Russian oil supplies to Czech Republic cut after missile defence deal with US »
Posted By gamahuche 3 months ago in NewsRussian cut oil supplies to the Czech Republic have been cut by half, just days after the United States signed an agreement to build a missile shield radar station on Czech territory. Moscow insisted that the cut was nothing to do with a US deal and that negotiations between suppliers were to blame for the hold up.
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gamahuche3 months ago
FTA
Czech prime minister Mirek Topolanek appeared to remain sceptical over official explanations.
"I want to believe that reasons which the Russian supplier states are only technical," he said.
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Just as likely that tweaking the Russian bear's tail on behalf of the US may be just the beginning of the next, all-too-literal, Cold War.
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gamahuche3 months ago
Medved BTW means bear in Czech - med is honey, and ved is knowledge..not too hard to put those together!
Medvedev must mean something similar..
So we should find one of our Czech honeys for him??
Unfortunately volunteering was compulsory in Communist times and still has a very bad reputation.
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earthlingerer3 months ago
Eh, not such a big deal. Put the missiles here in Lithuania. The Russians already cut off our oil pipeline, not much else they could do, considering their trains have to be able to go through the country to get to Kaliningrad.
The Russian position is fundamentally weak. If they continue to go this bad road, it only discourages the foreign investment needed to exploit their resources at home.
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jimdoze3 months ago
Obviously, Russia is using oil and gas supplies to Europe as the new means of blackmail to develop a new form of orbital influence. Gama, Czech leadership tweaking the bear's tail, on your own behalf (not on behalf of the U.S.), would seem to me to be an extraordinarily wise approach to the situation.
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gamahuche3 months ago
Ain't a game with those Ruskies, Jim. Bush never got it either. Medvedev and Putin are 2 VERY dangerous dudes. If you're learning it here for the first time, please take notice. They completely swindled the election and whereas on most democracies Putin would have disappeared into retirement after his term as President was up he got his man as President and is PM himself - in a totally falsified election. He could come back as President again. Oligarch is the word.
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1-2-Oscar3 months ago
For more than a half-century, Russia, whether organized as the Soviet Union or in more nationalistic form, has used nuclear blackmail to get its way in the international arena. Now the US, Russia's traditional adversary, is making it possible for smaller nations to effectively resist nuclear blackmail. Russia will not allow that to happen without using all its resources to block the growing American influence. Without the threat of nuclear annihilation, Russia has no claim to old leadership.
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gamahuche3 months ago
Oscar - I'm not sure how your comment precisely applies to this situation.
The location of the radar in the Czech Republic and the DESIRED location of the missiles in Poland clearly make both these countries potential targets - which is why the Poles are demanding that they should be given Patriot missiles to defend themselves with.
The Pole's "hard-bargaining" is apparently already causing the US to cast around for an alternative location for the missile base and Lithuania has already been suggested.
Bear in mind that no suggestion whatsoever has EVER been made that these facilities will in any way act in the defence of the countries where they are to be located.
The OSTENSIBLE/STATED threat that is being countered by the US programme is an attack from a "rogue-state" such as Iran.
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gamahuche3 months ago
Realpolitik suggests, however, that it is indeed the Russians who are still the "rivals" and that this US initiative, de facto, helps to neutralise any potential missile threat to the US from that quarter - thereby undermining the apparent effectiveness of the "mutual destruction" dynamic which has prevailed,apparently successfully for half a century.
Are the Poles mistaken to bargain forcefully? Not as mistaken IMO as the Czech government who - against the wishes of almost 3/4 of its people - rolled over to please the US. [Without a shadow of a doubt hefty palm-greasing was also involved].
Next question: how much consultation took place with the NATO allies and what assurances were made about their potential protection from threats either from the Middle East or from the Soviet Union?
Finally from a Czech point of view it feels very much like we're being thrown back into the Cold War from which we finally escaped in 1989.
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AtheismIsRealityComment removed: User banned.
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Radiofreeeuropa3 months ago
I believe there are plenty of old school beneficiaries of the cold war who wax nostalgic about it for both political and monetary reasons. I imagine what the Czech Republic collectively is asking itself is whether they are willing pawns in the game, whether it is wise to play this game. Is there a choice? I seem to recall the U.S. not taking kindly to Soviet missiles on a certain Caribbean island that has been paying the price ever since with travel and trade bans. It's not hard to imagine that Russia would feel no differently about these missiles so close to their borders. The Czech Republic may be between the proverbial rock and hard place.
