NATO, Russia Agree To Resume Military Ties

(AP)  NATO Secretary-General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer said the alliance and Russia have agreed to resume military ties after a 10-month hiatus caused by the war between Russia and Georgia.

Relations between the alliance and the Russian military were frozen in the aftermath of the five-day war last August. Although political ties have thawed considerably over the past five months, there have been no formal military contacts since then.

Scheffer, who is ending his term as NATO head, said Saturday it had been his ambition to leave his successor with a NATO-Russia Council that was "up and running."

He said that aim had been achieved at a meeting of NATO foreign ministers with their Russian counterpart on the Greek island of Corfu.

It was the first high-level meeting since the Georgian war.

[sean58z]

NATO and Russia should renew trade agreements. Moscow has a considerable business selling pharmaceutical products. The Internet is a fine method for customers to make purchases.

[mcintoshlou]

IT WAS JUST a week ago that Sen. John Ensign (R-Nev.) was in the spotlight for his admission of marital infidelity. Now comes fellow Republican and would-be presidential hopeful Mark Sanford's clumsy admission of adultery, and Mr. Ensign is, so political pundits judge, yesterday's news. That's too bad, because there is still a lot about Mr. Ensign's affair that the public has a right to know.

Interest in Mr. Ensign -- and we make no secret that ours is influenced in part by his despicable role in undermining D.C. voting rights -- is by no means absolution of Mr. Sanford. The latter abrogated his responsibilities as South Carolina governor and misled his staff and the public. Mr. Sanford's infidelity should be a private matter between him and his wife, but his embarrassing confessional raised inevitable calls for his resignation. His announcement yesterday that he would reimburse the state for portions of a 2008 trade mission that included meeting with his Argentine mistress raises more questions about his conduct.

HOW CAN WE TRUST THIS RIGHT WING CLOWN TO DEAL WITH RUSSIA?

[Aldymac]

As America is weakened by the present administrations desire to bring us under a totalitarian rule, the rest of the world is moving on. The Russians are now the strong military the Europeans are going to have to rely on. The "new" U S will no longer be able to lead as a nation of power.
The government "of the people, by the people, for the people, no longer exists. Every step taken by the present administration has been a step down for the people and a step up for the government.
There has been a lot said of "fear mongering" on these boards, the real fear has yet to appear, when it does even the staunchest liberal here will be wetting their pants by what they will see coming over this country. And there will be absolutly no one saying "I told you so".

[mcintoshlou]

Gov. Mark Sanford's admission to an extramarital affair with a woman in Argentina has sparked a debate within the backchannels of the GOP over how strongly the party should emphasize morality and religion going forward.

For decades, the GOP has used issues like respect for the sanctity of marriage and the notion of family values as a key component of its political platform and a point of divergence between Republicans and Democrats. A series of sex scandals involving high-ranking officials, however, has drastically altered that equation. And now some strategists are questioning whether the party should rethink the way it emphasizes these matters.

"It creates a very interesting tension for Republicans because they understand that there is a very interesting constituency that they have to appeal to, particularly in places like South Carolina, by resorting to that kind of moral values rhetoric," said Mike Maslansky, CEO of Luntz Maslansky, a predominantly conservative