Communist Bloc Military Updates: SCO reviews Iran's application; Russia holds rescue training mission in Arctic; Moscow, Brasilia to build warjet

Neo-Soviet Russia continues to stoke the flames of international tensions in the Caucasus by offering to protect its citizens in Georgia's breakaway regions of Abkhazia and South Ossetia by offering consular services, much as Serbia has extended its reach into the newly independent Kosovo. Abkhazia’s Foreign Minister Sergey Shamba, state-run Russia Today reports, declared: "This move is a breakthrough. Our goal is to build closer relations with Russia. We see this decision by President Putin as a breakthrough... We also see it as a decisive step towards the recognition of Abkhazia's independence. The development of relations is a two-way process, and both sides must show interest and we have certainly shown interest. Russia’s support in social and economic issues is very much appreciated here." In response, Georgia's potemkin "pro"-Western government, which is kept in line through threats of a coup d'etat carried out by an active fifth column of communists and Russophiles, organized an emergency security meeting. Tblisi's Minister for Euro-Atlantic Integration, Georgy Baramidze, accused Russia of undermining his country’s sovereignty and demolishing its bid to join NATO.

By far one of the most troubling developments in the Communist Bloc, though, is the potential admission of the Islamo-Nazi Republic of Iran into the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, the institutional embodiment of the Moscow-Beijing Axis. The SCO leadership is currently reviewing Iran's application for full membership. "The issue of SCO expansion is important to us, and our organization is open to cooperation with other organizations and associations, but maintaining its efficiency must remain the key factor while considering bids for SCO membership," Secretary General Bolat Nurgaliyev droned. In spite of the hemming and hawing, we suspect that the Soviet strategists are secretly delighted by the prospective of peacefully ingesting Iran and acquiring their long-sought-after warm-water port on the Persian Gulf, among other strategic advantages over the West.

Pictured above: Iranian and Russian dictators Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and Vladimir Putin in Shanghai during the SCO's 2006 summit.

Shanghai Six regional group considers Iran in expansion plans
16:10 15/ 04/ 2008

MOSCOW, April 15 (RIA Novosti) - The Shanghai Cooperation Organization's decision on whether to admit Iran will depend on general plans for expansion that could see other states join, the head of the group said on Tuesday.

Tehran, which currently holds observer status in the alliance, has long sought to become a full member of the SCO, a security alliance which comprises Russia, China and four Central Asian states and is seen as a counterbalance to U.S. and NATO influence in Asia.

"The consideration of the bid [by Iran] will depend on a political decision on whether to expand our organization," Secretary General Bolat Nurgaliyev said during a Moscow-Beijing video conference hosted by RIA Novosti.

He said Iran's request has already been addressed to Tajikistan, which currently presides over the organization. The other three Central Asian members are Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, and Uzbekistan.

Nurgaliyev said several other countries are also considering joining the organization. "We see this as positive evidence that our organization is needed and participation in its activities is useful."

He said there are no timelines for SCO accession set out in the organization's documents, but that there are differences among member states on the issue of expansion.

"The issue of SCO expansion is important to us, and our organization is open to cooperation with other organizations and associations, but maintaining its efficiency must remain the key factor while considering bids for SCO membership," the secretary general said.

Mongolia received observer status in 2004, and India, Iran and Pakistan followed suit in 2005. Besides Iran, Pakistan has also been lobbying for full membership.

The bloc - which primarily addresses security issues but has recently moved to embrace energy projects - has indefinitely postponed accepting new members, but pledged closer cooperation with the observer states.

Speaking at the SCO summit in Kyrgyzstan in August 2007, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said, "Everyone agreed that the moratorium should be preserved for some time yet," adding that the alliance "agreed to involve observer states more actively in practical projects."

The issue of SCO expansion will be on the agenda of an expert-level forum in Beijing in May. "I think recommendations by experts and political analysts will be precious for determining our approaches to this issue," Nurgaliyev said.

Russia and China have been cautious over admitting Iran, embroiled in a long-running dispute with the West and Israel over its controversial nuclear program and alleged support for radical groups in Lebanon and other countries.

Both China and Russia have, however, major commercial interests in Iran. The energy-hungry Asian giant wants Iranian oil and gas and to sell weapons and other goods to the country. Moscow also hopes to sell more weapons and nuclear energy technology to Tehran.

The Kremlin also needs Iran's endorsement for a multinational arrangement to exploit the Caspian Sea's energy resources.

The SCO Council of Heads of State will hold a regular meeting in Dushanbe, the capital of Tajikistan, in August this year. The summit will gather leaders of Russia, China and four ex-Soviet Central Asian states.

Representatives of Iran, India, Mongolia, and Pakistan, as well as Afghanistan and some other states will also attend the meeting.

"The documents for the summit in Dushanbe are being prepared, and the final agenda will be approved in Tajikistan at a meeting of SCO foreign ministers in July," Nurgaliyev said.

Source: Novosti

Several weeks ago the Russian Air Force announced that it was "drastically" increasing its regular long-range bomber patrols from two or three per month to 20 or 30 per month. A collective sigh of boredom could be heard throughout the shopping mall regimes of the West. State-run Voice of Russia reports today: "In the Arctic Russia’s long-range air force is training in rescuing the crews of sea vessels in distress. In keeping with the manouvres’ scenario the specially equipped aircraft should use on-board radars to spot a ship in distress, after which helicopters will make for such vessel to rescue the crew. That was the way 30 people were rescued in 2004 from a seiner-trawler that was icebound in the Arctic Ocean."

While this latest mission of Russia's strategic aviation forces seems harmless enough, neo-Soviet Russia continues to expand its military linkages with strategic partners such as India and Brazil. In 2007 the Russian Defense Ministry announced that it is committed to building a fifth-generation figher jet in collaboration with the Indians, while state-owned Kommersant Daily reports today that the Kremlin is pursuing a similar project with the Brazilians. With these outsourcing endeavors, expect the arrival of Russian "military experts" on site.

Russia to Make G5 Fighter in Tandem with Brazil
Apr. 16, 2008

Russia and Brazil have inked an agreement to jointly develop G5 fighter jets and boosters that will place into orbit different types of satellites.

Russia and Brazil intend to develop the G5 fighter jet, AP reported with reference to Brazil’s Minister for Strategic Affairs Roberto Mangabeira Unger. The agreement also spells out joint production of boosters capable of placing into orbit various types of satellites.

Of interest is that Russia and India concluded a similar agreement for G5 fighters past fall. The G5 fighter will be created by 2009, Russia’s First Vice Premier Sergei Ivanov pledged earlier. Member of Sukhoi Aviation Holding, Chkalov Novosibirsk Aviation Production Association will manufacture the front section and auxiliaries for making the parts from glass and carbon composite. Other enterprises of Sukhoi will focus on remaining components.

Following the Krmelin line of East-West convergence, Russia's nuclear power agency Rosatom intends to establish a nuclear power plant in the Baltic exclave of Kaliningrad with the participation of its "European partners" (meaning future victims of neo-Soviet aggression). Rosatom head Sergei Kiriyenko told reporters: "We are ready to offer foreign partners, primarily European ones, up to 49% in the Kaliningrad Nuclear Power Plant. Whoever offers the best price will be chosen to supply equipment."