Two things need to be watched in the current relationship between
the USA (King of the South) and Russia (King of the North). Prior
to the North's attack on the South there is both 1. Pushing of the
North by the South & 2. A general feeling that there is peace and
security: Dan 8:25 "during a freedom from care he will bring many
to ruin" NWT - "When they feel secure, he will destroy many and
take his stand against the Prince of princes." NIV "and in their
security shall he destroy many: he shall also stand up against the
prince of princes" ASV
The following quotes illustrate these two currents churning:
U.S., Russia at odds over war on terrorism
By John Chalmers
MUNICH, Germany, Feb 3 (Reuters) - Russia laid bare its differences
with the United States over the war on terrorism on Sunday,
challenging President George W. Bush's attack on the "axis of evil"
and accusing the West of double standards.
The cracks emerged at a security conference in Munich over the
weekend as Washington, ratcheting up its rhetoric against Iraq and
Iran, signalled it could take pre-emptive action.
U.S. Deputy Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz told the meeting on
Saturday that countries tolerating terrorism would be held to
account and referred to the State of the Union address last week in
which Bush described Iraq, Iran and North Korea as an "axis of
evil" seeking weapons of mass destruction.
But Russia, which has better relations with all three, insists the
U.S.-led campaign against terrorism in Afghanistan must not be
expanded to other countries and has been increasingly irritated by
the American sabre-rattling.
Russian Defence Minister Sergei Ivanov, in a blunt rebuff, told
Wolfowitz and the other delegates on Sunday there was no evidence
that Iran had connections with terrorist organisations.
And he said Russia had its own list of "rogue states," naming U.S.
ally Saudi Arabia, which Moscow says helps fund Chechen separatists
fighting its own troops: "Not many people in the West like the fact
that we have some commercial ties with the countries which you
describe as rogue states," Ivanov said.
"Well, we don't like...some of your allies like Saudi Arabia or
Gulf states who give finance to terrorist organisations."
He warned that disagreements over who was counted a terrorist could
undermine the U.S.-led coalition Russia has joined against the
Islamists that the United States blames for the September 11
attacks on New York and Washington.
Washington Post
February 3, 2002
Strategic Odd Couple
By Jim Hoagland
President Bush has scrapped the Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty, put
American troops into Central Asia along Russia's borders and
signaled that the United States will PUSH a vigorous new round of
NATO expansion in November -- all in four months and all without
provoking serious outcry from Moscow. Vladimir Putin's Russia is
the bear that did not growl.
In the sharpest paradox of current global politics, the personal
relationship between Putin and Bush seems stronger today than it
was before Sept. 11. On that infamous day, the Russian president
was the first foreign leader to reach Bush. He used Cold War
emergency communications links -- the hot line -- to notify the
White House that Russia was canceling military exercises
immediately.
And Bush's subsequent decision to withdraw from the ABM Treaty to
pursue unconstrained missile defense tests did not inflict the
severe damage to U.S.-Russian relations foreseen by many in Europe
and here.
Putin's restrained reaction vindicates the Bush team's hard-nosed
judgment that they could build a new relationship with Russia that
was not centered on arms control. "Bush has understood that Putin
is committed to stabilizing Russia and has accepted him as a
genuine partner," German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder said on a
visit to Washington, in which he did not voice earlier criticisms
of U.S. missile defense plans.
Putin now faces grumbling over his conciliatory approach on missile
defense, Central Asia and NATO from Russia's military and foreign
affairs community. He has taken political arrows to the chest on
strategic issues that boost Bush with his conservative base here.
But there are now signs that the White House sees the huge
political deficit Putin has been willing to run as ultimately
unsustainable.
Unlike Boris Yeltsin, Putin does not cloak his actions in
sentimentality or the passions of the moment. The former KGB
lieutenant colonel is a cold, calculating customer willing to make
a virtue of Russia's weakness for the time being.
Bush is instinctive while Putin is cerebral. But each strikes the
other as decisive, frank and stubborn in his politics. These are
not bad qualities for a strategic Odd Couple who should now move
rapidly and forcefully to cut and reshape nuclear arsenals that can
still obliterate human destiny within a few minutes."
END OF QUOTES
Dan 8:25 "And according to his insight he will also certainly
cause deception to succeed in his hand." Putin seems to be a little deceptive.