The Bear is Back
by Gary Kah
The world was caught off guard by Russia's blitz-krieg style invasion of Georgia in August. Its leaders smartly chose to make their move while the world was distracted by the Beijing Olympics. Regardless of whether Russia was provoked or not, its response sent a loud message: The Bear is back!
During the tense weeks that followed, the U.S. sent stern warnings to Prime Minister Putin, President Medvedev, and their comrades to immediately withdraw their troops from this sovereign nation. Georgia, which has become an ally of the West, was quickly backed by Ukraine, Poland, Latvia and other former satellite nations whose leaders traveled to the country in a public show of support. Russia has not moved further into Georgia for now. But they have refused to withdraw their troops from the areas they have already secured.
On Larry King Live, Russia's former leader Mikhail Gorbachev warned President Bush to back off unless he wanted to start a new Cold War.1 Georgia is very important to Russia strategically. If it ever wanted to invade Israel, or any part of the Middle East for that matter, its ground troops would have to go through Georgia. The U.S. is powerless to stop Russia because it is spread too thin militarily - primarily because of Iraq and Afghanistan. Russia understands this very well.
Clearly, Russia has a new boldness. It has become one of the world's top energy suppliers and is experiencing its best economic times in decades. Its military is being restored, and the Russian people are once again proud. It is also meddling with foreign politics in a way not seen since the early 1980s.
Last summer, Syria's President Assad spent two days in Moscow purchasing new weapons from Russia - a move that has made Israel quite nervous.2 Russian advisors and troops are now hunkered down in parts of Syria, including the country's main naval base on the Mediterranean coast. Russia has also bolstered its ties with Iran, whose leaders just yesterday announced a national law declaring that anyone who chooses to leave Islam will receive the death penalty.
Another revolutionary leader that has received recent support from Russia is Raila Odinga of Kenya. After losing Kenya's democratic election on December 27, 2007, Odinga cut a deal for support from Vladimir Putin. Odinga, an Islamic Marxist, knows he will have to somehow overthrow Kenya's government to gain power. Disgruntled over the election results, he incited his tribal followers to go on murderous rampages in towns that were primarily Christian - a possible sign of things to come.3
This is the same man that Barack Obama visited in 2006 and is very close to. In fact, when Senator Obama traveled to Nairobi to meet with Odinga, the Kenyan government officially denounced Obama. A Kenyan government spokesman stated that Obama's bias for his friend was so blatant the government found it necessary to complain that Obama appeared to be Odinga's stooge. Odinga's future depends in large part on how much aid he receives from Russia and/or the West - possibly from Obama.
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