Syndroma
08-24-2009, 06:08 AM
Nice rant on ATimes' letters page (http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Letters.html):
[Re China dips its toes in the Black Sea (http://www.atimes.com/atimes/China/KH01Ad01.html), July 31] China, Russia and Iran clearly own Eurasia. The only reason the US is in Central Asia at all is because China and Russia consent to it being there, and the only reason they do is because there is no better place to bleed America white than the endless labyrinth called Afghanistan. "Never interfere when your enemy is hanging itself", and, "Keep your friends close but enemies closer" are prescriptions well learned and practiced by both Beijing and Moscow. Russia even laid a red carpet of easy logistics through its territory in order to facilitate the death march of America's legions into the hellhole. That's what you call a genius masterstroke. The European Union is a marginal player at best. If geography is destiny and demography is destiny, then it will remain an outsider for a very long time, possibly longer than it exists. All of its "Eastern partnerships" are just geopolitical gimmicks with no future, and its claim to relevance is contingent on riding one horse (the US) that is in a rather poor shape and is getting weaker with every step. Despite US Vice President Joe Biden's wishful thinking, America's biggest problem is not underestimating itself (that is never the case), but underestimating its opponents. Washington's road to eventual defeat is called "Gung Ho Boulevard", a venue generously adorned with "Mission Accomplished" banners. One commodity that the US never seems to run out of is self-congratulatory rhetoric. Nature will indeed take it course as it always does, so Moscow can simply relax and wait until the US - itself squeezed from every direction - runs out of breath and recourses, which by casual observation can't be far away. Two trillion dollar annual deficits - in other words Americans selling their children's future incomes so that they can maintain their present lifestyle - are indicative of "red giant economics", when a dying star undergoes a huge last-gasp expansion before finally collapsing into a white dwarf. Russians know this, and Chinese know this. The only people blissfully unaware of unfolding disaster are those in thrall of Biden's spellbindingly moronic oratory.
Oleg Beliakovich
Seattle (Aug 3, '09)
[Re China dips its toes in the Black Sea (http://www.atimes.com/atimes/China/KH01Ad01.html), July 31] China, Russia and Iran clearly own Eurasia. The only reason the US is in Central Asia at all is because China and Russia consent to it being there, and the only reason they do is because there is no better place to bleed America white than the endless labyrinth called Afghanistan. "Never interfere when your enemy is hanging itself", and, "Keep your friends close but enemies closer" are prescriptions well learned and practiced by both Beijing and Moscow. Russia even laid a red carpet of easy logistics through its territory in order to facilitate the death march of America's legions into the hellhole. That's what you call a genius masterstroke. The European Union is a marginal player at best. If geography is destiny and demography is destiny, then it will remain an outsider for a very long time, possibly longer than it exists. All of its "Eastern partnerships" are just geopolitical gimmicks with no future, and its claim to relevance is contingent on riding one horse (the US) that is in a rather poor shape and is getting weaker with every step. Despite US Vice President Joe Biden's wishful thinking, America's biggest problem is not underestimating itself (that is never the case), but underestimating its opponents. Washington's road to eventual defeat is called "Gung Ho Boulevard", a venue generously adorned with "Mission Accomplished" banners. One commodity that the US never seems to run out of is self-congratulatory rhetoric. Nature will indeed take it course as it always does, so Moscow can simply relax and wait until the US - itself squeezed from every direction - runs out of breath and recourses, which by casual observation can't be far away. Two trillion dollar annual deficits - in other words Americans selling their children's future incomes so that they can maintain their present lifestyle - are indicative of "red giant economics", when a dying star undergoes a huge last-gasp expansion before finally collapsing into a white dwarf. Russians know this, and Chinese know this. The only people blissfully unaware of unfolding disaster are those in thrall of Biden's spellbindingly moronic oratory.
Oleg Beliakovich
Seattle (Aug 3, '09)