A deal for Qadhafi in the works?

Libya Rebels Reject Cease-Fire That Doesn’t Oust Qadhafi

With the U.S. saying Qadhafi cannot stay and the rebels continuing to fight, is Qadhafi in fact on his way out?  Rebels refusing to quit and in fact rejecting the cease-fire will keep the U.S. strong in this position.  However, if this goes too long and we start hearing anything from the U.S. administration and State Department resembling wiggle room on the “must go” position, we can looking to NATO and its inability to sustain support for the rebels.  We are now at a significant point in this situation.  With Reuters reporting today that Qadhafi forces are bombing rebel positions in Ajdabiya, the deal is still a long way off.  Look for the U.S. to push for a quick exit deal for Qadhafi now or risk losing the upper hand…again.

While U.S. lawmakers work the budget, Russia quietly resumes charging Iranian nuke site

Iran reloads fuel into Bushehr n-plant

As we watched the left hand move back and forth, the right hand took a swing.  Our friends the Russians in true fashion, used the cover of the U.S. budget debate to begin reloading nuclear fuel in Iran’s Bushehr reactor.  As you remember, last year we reported on the computer virus that shutdown the plant.  Well, the Russians are determined to make the Iranians a nuclear power in the Middle East, even though it will probably not serve them well.  And while our media and the administration were aware of this, it has been given the attention we would expect from this alliance of deceit.  This will come back to haunt us.

Koreas on the “brink” of war? Russia looking for leverage over Georgia and weapons sales

North and South Korea on the brink of war Russian diplomat warns

Russia Inhibits U.S. Defense Assistance to Georgia  

China warns US against interfering in South China Sea issue

Those who follow the events on the Korean peninsula would tell you that the two Koreas are always on the brink of war.  So just what compels an experienced Russian diplomat like Alexei Borodavkin to make such an alarming and somewhat provocative statement that the Koreas are closer than ever to the “brink” war?  Well, one only has to look as far as the recent report that the Russian Defense Minister has requested that the U.S. sell weapons to Russia, stop helping Georgia, and accept the fact that Russia will continue selling weapons to Syria and Iran.  That is all.  What does that does this have to do with a war between North and South Korea?  Moscow believes it can still be a controlling player should any altercation occur between the Koreas.  The Russians see the threat of a dust-up on the Korean peninsula as a counter to the U.S. attempts to back Georgia and to stop Russian weapons sales to U.S. enemies in the Middle East. 

The timing of this is even more important as a recent tiff between China and Japan over the Diaoyu Islands has erupted and tensions over the detained Chinese trawler captain makes for the perfect Russian storm.  The background on this incident is that recently the Japanese Coast Guard seized a Chinese trawler and arrested the captain after the vessel strayed into what the Japanese believe is their territory.  The captain has since been released but the Chinese believe the territory of the Diaoyu Islands belongs to them and that the Japanese have no claim to the it.  So how is this connected to North Korea?  As has been the case for decades, the Chinese see countries like South Korea or Japan as nothing more than extensions of the West – namely the U.S.  For the Japanese to have acted aggressively against the Chinese in this manner and to continue to stake claim to the territory  is nothing more to Beijing than a provocation tacitly supported by the U.S.  With the sinking of the South Korea naval ship by the North several months ago, and the recent U.S. and South Korea Naval exercises off the coast of North Korea, there is plenty of material to get this type of showdown started.  So China is simply reacting as China normally does, using North Korea as a pawn to maneuver against the U.S..  As for the Russians, any flare up right now on the Korean peninsula plays right into their hands providing the leverage they need to get the U.S. to stand down in its defense of Georgia, and to deflect attention off their illicit weapons sales to Syria.