I'm back...

...and what do I find?

Another complete misinterpretation of my stated position!

If those who question do not recall (ahem), I CALLED this kind of resurgent aggression back when the Russkies were "laying claim" to the North Pole. Putin and his "minnie me" Medvedev have one goal in mind for the former Soviet Union (and Russia in particular), and that is a second-chance at superpower status.

Since 1994, the Russian Army (a tattered remnant of the former Red Army) had its ass handed to it on a nightly basis by as few as 3,500 organized and armed Chechen rebels. Terror was rampant in a society that had not known "terror" (at least of the new breed) before the fall of the USSR. No substantial innovations or developments have been made in Russian military technology since '91 (and we know now that much of THAT technology was over-rated).

So, what has changed since 1999?

Russia has developed into the 2nd largest exporter of crude oil and the largest exporter of natural gas and diesel fuel on the face of the planet... right at a time when the gross cost of these commodities rose at a very conservative rate of about 100% every quarter for nearly two years. Russia accounts for the LARGEST national mineral and metal deposits on Earth... nearly HALF of all the coal on earth is in Russia, and 45% of all untapped natural gas is here, as well. There is more copper in Russia RIGHT NOW than has ever been mined in all of North America since 1795 (the oldest records kept).

Moscow has "stood up" to the US in regards to anti-missile system deployments, NATO expansion, and near-Asian alliances rather successfully. Cities like St Petersburg, Moscow, Suzdal, Novosibirsk, Volgograd and Yekaterinberg are drawing thousands of new commercial and industrial ventures each year due largely to generaous infrastructure allocations that more established economies can't deliver.

In the last four years, Russia has put two new fighters, two new tanks, and a dozen new (if small) naval vessels into service that have "shored up" their weakened ability to project force globally, while still maintaining the massive stockpiles of traditional (and effective) infantry, armor and artillery materials left from the USSR.

THIS is the NEW Russia... working to extend it's sphere of influence as far and as wide as it can, especially since the US is slow (and God forbid) reducing it's sphere. The opportunity to partner with this "potential" superpower is fast fading... but the threat remains, regardless of where we see ourselves in relation to Russia (or, more specifically... the Kremlin).

I "admire" the Russian PEOPLE. They are a culture that recognizes the gains they have made throughout history, and refuse to forget them. I do NOT admire or condone the actions of the current regime (nor of any others dating as far back as at least 1901) at the Kremlin. These are a people that WILL NOT be defeated... and REFUSE to forget the price they have been forced to pay for their nation and their liberties. There is no more patriotic, nationalistic society on earth than the Russian People... and they have a lot to teach us about "national will" and its impact on government.