Russia Shows Europe Who Is Boss

September 2, 2008

Elaine Meinel Supkis

Emboldened by the umbrella of US nuclear imperial power, Europe has chosen to fight Russia rather than be friends with Russia. This unwise choice is rapidly moving Russia towards various interesting and obvious retaliatory choices. If Europe wants to park US missiles and troops around Russia, Russia can mess with Europe's existence since they chose nuclear powered politics rather than sane, sensible normal diplomatic efforts to get along with their main energy supplier. This is a contest Europe will overwhelmingly lose. As always, incidentally.

Putin reminds EU of Russia's Pacific oil pipeline

(Reuters) - Prime Minister Vladimir Putin said on Sunday that Russia's first oil pipeline to Asia must be completed without delay, underlining Russia's energy clout just hours before European Union leaders meet to discuss Georgia. Russian state-owned news agency RIA said Putin had signed a government order "on speeding the building of phases of the Eastern Siberia - Pacific Ocean (pipeline) and not allowing delays," while on a visit to the Far East.

He was speaking in Kozmino, a giant oil terminal being built on the Pacific coast to take the oil from the pipeline, which is being built by Transneft.

Russia doesn't have one customer. They are a major energy exporting power. Just like the US has to play footsie with Saudi Arabia, Europe has to protect Russia, not alienate or threaten Russia. I still marvel at how easily Eastern Europe has dragged Western Europe into a useless confrontation with Russian power. The former Warsaw Pact countries see this as a golden opportunity to stick it to their former masters. But the rest of Europe is going along for the ride because they want to bully Russia into giving them cheap energy.

The nexus here is obvious: Europe and the US hate BOTH Russia and Saudi Arabia! Absolutely loathe their people, their politics, their culture. Everything. The authors of WWI and WWII want to have us believe they are peaceful and kindly. Not the potential authors of WWIII. The chances that the new Holy Roman Empire III, aka, the European Union, might start yet another global imperial war is extremely high since they did this twice in the past. Only during the brief Cold War when Russia and the US divided Europe in two, were they unable to try to rule the entire planet or fight to the death to rule the planet.

EU's show of unity over Georgia

The last time that European Union leaders met for an emergency summit in Brussels in early 2003 there was an almighty clash.

The then French President Jacques Chirac publicly chided the countries of the former Soviet bloc for being "badly brought up" and "losing an opportunity to shut up" because they supported America's tough line on Iraq.

This time, "old Europe" and "new Europe" have overcome their divisions to agree on a tough line on Russia - at least for now.After a summit lasting just four hours, Nicolas Sarkozy - Mr Chirac's successor and currently in charge of the EU rotating presidency - announced that Europe was united.

Over four pages, the summit conclusions strongly condemn Russia's "disproportionate reaction" in Georgia, describe as "unacceptable" its recognition of the independence of South Ossetia and Abkhazia and call on other states "not to recognise this proclaimed independence".

Eastern Europe WANTS global war! The Balkans WANT global war! The British WANT global war. France and Germany, in 2003, were leery of starting WWIII because they had unpleasant encounters from the Napoleonic wars, WWI and WWII. But in a mere few years, the tide turned and even France and Germany decided ethnic warfare is good, egging on wars like the one being stewed against Iran, are good. And in sum: all their dependence on Russian commodities and good will are not needed if they can INTIMIDATE Russia. So the old hat way of doing business: bellowing and then launching sneak attacks on Russia---are now back in fashion!

So Europe is 'united' in its desire to drag the US into a global war with Russia. This is beyond infantile: it is courting certain death. Perhaps not one lesson was learned in the last 100 years there. I know they teach history in school there, I went to school in Germany and they cover the major wars pretty good. The ruins of WWII were still quite visible when I lived in Germany. Germany was occupied by 4 major forces. I lived in the French Sector, for example. The Germans sniggered at the French troops who didn't know how to strut and march properly. Seriously.

Well, here we are with Europe united in pushing back against Russia and Russia is united in shoving Europe's swagger down their throats.

