What does this mean?  Well, communist or not, Russia’s approach to the world remains the same; they seek the leadership spot that belongs to the U.S.  While it looks like they don’t have the military prowess once possessed by the U.S.S.R., they do have nuclear capability, and that alone means they should be taken seriously.

I’m not advocating a preemptive strike or anything, but it’ll be interesting to see where this goes.

HT: Drudge Report

Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said Tuesday he received assurances that Russia would not allow Israel’s security to be threatened, but offered no indication he had won the concrete promises he sought on Russian arms sales or sanctions on Iran.

Full Article

And Olmert actually believed them! *snicker*

In all seriousness, I’m starting to think Ehud Olmert might be the most gullible politician in the world today.  Russia is selling arms to a country that wants to wipe Israel off the map.  How does that protect Israel’s security?

Russia May Focus on Pro-U.S. Ukraine After Georgia
By Henry Meyer

Now that Russia has humiliated Georgia with a punishing military offensive, it may shift its attention to reining in pro-Western Ukraine, another American ally in the former Soviet Union.

Article Continues… (Bloomberg)

Bad things are happening…

By AP

MOSCOW — President Vladimir Putin accused the West of military expansion and laid out an ambitious agenda for his successor to restore Russia’s economic and military clout in a farewell address Friday.

With less than a month before the presidential election, the speech signaled that Putin’s doctrine of assertive economic and military policies and unwavering centralized power would continue under his chosen successor, First Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev.

Medvedev is expected to win the March 2 vote easily, and he has indicated he will name Putin as his prime minister.

Article Continues… (FoxNews.com)

I’m not gonna lie, Putin scares me, and the fact that he’s found a way to pretty much remain in power is a bad thing!

Russia has sent technicians to upgrade Syria’s air defense system, The Times reported Tuesday morning.

The British newspaper said that Moscow sent the team after Israel managed to foil Syria’s air defenses using stealth technology, allowing Israeli jets to remain invisible during an IAF strike on September 6.

Foreign reports that have surfaced since the incident indicated that Israeli jets assisted by a unit of special operations ground troops bombed and totally destroyed a strategic site in eastern Syria built with North Korean help.

Full Article (Jerusalem Post)

There is a line of thought that says Russia is Magog from the book of Ezekiel, so they’re worth watching. Heck, even if you don’t believe that, Russia is worth watching!

Russia was partly responsible for the heightened tension between Israel and Syria at the beginning of the summer, head of the Diplomatic-Security Bureau at the Defense Ministry, Gen. Amos Gilad (ret.) said on Thursday.

During an interview with Army Radio, the former general noted that recent messages sent by Israel to Moscow have caused the Russians to cease their activity, thus easing the tensions in the region.

Full Article (Jerusalem Post)

If I can go all Evangelical Christian for a moment…

Depending on who you listen to, there’s may be strong evidence for Russia playing a large role in the war of Gog and Magog. They are worth keeping an eye on.

The chief spokesman of the Russian Air Force, Col. Aleksandr V. Drobyshevsky, has confirmed in writing for the first time that it was Soviet pilots, in the USSR’s most-advanced MiG-25 “Foxbat” aircraft, who flew highly-provocative sorties over Israel’s nuclear facility at Dimona in May 1967, just prior to the Six Day War.

Gideon Remez and Isabello Ginor, who co-wrote the recent book Foxbats over Dimona, which asserts that the Soviet Union deliberately engineered the war to create the conditions in which Israel’s nuclear program could be destroyed, on Thursday described this “extraordinary disclosure” as “official confirmation of the book’s exhibit A and the source of its title.”

Full Article (Jerusalem Post)

So, Israel has had nuclear capability for at least 40 years and hasn’t nuked anyone? Tell me again, who’s the aggressor?