Sunday, August 26, 2007

Georgia is in no way a democracy. One might ask, why is Bush even putting a missile shield in Georgia with a power hungry tyrant of a president?


French airs ... The French aerobatic team Patrouille de France performing yesterday over Zhukovsky airfield, outside Moscow during the International
Gulf set to go nuclear
MANAMA: Nuclear power plants could be built in the Gulf, following talks with international experts in Vienna.
Officials are fresh back from talks between the GCC and the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), to map out the possibilities.
A final feasibility report is expected by March 5, it was revealed yesterday.
The draft report will be discussed at further GCC-IAEA talks in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, on October 24, according to a statement released by the Electricity and Works Ministry.
Assistant Under-Secretary for Planning and Projects Dr Khalid Burashid has just returned from the Vienna talks.
Available fossil fuel resources, primarily oil and gas, in the GCC will meet rapid development in the region for many years to come, said the statement.
"However, it is felt necessary at this point of time to deploy the nuclear option, with technical and financial capabilities within these states, for peaceful applications, including research and development."

http://www.gulf-daily-news.com/Story.asp?Article=191917&Sn=BNEW&IssueID=30160


Iran rejects reports of slower nuclear work
TEHRAN, August 26 (RIA Novosti) - Iran rejected Sunday reports that it has recently scaled down its controversial nuclear activities.
Iran has been at the center of international concerns over its nuclear program, which some countries, particularly the United States, suspect is geared toward nuclear weapons development. Tehran has consistently denied the claims, saying it needs nuclear power for civilian purposes.
"There has been no slowing, no halt or retreat in Iran's peaceful nuclear program. Our [nuclear] activities continue," Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Mohammad Ali Hosseini said.
The Iranian diplomat said his country had agreed as planned with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) on a timetable to clear up remaining questions over the Islamic Republic's controversial nuclear program.
Iran has come under pressure for rejecting three consecutive UN resolutions against its nuclear program since last year. The six countries negotiating the dispute - the UN Security Council permanent members plus Germany - have demanded that Tehran suspend all uranium enrichment before negotiating a solution to the nuclear program.
Iran insists that it needs nuclear power purely to generate electricity. President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad announced early April the start of uranium enrichment on an industrial level.

http://en.rian.ru/world/20070826/74728254.html


Poll: Poles Still Oppose US Missile Base
Friday August 24, 2007 12:01 PM
WARSAW, Poland (AP) - A majority of Poles continue to oppose hosting a U.S. missile defense base, according to a poll released Friday.
The survey, by the publicly funded CBOS institute in Warsaw, said that 56 percent of those questioned oppose putting the base on Polish territory - a level of resistance that has remained fairly steady over the past months. The poll said that 28 percent favor the plan.
A similar poll in July put opposition at 55 percent and support at 28 percent.
The U.S. wants to place 10 interceptor missiles in Poland and a radar base in the Czech Republic, contending the system will protect most of Europe from long-range missile strikes from Iran.
Russia, however, has expressed outrage at the idea of U.S. military installations so close to its borders, and threatened the shield could lead to a new arms race.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/worldlatest/story/0,,-6873388,00.html



Austrian defense minister criticized for calling U.S. missile shield a 'provocation'
VIENNA, Austria: Austria's defense minister came under fire from the Czech Republic on Thursday after accusing the U.S. of a "provocation" for pressing ahead with plans to build a missile defense shield in Europe.
Norbert Darabos told the Die Presse newspaper in an interview published Thursday that he does not view the possibility of a rocket attack by Iran as a serious threat. Darabos urged U.S. officials to seek a compromise with Russia, which fiercely opposes the plan.
The United States argues that the system, which would include 10 interceptor missiles in Poland and a radar system based in the Czech Republic, would help guard against a potential threat from Iran.
"I do not see this danger," Darabos, a Social Democrat, said in the interview.
"I regard it as a provocation that the U.S. now develops a missile shield in Eastern Europe," he said, contending that Washington's plans were "unnecessarily reviving old Cold War debates."

http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2007/08/23/europe/EU-GEN-Austria-US-Missile-Defense.php


INTERVIEW - NATO, Georgia to share radars in 2007 – Tbilisi
By Niko Mchedlishvili
TBILISI (Reuters) - Georgia's radars will probably be integrated into NATO's radar system by the end of this year, earlier than planned because of worries about Russian activities, the Georgian Defence Ministry said on Thursday.
"Recent incidents prompted discussions in Brussels, at NATO headquarters, to speed up these procedures, so that Georgia is incorporated into that system as soon as possible," Georgian Deputy Defence Minister Batu Kuteliya told Reuters. "They should probably be finished late this autumn."
The announcement came a day after Georgia accused Russian aircraft of trespassing earlier this week into its airspace and two weeks after it accused a Russian jet of dropping a missile on its soil. Moscow has dismissed the allegations as nonsense.
Integration of Georgia's radars into the NATO system will mean that NATO controllers will have real-time information about any incursions into Georgian airspace, Kuteliya said in an interview.

http://in.reuters.com/article/worldNews/idINIndia-29119820070823


Inside Track: Georgia's Path to Authoritarianism
by Ana Dolidze08.24.2007

…How is it, then, that Saakashvili’s reputation within the U.S. government appears to be untarnished? Like Shevardnadze, Saakashvili knows that his strongest cards are Georgia’s Western orientation and his friendship with the United States. Saakashvili is a canny and shrewd politician who understands there is a price for U.S. support. So, as he makes eloquent speeches to Western audiences about political reforms and successful democratization initiatives undertaken in Georgia, he adroitly increases Georgia’s military participation in Iraq, and he welcomes a proposal to station the new U.S. missile-defense shield in Georgia.

