Here we go, hold onto your hats folks...I have a feeling this will get nasty.

Gorbachev's speech to the Politburo in 1987, just prior to "the collapse":

"Gentlemen, comrades, do not be concerned about all you hear about glasnost and perestroika and democracy in the coming years. These are primarily for outward consumption. There will be no significant internal change within the Soviet Union, other than for cosmetic purposes. Our purpose is to disarm the Americans and let them fall asleep."

Posted by: Mike_W at December 14, 2005 4:56 PM

Good luck, Mr. Putin. You will need lots of it. With friends like the ones you have, who needs enemies?

Posted by: maryrose at December 14, 2005 5:14 PM

Ya know, I feel compelled to comment on this one. When the Beslan hostage situation occurred last year, I kept waiting for Putin to retaliate in some way for the horrendous atrocities the Muslim scum brought upon those innocent children. I figured the guy would have the balls to do what's right and get to some ass kicking. I am appalled that just over a year after, Putin is now stooping to lick the dirty feet of the Muzzies. What a loser. The people of Russia deserve better, I'd say.

Posted by: Salami, Salami, Bologna at December 14, 2005 5:15 PM

The sad-sack Putin has reverted to craven pandering in lieu of leadership. Maybe he needs to have another homoerotic session with George where they peer deep into one another's souls...

... cuz the best he'll get out of the Moslems is another Moscow Theater Performance, and that was Islam at its best, right up there with the big kid's show at Beslan.

Posted by: Alarmed Pig Farmer at December 14, 2005 5:42 PM

Russia is so rife with anti-Semitism they can't figure out which side is kicking their collective (heh) butt.

Posted by: Beagle at December 14, 2005 5:57 PM

APF: "big kid's show"? I'm not amused. Have some respect for the dead.

Posted by: Salami, Salami, Bologna at December 14, 2005 6:13 PM

"Expanding on Russia's ties to the Muslim world, Putin said OIC member states had unanimously agreed to admit Moscow as a permanent observer."

Vladimir, "observer" is the first step to get Russia ready to become a permanent member after Russia becomes a majority muslim nation.

It's obvious that Vladimir doesn't get that he has much more in common with the West--anyone going to see the Nutcracker this Christmas season?--than with the towel-headed, ululating, sand-dwelling, polygamist, sword-wielding, head-chopping barbarians.

Poor Russians. If Russia had only been an island like Japan or Iceland or far away like the US, they would never had had to endure the scourge of islamic invasions and had all those muslims in their midst to deal with or as neighbors to appease.

Posted by: 3812Michelle at December 14, 2005 6:44 PM

Salami, Salami, Bologna I couldnt agree with you more. I thought Russia of all countries would stand up to this BS. But sadly Eastern Europe has seen the US as the enemy for so long they dont know who is their friend or enemy. Partly American leaders such as Clinton to share some of the responsibility for this, like the bombing of Kosovo. But these guys better stop thinking the enemy of my enemy is my friend or we are all finished. Putin is a loser. It is time for change in Russia. Unless someone really nationalistic and proud, maybe a Cossak, takes over Russia is doomed.

Posted by: pissedoffcanadian at December 14, 2005 6:55 PM

"Russia has always been the most faithful, reliable and consistent defender of the interests of the Islamic world," he told Chechen lawmakers, to applause. "Russia has always been the best and most reliable partner and ally."
-- from the article above, quoting Putin

Was that before, during, or after the Tartar Yoke?

And was that before, during, or after General Ermolov's campaign in the Caucasus?

And was that before, during, or after, the beating to death of the playwright Griboyedov in Tehran, where he had tried to protect Christian women from a Muslim mob?

And was that before, during, or after the various Russo-Turkish wars, including the one that led to the Ottomans for the first time signing a treaty with the Infidels?

And was that before, during, or after Russian public opinion was inflamed by the Muslim Turkish massacres of the Bulgarians in the 1870s?

Was it before, during, or after the period when the Russians sympathized with the South Slavs, the Serbs, in their efforts to re-establish themelves after centuries of Muslim domination?

Was it before, during, or after the fiendish treatment of captured Russian soldiers, the torture and slow murders, sometimes videotaped, of those Russians at the hands of the mujahideen?

And was it before, during or after the seizure of the Moscow Theatre? The massacre at Beslan? The attacks on various helpless Infidel populations that depend on Moscow for their protection, and that have been repeatedly assaulted by local Muslims?

