Did Cheney mean to start a new cold war with Russia? They think so.

[bigtree]

Russian media call Cheney's remarks start of new Cold War

Vice president criticized Moscow during meeting with former Soviet republics

Associated Press
Originally published May 6, 2006
http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/nationworld/bal-te.russiaus06may06,0,6045776.story?coll=bal-nationworld-headlines

MOSCOW // Russian news media are describing Vice President Dick Cheney's criticism of Russia and President Vladimir V. Putin as the start of a new Cold War.

Cheney's harsh words Thursday at a conference in Lithuania drew a comparison yesterday to Winston Churchill's "Iron Curtain" speech and reflected the deepening distrust between Washington and a newly assertive Kremlin.

In his speech, Cheney accused Russia of cracking down on religious and political rights and of using its energy reserves as "tools of intimidation or blackmail."

Opponents of reform in Russia, the vice president said, "are seeking to reverse the gains of the last decade" after the collapse of the Soviet empire in 1991.

The prominent business daily Kommersant said Cheney's comments marked "the beginning of a second Cold War" and harked back to Churchill's speech condemning Soviet expansionism in Eastern Europe with the "Iron Curtain" label that defined the East-West divide for decades.

full report: http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/nationworld/bal-te.russiaus06may06,0,6045776.story?coll=bal-nationworld-headlines

[babylonsister]

1. Someone needs to put him back in his bunker, tie him up,

and tape his damned mouth. :grr: :grr: Who let him out anyway?

[IntravenousDemilo]

2. It's time for Howard Dean to go on a world tour to meet with a bunch of

foreign leaders, particularly the more antsy ones, and tell them, "Look, chill. We know the guy's an asshole. Nobody knows it better than we do. But we're working on it, and he'll be outta there pretty soon. So just don't do anything stupid before then, K?"

[bigtree]

7. this is a good example of the danger of lame-duck fascists

unchecked, they're going to scorch the earth before their regime dies.

[spanone]

3. Cheney is a dangerous MoFo. He should be on a short leash.

I do not like this sick fuck out there running his mouth. He speaks for no-one I know.

[dogday]

4. Dead-Eye Dick takes aim at Russia

[leftyladyfrommo]

5. We need someplace to test our new nukes.

Russia would be perfect. They are in such disaray they can't fight back.

[misternormal]

6. Cheney is a fucking idiot...

... Nothing that man says should be given any creedence at all.

I would think that the Russians, if anyone, would be able to smell bullshit.

[AndyA]

8. Note to Russia: Dick Cheney does not speak for America.

Halliburton, yes. The big oil companies, yes. But not mainstream America.

Check the polls. You'll see that Americans do not feel our best interests are represented by President Bush, Vice President Cheney, or our current Congress. It's clear that there is little support of these people.

Please forgive these people, Bush is mentally impaired, Cheney is just plain evil, and our Congress is power hungry and greedy. The American people do not value these things.

Furthermore, we did not vote for these people to represent us. Bush lost the popular election in 2000, and stole the election in 2004 with compromised electronic voting machines. So, we are victims. But we're about to fix the problem, and soon, just give us a little more time.

Then perhaps the world can work together to restore peace and attend to some of the more serious problems facing us, like environmental collapse, hunger, disease, and poverty.

[Hubert Flottz]

9. Drunk Again.

Putin's lucky Cheney wasn't armed!

[madokie]

10. something tells me ole putty putt putt has a lot more on the ball

even if he were drunk than these bastards in the wh

[bigtree]

11. ** Cheney Bids to Cut Russia Out of Oil Route **

Saturday, May 6, 2006

Almaty, Kazakhstan -- A day after chastising Moscow for its use of oil and natural gas as "tools for intimidation and blackmail," Vice President Dick Cheney visited Kazakhstan on Friday to promote export routes that bypass Russia and supply the West directly.

With his comments, Cheney waded into a messy geopolitical struggle for energy and influence in the countries of the former Soviet Union. The United States supports moves to weaken Russia's grip by building new export routes for the enormous energy reserves of Central Asia, much of which now must pass through Russian territory to reach ports in the Black Sea or pipelines to Europe.

Cheney's visit to Kazakhstan, on Russia's southern rim, highlighted the balancing of U.S. interests, trying to counter Russian dominance in energy matters in the region by cozying up to states like Kazakhstan and Azerbaijan that have spotty human rights records and limited democracy -- and plenty of oil.

On Thursday, Kazakhstan's energy minister cheered the United States and Europe by saying he was interested in building a gas pipeline westward to Azerbaijan and then to Turkey, bypassing Russia and loosening the lock by Gazprom, Russia's natural gas monopoly, on this trade.

Assistant Secretary of State Richard Boucher, who is traveling with Cheney, has called for Kazakhstan to commit to transporting more of its oil along this westward route.

full report: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2006/05/06/MNGUUIMQAA1.DTL

[Hubert Flottz]

14. The neocons want to pull the troops all out of Germany and send

them to the Caspian Basin countries! Russia will be real pissed off about that.

[The Backlash Cometh]

12. Cheney should be held for treason.

That man is so desperate that he will create WWIII in order to rally up support among his neanderthals.

[Montagnard]

13. They did so well

with the hot war in Iraq, why not start a cold war.