Russia delivered 1,800 shoulder-fired antiaircraft missiles to Venezuela in 2009

WaPo

Russia delivered at least 1,800 shoulder-fired antiaircraft missiles to Venezuela in 2009, U.N. arms control data show, despite vigorous U.S. efforts to stop President Hugo Chavez's stridently anti-American government from acquiring the weapons.

The United States feared that the missiles could be funneled to Marxist guerrillas fighting Colombia's pro-American government or Mexican drug cartels, concerns expressed in U.S. diplomatic cables obtained by WikiLeaks and first reported in the Spanish newspaper El Pais.

... the American commander for military forces in Latin America, Air Force Gen. Douglas Fraser, publicly expressed concern this year that Venezuela was purchasing as many as 2,400 of the missiles, also called the IGLA-S.

Matt Schroeder, a missile expert at the Federation of American Scientists in Washington, said the missiles are among the most sophisticated in the world and can down aircraft from 19,000 feet.

Putin says ties with Latin America a top priority

From My Way News:
NOVO-OGARYOVO, Russia (AP) - Prime Minister Vladimir Putin vowed Thursday to make relations with Latin America a top foreign policy priority, a pledge backed by the first Russian naval deployment to the Caribbean since the Cold War.
Putin greeted Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, on his second trip to Russia in just over two months, with offers to discuss further arms sales to Venezuela and possibly helping it to develop nuclear energy.
Chavez's visit takes place as a Russian naval squadron sails to Venezuela, across the Caribbean Sea from the United States, in a pointed response to what the Kremlin has cast as threatening U.S. encroachment near its own borders.
Both men suggested their countries are working to decrease U.S. global influence.... (more)

EU WARNS RUSSIA-QUIT GEORGIA - OR NO TALKS ON KEY DEAL

Effectively slapping the paw of the bear, fearful that Russia may hold back on it's oil and gas...one more reason to find an alternate source of fuel. Blackmail is not exclusive to the mid-east..
From the NYPost:
BRUSSELS, Belgium - European Union leaders warned Moscow yesterday that talks on a wide-ranging political and economic agreement would be postponed unless Russian troops pull back from positions in Georgia.
The threat to delay talks set for this month on the "partnership and cooperation agreement" with Russia came after Britain and Eastern European nations held out for a tougher line. But Europe's dependence on Russian oil and gas supplies effectively ruled out stronger sanctions. (more)

I've been thinking alot lately about an old Reagan ad, remember? "There is a bear in the woods.." I was just wondering that if the bear's appetite is larger than just parts of Georgia, who I'd want to be in charge...

Good background here at the Economist:
If Russia had really wanted to resolve the separatist conflicts in Georgia, it had opportunities. It might have begun by not handing out Russian passports and then claiming a purported need to defend its “citizens”. It might also have avoided unleashing anti-Georgian and anti-Western hysteria in the Russian media.
And although the latest conflict was triggered by Georgia, the deeper roots of Russia’s invasion lie in domestic events that go back as far as 2003-04: the destruction of the Yukos oil company, and Russia’s perception of the colour revolutions in Georgia and Ukraine as a Western plot to undermine its sovereignty. Mr Saakashvili’s support for Ukraine’s orange revolution particularly irked Mr Putin. (more)

Russia's 5 Principles and It's "Privileged" Sphere of Influence

Without a very strong western response to the Georgian crisis, (up to now not happening) I would expect a continued interferrence if not an all out grab of portions of the former USSR based on #4 and 5.

From the NY Times:
MOSCOW — President Dmitri A. Medvedev of Russia on Sunday laid out what he said would become his government’s guiding principles of foreign policy after its landmark conflict with Georgia — notably including a claim to a “privileged” sphere of influence in the world.

Speaking to Russian television in the Black Sea resort of Sochi, a day before a summit meeting in Brussels where European leaders were to reassess their relations with Russia, Mr. Medvedev said his government would adhere to five principles.
Russia, he said, would observe international law. It would reject what he called United States dominance of world affairs in a “unipolar” world. It would seek friendly relations with other nations. It would defend Russian citizens and business interests abroad. And it would claim a sphere of influence in the world....(More)

Russia Warns That Support of Georgia would be a mistake of "truly historic proportions"

From the Guardian:
Britain today called on the EU to suspend talks on closer ties with Russia in protest at its invasion of Georgia.
As European leaders gathered in Brussels for an emergency summit, Britain, which is advocating a tough line on Russia, urged the EU to put on hold talks on a new strategic pact.
"In light of Russia's actions we should suspend negotiations on a successor to the partnership and cooperation agreement," said a spokesman for the prime minister, Gordon Brown....