Russia's Gazprom Suspends Gas Deliveries to Europe Due to Repairs

Gas transportation through the Yamal-Europe pipeline will be suspended as of 1600 on 2 September until 2200 on 3 September due to repairs, a Gazprom report reads.

"Following requests from the EuRoPol GAZ and Wingas companies for planned repairs in Poland and Germany, gas transportation through the Yamal-Europe pipeline will be suspended from 1600 on 2 September until 2200 on 3 September. As of 2200 on 3 September until 2200 on 4 September gas deliveries will amount to 50m cu.m. a day," the report said.

The more Europe whines, the more the pipelines will need repairs. If Europe really whines, they can freeze to death. The bellicose European leaders seeking to crush Russian power will then scream they will go to the Saudis for oil and gas. Scratch that. They will use the Nabucco pipeline to circumvent Russia! HAHAHA. Too bad that might end up developing leaks! What if Russia and Saudi Arabia begin doing business with China that involves China getting first dibs on ALL energy from both? This is the future. The US has a bad habit of just printing more fiat dollars to pay for energy. China has gold and cash. As well as trade goods and other things to do business.

A solvent China is already outbidding the deep in debt West. Now that the West is kicking Russia out of the G8 and reverting to the Seven Dwarves status, both Russia and China are joining Saudi Arabia on the outside. Where they are very powerful and getting more so as time passes. Europe knows this and hopes by strengthening nuclear war powers, they can still somehow muscle the new rising powers in the world. Using US missiles and submarines, Europe hopes to dictate oil deals. Like they tried in Iraq.

Where China has just won a $3 billion deal to do oil business with the Shi'ites! Here is a warning from Russia just last year:

28 April 2006 Russia Talks of Diverting Oil to Asia

President Vladimir Putin has said that Russia should direct future oil and natural gas exports to Asia because "unprincipled competition" had blocked its energy companies from expanding elsewhere.

With the bold warning that Russia has other export options, Putin waded into a debate in Europe over the plans of Gazprom, the natural gas monopoly, which is trying to enter the retail gas market.

Putin couched his comments in a discussion of a new trans- Siberian pipeline to ship oil to China, Japan and other Pacific Rim markets. He spoke before a meeting on energy issues with Chancellor Angela Merkel of Germany in the Siberian city of Tomsk. After Gazprom briefly cut natural gas exports to Ukraine in January, European leaders have questioned the reliability of Russia as an energy supplier.

It is certainly a large one. At the end of trading Wednesday, the stock market value of Gazprom was $267 billion, more than that of BP, Europe's largest energy company. The value put Gazprom in second place after Exxon Mobil of the United States. Gazprom is now the fourth-largest company in the world after Exxon, General Electric and Microsoft.

"We often encounter unfair competition on international markets," Putin told a business forum held before the meeting with Merkel.

When Russia pulled out this threat from their shako hat, Europe reacted by redoubling efforts to lay their paws on the US nuclear war systems. Instead of understanding Russia, they thought it was time to show Russia who was the real boss: Napoleon. I just watched the Russian 'War and Peace' movie, all of it in Russian, and it was a sobering affair. Truly, this business about pushing Russia around has astounding features, the top one being, how NO ONE learns a DAMN THING from history concerning this sort of activity!

China patiently builds their empires by enfolding other kingdoms with minimum fuss and muss, Russia is the opposite: they fight to the death. They might not fight all that well when the stakes are small. But when they are fighting for Mother Russia itself, this changes them into the world's most ferocious and tenacious fighters. And they always take their battles back to whoever attacked them in the first place. China doesn't do this. Russia always does this.

Gazprom Neft looks to send crude to China via Kazakhstan

Gazprom Neft, the oil arm of Russian energy giant Gazprom, plans to apply for permission to ship crude oil to China via Kazakhstan in the fourth quarter of this year and in 2009, the company CEO said on Monday.

"We are the only company that has a direct contract with China Oil," Alexander Dyukov said.

