Rice signs missle deal with Poland...what now?

[Big Chee]

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/08/21/world/europe/21missile.html?_r=1&hp&oref=slogin

How much has US/Russian relations fallen in recent months?

I understand that this has been an on-going issue for quite sometime, but with what took place in Georgia and this accord being signed, what's to make with the relationship between America and Russia?

Lord help us if McCain is the next president. His feelings towards Russia are on the low side.

 

[spinning27]

McCain's temperament is completely wrong for this moment in history - bottom line.

He's quoted as saying that he looked into Putin's eyes and "saw a K, a G and a B."

That kind of talk is really going to be helpful.

 

[Flying Headbutt]

McCain was right though. Besides, what has *****footin' with Putin done? Jack ****.

Speak the truth and go from there. But speaking the truth doesn't mean you jump right to war either.

 

[black dude with pompano]

Poland is a NATO member, right? So in that context, is this really that big a deal?

 

[spinning27]

McCain was right though. Besides, what has *****footin' with Putin done? Jack ****.

Speak the truth and go from there. But speaking the truth doesn't mean you jump right to war either.

There's a fine line between speaking the truth and shooting from the hip. The latter is not what a world leader does.

 

[Big Chee]

McCain was right though. Besides, what has *****footin' with Putin done? Jack ****.

Speak the truth and go from there. But speaking the truth doesn't mean you jump right to war either.

I agree. But I expect a milder tempermant coming from someone vying to become Commander in chief. I expect that talk from his goons rather than him.

 

[bigpern23]

Poland is a NATO member, right? So in that context, is this really that big a deal?

From the CNN.com article:

Moscow says the missile-defense system is aimed at blunting Russia's nuclear deterrent. It has warned the deal could open Poland to attack.

Rice called Russia's remarks "pathetic," the same term used by NATO Secretary-General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer a day earlier to describe the threats. She vowed that Poland's NATO allies will come to its defense.

She said Wednesday that Russia's aggression toward Europe has been going on for a while, with Georgia the latest example. Russian troops remain inside Georgia -- after fighting that flared nearly two weeks ago --despite a cease-fire agreement that included a pledge to withdraw.

It's an awful lot of saber-rattling. It may turn out to be much ado about nothing, but Russia clearly isn't pleased with the deal and has been feeling a bit frisky lately.

 

[Brooklyn Bridge]

God forbid we help an ally who has a history of being invaded by its neighbor help keep said neighbor from invading.

 

[cranberry]

We have a current administration, as well as a groundswell of neo-conservatives (cowards) and a GOP presidential candidate who believe a renewed sense of "cold war" is politically advantageous and that they will do anything they can to underscore that perception between now and November. It's really quite pathetic and just the kind of thing that, as voters, we need to reject.

 

[spinning27]

We have a current administration, as well as a groundswell of neo-conservatives (cowards) and a GOP presidential candidate who believe a renewed sense of "cold war" is politically advantageous and that they will do anything they can to underscore that perception between now and November. It's really quite pathetic and just the kind of thing that, as voters, we need to reject.

It amazes me that polls show McCain as being more trustworthy on foreign affairs, when the very same people oppose the Iraq war and think it was a mistake to go in. Boggles the mind.

 

[BTExpress]

Not to mention the fact that every time he opens his mouth about the Middle East, he makes an inexcusable gaffe.

 

[Big Chee]

We have a current administration, as well as a groundswell of neo-conservatives (cowards) and a GOP presidential candidate who believe a renewed sense of "cold war" is politically advantageous and that they will do anything they can to underscore that perception between now and November. It's really quite pathetic and just the kind of thing that, as voters, we need to reject.

It will be a damn shame for this issue to be politicized for ones gain...yet not surprising.

This issue has gone under the radar by the mainstream press in this country for quite some time now, and I guess it isn't shocking to any of us that the volume behind this issue will now be pumped up to benefit the guy whose always had Russia on his radar.

 

[NoOneLikesUs]

The Democrats should be hammering the point home about McCain, but they do nothing. They better start getting down-and-dirty in this campaign or it will be lost. Nice isn't going to win it.

 

[BTExpress]

It's tough to make anything stick.

Talking tough about the big Bear just resonates with a certain (high) percentage of voters.

Talk about negotiating, being friends, working through our differences . . . just gets shouted down as "APPEASEMENT!"

 

[Killick]

Russo-American relationship is damaged, and what scares me is the impact that has in the Middle East and Asia. If China starts to get itchy with any of its neighbors, that relationship was a big deterrent for them going north. A unifier US-Russian reaction was also a big stick on Chinese thought eastward. We also need Russia's influence in some ME states, and NKorea. It all adds up to foreign relations calculus that I shiver to think of. If it gets much worse -- any one of those areas is a ****ing dog's breakfast, especially with our troops engaged elsewhere and dwindling military resources.

EDIT: While we're at it, let's give props to PBS's Frontline, which reported on Putin's czarist-leaning and the surge of Russian near-fanatical nationalism late last year/early this year. Some of the best reporting out there is coming from this program these days. Hope they rebroadcast that soon just to illustrate how far ahead of the curve they were.

 

[Upper Tupper]

I'm waiting for Deferment **** to make another anti-Russia statement.

 

[linotype]

Am I the only one who thought this header had something to do with a crappy Conference USA football team adding a fast player?

 

[Lyman_Bostock]

Hmmmm ... reading these posts, you'd think the Russians were pure as the driven snow.

Do some of you despise Bush/the GOP so much that you'd say the sky was red with orange stripes if they said it was blue?

 

[Freelance Hack]

Is there anyone here who thinks any American president would go to war for Poland? I'm sorry. I just don't buy it.

We're not talking about confronting an overmatched Iraqi army, we're talking about Russia. A country that's our equal militarily and one that actually has weapons of mass destruction.

All Putin has to do is drive a few tanks through Warsaw and it's dasvidanya to democracy in eastern Europe.

 

[Armchair_QB]

Is there anyone here who thinks any American president would go to war for Poland? I'm sorry. I just don't buy it.

We're not talking about confronting an overmatched Iraqi army, we're talking about Russia. A country that's our equal militarily and one that actually has weapons of mass destruction.

All Putin has to do is drive a few tanks through Warsaw and it's dasvidanya to democracy in eastern Europe.

So we should go the Neville Chamberlain route?