China Confidential
Thursday, September 04, 2008
Cheney Promises Georgia Will Join NATO
US Vice President Dick Cheney on Thursday criticized Russia's recent military action in Georgia, calling it an "illegitimate, unilateral attempt" to change the country's borders by force.
Speaking in Tbilisi, Cheney also stressed that the US is committed to bringing the former Soviet Republic into the NATO alliance. His comments came after talks with Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili.
Russian forces pushed into Georgia last month after Georgia's military moved in to try to retake control of the breakaway region of South Ossetia. Russia has since recognized South Ossetia and the breakaway region of Abkhazia as independent states.
Cheney is on a week-long tour of the region to show US support for allies there.
He visited Azerbaijan on Wednesday, saying the US has a deep and abiding interest in the region's security. He is scheduled to travel to Ukraine next.
A US Navy ship is sailing toward Georgia with humanitarian aid, and the US has pledged $1 billion in economic aid to help Georgia rebuild.
Azerbaijan and Georgia are critical links in a US-backed plan for an energy corridor to move oil and gas from Central Asia to Europe, bypassing Russia.
Ukraine is currently a key conduit for Russian energy exports to western Europe.
In Praise of Palin's 'America-First Energy Policy'
Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin has the energy answer: Our abundant country can produce more energy at lower cost if government gets out of the way.
Coming from the natural-resource-rich state of Alaska, Palin is an experienced energy expert. She knows more about the economics of energy than Sens. McCain, Obama or Biden. And in this year of the oil-shock economy, Palin's role will be absolutely crucial....
I call it drill, drill, drill. But in fact it's a full-throated America-first energy policy that will create millions of high-paying jobs with complete government deregulation and decontrol of the full menu of energy sources: oil, natural gas, nuclear, clean coal, shale, and the alternatives of wind, solar, and cellulosic.
Why aren't all the candidates talking like Palin? How can this great country put its future growth and prosperity in the hands of enemies like Czar Vladimir Putin, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and Hugo Chavez? Well, get ready for Sarah America to take on the fight against all comers.
The plain-talking governor is even tough on John McCain. The senator has said it's too pristine to drill in ANWR. But Palin told me in June that "Sen. McCain is wrong on that issue. . . . We're talking about a sliver of the coastal plain of Alaska being explored and drilled for oil. It's about a footprint of a 2,000-acre plot of land. That's smaller than the footprint of LAX."
Palin was pleased that McCain came around on the Outer Continental Shelf. But she intended to talk him into ANWR. Expect Mr. McCain to listen carefully. And she made this key point: The price of fuel will fall quickly on the expectation of more energy supplies, just as soon as Washington permits....
Meanwhile, she was taking action: Palin had just gotten the Alaska legislature to agree to a new natural-gas pipeline that was 30 years in the works.
The U.S. Geological Survey estimates that there are nearly 100 billion barrels of oil in the Arctic, with roughly one-third under sovereign U.S. territory in Alaska. There are at least 10 billion (and perhaps close to 20 billion) barrels of oil in ANWR, while old estimates suggest between 800 billion and 2 trillion barrels of oil in the Rocky Mountain shale formations.
It's also worth noting that 1.8 billion acres of the Outer Continental Shelf — with roughly 100 billion barrels of recoverable oil and 400 trillion feet of natural gas — are off-limits because of the congressional moratorium.
Palin grasps the strategic importance of all these domestic reserves. She's also a governor who fully understands the energy- and foreign-policy designs of Mr. Putin, who sits right across the pond from her native Alaska.
Meanwhile, Obama railed against drilling in his Denver convention speech. He is opposed to ANWR. And shale. And nuclear power. He's constantly bashing oil companies. And all he talks about is a windfall-profits tax.
That's why he has no real economic recovery plan. He has no interest in reducing gasoline prices at the pump. He even sponsored legislation to prevent 3-D seismic technology and other research efforts to correctly measure our undersea oil deposits.
In other words, he just doesn't get it.
Click here to read the entire article.
