And it gets better...

TODAY, I hear on the satellite radio that India and Russia have cemented a deal wherein Russia constructs four additional nuclear power stations and supplies nuclear fuel for India at a price tag of roughly $4.8 billion over the next 6 years, and India gets to increase its domestic electrical capacity by more than 17% in the same time frame, which is projected to add an additional 22% to the GNP over the next decade.

While this deal was being announced, the two leaders (Medvedev and the Indian PM... can't recall his name) stated that they were going to "jointly" work to close the "nuclear club" in the region. I take this to mean that Russia now intends to extend its influence in the region by taking on the role formerly held by the US in making sure nuclear capacity doesn't extend to nations and states (and terror groups) that don't already have the bomb.

This is Russia, and specifically Medvedev/Putin, moving back into the "superpower" role that Russia had lost since 1991. I predict that over the next months, we will see Russia solidifying some kind of agreements with both Iran and Afghanistan where Russia takes on a greater percentage of import/export capital for both of these nations to ensure long-term cooperation OUTSIDE of America's ability to intercede. Even Obama can't afford to be seen "wheeling and dealing" with Tehran with the nuclear question still on the table... but Russia has already said that the weapons program (if it even exists) is not their concern, Russian security is.

Think on this: Afghanistan doesn't have a lot to offer in the way of "exports" outside of a currently illegal opium market... but there is not ONE functioning gasoline or oil facility in the entire country. Every drop of gasoline that Karzai needs to run the country could be pumped right out of the Russian steppes and into Kabul via a very-nearly completed pipeline in as short as 24 months, and the cost would be taken up by American "assistance payments" that we have promised to Afghanistan for the next 8 years. That means that the fledgling Afghan Army and security forces will be using Russian gasoline that is paid for by American taxpayers until 2017. The same is true for any governmental vehicles that Karzai might want to utilize to expand the functionality of his government... road constructions, farm machinery, postal carriers, airline services, border security, police and emergency services, et al. That, my friends, is a big gas bill... and Russia earns it all.

Wood, coal, metals, food stuffs, machinery, equipment... all within "arms reach" of Karzai if Medvedev/Putin play their cards right, and they won't have spent a penny or risked a single Russian life to secure the deals, and Karzai doesn't have to pay the bill. Current US policy (both Bush's and Obama's) are making this scenario a REALITY as we watch it unfold on TV.

Again... epic fail.