Against whom will Libya use these weapons? And to what end? Russia continues its short-sighted aid for states that are now enabling or abetting jihad activity, or that are likely to do so if events keep moving in the direction they're moving in now.
"Libya strikes arm deal with Russia," from Al-Jazeera, January 31 (thanks to Loganswarning):
Libya has struck a deal to buy Russian arms worth almost two billion dollars, Russian news agencies quoted Vladimir Putin, the prime minister, as saying."Yesterday (Friday), a contract worth $1.8bn was signed. It does not only involve firearms", Putin was quoted as saying by Ria Novosti and Interfax on Saturday.
The Russian prime minister did not specify the type of arms or military equipment involved in the deal.
But a Russian diplomatic source told Interfax on Tuesday, however, that Libya wanted to acquire 20 fighter planes, at least two S-300 air defence systems, several dozen T-90C tanks and other arms....
Well, said someone in Washington, we'll see you and raise you:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/01/30/AR2010013001477.html
This substitute for a Grand Strategy, designed to take advantage of every conceivable fissure and weakness within the Camp of Islam, has been going on uninterruptedly for the past forty years: arms sales, all described as plausibly as possible, all ways of "recycling petrodollars" in ways that benefit certain businesses but do little or nothing to force the Muslim oil states to pay what they should be forced to pay for the guarantee of our protection (something nominal, say two hundred billion a year, with cost-of-living increases for Uncle Sam who, after all, has been living on Social Security for quite a while now).
There are other ways to deal with the Arabs, aside from one or another side selling them all the arms they want. But it would take, in the first place, a recognition of the world-wide dimensions, and ideological prompting, of Jihad, and a grasp of how the main theatre of war is now Western Europe, and it is important to make the Muslim states stop funding campaigns of Da'wa, stop paying for mosques and madrasas, stop thinking they can always assume that Western education (especially in the sciences), Western medical care, and Western technology, above all military technology, will be made available to them, if they pay the market price. Let them pay ten times the market price, or pay ten time the market price and a large fee for being able to count, in the end, on the West to rescue this or that utterly corrupt and otherwise worthless ruling house. We want to force the Muslim states and peoples to have to recognize the true sources of their own backwardness. If they can always buy their way out of any situation, any failure, and if, furthermore, they can count on sums continually flowing without diminishment from the fact of an accident of geology (with the oil-consuming nations, or at least the most important of them, unwilling to tax oil and gasoline sufficiently to allow for the recapture of oligopolistic rents), then they will never have to recognize the political, economic, and social failures that come from Islam itself. And Infidels, too, will have difficulty. We want these Muslim states to be imperiled. We want them to be dependent -- preferably hopelessly dependent -- on us for their protection. We should not be allowing them to buy massive amounts of weaponry, that can always fall into the wrong hands -- unless of course that weaponry has been cleverly rigged as a kind of proleptic sabotage, to be activated in the future, as the case requires. One hopes the American side is both farseeing and clever enough to do that. It would be most helpful.
Another serious step backwards for American and World security under obama's watch.
Not long ago, Gaddafi somehow came to realize that if he took an offencive military tack, it would guarantee a quick and resolute response from an American President that would meet his challenge.
From Yemen releasing hundreds of captured terrorist, to Pakistan releasing Khan, proliferator of nuclear technology,all these events took place less than a week after obama took office. What thinking person is unable to see that the "Obama effect" has only brought catastrophic results to our national security.
And this is only what can be seen now, I seriously pray that when he leaves office, it will not be to late to undue the great damage he and his bad decisions have inflicted upon this Country.
There is no doubt that Gaddafi is one slick negotiator.
Veiling himself as some kind of islamic Socialist, he has been involved in the coupled "version" of both sides of that ideological terror, but he has "grown up" since Reagan strafed him.
He's grown up a lot.
(One has to wonder, considering the longevity of his "reign", whether he is truly a master politician, like Castro, when it comes to thumbing his nose at the West, and the rest of the world)
Yes, he's grown as the fuel hungry rest of us don't give care.