When did Russia become the great and natural friend of Islam, and what exactly was it that makes it so?

Could it be a misplaced resentment of the United States, an obstinate refusal not to realize where, for Russia, the real and obvious danger lies? Could it be something else as well -- that is, fear?

Posted by: Hugh at December 14, 2005 7:17 PM

Reminds me about what we were discussing on Dhimmi Watch (see "The New/Old Imperialism") about the Non-Aligned Movement, which contains the Islamic bloc, had, in reality, been very much aligned with the Soviet Union.

I guess it's another torch the USSR passed to Russia, which itself is essentially another anklebiter state nowadays, like most of the NAM. Being notoriously strapped for cash, I guess Russia now really has to drum up business among old "non-aligned" buddies for collaboration on oil/nuclear projects (and maybe a little vodka for all those pious royals), deferring the thought of later consequences for the expediency of making some rubles.

It's got to be a money thing; I can't imagine Putin having any soft spot in his heart for any religion-- after all, I bet the Russian Orthodox Church is thrilled about Russia being the "Islamic World's Most Reliable Ally"!

Posted by: Shinoliite at December 14, 2005 7:29 PM

I used to think there was political strategizing behind Putin's actions and words. Now I believe he lost his mind, just like Sharon has gone crazy and leads Israel on the path of national suicide.

Posted by: US_infidel at December 14, 2005 7:34 PM

The French and the Russians seem to consider the Muslim world as the swing vote which will determing who gets to act as "counterweight" to the American hegemon... Laughable if it weren't so frightening, given the incompetence of the two nations.... They seem to believe that whoever prostrate themselves lower before the Islamic world will gain a powerful constituency against America and her interests. This is partially true if one utilizes the oil in the Islamic world as a weapon, and leverages this asset against America. If this is accurate, then France and Russia are behaving more like enemies than allies... But when America virtually controls the global security which allows Arab oil to flow freely into world markets, one has to wonder who really holds the trump cards in this dangerous poker game.

Bottom line, it seems to me that France and Russia are utterly incapable of protecting the oil interests in/of the unctuous Muslim world, or of guaranteeing stability for world markets... I suppose the bottom line dictates everything -- without stability in the oil markets, the whole ball of Western wax would probably collapse -- so I suppose America is cursed to play this role... And the realpolitik of these horrid nations (France and Russia) are making the American role infinitely more difficult... In addition to the dissention they foment, and the encouragement they provide the Jihadis, who witness these Western fissures and rejoice and take full advantage ... These bumbleheaded nations (France and Russia) are playing literally with fire... their courtship of the incendiary Islamic world may deliver dear bought dividends when the chickens come home to roost, as they already are beginning to do...

Russia is lost.
France is lost.

Posted by: jsla at December 14, 2005 7:36 PM

Is it possible that Putin is merely trying to tamp down on a savage war that really has no end in sight?

He puts on an act that he wants to be friends and then hopefully the fighting tapers down. Putin is probably getting a lot of heat from his citizens over the wasteful Chechen war, he has to show them that he is at least willing to compromise.

Posted by: Dead Infidel Walking at December 14, 2005 7:39 PM

jsla is correct, Islamists are gleefully exploiting rifts between Western nations for their own advantage. When Bush says "United against the terrorists", Chirac and Putin hear, "under America's leadership", and foolishly think Islam would be a better friend.

Islam may be fractured among it's different sects but it doesn't have the diversity of thought we do. They will unite to destroy us, Allah doesn't argue with Allah.

Posted by: JadeDragoness at December 14, 2005 7:56 PM

Does every Western leader have a harem of muslim apologists and clever dhimmis giving them the worst advice? I thought the Iran nuke plant deal was primarily greed, now it looks like it is part of a long term alliance strategy. That is very foolish.

Does any of the West's leaders really every study Islam? It's appalling the lack of knowledge and the history of Islam against all non Muslim nations.

Posted by: John Sobieski at December 14, 2005 8:25 PM

It should not be surprising that Putin is kissing up to the Islamists, these are his biggest customers for weapons of all types, nuclear materials, training programs for how to run a police state, etc. He is simply following the old capitalist adage that "the customer is always right".

