Meanwhile, Around the World …

You’d think the world would just give us a break while we’re watching all this money fly around, but alas, that is not to be.

Two stories, both found at Raw Story.

One, Pakistani troops fire on intruding U.S. choppers:

ISLAMABAD, Sept 22 (Reuters) – Pakistani troops fired on two U.S. helicopters that intruded into Pakistani airspace on Sunday night, forcing them to turn back to Afghanistan, a senior Pakistani security official said on Monday.

It was the second such incident in a week, and reflects frayed relations with the United States over Pakistan’s failure to act more forcibly against Islamist fighters in the tribal lands bordering Afghanistan.

The number of missile attacks by U.S. drone aircraft in the remote tribal areas has multiplied in recent weeks.

The helicopters violated the border in the area of Lowara Mandi, 40 km (25 miles) west of Miranshah, the main town in the North Waziristan tribal region, at around 9 p.m. on Sunday, the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the subject.

There was no official confirmation.

So this is not an “official story.”  Of course it is pretty damned official that the US has been going in to Pakistan recently:

Pakistan’s army chief has criticised the US military for making unilateral cross-border raids in the the hunt for al-Qaeda’s top leadership, as tensions between the allies reached new heights on the anniversary of the 9/11 attacks on America.

In an unusually tough statement, General Ashfaq Kayani, Chief of Army Staff, said that there was “no agreement or understanding with the coalition forces whereby they are allowed to conduct operations on our side of the border”. Pakistan would defend its sovereignty and territorial integrity “at all costs”, he said.

The statement followed revelations this week that President Bush had approved US special forces incursions into Pakistan in July – without the Pakistani Government’s approval – and comments by the Chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff, Admiral Mike Mullen, who told Congress that a new cross-border strategy was needed to wipe out al-Qaeda “safe havens” in Pakistan.

Winning hearts and minds all over the world, that’s our Georgie.

Now we have a new and interesting turn of events.  The Russians Are Coming!  The Russians Are Coming!:

A fleet of Russian warships led by a massive missile cruiser set sail from their Arctic base on Monday for naval exercises off Venezuela near US waters that have not been seen since the Cold War.

“They left at 10:00 am (0600 GMT). It’s the nuclear-powered guided missile cruiser Peter the Great, the anti-submarine warship Admiral Chebanenko and other accompanying ships,” Russian navy spokesman Igor Dygalo told AFP.

Dygalo said he could not reveal how many ships were involved in the deployment or when they would arrive. The exercises in the Caribbean Sea are expected to take place in November or December, officials said.

The deployment follows the arrival of two Russian Tu-160 nuclear bombers in Venezuela earlier this month also for exercises, an event that Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez branded a “warning” to the US “empire.”

Chavez was due in Moscow this week on his third visit since June last year.

“It’s a warning. Russia is with us… we are strategic allies. It is a message to the empire. Venezuela is no longer poor and alone,” the fiercely anti-US leader said during a public event this month after the bombers landed.

I am no fan of either the Russian or Pakistani governments (though who knows what will happen in Pakistan now that Musharaff has resigned).

And I’m not yet sure what to think of Chavez and Venezuela, but I do have to agree with Chavez’s take on Mister Bush.

We have a few months left before a new President is sworn in to office.

I’m sure the Bush goons will be working very hard to fuck things up even further before then.