RUSSIA SLIDING TOWARD DICTATORSHIP?

Not since Ronald Reagan was President has Russia laid down the gauntlet as did Vladamir Putin this morning during a meeting with Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and Secretary of Defense William Gates in Moscow. To begin with he made them wait 40 minutes before he arrived!
Mr. Putin, who earlier this month announced that he would renege on his promise to step down at the end of his term as President, and run as Prime Minister of Russia. Threatened the American delegation that if the United States continued it's plans to establish an anti-missile base in Poland and a radar tracking station in the Chech Republic. Russia would strongly consider pulling out of the intermediate range missile treaty signed in 1987 during the cold war by The Soviet Union and President Reagan.
Putin an ex-KGB agent Colonel, and his FSB Colonel General Sergei Ivanov were part of a four man group including Putin, that met in Putin's Dacha in rural Moscow. The other notables who were in attendance were Sergy Lavrov and Anatoly Serdyukov. Government appointees of Putin's inner circle of Power.
Of note is the fact that Mr. Ivanov is former Federal Couter Intelligence Service member (FSK). This Service replaced the KGB after the supposed demise of the Soviet Union. In 2004 it was changed to the FSB. Over 78% percent of the top 1000 political figures under Putin are estimated to be ex-FSB members. It is noteworthy to mention that Putin himself said there are no ex-KGB members that are alive.
Does the threat laid before our Secretary of State indicate the resurgence of the cold war? I believe so. I don't believe it ever ended. It just "went to Ground".
The Russian billion dollar deal to build a nuclear power plant in Iran was one of the actions taken by Putin that should have signaled the power grab in the back of Putin's mind.
With over 8% of Russia's taxes coming from Gasprom, the big gorilla of natural gas and petroleum in Europe. Putin has available to him the money needed to ramp up his military and re- institute the cold war against the U.S. with the willing accomplices of the Iranians and other American hating Arab Countries.
To fully grasp the devious nature of the suave ,urbane looking Putin you have to understand that many informed people believe that Putin has been, undercover of media silence, gradually establishing his control over Russia with an iron fist approach.
Not the least of the actions that are believed to have been caused by his direction are the recent murder of a female Journalist and an ex-KGB agent who had said or written unfavorable things about Putin and his Government.
If Putin wants to re-establish a dictatorial type of control over Russia he will need to convince the Russians that his being Prime Minister over a "figure head" President. He must assure that there will be no obvious dissent.
Even though Russia was already a hostile place for political dissent. Putin's first convenient event that helped stifle opponents, was the killing of Journalist Anna Politkoskaya in her apartment by gun shots.

Then the suspicious death of Alexander Litvinenko, a former KGB officer, and outspoken opponent of the FSB is the most recent example.

Litvinenko was writing a book about the FSB’s abuses (including high-profile assassinations) during the Putin era and allegedly had been gathering information on the FSB’s involvement Politkovskaya’s death. Litvinenko died of a mysterious case of polonium-210 radiation poisoning on 23 November 2006. He was apparently infected during a meeting with a contact a month earlier.

So the Doves in the United States should wake up to the threats that are all around us and within our Country. Their dissent will not be tolerated if we loose this war!