Missing The Cold War

The defense industry and the saber rattling war hawks have missed the cold war. Fighting a bunch of rag tag militants is the mountains or stuck in the middle of a civil war just isn't the same. No as much money to be made and it's a lot harder to get the voters to go along with it. They may credit Reagan with ending the cold war but deep down they curse him for it. (Of course he had little to do with it - The old Soviet Union was capable of doing that without any help.) Well maybe they have an opportunity to fire up the cold war again.
Putin in Iran says against military action in Caspian

TEHRAN (Reuters) - Russian President Vladimir Putin made clear to Washington on Tuesday Moscow would not accept military action against Iran, ruling out such strikes from any Caspian Sea state.

In comments aimed at the United States during talks in Iran, Putin said: "We should not even think of making use of force in this region."

"We need to agree that using the territory of one Caspian Sea (state) in the event of aggression against another is impossible," he told the presidents of Iran, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan at a summit of Caspian Sea states.

His remarks about territory also appeared aimed at Azerbaijan, where the U.S. military has inspected airfields. Russian media have suggested Washington might be trying to negotiate the right to use its military facilities. Baku denies this.

Russia is annoyed at what it sees as the West's attempts to end its influence in former Soviet states.

In a final declaration, the Caspian nations backed Putin's call, saying "under no circumstances will they allow (the use of their) territories by third countries to launch aggression or other military action against any of the member states."

Of course things are a little different this time. The only Soviet Union failed because it was an economic failure. Russia on the other hand is becoming an economic power house thanks to oil and natural gas reserves. The economy of the US is on a downward spiral.

While a US attack on Iran may well be a step towards a new cold war Matthew Yglesias thinks there might be a second negative outcome.

Vladimir Putin's warnings against military action against Iran deserve to be taken very seriously. Since we're not contemplating actually conquering Iran and trying to occupy its territory, people need to understand that the post-strike diplomatic environment is going to be much more important to the future of the Iranian nuclear program than is any damage that bombing Iran with our on-the-table options might or might not do. If Russia decides to just send some scientists with schematics and materiel over to Iran and show them how to build a nuclear bomb, then -- bam -- nuclear bomb.

Bottom line is that no good can come from an attack on Iran - by the US or Israel. Even neocon war hawk Frank Gaffney thinks it's a bad idea.

G-8, protests and surprises

The G-8 conference, a collection of national leaders who want to return the world to a feudal society, is getting very little press or blogosphere attention here in the US. Nothing on the protests that have been peaceful but effective. This from Der Spiegel International.
'A TREMENDOUS VICTORY'
G-8 Protesters Gear Up for Day Two of Blockades

Organizers of the protests are euphoric over their success in blockading roads leading to the G-8 summit in Heiligendamm. Many demonstrators stayed the entire night at the barricades while others rallied in front of the fence surrounding the summit venue. And they're not planning on leaving.

It was a long night just outside the fence surrounding the G-8 summit at Heiligendamm. But for the demonstrators manning the blockades on the streets leading to the meeting venue, it was a night of pleasant euphoria.

After a Wednesday spent dodging police during their trudge through fields and forests on their mission to block access roads as close to the summit as possible, hundreds spent the night at the two successfully established barricades not removed by the police. And on Thursday, with reinforcements on the way, planners said they don't plan to leave anytime soon.

"We are staying at the places where we are," a visibly exhausted Christoph Kleine, one of the organizers behind the "Block G-8" group which masterminded Wednesday's blockade strategy, told SPIEGEL ONLINE. Kleine himself spent much of the night near the race track near one of the gates leading into the fenced-off area. "We do not intend to try and improve on our success from yesterday. We will continue doing what we are doing. It has been a tremendous victory and nobody can take that away from us."

Despite police statements to the contrary, it is difficult to dispute Kleine's assessment of Wednesday's events. Scenes of thousands of demonstrators streaming across the landscape near Germany's Baltic Sea coast have managed to grab at least some of the headlines away from world leaders inside the Heiligendamm resort. Roads across the region were blocked for hours, with press heading for the summit ultimately having to board ships to ferry around the blockades.

Once again the people are saying they won't take a return to the 16th century without a fight. More can be found at Deutsche Welle, Security and Protests at the G8 Summit .

And as for the surprise, Vladimir Putin outfoxed the incompetent Bush foreign policy team. (I guess that shouldn't really be a surprise.)

SURPRISE OFFER IN MISSILE ROW
Putin Proposes Joint Radar Station in Azerbaijan

President Vladimir Putin has proposed that Russia and the US jointly use an existing radar station in the former Soviet republic of Azerbaijan as a way to resolve their dispute over the planned US missile shield in Eastern Europe. George W. Bush called it an "interesting proposal." Is the ice breaking?

Russian President Vladimir Putin has suggested locating part of America's planned radar-based missile shield in the central Asian country Azerbaijan, a former Soviet republic, as a way to resolve the simmering dispute between the US and Russia.

Bush, in a one-on-one meeting with Putin during the G-8 summit in Heiligendamm, called it an "interesting proposal" and said "let's let our experts have a look at it," according to White House National Security Adviser Steve Hadley, who was in the hour-long meeting, the Associated Press reported.

So Putin comes out looking like the good guy, which he's not, and Bush looks like a stubborn idiot, which he is.

Update
Steve Soto has some good analysis in Despite Bush's Taunts, Putin Outmaneuvers Him On Star Wars Today and CNN reports that Surprise offer defuses U.S.-Russia missile spat.