It was earlier reported that Gazprom Neft had not been included in the schedule for oil shipments to China via Kazakhstan along the Atasu-Alashankou pipeline.

The company said it had applied to the Energy and Fuel Ministry for permission to pump 1.08 mln tons of crude in April-December 2008, but ran into transit problems with the Kazakh state transport monopoly KazTransOil.

As Europe diddles with Russian irritations, the many connections between Russia and China grow rapidly. Time is of the essence here: if Europe is stupid, they will end up, when the Hubbert Oil Peak goes global, begging for energy and not getting it. Europe's choice to cease triangulating and switching to strangulating China and Russia is going to go down in history as the stupidest collective choice yet.

UN Security Council rebuffs Georgian separatists

(Reuters) - The U.N. Security Council refused Thursday to approve a request from representatives of two Georgian breakaway regions, which Russia has recognized as independent states, to address the council.In recent months Russia has repeatedly asked the 15-nation council to allow representatives of Georgia's two separatist enclaves, South Ossetia and Abkhazia, to speak to the Security Council but Western council members have reacted coolly.

However, the situation became more complicated this week when Russia formally recognized South Ossetia and Abkhazia as independent countries after invading Georgia earlier this month to thwart an attempt by Tbilisi to regain control over South Ossetia. Both regions broke away from Tbilisi in the 1990s.

"There was no unanimous support to respond positively to these requests now," Belgium's U.N. Ambassador Jan Grauls told reporters after a closed-door meeting.

Kosovo was recognized by the EU. So they should give Russia something in return. They won't do this because they imagine the US nuclear umbrella and the threat of US missiles aimed right at Moscow means they can snap their finger's under Russia's nose. This stupid idea is backfiring.

Russian Offensive Hailed in Mideast

For some in the Middle East, the images of Russian tanks rolling into Georgia in defiance of U.S. opposition have revived warm memories of the Cold War.

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad flew last week to Moscow, where he endorsed Russia's offensive in Georgia and, according to Russian officials, sought additional Russian weapon systems.

Saif al-Islam Gaddafi, Libyan leader Moammar Gaddafi's influential son, echoed the delight expressed in much of the Arab news media. "What happened in Georgia is a good sign, one that means America is no longer the sole world power setting the rules of the game," the younger Gaddafi was quoted as telling the Russian daily Kommersant. "There is a balance in the world now. Russia is resurging, which is good for us, for the entire Middle East."

In Turkey, an American and European ally that obtains more than two-thirds of its natural gas from Russia, the reaction was more complex. Turks watched as the United States, NATO and a divided European Union hesitated in the face of Russian military assertiveness, leaving them more doubtful than they already were about depending on the West to secure U.S.-backed alternative oil and gas supply lines.

"This Russian invasion of Georgia is a turning point in the relations of the Atlantic community with Russia, including, of course, Turkey," Ozden Sanberk, a former Turkish ambassador to Britain, said by telephone from Turkey. "There is a change in the paradigm, a change in assessment."

The Muslim oil nations are TRIANGULATING. This is smart. Triangulators do better than absolutists. Barking orders is stupid when dealing with people who can triangulate. Russia isn't part of OPEC but rapidly is becoming the leader of OPEC. Saudi Arabia wants Iran disarmed. But they can't do this and be totally with the EU/US empire because the EU and US want to destroy Islam. Russia and China suppress Islamic rebels very ferociously. But they are not going deep inside the Middle East to do this. A big difference.

The Islamic world can see clearly that US and EU power is fading as both are now over the Hubbert Oil Peak. Europe and the US produce less and less energy compared to previous years. The North Sea fields are in very fast decline. The US offshore fields are constantly in danger of mega-hurricanes. The US has more potential fuel but is extremely wasteful and would have to totally rebuild our entire infrastructure and civilization in order to not be totally dependent upon Middle Eastern or South American oil sources.