Kudlow is the founder and CEO of Kudlow and Company, an economic research and consulting firm. He hosts CNBC's Kudlow & Company and WABC radio's The Larry Kudlow Show. Known as a leading free market, supply-side economist, Kudlow is a regular panelist on Hardball With Chris Matthews and The McLaughlin Group.Fighting Words from Sarah Palin
Dateline USA....
Accepting her party's nomination for Vice President of the United States, Alaska Governor Sarah Palin told the Republican National Convention: "Terrorist states are seeking nuclear weapons without delay; he [Barack Hussein Obama] wants to meet them without preconditions. Al Qaeda terrorists still plot to inflict catastrophic harm on America; he's worried that someone won't read them their rights."
She's right. BHO's proposed "aggressive diplomacy" towards Iran is not only oxymoronic; it is moronic. The Democratic Party's self-style Candidate of Change would effectively try to appease Iran's monstrous, nuclear-arming mullachocracy, which has already changed the status quo in the Middle East by acquiring an arsenal of ballistic missiles capable of rubbling Tel Aviv--and arming and supporting Hezbollah and Hamas.
Obama's conquest of the White House will facilitate Iran's plans for regional--and global--dominance. The Islamist enemy intends to destroy Israel, drive the United States from the Middle East, and dominate Europe. Iran's space program, work with North Korea on sea-launched missile systems, and alliance with Latin American left-wing leaders, are all signs of an out-of-control, totalitarian menace.
Unlike Barack Obama and Joe Biden, John McCain and Sarah Palin understand the Iranian threat. Unlike the appeasement-minded Democrats, the Republicans take Tehran's turbaned tyrants and their front man, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, seriously when they talk about "a world without America."Rural America Refuses to Die
Dateline USA....
Turns out, the death notices were premature.
Rural America--which is still the backbone of the country in so many ways--refuses to die. It will not disappear, much as Barack Obama and Nancy Pelosi would like. The small towns they dismiss, the hunters and church-goers the Democrats despise, will not go silently into the night. Their story is far from over, as shown by Vice Presidential candidate Sarah Palin's powerful acceptance speech at the Republican National Convention. Relevant excerpts:Long ago, a young farmer and haberdasher from Missouri followed an unlikely path to the vice presidency.
A writer observed: "We grow good people in our small towns, with honesty, sincerity, and dignity." I know just the kind of people that writer had in mind when he praised Harry Truman.
I grew up with those people.
They are the ones who do some of the hardest work in America ... who grow our food, run our factories, and fight our wars.
They love their country, in good times and bad, and they're always proud of America. I had the privilege of living most of my life in a small town.
I was just your average hockey mom, and signed up for the PTA because I wanted to make my kids' public education better.
When I ran for city council, I didn't need focus groups and voter profiles because I knew those voters, and knew their families, too.
Before I became governor of the great state of Alaska, I was mayor of my hometown.
And since our opponents in this presidential election seem to look down on that experience, let me explain to them what the job involves.
I guess a small-town mayor is sort of like a "community organizer," except that you have actual responsibilities. I might add that in small towns, we don't quite know what to make of a candidate who lavishes praise on working people when they are listening, and then talks about how bitterly they cling to their religion and guns when those people aren't listening.
We tend to prefer candidates who don't talk about us one way in Scranton and another way in San Francisco.
As for my running mate, you can be certain that wherever he goes, and whoever is listening, John McCain is the same man. I'm not a member of the permanent political establishment.
And I've learned quickly, these past few days, that if you're not a member in good standing of the Washington elite, then some in the media consider a candidate unqualified for that reason alone.
But here's a little news flash for all those reporters and commentators: I'm not going to Washington to seek their good opinion — I'm going to Washington to serve the people of this country. Americans expect us to go to Washington for the right reasons, and not just to mingle with the right people.
Politics isn't just a game of clashing parties and competing interests.
The right reason is to challenge the status quo, to serve the common good, and to leave this nation better than we found it.
No one expects us to agree on everything.
