[A-List] Russia/US developments (was Thinking The Unthinkable)

[Keaney Michael]

Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung        27. Feb. 2002

It would be most awkward for the Europeans if they were suddenly to
discover
that Washington found it easier to agree with Russia than with its
traditional allies on the big issues -- such as weapons of mass
destruction,
"rogue states," and energy resources.

That would mean Europe was more marginalized than ever.

======

Mark Jones raised this scenario several months ago. There are still
major differences separating the Pentagon and the Russian military,
however, if recent reports re the Blair-backed "North Atlantic Council"
proposals are anything to go by. And then there is the continuing
development of US strategic penetration of Central Asia, which is
raising some alarm within the Kremlin:

Russia sees red at US forces plan for Georgia

 By Rupert Cornwell in Washington

 The Independent, 28 February 2002

 Russia took sharp issue yesterday with US plans to send
 special forces units to Georgia - a move that would bring
 Washington's campaign against terrorism into the very heart of
 what Moscow considers to be its direct sphere of influence.

 Igor Ivanov, the Russian foreign minister, warned that the US
 risked worsening the already fraught security situation in the
 Caucasus after reports suggested the Pentagon may send
 between 100 and 200 men to train Georgia's army to combat
 terrorism.

 The aim of the exercise is to tackle the dozens of al-Qa'ida
 fighters who Washington believes to be in the Pankisi Gorge
 region of northern Georgia close to Chechnya, where Russia
 has been fighting a bloody war with separatist rebels for most
 of the past decade.

 Moscow has long maintained the Chechen war is largely
 fuelled by Islamic extremists, some of them
 Afghanistan-trained al-Qa'ida operatives. But at this point the
 US-Russian anti-terror partnership begins to unravel.

 Russia is already worried about America's increased military
 presence in central Asia. It wants a joint Russian/Georgian
 operation to tackle the problem. But Georgia's fragile
 government is deeply suspicious of Russia, while its President,
 Eduard Shevardnadze, is America's strongest friend in the
 region.

Full article at:
http://news.independent.co.uk/world/russia/story.jsp?story=212428