I think the speech mentioned was the one where Biden quoted Yeats.  The quote—“All is changed, changed utterly,” was completely inappropriate, at least if you think Yeats’s poem means anything, but I can see Biden saying to one of his fresher speechwriters, “The reset button thing is okay, but give me something highbrow, too,” and the speechwriter, not being so long out of English 201, remembering one of the four or five poems of Yeats he was made to read.  So what was Biden trying to say?  Looks to me like, Shucks, we don’t really want to conquer Central Asia after all.

This raises the question of Afghanistan.  Bush actually evolved a fairly sensible plan for Iraq: buy off the opposition, and get out, although slowly, and keeping as much as you can without too much effort.  There will now be a pro-Iranian government in Baghdad, but maybe that doesn’t matter.  It may be that cautious, conservative Mr. O has a similar pas de deux planned for Afghanistan.  It worked in Iraq, so why not?  The fact that they’re completely different kinds of places has probably not occurred to anyone in Washington yet.

Also, I think it’s possible they really are bankrupt.

You would think so, Anarcissie, but the truth of the matter is that US military strategy NEVER made any sense.  I was amazed that the US actually invaded Iraq, with the idea of pulling out after a few months, Rumfield’s strategy based on technology rather than boots on the gournd.

And Cheney wss instrumental in Georgia attacking Russian troops, a crazy thing to do. And Biden’s speech was not at all “cautous and conciliatory” as expected, but continues Bushite pressure.  It doesn’t make any military sense at all.

But it makes political sense.  There is no way for the US to ‘win’ that war in Afghanistan (what would ‘winning’ entail?)  Obama just wants to keep it going so he doens’t lose it until the next election.  I think this can be done by those giant cargo planes they have.  Espeically if everyone kind of just sits there and waits for the next election.

I don’t see waht else they could be thinking.  US foreign policy is now serving the interests of Israel rather than the US, and consequently it is mostly a question of simply keeping the War on Terrorism going.  I know that this is monstrous suggestion, but consider: the US has killed over a million Iraqis and made refugees out of 5 million while pretending to install Freedom and Democacy.  How is anything the US is doing now worse or more delusive than that?

SteveK9:
‘Can someone explain our continued insistence that Georgia be allowed to join Nato?’

Possibly “we” are backing out slowly.  Ruling classes generally put a lot of stock in “face”, as in they don’t want to lose face.  Of course, the U.S. won’t really get out unless they’re forced out, but that may actually be happening.  Certainly Mr. O will have to cosy up to Russia if he wants to have his pumped-up war in Afghanistan.

What Biden was expected to say was they were going to conduct a major reassessment of the missle first strike capacity.  What he said was they were going to continue it.  Which means that Russia will target EU and Nato countries with nuclear missiles.  Increasing tension between Nato and Russia to try to get Geogia and especially the Ukraine into Nato.

Georgia deliberately attacked Russian troops while Bush was at the China olympics Cheney’s representative was in Georgia.  Bush was also out of the White House during 9/11, with Cheney the acting president. 

Now Biden is vice-president, a Zionist militarist.  Pursuing a bi-partisan foreign policy that includes Zbig’s anti-Russian policy, Obama’s mentor.  That serves Israel foreign policy but is strongly against that of America. 

The increased tension with Russia helps Israel get central Asian oil from Turkey, to resell to Europe, dereasing European dependance on Russia, and increasing European dependance on Israli imperialism. And their support for Zionist ethnic cleansing.

Folktruther, February 8 at 10:40 am #

Inheerit’s comment is the usual Zionist bullshit.  What the Zioinst militarist Biden has done is to continue the forst strike threat against Russia, on the rediculous grounds that it is a defense agianst the nuclear missles that Iran doens’t have.  Obiden’s continuing the threats against Russia, disguised by public relations flourishes,  is the most dangerous part of US foreign policy, which is serving Zionist interests, not that of the US.
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Folktruther, you ridiculous ignoramous!

Take a chill pill or something.  Wash it down with a 6 to 8 ounces of vodka, bourbon or scotch, and sleep it off.

This has NOTHING to do with Israel, Zionism or your paranoid fantasies.  It’s simply clear, simple real politik[/it] between two great powers.