forget China, Russia is the one with all the natural resources, and they're the ones blustering.
if we pull out of Iraq - guess who's on the doorstep waiting to take control of the world's largest oil and gas reserves...
are you ready to live without oil?
last time I checked, we weren't energy self-sufficient just yet.


Russia lines up with Syria, Iran against America and the West

Russian Navy prepares for permanent Mediterranean base in Syria
Friday, Sept. 12, Moscow announced renovation had begun on the Syrian port of Tartus to provide Russia with its first long-term naval presence on the Mediterranean.
As the two naval chiefs talked in Moscow, Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov met Iranian foreign minister Manouchehr Mottaki in the Russian capital for talks on the completion of the Bushehr nuclear power plant by the end of the year.
The commander of the Russian, Navy Adm. Vladimir Vysotsky, and his Syrian counterpart, Gen. Taleb al Barri, spent all Friday working on details for the outfitting of Tartus port to accommodated increased Russian fleet Mediterranean missions not far from Israel's shores.
Mottaki's unannounced visit to the Russian capital focused on the timetable for Atomstroiexport to finish work on the Bushehr reactor after five years of delays.
Moscow has sharpened its tone in comments aimed at the West and the US in particular. President Dmitiry Medvedev said Friday that Georgia's attack on South Ossetia was the equivalent for Russia of the 9/11 attack on America. Even if Georgia had become a NATO member, he said, he would not have thought twice about ordering the Russian army to go in.
Prime minister Vladimir Putin, after putting Moscow's case on Georgia to the Western media, warned the US that stationing a missile defense shield near Russia's borders would start an arms race in Europe. There was no basis for a new Cold War, he said.
Friday's events indicate that Russia's leaders have determined not to declare a Cold War in Europe but to open a second anti-Western front in the Middle East.
Moscow had decided to use its ties with Tehran and Damascus to challenge the United State and the West in the Middle East as well as the Caucasian, the Black Sea and the Caspian region.
The traumatic impact of the Georgia conflict on Russia's rulers came through in the remarks of an unnamed Kremlin official quoted by the Russian media this week: "Everything has changed since the war with Georgia. What seemed impossible before is more than possible now when our friends become our enemies and our enemies our friends. Russia will respond. A number of possibilities are being considered, including hitting America where it hurts most - Iran and Syria."
In aligning with Tehran and Damascus, Moscow stands not only against America but also Israel.

Two Russian Tu-160 strategic bombers land in Venezuela, nuclear battle cruiser on way

The Russian defense ministry said the Tu-160 nuclear-capable, multi-mission bombers (NATO-coded Blackjack) arrived Wednesday Sept. 10 at a Venezuelan air base to take part in joint military exercises along with a Russian flotilla.
The nuclear maritime reconnaissance/anti-submarine warfare turboprop TU-142 (NATO coded Bear F, or Bear J), which can fly 6,500 km, i.e. from Venezuela to the US coast, will also be based at a Venezuelan military airfield.
Caracas announced that four Russian ships with almost 1,000 sailors aboard would join its navy for maneuvers on November 10-14.
Like the Russian air contingent, the Russian flotilla is also bigger and more formidable than Russian and Venezuelan spokesmen have indicated.
It consists of six to eight vessels, led by the Kirov Class (Type 1144.2) Peter the Great nuclear-powered heavy missile cruiser, one of the largest warships in the world, which is designed to guard the rest of the group against submarine and air attack.
It is armed with the Granit (NATO designated SS-N-19 Shipwreck) long range, anti-ship missile system, consisting of 20 missiles. If the lead missile is intercepted, one of the others moves into the lead role.
Peter the Great is also equipped with 40 S-300F air defense missiles.
Other ships in the Russian flotilla are the Admiral Chabanenko , the Russian navy's most advanced guided missile anti-submarine battleship, and the guided nuclear missile cruiser Pyotr Velikiy . They are escorted by five smaller warships and a fuel vessel.
From the makeup of the Russian group it is evident that, while it is being presented as primarily defensive, in fact it is the core infrastructure of an important Russian air and fleet presence for shielding a potential assault deployment in the event of a Kremlin decision to base one in Venezuela.