Dreaming of Simplicity

Russia's relations with the west plunged to their most critical point in a generation today when the Kremlin built on its military rout of Georgia by recognising the breakaway provinces of South Ossetia and Abkhazia as independent states.

Declaring that if his decision meant a new cold war, then so be it, President Dmitri Medvedev signed a decree conferring Russian recognition on Georgia's two secessionist regions. The move flouted UN Security Council resolutions and dismissed western insistence during the crisis of the past three weeks on respecting Georgia's territorial integrity and international borders.

Tonight, Medvedev accused Washington of shipping arms to Georgia under the guise of humanitarian aid.

Read the Full Article Here.

Remember that 3.am call? Well at 3.am this morning, Barack Obama supporters got the text that they had been waiting for.

"Barack has chosen Senator Joe Biden to be our VP nominee. Watch the first Obama-Biden rally live at 3pm ET on www.BarackObama.com. Spread the word!"

So, there it is, Delaware Senator Joe Biden will be Democratic Presidential candidate Obama's running mate.

So where does he stand on the issues? Let us have a look.

On...

• Crime - he supports rehabilitation and community policing
• Education - he supports teachers unions but also supports abstinence education. He is against student voucher systems and voluntary prayers in schools. He also supported the abolition of an education grant fro prisoners.
• Energy - he opposes drilling in the Arctic, supports the creation 0f a new treaty on climate change and supports the idea of a cap and trade scheme.
• Environment - he called for the US to be a part of UN climate change negotiations
• Gun control - he is pro-gun control scoring a healthy 'F' on the NRA's rankings.
• Immigration - he supports giving illegal immigrants a path to citizenship.
• Security - voted for the PATRIOT Act but voted to limit wire tapping. Supports restoration of habeas corpus for Gitmo detainees. 60% approval rating by ACLU indicating a mixed record.
  
• Economics - he is against Bush's tax cuts for the rich and supports a balanced budget. He is scored 100% by the AFL-CIO (American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations) indicating a pro-union record. One of the few Democrats that supported NAFTA. Supports funding for healthcare for all.
• Foreign policy - voted in favour of wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, has since withdrawn support for Iraq war. Supports repositioning troops to Sudan to end the Darfur genocide. Opposes abstinence only HIV-AIDS prevention programs. Strongly supports Israel and a two state solution. Supports sanctions on Iran but also proposes a sort of 'promise tree' (my words) that would show Iran what it could look forward to if it complied with American demands.
• Abortion - he has voted against parental notification, scored 100% by the NARAL Pro-Choice America but scored just 36% in 2003. Supports federal funding for stem-cell research.
• Drugs - he supports removing drug users from the prison system into specialist facilities and opposes stronger drug laws.
• LGBT rights - voted in favour of the Defence of Marriage Act but against the Federal Marriage Ammendment. Supports civil unions and adding sexual orientation to hate crime laws.

Parts of this article have been summarised from the Wikipedia article on the Political Positions of Joe Biden.

Russia has rejected yet another United Nations resolution, while downgrading the death toll in South Ossetia. The Kremlin claims that 133 civilians are dead in South Ossetia, down from the 1,600 figure it originally gave.

George Bush has reiterated his call for Russia to respect Georgian territorial integrity and said, "The world has come together to condemn this assault".

NATO members today said that they could not continue with "business as usual" with Russia and again called for the immediate withdrawal of Russian troops from Georgian territory.

Following talks in Brussels at an emergency meeting of NATO foreign ministers called by Secretary of State Condeleezza Rice, NATO Secretary General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer said that "The future of our relations with Russia will depend on the concrete actions Russia will take to abide by the words of President Dmitry Medvedev [regarding the peace plan], which is not happening at the moment".

In response, Russian officials accused NATO of trying to save a criminal regime. In the last hour or so, Russia's Ambassador to NATO (the North Atlantic Treaty Alliance) has warned the West against allowing Georgia to enter the Alliance. "I would like to ask you whether you are ready to risk your prosperity, to risk your lives and the lives of your children just for (Georgian President Mikheil) Saakashvili," Ambassador Dmitry Rogozin said.

Rogozin proceeded, "My proposal is to accept Hitler in NATO, then Saddam, after that, Saakashvili. That's the order that I propose for NATO accession".

The Full Statement Issued by NATO is here.


Picture: NATO Secretary General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer speaking at a press conference earlier today; courtesy NATO

US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice gives a press conference after the emergency NATO summit in Brussels.

NATO is to meet for an emergency summit to discuss the situation in Georgia. Despite Russia signing the ceasefire and withdrawal agreement, Russian forces are still believed to be in non-disputed Georgian territories. Also, AFP has reported that the Russian military are moving missile launchers into the area. Both the Russian military and the Kremlin deny the report. A BBC News correspondent in Georgia saw a Russian convoy of around 60 men on vehicles heading deeper into Georgia yesterday.

According to CNN, Russian President Dmitry Medvedev hit out at Georgia once again yesterday. Speaking near the Russian-Georgian border, Medvedev said "The world has seen that even today, there are political morons who are ready to kill innocent and defenceless people in order to satisfy their self-serving interests, while compensating for their own inability to resolve complicated issues by using the most terrible solution -- by exterminating an entire people. I think that there should be no mercy for that. We will do our best not to let this crime go unpunished."

In response, Georgia's Ambassador to Washington said that the Russian invasion had been long in the making "You just don't move more than 1,200 tanks and 15,000 soldiers into a country within 12 hours without previous planning," Ambassador Vasil Sikharulidze said.

Speaking on the eve of the meeting of NATO's foreign ministers in Brussels, US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said the West must deprive Russia of any strategic victory from its assault on Georgia. The meeting was called by Secretary Rice who, on entry to Belgium, said "We are going to send the message that we are not going to allow Russia to draw a new line at those states that are not yet integrated into the transatlantic structures like Georgia and Ukraine".

