Friday, July 30, 2004

W’s October Surprise via Putin?

From the American Foreign Policy Council on July 24 through their Russia Reform e-mail:

”RUSSIA’S STAKE IN IRAQ RESTORED. Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshiyar Zebari has said that his government is committed to fulfilling all contracts concluded with Russian companies. According to RIA Novosti, Zebari, who is visiting Moscow, told reporters he had met with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and that agreed to appoint officials to handle resuming the contracts, including those concluded under the United Nations Oil-for-Food program. Zebari said they had not discussed sending Russian peacekeepers to Iraq, given the Russian government’s well-known opposition to such a move, but added that there were “many other ways in which Russia could be helpful to Iraq.” Baghdad would soon ask Moscow to appoint a new ambassador in order to restore “full” diplomatic relations, the Iraqi official said.” – Jonas Bernstein

I am of the active presumption that Iraq does nothing in a major way that could have the appearance of being an affront to the US without our advance concurrence. I think in this situation that honoring the Russian contracts plays off of the report that flitted through the net on Russia supplying troops.

Regardless of this news bit saying peacekeepers was off the table, I suspect it was merely on another table – directly between Moscow and WDC. Now wouldn’t it be amazing if Russia supplied some troops just prior to the election? How would the Monads play that one????

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