Russia invest in their military

From Novosti.

A comprehensive rearmament of Russia’s Armed Forces will begin in 2011, President Dmitry Medvedev said on Tuesday.

“Last year we equipped a number of military units with new weaponry, and we will start large-scale rearmament of the Armed Forces in 2011,” Medvedev said at a meeting with Defense Ministry officials.

He said that the current military-political situation in the world calls for a thorough modernization of the Russian Armed Forces, primarily its strategic nuclear forces.

While Gates cuts down:

Two defense officials who were not authorized to speak publicly said Gates will announce up to a half-dozen major weapons cancellations later this month. Candidates include a new Navy destroyer, the Air Force’s F-22 fighter jet, and Army ground-combat vehicles, the offi cials said.

More cuts are planned for later this year after a review that could lead to reductions in programs such as aircraft carriers and nuclear arms, the officials said.

Israel-Hamas deal collapses

Following up on my “Dealing with terrorists” post I wrote earlier.

 A prisoner swap deal between Israel and Hamas appears to have collapsed, dashing hopes among both Israelis and Palestinians.

The goal of the negotiations, moderated by Egypt, were to clinch an agreement for the release of Cpl Gilad Shalit – an Israeli soldier captured by Palestinian militants and smuggled into Gaza almost three years ago – in exchange for hundreds of Palestinian prisoners.

The talks, stepped up in recent weeks, were seen as a last-ditch effort by the outgoing Israeli prime minister Ehud Olmert to secure a deal while he was still in power.
(Source)

Brown the dreamer

Mr Brown indicated that Britain stands ready to reduce the number of its own warheads as part of a broader negotiation involving the US and Russia.

Multi-lateral reductions in nuclear arsenals should be part of a new “grand global bargain” which will see all states – including Iran – given the possibility to develop civilian atomic power programmes under strict conditions, said Mr Brown.

Dreaming of a world free of nuclear weapons is a nice hing to do, it feels good and you sound like you’re thinking about what’s best for the world when you say it. I also know of people who claim that getting rid off the nuclear weapons is the single most important challenge humanity faces. This is a nice dream, and maybe even a vision worth working for, but that’s also all it should be; A dream.

As long as we have a world where we got one part of it that’s free, with democracy and everything that comes with it, and engaged in a war against organisations supported by totalitarian states the disarming of the west’s nuclear arsenal shouldn’t be anything worth striving for. Imagine a scenario where the west, and Russia, all abolish their nuclear arsenal and a state like North Korea or Iran builds one up instead. That’s not a pretty scenario.

Instead of dreaming about disarming or nuclear weapons we should work towards turning Iran, North Korea and other totalitarian states into democracies. When we’ve done that, then we can talk about disarming.

Dealing with terrorists

The Left’s latest fantasy is its enthusiasm for a deal with Hamas that would free Gilad Schalit. By Tuesday night, Israelis should know whether or not our outgoing leftist government will agree to release between 450 and 1,000 Palestinian terrorists – including mass murderers serving multiple life sentences – in exchange for Schalit whom Hamas and it sister terror groups have held hostage since June 2006.

I didn’t now about this until I read about it here today. I can’t for my life understand why anyone thinks this is a good idea.

Israeli Government taking shape

It seems like Benjamin Netanyahu have reached a deal with Avigdor Lieberman. It’s of course interesting to see what kind of government Israel will get, but in the end it doesn’t matter. No matter what government Israel have at the helm, and no matter how much they would want to live in peace, that won’t happen.

The reason why it won’t happen is also rather simple. Ever since Israel came into existence the nation have been forced to fight in order not to be pushed out into the sea. Now, if there would be a peace agreement and a two-state solution that would recognise both a Palestine and a Israel it would be viewed as a defeat by most parties in the arab/muslim world. And the arab world is not prepared to recognise such a defeat.

Remember Tibet?

After the massacre on the monks it seemed cool and hip to put on a red shirt to honour the monks and their struggle for democracy. It lasted for what? A week? After that everyone forgot about it again and Tibet is yet again just a distant country that the Western population couldn’t care less about.

However, yesterday marked the 50th anniversary of the uprising that sent the Dalai Lama into exile.

“Even today, Tibetans in Tibet live in constant fear, and the Chinese authorities remain constantly suspicious of them,” the Dalai Lama said in this Indian hill town, where he and the self-proclaimed government-in-exile have been based since shortly after fleeing their homeland.
(Via Fox News)

Personally, I think this is a bit more serious than the DOW plummeting. But that might just be me.

The ‘Special Relationship’ (Part Three)

The Telegraph has had sources tell them that President Obama was tired.

Sources close to the White House say Mr Obama and his staff have been “overwhelmed” by the economic meltdown and have voiced concerns that the new president is not getting enough rest.

The ‘Special Relationship’ (Part Two)

Mark steyn writes on the subject here

Evidently, the White House gift shop was all out of “MY GOVERNMENT DELEGATION WENT TO WASHINGTON AND ALL I GOT WAS THIS LOUSY T-SHIRT” T-shirts. Still, the “classic American movies” set is a pretty good substitute, and it can set you back as much as $38.99 at Wal-Mart[...]

Tennis, Israel and Extremists

Have you ever heard of a Swedish city named Malmö? It’s in the southern part of the country, right next to Copenhagen actually. What’s so special about Malmö is that it’s known for it’s problem with segregation where you have parts of the city, like the area called Rosengård, that’s mainly inhabited by immigrants (legal or not) living in overcrowded apartements. It’s also an area where the Fire Departement has had their fire trucks under attack from people when entering the area.

This weekend a Davis Cup game (Tennis) was played in Malmö. There wouldn’t be anything special to say about that game if it weren’t because it was played in front of empty stands. The city decided that it couldn’t guarantee the security around the game and promptly decided to not allow any crowd at the game.

The decision is of course outrageous and has received attention in the Jerusalem Post.

INTERNATIONAL SPORTS strive to be free of politics and prejudice. But here they provide real-time proof of the poisoning of Swedish public life by biases that have echoes in Nazi Europe’s anti-Semitism. In Sweden’s third largest city, Malmo, where a virulently anti-Israel Muslim community makes up a significant percentage of the 250,000 population, the City Council voted five to four to hold the scheduled Davis Cup match between Israel and Sweden in an empty stadium, behind closed doors.

The ‘Special Relationship’

How do you treat an ally?

Well let’s ask Gordon Brown what he thinks. The gifts he had with him to the States to hand over to the new american President Barack Obama showed that he had put down a great deal of thought into it. What the gifts were?

 Brown’s carefully chosen official gifts included a pen holder made from a Royal Navy vessel that once fought to end the Atlantic slave trade and a first edition of the eight-volume biography of Winston Churchill begun by Winston’s son Randolph and completed by Sir Martin Gilbert.
(Source)

What he got in return from Obama?
25 American DVD’s.