Suppose the Russians, as Iran's monopoly supplier of nuclear wherewithal, decided they could live with a few atomic weapons in the hands of the mullahs.

Suppose the Russians, flush with money and superpower fantasies, believed that weakening and humiliating the United States was well worth the instability that might come with Moscow's refusal to help block Iran's drive toward nuclear arms.

Where's the downside? From Vlad Putin's point of view, it's a win-win situation.

With Russia's obstructive tactics encouraging Iran to plunge ahead, he may figure the Americans will eventually strike Iranian nuclear installations. The US would harvest opprobrium in much of the world.

Still, if their strike does eradicate the Iranian nuclear program, that's fine, too. Russia's oil and gas prices are sure to shoot up. Russia becomes Iran's key reconstruction contractor, and sets out a rare claim to international righteousness.

What's irrational about the above scenario? Or its counterpart, which is that Russian now calculates the US in the end, will sit on its hands concerning Iran?

Nothing.

Multiple versions of them get discussed within the Bush Administration, Im sure, all stamped, Non Whacko.

It's exemplary of the misery of the American situation.

On one hand, the Administration sticks to the notion - recall, please, George W. Bush's magnanimous first-term reading of Putin's soul in his KGB eyes - that somehow, someday, but in the nick of time, the Russians are going to come around to joining an international effort to halt Iran's nuclear drive.

On the other hand, important areas of the administration are offering a hardened assessment of what Russia ultimately wants.

After a couple of years of talking about how Putin's richer Russia (reasonably) craved respect, a senior administration policymaker, in a private conversation, now asserts the "overwhelming evidence" is a Russia that seeks to weaken the United States.

Wherever possible internationally, he says, Moscow will work to stop America from achieving success.

The hitch is that concerning Iran, these two administration notions, expecting good from Russia while regarding it as a gathering, noxious force, are contradictory to the point of incompatibility.

The summer showed just how much.

In June, the Americans said they expected a United Nations Security Council resolution in July that would add a new round of modest sanctions to those already in effect against Iran. It never happened. The Russians, with Chinese assistance, sidetracked the measure.

Reality now says the United Nations is not going to be the place where Iran's nuclear dreams die.

Almost in the same stride, the Russians in July used the threat of a Security Council veto to dismantle an American-backed motion on Kosovo's independence.

The combined effect is not only an American defeat. It's a demonstration that, unlike in the Cold War, there are no clear limits on how far this Russia feels it can push this America.

Forget the grandiloquence of Moscow's planting flags in the Arctic and re-establishing world-wide strategic bomber patrols.

But as the United States flails in Iraq, and faces a financial crisis that may affect command-economies and authoritarian regimes less than democracies, why shouldn't Russia see the Iran issue as a strategic hole for achieving a new global status?

by John Vinocur (IHT)

((Alex)) I was just making sure my vote was in to keep..

Umm...thank you alex for making me paranoid? O_o I should quit watching the news for awhile...I'm a little edgy after hearing "WE ARE ALL GOING TO DIE AHHHH!" for days on end.

I'm with damm its cloudy,,,,,should I head for my bomb shelter....are we on orange alert...yikes.... wait on a island...no place to hide..
hope there's a lighter side...i'm going home to drink my beer

it's not anything to be scared of and besides that you won't have a choice so why worry bout it?

It just makes me mad that I have to trust people to not blow themselves up, so that I can go on my peaceful existence of trying to get enough money to get a pet deposit for a cat. And the people I have to trust are ones I never met, yet they have a world domination complex. Common sense is lacking in the leadership of the world today. it makes me wish I was a druggie sometimes..atleast their world is full of bright colors

You forgot one.

Israel sends in it's highly trained SOG's and takes out the installations. The United States then offers aid to Iran. Still a win-win situation for Russia (they still have oil and gas prices go up) but also for the United States which gets rid of the installations and gets a foot in Iran. Without any humiliation.

oh the worlds ending..what ever...hide don't hide..like it all matters really...in the end your alone kissin your own ass good bye

I better have my cat before than Cherub

gasp..!!! this is a mistake..someone has appropriated my computer and begun this thread!!!


although the topic may be interesting dear friends ...i have a feeling this is DUUUUUNNNNNCCAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

because it certainly was not me!!

Twas I ... As I had Alex's details saved by IE,and at 3am I was awake, I mistakenly put in her details and not mine.

But its an article I read yesterday in the Herald .. certainly makes a lot of sense to me

I am shaking my head about the claim that someone else made this post rather than Bl8tant. When I read the topic I thought it was 180 degrees from her usual sort of idealism. A platonic world view it is not. I thought the article to be thought provoking.

I wonder if others might recognize the scratch to the surface and the hint of depth. I'm going to reserve my views of Russia at this point because it would take too much time and nobody would likely read it anyway.

So congrats Bl8 on your post, even if you didn't make it yourself.

Putin is a mad man and a danger to the world. Iran's goal is to use any nukes they get to destroy Israel. The Bible talks about this scenario in Ezekiel, Gog and Magog. Israel will be attacked by a coalition of nations headed by Russia. This is a great time to be alive, we could all live to see God confirm His existance to the world. Exciting, but tragic from a purely human standpoint.

really doubt god wastes time with politics...Putin shouldnt be underestimated...madman?...
not hardly....and waiting in the wings of this show is China...holding a better hand than the
rest of the players..

i swear!!!

it wasn't me!! lol

Philosopher...your dry humour is appreciated

davinci1952,

Putin is a madman, that's not even up for debate. Kissing a strange childs stomach? Normal in your mind, I guess. Claiming that Russia owns the North Pole? Normal in your mind. Killing your political enemies? Normal in your mind. Get a grip man, you hate Bush so much that you can't see the real dangers in this world.