Russia: Friend or Foe?

Putin Touts Russia's Missile Capabilities
Jan 31 9:30 AM US/Eastern


By VLADIMIR ISACHENKOV
Associated Press Writer


MOSCOW


President Vladimir Putin boasted Tuesday that Russia has missiles capable of penetrating any missile defense system, Russian news reports said.

"Russia ... has tested missile systems that no one in the world has," the ITAR-Tass, Interfax and RIA Novosti news agencies quoted him as saying at a news conference. "These missile systems don't represent a response to a missile defense system, but they are immune to that. They are hypersonic and capable of changing their flight path."



Putin said the new missiles were capable of carrying nuclear warheads. He wouldn't say whether the Russian military already had commissioned any such missiles.

He said he had shown the working principles of the missile systems to French President Jacques Chirac during a visit to a Russian military facility.

"He knows what I'm talking about," news agencies quoted Putin as telling reporters after state-run news channels had cut their live broadcast of the news conference.

In April 2004, Chirac became the first Western leader to visit Russia's top-secret Titov space control center, which is also involved in launches of its intercontinental ballistic missiles.

Putin said that the new missiles were capable of changing both the altitude and the direction of their flight, making it impossible for an enemy to intercept them.

"A missile defense system is designed to counter missiles moving along a ballistic trajectory," Putin was quoted as saying.

Putin and other Russian officials have boasted of the new missiles in similar comments in recent years, but they haven't identified them or given any further details other than about their ability to change their flight path on approach to a target.

Most analysts viewed the earlier announcements about "hypersonic" missile systems as Moscow's response to U.S. missile defense plans.

Military analysts have said that the military had experimented with a maneuvering warhead during a missile launch several years ago, but voiced doubt about Russia's ability to deploy such weapons anytime soon.

Analysts said the new warheads, designed to zigzag on their approach to targets, could be fitted to new land-based Topol-M missiles and the prospective Bulava missiles, now under development.

On other topics at the news conference, Putin:

_ Urged the militant Palestinian group Hamas to engage in peaceful dialogue, and said Russia's position on the Middle East differed from that of the United States and Europe.

Hamas should "refrain from extremist declarations, acknowledge Israel's right to exist and put its contacts with the international community in order," Putin said. He said "Russia has never declared Hamas a terrorist organization, but it doesn't mean we support and accept everything Hamas has done and all the statements it has made."

_ Lashed out at the government of Georgian President Mikhail Saakashvili for its criticism of Moscow over last week's gas pipeline explosion, which resulted in a weeklong cutoff of Russian gas from the Caucasus Mountains nation.

While repair teams were working to fix the pipeline in freezing temperatures, "we only saw them spitting at us," Putin said. "Georgian citizens must know that such a policy toward Russia won't help to improve conditions of ordinary people."

_ Praised his predecessor, Boris Yeltsin, for taking Russia on the democratic path amid the turmoil that followed the collapse of the Soviet Union.

"During the time when Yeltsin led Russia, Russian citizens got the most important thing: freedom," Putin said during a wide-ranging annual news conference. "This is a great historic accomplishment of Boris Nikolayevich Yeltsin."

Many Russians hold Yeltsin, who turns 75 on Wednesday, responsible for the post-Soviet economic meltdown that led to a dramatic plunge in living standards. Putin owes his rise to power to Yeltsin, who picked him as his prime minister and then named him acting

Hidden Agendas January 2006

Hidden Agenda January 2006:

American Politics: The Democrats will change their language and posture to infer that the reasons why the country is failing isn’t just President Bush’ fault but because there is a Republican majority in Congress. They will use catch phrases like, Republican Leadership, Republican majority, over the past few years, things are worse, and a whole host of other phrases meant to paint the majority party in a negative light leading up to the elections in the Fall of 2006. Of course, the Dems will be the only ones who are committed to righting this ship and they need to be in the majority to do so.

War on Terror: If the reports of Osama bin Ladin’s call for truce are found to be true. This is meant to create a Vietnam type of war where the US would use military force and then stop the campaign in order to see if the North Vietnamese would capitulate. The North Vietnamese would only take advantage of this lull in bombing and dig deeper under ground or relocate their strategic targets and leadership. If these reports are true, Osama is trying to create the same climate in order to give him and his fellow evil doers time to build, plan, plot and execute more atrocities upon the free world.

EU & Iran: The EU has strong words for Iran and their ambitions to build nuclear material capable of being converted for military use. They are taking a strong stance, not because of the failed negotiations that they spearheaded but because the EU, especially the EU3, are trying to present the European Union as a global military power as well as an economic one. They are trying to save face while showing the US and their own citizens that they do not need the US to fight their battles for them or to be the strength behind the threats of military action through the UN.

AZ

What Border Problem?

As politicians continue to kowtow to the ever increasing number of Mexican residents (illegal or legal), they do so at the peril of our own sovereignty as a nation. Legal citizens will always have voice in our society but our politicians are ignoring the voices of the majority of legal residents when they ignore the issues on our border. The lethal force being used my Mexican Militia is either being ignored or encouraged by the Mexican Government. They have infiltrated our borders, kidnap our citizens, and escorted drug/people traffickers into our country. The border problem in the US is more than an issue of picking produce but an issue of national security. According to a recent article in the Washington Times:

"A total of 216 incursions by suspected Mexican military units have been documented since 1996 -- 75 in California, 63 in Arizona and 78 in Texas, according to a Department of Homeland Security report.
Attacks on Border Patrol agents in the past few years have been attributed to current or former Mexican military personnel. U.S. law-enforcement officials have long thought that current and former Mexican soldiers are being paid to protect drug shipments bound for the United States.
Several agents said the attacks have escalated in the past two years as U.S. security efforts on the border have increased -- including the July shooting of two agents in an ambush near Nogales, Ariz., by assailants in black commando-type clothing, who fired more than 50 rounds. Authorities said the gunmen used military-style cover-and-concealment tactics to escape back into Mexico. No one has been arrested.

http://washingtontimes.com/national/20060117-121930-3169r_page2.htm


We, as American Citizens need to seriously consider:

• A Guest Worker program: This would give us the ability to discern between those seeking employment and those trafficking drugs; not to mention thwarting the opportunity for terrorist to exploit this ever increasing problem on our southern border
• Southern Border fence/barrier: to assist our law enforcement in curtailing the crossing by illegal means
• National Guard Patrols: both air and ground.
• Additional funding for increased staffing for our border states to employ, train and equip our law enforcement to deal with the unique problems we face at the border we share with our friends down south.
• Your input: What do you believe we need to do to:
o protect our citizens
o repel foreign militias from crossing our border
o allow a smooth flow of those who want to legally enter our country
o curtail the violent drug trafficking

AZ