Rianovosti 2013-07-18. Politisk vapenteater på hög nivå. USA köper sannolikt ryska vapen för 3,5 miljarder trots den förmedlade mediala besvikelsen över såpoperan med Snowden.
Ett tramsigt möte med Putin kan Obama tydligen alltid ställa in men inte en vapenaffär..? De ryska vapnen ska användas av USA och deras allierade i det pågående invasionskriget i Afghanistan...
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Pentagon Stands By Russian Arms Deal
MOSCOW, July 18 (RIA Novosti) – The Pentagon has no plans to halt a $550 million deal with Russia to acquire helicopters for the Afghan Special Mission Wing, the chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff said Thursday.
In late June the Special US Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction urged the Pentagon to put the deal on hold until the unit was fully recruited and properly trained.
“On the Mi-17 [helicopters], ... I support continuing on the path we are on,” JCS Chairman Martin Dempsey said. “To get the Afghans as capable as possible by the end of 2014. And that will require us to stay committed to that fleet.”
There is no way we can transition at this point to give them anything other, he said.
Responding to lawmakers’ criticism of the deal over Russian arms supplies to the Syrian government, Dempsey suggested that did not mean there could not be collaboration elsewhere: “There’s also plenty of places where we have common interests, and Afghanistan just happens to be one of those with Russia.”
- The Pentagon has bought 33 Mi-17 helicopters from Rosoboronexport, the state-run Russian arms exporter, since May 2011 and signed a contract for 30 more on June 17, in the face of fierce opposition from Congress.***
http://en.rian.ru/world/20130718/182311838/Pentagon-Stands-By-Russian-Arms-Deal.html
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2013-07-28 Washington
The watchdog – the Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction – urged the Pentagon to suspend the $553 million Russian arms deal as well as a $218 million contract for 18 planes from a U.S. firm until plans were in place to fully recruit and train the Afghan special forces unit.
The Pentagon was already under fire for agreeing this month to buy 30 additional Mi-17 helicopters from the Russian arms dealer, Rosoboronexport. That company is a major supplier of weapons to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, who is battling rebels trying to overthrow his government.[...]
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http://www.csmonitor.com/Business/Latest-News-Wires/2013/0628/Pentagon-slammed-for-1-billion-deal-with-banned-arms-dealer
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“We are disappointed by the US administration’s decision to cancel the visit of President Obama to Moscow that was planned for the beginning of September. It is clear that the decision is related to the situation around the former intelligence agency employee Snowden – something that was created not by us,” Ushakov told reporters on Wednesday.
According to Ushakov, the US has “for many years dodged entering into an extradition treaty” with Russia and “invariably refused” its extradition requests citing the absence of such a treaty.
“All this situation shows that the US is still not ready to build relations with Russia on equal footing,” Putin’s aide added.
Despite that, Obama’s invitation to visit Moscow remains in effect, and Russia is “ready to continue working with our American partners on all the key issues of the bilateral and multilateral agenda,” Ushakov said.
- Earlier today US President Barack Obama canceled a meeting with President Vladimir Putin in Moscow which was scheduled for September. The move came after Russia’s recent decision to grant temporary asylum to NSA leaker Edward Snowden.
The White House cited the lack of progress in “missile defense and arms control, trade and commercial relations, global security issues, and human rights and civil society in the last 12 months” as the grounds for the move, adding that Russia’s “disappointing decision” to grant Snowden asylum was also among the factors.
Washington’s decision showed that the US will readily “sacrifice their bilateral relations with Russia” for the issues of their “internal agenda,” said Andrey Klimov, vice chairman of the Federation Council’s International Affairs Committee.
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http://rt.com/news/russia-obama-putin-meeting-180/
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Obama vill inte träffa Putin - men USA köper ändå ryska vapen för 3,5 miljarder?
-US Plans To Buy Weapons From Former KGB Agent, Who Also Arms Syria's Assad-
SvaraRaderaAugust 13, 2013
Source: Business Insider
If this isn't absurd, I don't know what is.
The Atlantic today ran a post detailing how arms deals with Russia to supply Afghans with helicopters (that they can't even use) not only tie the Russian defense industry to continued influence over the Afghan government, but also inadvertently support a former KGB agent's efforts to arm Syria's Bashar al Assad.
In fact, this arms dealer is trying to supply Syria with S300 surface to air missiles, the same ones that Israel warned could take down one of their airliners.
Let that sink in for a second.
The Atlantic's Sonni Efron points out that the head of the defense company in question, Rosoboronexport, is "Sergey Chemezov, Putin's KGB buddy from their days together in East Germany."
That company is in line to get about a billion dollars in taxpayer dollars to help arm and then later supply the Afghan Air Force.
Presumably, Afghanistan will pay the continuing service contracts, but considering the continued financial support the US has pledged to Afghanistan, it's safe to say Washington will be in bed with Rosoboroexport for a while.[...]
http://www.businessinsider.com/us-buys-weapons-from-former-kgb-agent-2013-8#ixzz2bsZPO949
http://www.blacklistednews.com/US_Plans_To_Buy_Weapons_From_Former_KGB_Agent%2C_Who_Also_Arms_Syria%27s_Assad/28072/0/0/0/Y/M.html