Bush is aching for a new Cold War. It would suit his short term agenda to isolate Russia and China and would hope to forestall the coming shift in energy resources away from the U.S. as Russia and China bargain for a bigger share of the world's oil. The U.S. assumes the world’s oil is ours for the taking, but, some less-than-friendly oil-producing nations which we rely on to supply our country’s insatiable consumption, are looking to replace the share of their oil they’ve promised to the U.S. and give that business to China.

Putin is rumored to be seeking the same defensive shift in oil partnerships which would favor countries the U.S. would rather they not associate with, but are more compliant to their interests than an increasingly arrogant America. The Bush regime sees the prospect of Russia’s shifting alliances as threats to the U.S. 'national security'; defensible using the same military force they used to crush Iraq and Afghanistan, merely citing the target country as a ‘threat to national security.’

The Bush regime would like nothing more than for Russia and China to be regarded as pariahs in the world community, especially now that their votes will likely be determining factors in Bush's scheme to get a force resolution against Iran out of the U.N.

The Pentagon is set to ask Congress for a $1.6b 'anti-missile' base in Eastern Europe to defend against, what they claim, is a threat to the region from Iran's ballistic missiles.

Under consideration are sites in countries like Poland and the Czech Republic. The prospect of these former Soviet satellites aligning with the U.S. against a major economic ally of Russia’s is a retreat from the cooperation that marked the security agreements made between Russia and NATO after Sept.11.

Cheney visited Kazakhstan a few weeks back to coerce them into bypassing Russia with their oil pipeline and supply the West directly through Turkey. He did this right after trashing the Putin government at a conference in Lithuania, right in the midst of U.S. efforts to punish one of Russia's major oil partners, Iran, for 'unanswered questions' about its nuclear program.

It's not clear what Cheney got from Kazakhstan, but today it was reported that the former Soviet republic has begun to supply China through its pipeline which links the two countries. China, the world's number two oil consumer next to the U.S., is poised to receive 20 million metric tons of oil a year.

Russia's president Putin answered the Bush regime's jingoistic catcalls at a EU conference today with an open dig at Bush's imperious reign. "We see how the United States defends its interests, we see what methods and means they use for this," Putin said.

The Bush regime would be more than satisfied to isolate Russia, and China as well, with a manufactured pall of suspicion and fear, making oil-producing nations reluctant to do business with them out of fear of U.S. retaliation.

The 'Chinese military buildup' reports from the Pentagon, which have surfaced in the past week, are old and deliberately released to discredit China, isolating them and their vote in advance of the Security Council action against Iran that the Bush regime has been pushing for and expects as early as June.

The weapon’s systems the Pentagon and US analysts are citing are no secret and have been under development for years. There is no surprising new threat.

The Financial Times reported today that, "it was unclear what aspects of Beijing’s development of its nuclear missile forces had surprised US analysts. The report merely cited information about the introduction of new weapons such as the solid-fuelled, road-mobile DF-31 intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM), which has been under development for decades.

The level and intensity of our government's manipulation are astounding, and should give a pause to those who continue to let the Bush regime set the agenda at the U.N.

This is nothing but a Pentagon production which FOX News has been broadcasting for two days like there's some new threat. All of this plays right into the PNAC world domination scheme which can be used to justify their planned missile defense boondoggles they want to spread around Eastern Europe.

And, it meshes with their fear campaign which gives Bush his only relevance as our chimp commander and allows him to continue to brandish the specter of national security as he subverts our constitution and our laws.

Be very afraid . . . of the Bush regime and their destabilizing propaganda. Do they want a new cold war? They're angling for one. These brainless, unschooled megalomaniac see a short term plus in their agenda to isolate Iran and those who would dare to trade with them.

Negroponte has cited the economic relationships of China and Russia as undermining U.S. security. The Bush regime's main gripe is about the oil deals that China and Russia are engaged in with Iran.

Everything that follows is a means to undermine those relationships. China is on their agenda for today, next week Venezuela, Russia, Pakistan (who opposes military force against Iran), and whoever else dares to stand in the way of their manufactured 'crisis' with Iran.

The 'buildup' reports are a Pentagon production, furthered by FOX News, that appeared in the past few days, out of the blue, with no visible substance outside of "questions' about, and "estimates" of China's military intentions. There's a floating 'report' of some Chinese General who was said to want to 'discuss' first strike nukes? We'd have to be idiots to buy that load from this bunch again.

China gives their figure for their military budget, but the U.S. SAYS the figure is PROBABLY three times higher. WHAT CREDIBILITY DOES THE U.S. GOVERNMENT'S WORD CARRY THESE DAYS? ZERO!

Why put this out now? Iran. That's the overriding obsession of the Bush regime these days. Every effort of their foreign policy, including decisions on whether to exit Iraq or stay, is determined by how it will help further their aggression against Iran.

Of course, the struggle surrounding Iran is about oil; our dependent needs, and about the other countries who benefit from Iran's oil.

The most revealing argument that the Bush administration has made against Iran is their reference to Iran's oil and the influence Iran gains by trading with regional actors like Russia, Pakistan and China.

U.S. Intelligence Director John Negroponte said in a Feb.2 Senate Intelligence committee hearing, that a combination of rising demand for energy and instability in oil-producing regions is increasing the geopolitical leverage of key producing states.

"Record oil revenues and diversification of its trading partners are further strengthening the Tehran government." Negroponte warned.

Oil was also on Negroponte's mind as he blasted Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez for his increasing relationship with Iran. Chavez "is seeking closer economic, military and diplomatic ties with Iran and North Korea," he said. Negroponte worried aloud in his statement that Chavez is looking to dump the U.S. as an oil trading partner in favor of customers like Russia and China. Although the U.S. presently gets about 60% of Venezuela's oil exports, Venezuela reportedly plans to double their exports to China by the end of the year.

Venezuela is next.

The VOA had Venezuela's President Chavez on yesterday, calling the Bush regime an "imperialist, war-mongering government." He said it is "eroding the possibility of peace and life" on Earth.

Most of the noise about Chavez is nothing more than political posturing, and a great deal is from outside the country, from those who themselves want to lord over Venezuelans and their resources, like Bush. The irony in the verbal assaults on Chavez which intend to overthrow him, is that Bush - not Venezuela’s elected president with his rhetorical defenses against American Empire - is the danger that most nations of the world fear, and the danger that most threatens Venezuelans today,

If our nation continues to exploit other countries of the world for our mindless consumption without regard to their needs and concerns, then we deserve to fall flat on our faces. What many in America expect is that these countries should be so grateful for American dollars that they should kow-tow to our every wish and desire. But these countries have needs that are not served by our government's arrogant insistence that they hand over their resources according to OUR terms and conditions.

It's not like the nations of the world don't have anything to point to which demonstrates the threat Bush poses to sovereign nations, all in the name of his own regime's definition of democracy. What a farce.

What an incredible display of American imperialism. Thing is, our president is the biggest threat to world peace and stability now. His fascist assaults on our own historic democracy, and his colonialist assaults on Iraq and Afghanistan makes our country's complaining about what others are doing in their own homeland laughable.

. . . and, other countries are laughing at us.