Saakashvili was considered by many as the "great hope" for Georgia’s transformation into a democratic and free-market society. But soon after the Rose Revolution of November 2003, he began to concentrate power in presidential hands.
Saakashvili accomplished his campaign to increase executive authority and restrict civil rights by targeting the Parliament, the media and the judiciary. The methods used to undermine each democratic institution are similar: legislative restrictions, political arm-twisting, blackmail and persecution….
…Several media outlets were closed down in the first half of 2004: TV companies (Channel IX, Iberia), newspapers (Mtavari Gatzeti, Dilis Gazeti, Akhali Epoka, Tribune), Omega magazine and Media-News Information Agency. In February 2004, the largest TV companies ended their evening political talk shows….
…The success or failure of democracy in Georgia must be a real concern for the United States. The legitimacy of this regime will ultimately be determined by its democratic and economic reforms. If the United States continues to accept at face value the democratic, political, economic, social and judicial reforms the government says it is making, yet turns a blind eye to the realities on the ground in Georgia, then the United States will be complicit in reinforcing, if not permitting, Saakashvili’s march towards Putin-style autocracy. Legitimacy in Georgia today depends on timely interventions from the West, providing constructive, critical engagement to encourage Georgia to demonstrate through results—not just words—that Georgia’s commitment to democracy is firm.
Ana Dolidze is a lawyer and former chair of the Georgian Young Lawyers Association.
You might ask yourself, what will the reaction to a nuclear Middle East be once the EU realizes it's vulnerability. The nuclearization of the world is simply INSANE. This is Bush's dreamscape and it's out of control !!!! Georgia has a 'nutcase' for a president. What's next on his agenda, to take over Russia?


Sukhoi combat aircraft. Video
Military planes developed by the Sukhoi design bureau, established in 1939, make up 69% of the Russian Air Force fleet. Since 2000, Sukhoi has been considered the leader of the Russian aircraft industry. Video footage from the MAKS-2005 air show. (34 sec./1.39Mb, shows: 1920

http://en.rian.ru/video/20070823/73854707.htm


Russia’s Tu-160 Blackjack and Tu-95MS Bear-H strategic bombers. Video
Tu-160 and Tu-95 strategic bomber are equipped with cruise missiles with extended flight range. They are capable of destroying designated targets anywhere in the world. (90 sec./3.36Mb, shows: 3304)

http://en.rian.ru/video/20070822/73430717.html


Kapanina aerobatics with in-cockpit camera.
Former world female aerobatic champion Svetlana Kapanina, who had an informal chat with President Vladimir Putin at the opening of the MAKS-2007 air show near Moscow, performing stunts. (81 sec./3.05Mb, shows: 1110)

http://en.rian.ru/video/20070822/73351871.html


Russian air show generates billions
Published: Aug. 26, 2007 at 8:15 PM
ZHOKOVSKY, Russia, Aug. 26 (UPI) -- The value of contracts signed at Russia’s MAKS-2007 air show has exceeded $3 billion, Russia’s RIA Novosti News Agency reported.The MAKS-2007, held outside Moscow every two years, this year gathered more than 540 Russian companies and 247 foreign firms from 39 countries, the event’s organizers said.The aviation show featured more than 260 aircraft and about 200 demonstration flights.Military-related contracts signed at the MAKS-2007 totaled $400 million, RIA Novosti said.
http://www.upi.com/NewsTrack/Business/2007/08/26/russian_air_show_generates_billions/2406/


Indian flavour at Russian aerospace show
By Sergei Stefanov, Moscow, Aug 23 : Russia is displaying the upgraded MiG-29K/KUB carrier-based fighter specially developed for India at the ongoing MAKS-2007 international aerospace show at Zhukovsky outside Moscow. An agreement might also be signed during the show on the joint development by Russia and India of a multi-role transport aircraft (MTA)"Some months ago Russia arranged a demonstration flight of the first MiG-29K. Indian Navy officers were delighted with the plane and dubbed it the Sea Wasp," said Sergei Chemezov, director-general of Rosoboronexport, Russia's main state arms exporter.

http://www.newkerala.com/july.php?action=fullnews&id=55574


Air Show Arrest Confusion
Updated: 15:18, Friday August 24, 2007
Foreign Office officials are arguing with Moscow over the nationality of three men picked up at a Russian air show.
The Interfax news agency quoted a senior policeman as saying that three Britons were being held and the FSB, Russia's federal security and intelligence service, was investigating.
But a Foreign Office spokeswoman told AFP: "They're not British.
"They're English-speaking tourists and they were detained. They have been released."
Other reports coming out of Moscow suggest that they weren't even arrested, but just detained temporarily for going through the wrong barrier.
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