Messenger to Moscow
They didn’t like all that Condoleezza Rice had to say, but the
Russians loved the way she said it
BY AISHA LABI
She traveled to Moscow last week to sell the Russians on the Bush
Administration's National Missile Defense (NMD) plan, but Kremlin officials
remained unswayed by U.S. National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice's
policy arguments.
The Russian public was, however, entirely sold on Rice
herself. Although she came bearing the
White House's stark message that it
intends to forge ahead with a "robust testing and evaluation phase" of NMD,
even in possible violation of what it says are the outdated terms of the
1972 Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty, the visit of the 46-year-old Russia
scholar was covered by an indulgent press.
The airwaves were full of praise
for her "beautiful Russian," which she deployed in a one-on-one meeting with
Defense Minister Sergei Ivanov.
With
frequent references to the time Rice spent studying in Soviet-era Leningrad, the trip
was portrayed as a homecoming of sorts.
.....
In the second Bush Administration, Rice remains a standout.
It was largely
through her facilitation that Bush and Putin agreed while at the G-8 summit
in Genoa to discuss cuts in their nuclear stockpiles.
[Ed. note - America has been steadily disarming ever since
while Russian nuclear buildup and the pre-WW3 preparations remain off limits
and are not made public by Rice nor any other U.S. or western politician and
media.....]
Q&A
Q: President Bush has said he thinks Putin has a good soul. What's your
impression?
A: I've been in lots of meetings with Russian leaders and they tend to
turn into an exchange of monologues. [Putin] is much more conversational. He
has a good sense of humor and loves to tell little jokes and stories. He's
rather matter-of-fact and systematic in going through tough issues.
Q: What's the Russian view of the ABM Treaty?
A: They still believe it's important. In the language of some of the
officials you're beginning to get a sense that they're not so wedded to it,
but they don't just want to leave it behind and have nothing in its place.
Q: Do we need a new treaty?
A: We don't believe a new treaty is necessary because
we believe treaties
of this kind, however useful they might have been, are usually an artifact
of an unusually hostile relationship.
Q: Do the Russians ever say "what are you offering us in exchange for all
you're asking?"
A: It doesn't come up in exactly that way. I think we've made progress in
having them see that the reward is Russia achieving its full potential as a
European state. This is not something for us to give to Russia. It's
something for Russia to seize on its own, but a good relationship with the
U.S. and with European powers is about the only way to get there.
Q: People used to be taken aback by the fact that you're young, a woman
and black. Is that still so?
A: I'm not so young any more. I am still female and black, however. It
happens less and less. Women are becoming more eminent in these fields than
when I was a tiny tot. Also, I'm pretty well known in the field now.
Reported by JOHN F.
DICKERSON/Washington and ANDREW MEIER/Moscow
http://www.time.com/time/europe/eu/printout/0,9869,169382,00.html
http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,169382,00.html
I also have it on a good authority that this "student trip" Condoleezza Rice
took to
Leningrad occurred in 1978 - she had to receive Soviet communist visa and
such
were only issued to people who would be potentially of future assistance to
the
communist cause....those who would say no to such KGB offers wouldn't be
allowed to leave the country and would have been eliminated - there are
people
who simply "disappeared" within the Soviet Communist Bloc and those who made
it back alive and are today in position of influence within the western
governments
have to be regarded as collaborators of the communists.....Rice, based on
her deeds
and connections fits this profile perfectly....and based on the communist
espionage
recruitment methods there could be no doubt about this, none....
The rest about Rice can be found here.]