Libya is sitting on gazillions of fuel-related "stuffs" and the governments of the "rest of us" are going for it -- USA, UK, Italy, Spain, France, et al.
China and Russia too? Hell yeah.
But don't let the islamic socialist angle fool you -- Gaddafi is muslim and wants islam to reign.
Easily verifiable via news searches.
Of course, most readers will notice from my last post was the lack of mention of Gazprom.
THAT is Russia's angle in this Libyan "venture".
Easily verifiable too.
As insane as selling arms to Libya sounds . Think of it this way, Russia got $1.8B for this.
The West gives US$500M to filthy Islamic Taliban terrorists and gets ... nothing. Well, other than the prospect of funding further attacks on the poor sods who trust their governments enough to go and fight for them.
I wonder who got the better deal.
For some folks who require a visual:
http://www.russiaprofile.org/resources/business/sectors/oil/media/Resources/gazprom_pipelines__dist.gif
The link I provided is easily accessible.
Making the connections might prove difficult, but only if one's synapses are unable, or resistant.
I'm sorry, I'm being incredibly thick here (either that or I have those recalcitrant synapses that you mentioned). What is the significane of the link?
Muhammed Bear,
None of my comments were directed towards you or any other poster on this thread, but were meant as MY very logical deduction as to why Russia is even dealing with Libya.
Like I said before: GAZPROM.
No, sorry. I wasn't being sarcastic and I wasn't having a go at you.
I genuinely missed the point. When I clicked on the link there was no legends and North Africa was cut off.
If you have another link or further info I would be interested to see it.
For Russia read US and swap Libya for Pakistan and the absurdity of it all multiplies tenfold.
No, try it, please, do it for the first paragraph at least.
While Libya’s threat to the world in tenuous at best but in reality, largely an amateurish bungling affair, arming a terrorist state like Pakistan with nuclear capability (or looking away while it goes and gets it from someplace else - same thing) and training its secret service in technical sophistication poses clear and present danger to innocent Indian lives – yet US senses no compunction, worse gives not a toss, for its actions and blithely carries on even now giving in to Pakistan’s demands by to sell it (more like give it) unmanned drones. Against whom will Libya, sorry Pakistan, use these weapons?
Islam is a threat to us all, and India is a lesson in history if we are to foresee what is in store for us all. While US is just waking up to this demon, India has had to take to bed with it for nigh enough a millennium. Yet US sees it fit in pakistan, just like Russia is with Libya, to arm one of the major proponent of murderous jihad, without so much as a cursory thought for the idol worshipping pagans on the east, being readied for the slaughter.
Idol worshipping pagans! Perhaps that’s it!
http://www.avraidire.eu/2010/01/fitna-version-francaise-geert-wilders-part-12/
Fitna, version française Geert Wilders part 1/2
sITE EVANGELIQUE FRANCOPHONE VIDEO
The US might be supplying Pakistan with drones soon.
http://www.csmonitor.com/World/terrorism-security/2010/0121/US-may-equip-Pakistan-with-drone-aircraft-Gates-says/(page)/2
I hope that the US keeps tight control over what Pakistan does with them and which of their "friends" gets a guided tour of the technology.
These might be simple Shadow drones but requests for upgrades will be the inevitable next step.
Otherwise the next version of the Predator might be the "Allah", who is "all seeing, all knowing".
It amazes me that anyone would pay 2 cents for Russian arms. How did those Libyan MIGs fare against our F-14 Tomcats in 1986? How did the Arab air forces do against the IAF in 1967? etc.
Russian low-tech weapons (AKs, T-34 tanks and so on) are ok, but I would never fly in a Russian plane, at least not in actual combat.
Why bite the hand that feeds you, when you can blow it to hell with an rpg instead?
A little stock up shopping. Buy the goods, keep yer nose clean and out of harms way. Someone is hoping N.Africa comes up for grabs sometime in the not to distant future. This old Goats Clock could go DING at any time. Time to realize a dream is fast approaching.