his uniform
> top
> > was misbuttoned.  It was the kind of mistake you could make if you were
> in a
> > hurry.  Both ate quickly and silently.
> >
> > I wanted to say something, but what do you say at a time like this?  And
> I
> > thought, what did I say to my friends in New York on 9-11?  I rose from
> my
> > chair, walked over, and asked if they had spoken with their families.
>  They
> > had.  And they were alright.
> >
> > The tiny Republic of Georgia, which straddles the land bridge between the
> > world's largest lake and the largest inland sea, is home to five million
> > people.  Both in population and in size, it is smaller than the other
> > Georgia most Americans know.  And yet, that miniscule country has
> provided
> > 2,000 soldiers to assist our mission in Iraq.  Why?
> >
> > The answer to that question is obvious when you look at a list of
> countries
> > who have forces here.  Among the thirty nations are all three Baltic
> > Republics, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Kazakhistan, and the Ukraine–each one a
> > former Soviet Republic–along with several former Soviet Bloc
> > countries including Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, and
> > Romania.  These are all countries who knew oppression.  They knew fear.
>  And
> > they knew death at the hands of dictators.
> >
> > They knew one other thing too.  They knew the power of America to
> transform
> > a hopeless situation.  They knew that America didn't abandon them.  Sure
> it
> > took a while, but they knew that America would persevere. And that they
> > would persevere.  And that they would win.  And they did win.
> >
> > That's why, when in the sixth year of this war, when much of the rest of
> the
> > world has abandoned America, when even many Americans have abandoned
> > America, they who know best the horror of oppression, and the strength of
> > the American spirit, have not abandoned us here in Iraq.
> >
> > Albania, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Macedonia, Slovenia, and all the rest who
> have
> > been allowed out  out from behind the Iron Curtain are now looking at
> > America to watch what we do for Georgia.
> >
> >
> > On Sun, Aug 10, 2008 at 7:18 AM, Tootle <ekroposki at charter.net> wrote:
> >
> >
> >> Folks,
> >>
> >> South Ossetia has made recent headlines.  Why is Russia so interested in
> >> it?
> >> The Russians claim most of the citizens of this provence are Russian,
> but
> >> is
> >> that the real reason?
> >>
> >> Consider the oil pipeline that runs thru South Ossetia to Europe.  It is
> >> the
> >> only other pipeline that connects Europe with Caspian oil fields that
> does
> >> not run thru Iran.
> >>
> >> Why does Russian support Iran?  Add to their support of Iran and there
> >> victory in South Ossetia what does that do to European oil supplies?
> >>
> >> And there is a large portion of the U. S. and European populations that
> >> believe negotiations are the answer.  So was appeasement just prior to
> WW
> >> II.  Russia is trying to regain its empire.  Are there real options?
> >>
> >> The above is presented for educational purposes, no position taken.
> >>
> >> Ed K
> >> Greenville, SC, USA
> >> Addendum: "Negotiation is also a process in which a successful outcome
> >> depends on convincing the other side of our tenacity; it's easy to say
> "I
> >> can't possibly accept that offer," but it's not so easy to persuade the
> >> other side you really mean it. So there is a natural tendency to bluff,
> and
> >> to seek ways to give credence to our claims. One way of backing up our
> >> claims is through emotions: an angry outburst or a teary interlude may
> make
> >> the other side think: "Wow, s/he really means it, it's coming from
> inside."
> >> Fake emotion, like all bluffing techniques, is in need of ethical
> >> evaluation."   Rabbi Dr. Asher Meir
> >> --
> >> View this message in context:
> >>
> http://www.nabble.com/South-Ossetia---not-sailing-but-international-%27politics%27---Art-please-note-politics-was-at-end-until-I-amended-subject-line-for-you-tp18912720p18912720.html
> >> Sent from the Rhodes 22 mailing list archive at Nabble.com.
> >>
> >>
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