Posted by: Laker at December 14, 2005 8:35 PM

"APF: 'big kid's show'? I'm not amused. Have some respect for the dead."
-- posted by Salami, Salami, Bologna

Giving orders now? We're not trying to amuse you; knives are being sharpened over here where the dullard Putin stood by and helplessly watched Moslem bloodbaths take place, not once but twice.

Beslan was Islam's idea of a big kid's show; a kind of first day of school kindergarten celebration. If you don't like that idea, lump it.

Posted by: Alarmed Pig Farmer at December 14, 2005 8:51 PM

I would like to now cast my vote for Dhimmi of the year. Who voted for Clark?

Posted by: Islofob IS-1 at December 14, 2005 9:31 PM

Putin like all politicians in office too long get stale, stupid,and need to be replaced! hope they give him the heave ho soon! he can go by the way side with the likes of Chirac,Shroeder, and hopefully Martin!

Posted by: Lulu at December 14, 2005 10:17 PM

Putin should ask the mothers of Beslan what Islam is all about. My only hope is maybe he is emulating Stalin, who promised the Chechens his eternal solidarity right before he deported every single one of them to Siberia.

If Putin is a true Russian and not completely in the pocket of Bush, he would give the Chechens three choices: Conversion to Orthodoxy, relocation to Arabia, or death. This might sound inhumane but after Beslan, the Chechens should be completely eliminated from the face of the earth. General Suvorov, where are you?

Posted by: Provoslavni at December 14, 2005 11:03 PM

DID PUTIN CONVERT TO ISLAM????????????

Posted by: pythagoras at December 14, 2005 11:39 PM

Who said the Bible wasn't true? Here comes Ezekiel 38 & 38, Magog invasion!

Posted by: 3rdtimelucky at December 15, 2005 12:59 AM

" Russia is the Islamic world's most reliable partner, President Vladimir Putin said in Chechnya on Monday, implying that by attacking Russia, terrorists were doing their cause a disservice. "

That's right, just ask Tehran ...

Posted by: Kemaste at December 15, 2005 1:25 AM

"TERRORISTS HAVE HIJACKED A GREAT RELIGION" says
Bush. There are equally Dhimmi statements by Condi Rice. My children, POLITICIANS ARE LIARS AND THE BEST LIARS BECOME HEADS OF STATE whether it be Russia,Europe or U.S. If you see Russia giving up Chechnya - then one should worry. Terrorists are being 'eliminated' or 'have heart attacks' all over vast expanse of Russia. Note that Special Forces don't go in after Terrorists, they merely throw grenades into the building. Putin is a very astute leader but he does not [and has reason] trust the West particularly as Russia has great gas & oil reserves. After all who funded, armed & supported the Taliban - have you forgotten the many young Russians who died whist U.S played its
dirty games?? Then there was the bombing of Kosovo and Serbia : Slavs sacrificed again for U.S.'s Muslim friends e.g. Saudi Arabia.There are a lot of people out there with longer memories than America would like : they will not
retaliate but they also do not trust U.S and its motives.

Posted by: Morgane at December 15, 2005 3:15 AM

Did he have a private visit from Al Waleed lately?

Posted by: sheik yer'mami at December 15, 2005 3:56 AM

I think I finally have this thing figured out.

You are a member state of the "Islamic World" and more than anything else, you understand that possessing nuclear weapons is the key to keep the infidels from harassing you.

But, you also understand that any home grown weapons program will be detected through sensing equipment and satellite imagery, so what is a terrorist to do?

The answer is: develop an IRON CLAD relationship with an established nuclear power that has no love for the US. Then you look around the world -- Pakistan? They are too much in the pocket of the US, and don't have a large enough arsenal anyways. China? They hate islamism almost as much as they hate the west.

So you settle on....RUSSIA, the poverty stricken country that can be bought on the cheap. I think that billions and billions and billions are being funneled to buy Russsia as an ally.

Putin is quite willing to burn the future for cash today. This is why Russia is building the nuclear reactor in Iran, to lend it "legitimacy", so when the Israelis bomb it, the last remaining "Soviet Republic" can claim harm and threaten Israel, on behalf of the moslems.

There is really no other choice for the moslems, is this clear to everyone?

