Just What Kind Of a Counter-Terrorism Partner Is Russia?

There's a nice little article by Douglas Farah here about what Russia has actually been doing in regards to the Global War on Terror, and of course, it is becoming accentuated by the recent Russian involvement in Georgia. Let's look at a bit of Farah's article here:

What is clear is that Russia is set on selling weapons to those who want very badly to hurt us, and who buy their weapons with the stated purpose of using them for that.

The three clearest examples are the arming Hezbollah in the summer 2006 conflict (courtesy of their favorite delivery person with almost-plausible deniability, Viktor Bout); Venezuela, which recently purchased an additional $2 billion worth of weapons from Russia, in addition to the $4.4 billion already purchased in the past four years-including two AK-47 factories; and Iran, receiving advanced missile systems.

I could go a step further here in adding that Russia has done a considerable amount of shielding Iran's nuclear buildup over the past three years, from stalling U.N. sanction votes to criticizing any sanctions against the mullah regime. And as we all know, in every major conflict that U.S. troops are involved in right now - be it Iraq or Afghanistan, Russian weapons are involved on the side of the enemy.

What the Georgian invasion has shown me is the selfishness and the imperialistic visions of the Russians. Ever since the Russians climbed out of the total abyss of economic ruin onto the shoulders of their new found oil wealth, they have turned their back on the rest of the world. It's one thing to do all you can so your country can survive and quite another to look beyond your borders to increase your viability.

I think that at one point in time, the White House had really thought that with Putin's term expiring, that some of this rogue behaviour was going to fade but when Putin commandeered a whole new power role for himself for years to come, the fate of a long time friction was sealed.

Left unchecked, the Russians will brazenly move forward on more and more controversial arms deals with terrorists and their expansionist aims.

The Emerging Russia's Terrorism Issues

I am not a Russia expert and defer to Robert Kagan and others to paint the macro picture of what Russia’s incursion into Georgia means.
But there are several issues, outside of these, that need to be looked at in terms of Russia in the greater world, and our relationship to Russia, particularly in counter-terrorism and weapons proliferation issues.
What is clear is that Russia is set on selling weapons to those who want very badly to hurt us, and who buy their weapons with the stated purpose of using them for that.
Everyone sells weapons, and yes, the United States plays in the game. But Russia’s willingness to arm non-state actors and states that are facing international sanction is qualitatively different.
The three clearest examples are the arming Hezbollah in the summer 2006 conflict (courtesy of their favorite delivery person with almost-plausible deniability, Viktor Bout); Venezuela, which recently purchased an additional $2 billion worth of weapons from Russia, in addition to the $4.4 billion already purchased in the past four years-including two AK-47 factories; and Iran, receiving advanced missile systems.
As noted above, Chavez’s pitch for purchasing the weapons was the formation of an anti-US coalition with strategic interests in Latin America.
Bout was also known to be delivering, on behalf of the Russian government, weapons shipments to forces in Georgia’s separatist regions, helping to pave the way for the armed incursion.
One can argue that sovereign nations can buy and sell weapons as they choose, and that is true. But Russia’s willingness, and downright eagerness, to arm those who want to hurt us and have established ties to international terrorist organizations with a demonstrated willingness to attack, should give policy makers pause.
For many year, since President Bush looked into Putin’s eyes and saw his soul, we have been living the illusion that Russia is an ally. Bout was forgiven his multiple atrocities, in part, because we did not want to upset Russia while he delivered their weapons around the world, wreaking havoc.
The Georgia invasion may finally change this. But it has been evident for a long, long time that Russians friends are often our enemies, and Russia’s willingness to arm them to hurt us is abundantly clear.