...Today, Russia warned against western support for Georgia's leadership, saying it would be a mistake of "truly historic proportions".
In a hawkish speech, the Russian foreign minister, Sergey Lavrov, made it clear that Moscow wanted the Georgian president, Mikheil Saakashvili, to lose power in Georgia. He called for an arms embargo to be imposed on the ex-Soviet republic until a different government is in place.
"If instead of choosing their national interests and the interests of the Georgian people, the United States and its allies choose the Saakashvili regime, this will be a mistake of truly historic proportions," he said in an address at Russia's top foreign policy graduate school. (more)

Russia's Recognition of Independence for South Ossetia and Abkhazia Is Illegitimate: They Are Not Kosovo

I'm not convinced that the rest of Georgia is safe much less the Ukraine.
The real reason the former Soviet states and Eastern block nations want to be part of NATO is for protection from the Russian Bear. But remember, Obama first said they were both to blame. Ah yes, the Bear and the goat, equally to blame...
From the Heritage:
Russia has signaled its intention to continue escalating the crisis in Georgia by unilaterally and illegally recognizing the independence of South Ossetia and Abkhazia.After both failing to abide by the terms of the formal ceasefire negotiated by French President Nicholas Sarkozy and vetoing attempts to resolve the crisis in the United Nations Security Council (UNSC), Russian President Dmitry Medvedev said he "now felt obliged to recognize South Ossetia and Abkhazia as other countries had done with Kosovo."[1]
Comparing the situation in South Ossetia and Abkhazia with Kosovo is not only duplicitous, but it is also a calculated move by Moscow designed to show the West that it was serious when it threatened reprisals for Kosovo's declaration of independence in February.[2] Russia successfully engineered this crisis to suit its broader geopolitical ambitions, and unless the West pushes back in unequivocal terms, it is more than likely that Russia will pursue similar policies in other neighboring states, particularly Ukraine. (more)

How the Georgian Conflict Really Started

From the WSJ:
...The damage in Gori's civilian areas, like the Stalin-era neighborhood of Combinaty, give the lie to claims made by Russia's Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov in these pages that Russian forces "acted efficiently and professionally" to achieve "clear and legitimate objectives." Either that, or they fully intended -- as a "legitimate" objective -- to flatten civilian streets in order to sow fear, drive out innocents and create massive refugee outflows....
Finally, he says, the invasion had to be done before the situation in Iraq got any better and freed up U.S. forces to act elsewhere -- a matter not simply of U.S. weakness but of increasing U.S. strength. "If America thinks it is too weak to do anything about Georgia," said Mr. Saakashvili, "you should understand how the Russians see it, how much Moscow respects a strong United States -- or at least a U.S. that believes in its own strength." (more)

The Devil went Down to Georgia-

Russia's Nuclear Threat Is More Than Words- From the Op-Ed of WSJ:
...Not only has Russia retained a sizable nuclear arsenal, its military and political leaders regularly engage in aggressive bluster about expanded deployment and possible use, and sometimes they go beyond bluster. Six months ago, Russia began sending cruise missile-capable Bear H bombers on sallies along the coast of Alaska.
As recently as July, the newspaper Izvestia floated the idea that Moscow would station nuclear weapons in Cuba if the U.S. went ahead with the deployment of an antiballistic missile radar in the Czech Republic and interceptors in Poland. Col. Gen. Nikolai Solovtsov, chief of Russia's strategic missile command, has openly spoken about aiming nuclear-tipped missiles at those two countries. Vladimir Putin has warned Ukraine that if it were to join NATO, "Russia will have to point its warheads at Ukrainian territory." Not long before that, Mr. Putin cheerfully described a series of ballistic-missile flight tests as "pleasant and spectacular holiday fireworks."...(more)

No sign of Russian pullout, West worried

By Margarita Antidze INGOETI, Georgia (Reuters) - Russian troops and tanks remained in Georgia on Tuesday despite further pressure from NATO and Moscow's announcement that a gradual withdrawal was underway. Russia's partial occupation of Georgia...

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East Europe tries to protect itself from Russia

Russia's attack on Georgia has sparked fears across the young democracies of Eastern Europe that Moscow is once again hungry for conquest — and they are scrambling to protect themselves by tightening security alliances with Western powers.

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NATO's Hour

Russia's invasion of Georgia is a game changer. This war is part of a Russian strategy of roll-back and regime change on its borders. The more evidence that comes in, the clearer it is becoming that this is a conflict Moscow planned, prepared for and provoked -- a trap Tbilisi unfortunately walked into.

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Russian President Warns: 'Cross us and we will crush you'

President Dimitry Medvedev delivered his most hawkish statement yet in the current Georgian crisis today when he warned that any further aggression against Russian citizens would prompt a "crushing response". His statement came as Russia appeared to be dragging its heels in withdrawing its troops from Georgia amid growing international demands.

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