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1-2-Oscar3 months ago
Your memory, as usual, is convenient to an anti-American bias.
"I seem to recall the U.S. not taking kindly to Soviet missiles on a certain Caribbean island." But you somehow fail to "seem to recall" that the missiles being installed in Cuba were strictly OFFENSIVE weapons, while those proposed for installation in the Czech Republic have no offensive capability whatsoever--they are strictly defensive. In this instance, the Russians claim that any US program which provides an effective DEFENSE will make this nation more likely to use other missiles offensively. In fact, the Russians are also concerned that they will lose the ability to control other nations of the world through nuclear terror.
Okay. You have injected your obligatory anti-American rhetoric. That apparently means a good start to your day.
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gamahuche3 months ago
Oscar - back to school on this one, seriously..
There is NO plan to install ANY missiles in the Czech lands, offensive or defensive..
A radar installation is what is planned. I've explained the rest in my comment above.
As for the comparison with Cuba, its not at all far-fetched.
The missiles which are to be located on Poland are supposedly interceptor missiles but current Russian fears and/or propaganda is that the US plans to additionally place ballistic missiles there, see for example here: http://en.rian.ru/russia/20080710/113709664.html "The U.S. may station intermediary and shorter-range ballistic missiles in Poland under the guise of interceptors". In any case the "interceptors" are described as having a range of 1800 miles; I've been trying my damnedest to track where in Poland they will be located.IF they were in Lithuania they could be less than 150km from the Russian border, somewhat closer than Cuba to Miami..
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jordan113 months ago
You have injected your obligatory anti-American rhetoric. >>>>
Giving a valid analogy is hardly 'anti American rhetoric." Questioning what one's government does is quite healthy, really.
I wonder how you know that the missiles in Cuba were "OFFENSIVE." After all, the Russian Ambassador assured the US they were Defensive. Just like we're doing. Yet you expect them to believe us, when we didn't believe them.
One thing is obvious. We're putting Russia on the defensive, regardless of our motives. Where might that lead?
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doggammit3 months ago
Yes, the Czech and Poles are being played like African friction pawns and they are well aware of how it feels to be caught in the middle of superpower chess.
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canadianrancher573 months ago
When I look at this I wonder what would happen if Canada allowed the Russians to place Radar in the northern parts of our country right up there along the DEW line and then placed missles in the prairies and Ontario as a purely defensive tactic. Now being a free country we should have the right to do so but I know if something like this happened I would likely lose access to many of the American products that we depend on like most of our fresh fruit and vegetables in the winter. The official reply to the withholding of the fruit and veggies would likely be blamed on a poor crop or transportation problems not the missles.
When the Big Boys play their games alot of little players get run over.
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gamahuche3 months ago
Its more about upsetting the balance of power in Europe as a whole.
It seems odd to me that so few US citizens get it when they are super-sensitive to what goes on on their own continent and have put tremendous pressure on many countries in Central and South America becaise they didn't like what was happening some thousands of miles away.
I don't favour the Russians even a tiny bit. I'm horrified by them.
But for the US to come barging in - ESPECIALLY inder a regime like the current one - doesn't help one tiny bit either.
This base should not be happening and the results of it will be very negative in the long run for us and for the US - and possibly for Russia too.
Above all its undemocratic! The people don't want it.
So much for the "gift of democracy" forced on them by the "West".
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wasntme3 months ago
Russians are facing probably the dumbest administration in US history and they are going to milk it every drop they can.
Recently an oil giant Total of France who had signed or agreed to sign a deal to develop Iranian gas projects in the Southern Iran and some other places declared that they are pulling out of the deal because the risk factor is too high. (under pressure form Bush administration)The CEO of Total gave this bellicose speech against investing in Iran and ....less than two weeks from that the Russian energy giant Perum (spelling) declared an initial agreement with Iranians to do what Total refused and they also declared initial agreement on other MULTI BILLION dollar projects with Iran. Suddenly the officials and executives of Total began to cry oh no...we never intended to forfeit the deal, we have not even left Iran it is all a misunderst...
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jimdoze3 months ago
Are you asking yourself what game the Russians are playing, and at what risk to the world at large, or are you blaming the U.S. for "opportunity lost" by the French in choosing at our insistence to not cozy up to Iran? It was the French who helped build the Osirik reactor for Saddam, wasn't it?
