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U.S. Prepares for New Caucasus War
U.S. President George W. Bush has ordered U.S. commercial vessels in the Black Sea to be insured against military risks through March 2009. The White House acknowledges that the November 25 memorandum, which has been published on the White House website, is connected with Georgia, to which U.S. ships are delivering military hardware and weapons. RBC Daily newspaper cites experts’ suggestions that the United States is preparing for another war in the Caucasus, which would give NATO a pretext for accepting the memberships of Ukraine and Georgia.
“After consultation with the Secretary of State, it appears to the Secretary of Transportation that such insurance adequate for the needs of the water-borne commerce of the United States cannot be obtained on reasonable terms and conditions from companies authorized to do insurance business in a State of the United States,” the U.S. president notes in the memorandum. He orders the War Risk Revolving Fund to provide “insurance or reinsurance of vessels (including cargo and crew) against loss or damage from war risks.”
Observers note that NATO General Secretary Jaap de Hoop Scheffer and the presidents of Ukraine and Georgia will hold a joint press conference on Wednesday. The Kremlin hopes that Europe will restrain the enthusiasm of the U.S. “One of the critical mistakes of the Russia elite is the conviction that the disagreement between German, France and possibly Italy and the U.S. is antagonistic,” stated Sergey Lopatnikov, research professor of civil engineering at the University of Delaware. “Russia made the same mistake before the beginning of the Crimean War, when it was convinced of the antagonism of Britain, France and Austro-Hungary.”
www.kommersant.com
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