It is thought that there will be two camps in the NATO talks. In one camp, Britain, Canada, the US with most Eastern European member states will seek a tough stance on Russia. The other camp, consisting of most of Western Europe, led by France and Germany, is expected to be more cautious of harming ties with Moscow.

Picture: [Demonstration in Tbilisi for a free and undivided Georgia. The sign says "Imperial Appetites"] by Håkan Henriksson - http://commons.wikimedia.org

Evidence of a massacre that took place during the Korean War has been found in an abandoned near the South Korean city of Daegu. However, it appears that the massacre may have been perpetrated by the American backed South Korea rather than the communist North Korea (Democratic Republic of Korea).

It is thought that the mine is a tomb for up to 3000 people, whose dead bodies had been thrown down the mine shaft. Intriguingly, it would appear that senior US officials were aware of the executions. Pictures taken by American soldiers were classified an filled in Washington for years.

It is believed that the bodies belonged to South Koreans perceived as communist sympathisers by their own government.

Full story from the BBC here.

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez is to nationalise the cement industry in a bid to speed up building in order to address a crippling housing shortage. The Venezuelan state has spent $819-million buying controlling stakes in two of the largest cement companies in the country.

Despite reaching a deal to buy the Venezuelan subsidiaries of Swiss company Lafarge and French company Holcim, the Vice-President said that the government was unable to reach an agreement with Mexian company Cemax to buy its local subsidiary and will instead seize its offices and assets.

The move is part of Chavez's nationalisation drive that is expected to extend to the banking and telecommunication industries.

Full story here.

Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf today announced in a national television address that he will resign. Musharraf has been under fire recently and in the address he gave a veiled attack on his political rivals say that some considered themselves more important than Pakistan and were trying to betray the country.

Musharraf has been a key US ally in fighting terrorism. However, even Washington is believed to have read him the riot act as his own intelligence service has been infiltrated by al Qaeda.

Musharraf became appointed himself President 20 June 2001 after deposing Pakistani Prime Minister in a bloodless coup 20 October 1999. At the end of November 2007 he stepped down from his role as head of the military to become a civilian President. Earlier this month, impeachment papers were filled against him in the Pakistani Parliament.

Europe is stepping up the verbal offensive against Russia. In an article in Le Figaro, French President Nicholas Sarkozy says that:

This withdrawal must be carried out without delay. This point is not negotiable in my eyes. It must involve all Russian forces that entered in[to] Georgia since August 7. If this clause of the cease-fire [is] not applied quickly and completely, I would be obliged to convene an extraordinary European Council to decide on the consequences to be drawn.

Previously, Sarkozy had been accused of taking a somewhat soft stance towards Russia. It follows Angela Merkel's statement that Georgia should be able to enter into NATO. France and Germany were two of the NATO members that were rather cool towards the idea of giving Georgia a blueprint for NATO membership.

The tone in Sarkozy's article, however, is clear:

We must also determine whether the intervention of Russia against its neighbour Georgia was a response brutal and excessive, in this unique case, or if it opens a new hardening of Moscow vis-à-vis its neighbours and the international community [as a] whole.

The use of such stong words will no doubt anger Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin and President Dmitry Medvedev. Whilst talking about Europe's role in the crisis, Sarkozy says something that no other leader has dared to say, he talks of a new cold war:

That is what [Europe has] done by making every effort to reduce this new conflict whose consequences could be catastrophic if it proved to be harbinger of a new cold war.

If Russian troops do not begin withdrawing today, there could be a lot of diplomatic trouble.

The Full Article is here.

































Images: Nicholas Sarkozy by א (Aleph), http://commons.wikimedia.org; Dmitry Mevedev by Zscout370, http//commons.wikimedia.org; Georgia map from BBC News

German Chancellor Angela Merkel has said that Georgia should be able to join NATO (dodgy translation) if it so desired. Speaking after meeting with Georgian President Mikhail Saakashvili in Tbilisi, Merkel said that "Georgia will, if it wants, and it does want to, become a member of NATO". This a change of tone from Germany who, in April, prevented NATO from offering a membership timetable to Georgia because it feared angering Russia. Russia is a major gas supplier to Europe, the European market accounts for two thirds of Russian natural-gas company Gazprom's profits. Gazprom's profits make up 25% of the Russian Federal budget.

Meanwhile, according to French President Nicholas Sarkozy, Russian President Dmitry Medvedev has pledged to finally begin withdrawing Russian troops on Monday. However, it is expected that this will be a pull-back from Georgian non-contested territory, not South Ossetia. Moreover, Russia troops are expected to stay in Abkhazia, a region that had been relatively stable until Russian troops moved in.

Washington, Brussels, London and Berlin are all agreed that South Ossetia and Abkhazia will not be allowed to be assimilated into the Russian Federation. It does, however, seem that Prime Minister Putin and his puppet Medvedev may disagree.

Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili asks today in a Wall Street Journal op-ed, "why this war?". Good question. For days, I refrained from doing a post about the situation in Georgia because I felt I did not know enough about it. However, much has now become clear as Russia continues its offensive despite the offer of a cease-fire by a battered Georgia.

At first, many afforded Russia the benefit of the doubt. Then it became clear that Vladimir Putin had orchastrated his own little war against a political rival, with no plans to back down for anyone or anything.

Once again, the gap between Russia and the West grows. Once again, Putin proves himself to be yet another war-mongering autocrat. Once again, the UN fails to agree on any course of action. Once again, the West fails to take action to prevent what can only be described as an occupation.


Picture: H Henriksson - http://commons.wikimedia.org