All your base belong to us…

Russia wants presence at U.S. missile sites What is truly sad about this whole thing is Russian honestly thinking Poland and the Czech Republic would willing allow their former dictators “a permanent Russian presence.” I don’t think they (the Russians) realize just how resentful many of the people in the former Warsaw Pact are towards the them and how wary they are of Russian intentions to regain  influence in their region. That’s part of the reason why so many are intent on joining NATO. They wish to avoid being reabsorbed into a Russian controlled pseudo-state reminiscent of the Cold War era Warsaw Pact.

It’s understandable that Russia is wary of an anti-missile defense system being near their borders not because of that systems limited capabilities at present, but what future technological advances could turn the system into a formidable defensive system that makes large ballistic missile stockpiles moot. Add to this the number of states wanting to join the European Union and NATO military alliance and Russia correctly sees itself losing influence in Eastern Europe and perhaps the world.

I do laugh at the notion of Russia wanting a permanent presence and influence over a future NATO base when they are not members of NATO and openly balk at joining the alliance, not to mention Russia having no intent on even joining the EU anytime soon, if ever. The Russian government and military would be having kittens if the U.S. made a demand to have permanent military personnel at strategic military sites. Why would they think American, Polish, and Czech reactions would be any different?

Olympic Relay and Protests

Obviously I’m strongly opposed to China’s activities and their communist government politicizing the Olympic games to show off the “new” China to the world. Amusingly enough, it looks exactly like the “old” China: oppressive, dictatorial, and belligerent. Thus I am quite content to see all these protests arise bringing awareness to people exactly what China’s been doing, not only in Tibet but in a myriad of issues.

Protesters Scale Golden Gate Bridge Glad to see someone here in the States intent on reminding everyone in the U.S. what China’s been doing.

London Protests Disrupt Torch Relay and Torch Relay Cut Short In Paris Good for the protesters.

IOC President Concerned About Tibet Well, Mr. Rogge, the IOC should have never given the games to China knowing that countries reputation.

“Violence for whatever reason is not compatible with the values of the torch relay or the Olympic Games,” Rogge said.

Values, eh? Maybe the IOC should have kept that in mind when they made the decision in the first place. But apparently violent repression is okay. After all, the modern torch relay’s history has a less than admirable inception in Nazi Germany. Let’s just hope the history that followed doesn’t recur this time around. But the IOC isn’t completely misguided in their approach to China and the games: IOC Pushes For Open Internet At Games.

House Members Ask Bush to Skip Olympics

Now should the games be boycotted? As much as it pains me to say so I would say no. Boycotting the opening and closing ceremonies is appropriate, but boycotting the actual competitive events would solve nothing and only hurt the athletes.