But we are expected to govern with integrity, good will, clear convictions, and ... a servant's heart.Giuliani Rocks RNC; Olbermann Tries to Interrupt
Words to remember, which MSNBC anchor Keith Olbermann tried to interrupt, in a blatant example of left-wing bias....
Former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani told the RNC that John McCainwill keep us on offense against terrorism at home and abroad. For four days in Denver and for the past 18 months Democrats have been afraid to use the words "Islamic terrorism." During their convention, the Democrats rarely mentioned the attacks of Sept. 11.
They are in a state of denial about the threat that faces us now and in the future.
You need to face your enemy in order to defeat them. John McCain will face this threat and lead us on to victory....
When speaking to a pro-Israel group, Obama favored an undivided Jerusalem. Until the very next day when he changed his mind.
I hope for his sake, Joe Biden got that VP thing in writing.Reuters Not Sure Al Qaeda Attacked US on 9/11
Al Qaeda is blamed [Italics added] for the September 11, 2001 attacks on the United States which killed almost 3,000 people in New York, Washington and Pennsylvania.
Wednesday, September 03, 2008
Cheney: US Has 'Deep Interest' in Caucasus
Foreign Confidential....
There must have been plenty of raised eyebrows in Moscow Wednesday.
As if to confirm that the struggle for energy is intertwined with--and may even come to dominate--the traditional struggle for power and peace among nations, Vice President Dick Cheney declared that the United States has a deep and abiding interest in the security of the Caucasus and in guaranteeing a "free stream" for energy exports from the region.
Speaking after talks in Baku with Azerbaijan's President Ilham Aliyev, Cheney stressed the importance of the principle of territorial integrity, which he said had been endangered by Russia's recent invasion of Georgia. Aliyev echoed the Vice-President's views.
"The United States is convinced that together with European countries and Turkey we have to work with Azerbaijan and other Caucasus and Central Asian countries to offer additional routes for energy [exports that] will guarantee a free stream," Cheney said.
'Essential and Urgent' Energy Security
"Energy security is essential to us all and the matter is becoming increasingly urgent. We must work with Azerbaijan and other countries in the Caucasus and Central Asia on additional routes for energy exports," he added.
Cheney was in Azerbaijan at the start of regional tour to show support for former Soviet republics in the aftermath of the fighting. He is also scheduled to visit Georgia and Ukraine.
In addition to meeting with Azerbaijani officials, Cheney was briefed on the latest developments in the Caucasus by US Embassy officials and by top executives of British Petroleum, a major energy developer and exporter in Azerbaijan.
$1 Billion Aid Package
Cheney's comments came as the US prepares to announce a $1 billion economic aid package to help Georgia rebuild after Russia's military action--and a day after Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin sealed a new gas pipeline deal in Uzbekistan.
In Moscow, Russian Foreign Ministry spokesman Andrei Nestorenko criticized US calls for rebuilding Georgia's military as unhelpful.
Earlier, the European Parliament appealed to Russia to honor all its commitments for a complete and immediate withdrawal of its forces from Georgia.
Meanwhile, Georgian lawmakers voted to lift martial law imposed after the outbreak of fighting in Georgia.
Separately, Russia shut down its embassy and consulate in Tbilisi Wednesday, and said it will stop issuing visas to Georgians next week. Georgia severed diplomatic ties with Moscow Tuesday.
In another development, the flagship of the US Mediterranean Fleet, the USS Mount Whitney, is on its way to Georgia to deliver humanitarian supplies to that country.
Thursday, 4 September 2008
Writing for Investor's Business Daily, Lawrence Kudlow yesterday praised Sarah Palin's approach to the energy crisis. Excerpts from Kudlow's op-ed follow.
Dateline USA....
The Reuters news agency, which practically banned the word terrorist after 9/11 in deference to Islamist nations, organizations, and ... terrorists ... is apparently not certain that Al Qaeda was responsible for the worst-ever attacks on US soil, even though the mass-murdering, Islamist group and its leader, the deranged Osama Binladen, have bragged about their atrocious accomplishment, the seventh anniversary of which will be observed in only seven days. Reuters:
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