Lately, I've been coming across other pieces concerning other topics which echo some of the themes you present here (the tawdry fight for control of the cash-cow, for instance). This piece on the Anbar Awakening is one. While I've been looking at the seemingly unnatural split between Kiev and Moscow in historical terms (like Stalin's purge of the kulaks), I'm beginning to wonder if the simpler reasons of greed explain more of what's going on. If that's the case, I'm wasting my time and don't have a snowball's chance in hell of getting into a position where I can sense where political currents flow.

Wonderful post, though. Hotlisted. Thanks.

"It Can't Be Just About Us"
--Frank Schnittger, ETian Extraordinaire