China exhibited the ability to obliterate one of its own satellites, last year, as I recall.

Taking out a US satellite or two would be a durable setback to US plans.

 

In effect, the word is containing ... the Bush administration.  

A reversal of America's old Soviet-containment policy.

Heh.  

If I were you, Jerry, I wouldn't rely on Russia, at least (dunno about China) because:

1. Selling to Iran modern weapon staff will inevitably lead to some harsh economic, political, cultural and God knows what else sanctions against Russia from the US and its followers (you'll find the most of the EU contries in the list, if not all). And who's gonna compensate tha loss of our money (underpaid workers, pensioners, cut of money spending on the national health, educational, cultural etc programmes)? Pennyless european lefties? We are not enough pro-homosexual, pro-NGO, pro-human rights for them.

2. What's more, I suspect quite a huge chink of our money from our Stabilisation Fund (money we got from selling oil and gas) may be sitting happily now in the US banks and shares - see point 1 about the sanctions. On the other hand, I haven't heard that we have anything valuable in Iran (that nuclear power station doesn't count, I think we wouldn't even start messing with it now, in the more fat times).

3. While we don't like US that much, after Nord-Ost and, especially, Beslan's massacre, any fundamentalist Islamic (or, I am afraid any Islamic) country can't be seen as a friendly one we'd want to defend in any way by the majority of Russian people.

So, both countries, US and Iran are rather evil. Doesn't it ring a bell if I say that the US looks to some extent like Hitler's Germany  (striving for economic and political world  superiority and starting wars) and Iran (and before it Iraq) a bit resembles Stalin's Russia
- communist/islamic fundamentalist ideologies - helping poor, working class, moslem brothers etc? If so, I am afraid that we are over here may become not be quite immune of playing that little lovely cynical part which the US (or even Swiss folks) played during the WW2 - to watch how two bastards murdering each other, make a lot of noise - would you please stop it and the like  for as long as our territory is untouched?

The only real enemy you, EU people, have is your unsatiable greed. So why not help yourself and start playing hardball with the US? Where are all your left MPs from your oh so fucking democratic european parlaments with the threats of the full economic blocade of the US from the EU if the stupid and mad yanks start a military op against Iran? You prefer trying to egg Russia on doing  another dangerous and silly act (remember Afganistan? Well, there was some  even if a tiny part of afgani people who did not want to strenghen American influence in the region) while yourself aren't ready to lose anything?

If you aren't ready to sacrifice anything to keep the world safe do shit up and don't give us your silly advice. We are over here quite able to give even better advice.
Er... even me, even on here... :)
Just read Helen's gonna buy some property in Bulgaria. If you manage to find one of the older diaries where she asked ETers about where's better to buy and you lot talked about France and Spain, 'twas me <smiles modestly> who mentioned Bulgaria.