Posted by: VoiceOfSkippy at December 15, 2005 8:57 AM

pissedoffcanadian:

While everyone likes to point the finger at Britain and the US as the originators of the problems in the middle east (Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Palestine...) the Soviet Union did more to cultivate the worst despots of the region, including making the Eqyptian born runt Arafat the posterboy for the Islamist cause, stupidly thinking that by feeding the crocodile, they'd cultivate themselves an oil-wealthy friend for life. Putin is permeated with the political orientation of the old USSR, it's in his bones, just as surely as Bush jr. is saddled by the deep andlengthy relationship with the Saudis.

Posted by: waterdragon52 at December 15, 2005 9:04 AM

Russian genocide of Chechens

On 2002-JUL-23, Aaron Rhodes, Executive Director of the International Helsinki Federation for Human Rights (IHF) reported: "According to documentation by Memorial Society and other organizations, the numbers of disappeared Chechens in recent months indicate a continuing assault against the Chechen people that borders on genocide...While the authorities will release no statistics, human rights groups are documenting that between 50 and 80 bodies are recovered in average months and in some months the figures are much higher, and they report a clear trend toward increasing overall numbers of the disappeared. Those dying are generally men in their productive years. The Russian forces are often beheading, burning, mutilating, and otherwise destroying bodies in an effort to conceal this process, which is claiming more lives than the bombings during the two military campaigns. But corpses are also often dumped alongside highways."

http://www.religioustolerance.org/geno_ch.htm
http://www.jamestown.org/publications_details.php?volume_id=396&issue_id=3153&article_id=2368908
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/4367739.stm
http://www.hrw.org/campaigns/russia/chechnya/
http://www.phrusa.org/research/chechnya/chech_rep.html
http://observer.guardian.co.uk/international/story/0,6903,820261,00.html

Posted by: rumi at December 15, 2005 2:08 PM

Memo to Morgane-

Islam has murdered over 400 MILLION people in cold blood over the past 13 centuries, in well-documented rampages inflicting wholesale destruction of numerous civilizations across Asia and Africa.

Communist ideology has murdered over 200 million during the twentieth century.

The west has no comparable crimes on its conscience (Spain might but that is hardly the 'west' and was at the time Islamically-influenced). In comparison, Russia has little to fear from the western democracies. Russia with its rampant corruption and its blatant, historically documented disregard for human life may be a far greaster threat to itself than even Islam cold be.

Those oil and gas reserves you feel ought to be protected could bring in enormous reserves of capital which Russia needs more than the resources you mention.

For you to assert Islam is for Russia a preferable ally to the west is indicative of dementia or ignorance. You decide which.

Posted by: pythagoras at December 15, 2005 2:19 PM

The greatest tragedy caused by the diluting of American power is that human life everywhere will be worth increasingly less- in direct proportion to the loss of absolute power on the global stage. Is that what France and Russia meant to have happen?

No. But of course they didn't care. But what these people didnt't think about was that this isn't the sixteen hundreds anymore. A few Armada skirmishes or a swashbuckling rounds of sword fights won't do the trick. This could be a permanent development and tragedy for humanity.

Therefore, it may be surmised that Russia's and France's idea of "fair" is for everybody to lose.

AND DID THEY EVER!!!

Posted by: pythagoras at December 15, 2005 2:30 PM

waterdragon52

I do agree with you. Back in the cold war both sides believed the enemy of my enemy is my friend. And all I am saying is both the US and Russia must drop this policy. Russia is being very inconsistent right now in its foreign policy. But so is the US. And the US has the power right now to stop this. Russia is a country on the verge of collapse. Yes it is their own fault for being in that mess but they have fewer options. I do not like Putin's statements at all and they scare me. I like to believe Rumi is right but I dont believe those articles.

Posted by: pissedoffcanadian at December 15, 2005 3:21 PM

from post above: "the Soviet Union did more to cultivate the worst despots of the region..."

Did we forget already? Often America is blamed for supporting the mujahadeen in Afghanistan, but after all, wasn't it the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan which has caused so much mayhem? Wasn't it the relentless expansionism of the Soviets which forced America's hand in so many worldwide theaters?

America is accused by the craven and the forgetful for being an imperial power, for being militaristic. But the illogic of this position is staggering. No one does better in peacetime than America -- we flourish economically, and take the rest of the world along for the ride ...

I am dumbfounded that so few seem to remember the chronology of events in the 20th Century which have brought us to this pass...

America's hands aren't totally clean, but compared with most of the other regimes in the World, America is a veritable saint...