Exactly, Gama, "great game indeed!"
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hyperbola3 months ago
The Iranian nuclear program started during the Eisenhower administration with our enthusiastic support. Rumsfeld. Wolfowitz and Cheney wanted to sell Iran an entire nuclear industry during the Ford administration (including a complete plutonium cycle). The problem with you jimd is that you are largely ignorant of history and so simply parrot "patriotic propaganda".
By the way, the French (with US help) were also largely responsible for Israeli nukes. The world would be better off if neither Israel or Iraq had nukes today. Failing that, the chances for peace in the mideast would grow if both had nukes.
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antibrainwasher3 months ago
This administration gave Boeing 13 BILLION dollars do develope this BS star wars missle defence, proven to NOT WORK, and now this is the fruit of this black ops secret tax payer funded progromme, the restart of the cold war to benifit the military industrial billionaires.
Its not the us government, its the US military industrial complex, war profiteers who are installing missles in Czech. Did you recall voting for this project?
This is not a democracy. The bill of rights is meaningless, as is the consititution. The United states is being run by big oil, and the major companies who are awarded hundred billion dollar contracts by the pentagon.
They have now re-started the cold war, as a final good f*cking to the taxpayers before they retire to Dubai and collect the hundred billion dollar windfall from supporting the never ending war effort of the christian crusader zionist nation.
Republicans have shown beyond any doubt they cannot govern, cannot police their own.
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gamahuche3 months ago
It looks like they have EXACTLY restarted the Cold War.
Which means billions and billions of profits for all those arms maufacturers IF there's anything left to pay them with..
The big payoff from Iraq is beginning to look more and more like a chimera - and that was all supposed to go into a few pockets anyway - and without that ???
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antibrainwasher3 months ago
The dollar has plunged to its lowest level in recent history, against even the Indian Rupee, or the Chinese yuan. If you are holding dollars, you just lost about 40% over the last 8 years.
Meanwhile, the republicans are still proposing the same old crap, tax cuts for the rich, and deregulation of the markets, and doing everything they can to prop up Exon.
The CEO of exon, a hard right anti-environmental psychopathologically greedy billionaire, is writing energy policy for the entire country through Cheney and Bush and his bought and paid for right wing republcian senators.
I don't recal voting for the CEO as energy czar, but the energy czar he is.
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rwrnae3 months ago
And just exactly what did they expect to happen? Gonna be a cold winter.
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hyperbola3 months ago
There are some americans who know what is going on.
Kicking Sand In Russia's Face
.. While this farce was going on in northern Japan, Bush's girl Friday and Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice flew to Prague to initial a truly daft plan to build a new US anti-missile system (ABM) in the Czech Republic and Poland.
Washington claims the system is designed to shoot down Iranian long-ranged missiles â;; which Iran does not have â;; carrying nuclear warheads â;; which Iran also does not have. "We are protecting Europe," chirped Rice. Of course, Condi. Those mad mullahs in Tehran are just itching to attack Belgium and Norway.
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hyperbola3 months ago
The only possible use for these ABM missiles would be to protect US military bases in Western and, more important, Eastern Europe, from some future missile attack by Iran. But Iran would only attack US bases, and thus court national destruction, if it were first attacked by the United States...
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/articl...
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jovial3 months ago
Let's see how this pans out. There certainly will be more controversy to follow. America has chosen to build it's influence throughout the world with bases and now radar and anti ballistic missile shields. Of course these shields would be much easier to install if we didn't go around pre-emptively uninstalling government leaders. I look at it this way. If Russia invaded Mexico, and was bogged down there as we speak, and decided to put up a missile shield in the carribean (Cuba for instance) and said it was purely defensive against rogue nations like Venezuela. How would we as Americans react? Or Quebec? Or Bermuda?
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Jarius3 months ago
Gama, I've read everything you've said and respected all of it, but you go too far in regards to American role in liberating Europe. Do you really think the English and Russians would have stopped Hitler by themselves? We didn't encourage communism. We knew Stalin was an evil murdering tyrant. But by 1945, he was still the enemy of our enemy.
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Jarius3 months ago
If the Poles and Czechs don't want bases in their country, then we should leave 'em alone. We don't need to be antagonizing Russia right now anyways. If indeed those defense platforms are to used against Iranian aggresstion, then why don't we put them in Afghanistan which is right next to Iran?
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