The US is acutely unable to cope with this concept. Oil prices are dropping to the $100 a barrel limit OPEC has set. The US hopes to drop it further. It won't happen. This is because the US will simply consume vast quantities of oil again, rapidly. All those SUVs will come back out of the garage again. And the big houses will continue to be built in inappropriate places and public transportation will fade back into nothing again.

Pressure grows on Nicolas Sarkozy for Afghanistan pullout

President Sarkozy's resolve to remain steadfast in Afghanistan was tested yesterday as a poll indicated that a majority of French voters want him to pull troops out after the deaths this week of ten soldiers in a Taleban ambush.

The President inspected the ten coffins and spoke to survivors at a ceremony of tribute on Thursday.

The findings of Le Parisien poll came amid growing debate over France's role in the Nato force in Afghanistan, with Mr Sarkozy being accused of entrenching his country in an unwinnable conflict.

The loss of the servicemen, in what has been described as the French Army's worst day for a quarter of a century, has brought the issue to the centre of public attention almost for the first time.

Sarkozy is an imperialist. He is very concerned about protecting Israel. He wants to use the US nuclear power to expand his own power. At the same time, French people are worried about this latest Napoleonic excess and want their troops home. Afghanistan has now exploded in our faces. Iraq is quiet only because it is now on the road to becoming a hyper-Shi'a state. All is well between Iraq and Iran at last. Thanks to the US intervention.

France wants to be an empire. But can't pay the price. I would suggest they give this project up. If the US can't succeed, certainly the French will also fail. And forget about Germany doing this.

Georgia admits to dropping cluster bombs

A prominent human rights group says Georgia has admitted dropping cluster bombs in its military offensive to assert control over the restive province of South Ossetia. Human Rights Watch says it has received an official letter from Georgia's Defense Ministry that acknowledges use of the M85 cluster munition near the Roki tunnel that connects South Ossetia with Russia.

The M85 is the same weapon that was used extensively by Israel in its 2006 war with Hezbollah in Lebanon.

Israel and the US gets away with multiple war crimes. Serbs are put on trial. Russia sees the obvious racist and ethnic policies at work here. The double standard is aimed only at them, the authors of some of the worst wars and ethnic cleansing get a free ride today, don't they? The US was OK with using cluster bombs on civilians in Lebanon. The Jews supported this crime with all their hearts and minds. The UN was rendered useless. So it is today: useless. So long as Europe and the US are bent on world domination via military might, we will see the UN fade away at last. The US right wing hates the UN. And love empire. They will get their dark wish. Unfortunately, the empires will not be the US and EU that call the shots.

Russia says US may have sent weapons to Georgia

Russia warned the West on Monday against supporting Georgia's leadership, suggesting that the United States carried weapons as well as aid to the ex-Soviet republic and calling for an arms embargo until the Georgian government falls.

The remarks by Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and his spokesman came as European Union leaders delicately approached their relations with Russia, weighing how to punish Moscow for its invasion of Georgia without isolating the continent's major energy supplier.

The latest Russian rhetoric was likely to anger the United States and Europe and enrage Georgian President Mikhail Saakashvili, who has said Russia's goal all along has been to remove him from power.

As this heats up, it is very easy to stop this freight train to WWIII. The US could suddenly suggest WE disarm. We can set an example. Lay down our missiles, defang our military, curb our war spending and put our lying, conniving leaders on trial just like the EU wants to try only leaders supported by Russia. We must show some sincerity here. Handing over Bush to be tried in Iraq would be a great start. I heartily recommend this.

Then we can go back to competing with China for world resources by doing trade, not printing dollars.

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Comments

[JSmith]

"We are ruled by thugs."

Isn't that stating the obvious? You don't get to the top unless you have some thug in you to begin with. If you're at all ambitious, you will from time to time find people in your way who will need to be moved aside if you are to achieve your goals.

[Elaine Meinel Supkis]

Assassinations.

[JSmith]

Assassinations come in different forms. Life-ending assassinations, career-ending assassinations... when push comes to shove, your true leader of persons will do whatever it takes.

[l-arginine]

I can see and feel the domination here. Can be very possible.