Let's not forget that Russia, France, Germany, and China nearly rival the Islamic world for the bloodshed they have caused, and their wanton destruction of innumerable civilizations...

Posted by: jsla at December 15, 2005 3:39 PM

The Mohammedan poster above:

"..The Russian forces are often beheading, burning, mutilating,
and otherwise destroying bodies ..."

'Accuse the accuser' and wildly exaggerating, brazen lies and outrageous propaganda is standard jihad warfare.

The beheadings are typical Muslim behavior, so are the hysterical cries about 'genocide' when Israel retaliates against the murderous Pali's. On Jihad watch today, and just about every day, you can see who the fanatical lunatics are, who call for the 'wiping Israel from the face of the earth', etc etc.

Rub your coffee-filter, rumi. That kind of crap doesn't go down here, not even with sugar and cool-aid.

Posted by: sheik yer'mami at December 15, 2005 5:31 PM

To jsla:

Although I agree with most of your postings here , I have to quibble with you when you wrote "Let's not forget that Russia, France, Germany, and China nearly rival the Islamic world for the bloodshed they have caused, and their wanton destruction of innumerable civilizations..."

It was the ideologies of Communism and Nazism and Jacobin secularism that caused such bloodshed and the victims were Russians, French, Germans, and Chinese. These ideologies were a revolutionary overturning of the historic cultures and civilization of these nations. Islam is a totalitarian ideology in the same streak as Communism and Nazism and we ought to view Islam's advocates the same way as any other totalitarian invader.

Never forget: Russian Orthodox Christians don't go into Chechen schools to rape and murder little children. Jews don't behead innocent aid workers and Hindus or Buddhists don't crash airliners into buildings. On the other hand, Terror and wanton violence seem to be the preferred tactic of Nazis, Commies, and Jihadists. Let's identify our common enemies for what they are. This is not a clash of different civilizations but an attack on all civilization by Islamic barbarism.

Posted by: Provoslavni at December 15, 2005 7:36 PM

Sheik yer'mami says-:"Rub your coffee filter Rumi. That kind of crap doesn't go down here, not even with sugar and cool-aid". I hope hereafter Rumi does his maths before posting into J/W,for most of the J/W Posters are known for their grey matter in their brains. Check the real facts,as it happened, from different unbiased sources ,instead of relying on your Mulla's friday 'biyan'.

Posted by: rafia at December 16, 2005 8:13 AM

Provoslavni: Thank you for your posts... Your point above is a good one, and I realize it appears as if I was making an equivalency argument equating the imperial/sectarian predations of France, Germany, Russia, and China, and Islam overall... I agree, this is misleading, and a little simplistic.

I was pointing out that the claims made by leadership in these nations is highly suspect, as are the innumerable complaints we so often hear from the Germans, French, and Russians. Their opinions are often:

1. Without merit, and completely lacking in proportion, and
2. Highly hypocritical, coming as they do from these former despotic world hegemons who raped, pillaged, and massacred their ways to the top...

Though I didn't mention it above, I also have posted here about the extreme irony that France, Germany, and Russia somehow always find their way to the center of the most violent scourges in recent human history. In that regard, you may include Communism and the Great Jihad. It is impossible to find out the extent which their rabid anti-Americanism and anti-Semitism has fueled the fervor of the Muslim fascists, especially those they harbor in their midst -- 9/11 was largely hatched, financed, and planned in Europe. The spiritual forces of 20th Century Islamic Jihad were and are nurtured in European enclaves with the full protection and support of the European governments. High points? Just to name a few: Ayatollah Khomeini sheltered in France, Yassir Arafat and the willing Palestinization of Europe, Muhammad Atta and his gang, Ramzy Yousef... (many others as well...) They all found welcome in their respective European countries, and they all benefitted from the Islamophilic attitudes of the European elite. Russia's invasion of Afghanistan with all the attending calamites that have followed that ill advised path, or Mr. Putin's idiocy above... How much damage has all this caused? It is incalculable!

Many of history's lessons tell us that France, Germany, and Russia may not be capable of being good allies in this fight. If they can't be trusted, or worse, if they are betraying us, these fact should be foremost in our minds as we decide the best path to take for survival and victory...

Posted by: jsla at December 16, 2005 7:21 PM

Thanks jsla,

You are absolutely right. Most peoples are ultimately betrayed by their own governments.

Posted by: Provoslavni at December 17, 2005 6:38 PM