Slouching Bear, Brazen Dragon

[another 30-minute drill]

In a development at once unsurprising and very disturbing, there is evidence that Russia might be behind what looks like the poisoning of Ukrainian presidential candidate Viktor Yushchenko.

But Dr Korpan said that toxicologists and other experts at laboratories in Britain, the US and France had since examined Mr Yushchenko’s blood samples and medical records. “We will reveal the results in the near future and confirm the cause of this mysterious illness,” he said. “We need to check him again here in Vienna. If we received him today, we could finish the whole investigation in two or three days.”

He declined to say exactly what the substance might have been, or where it might have come from. “Maybe it was administered through injection, maybe in water, maybe through eating, but the way to give it to him is very simple. This substance can be given very precisely — to only one person,” he said.

John Henry, a prominent British toxicologist, has suggested that Mr Yushchenko’s symptoms were consistent with dioxin poisoning, which causes a severe form of acne called chloracne. Doctors at Rudolfinerhaus did not initially test Mr Yushchenko for dioxin, in part because his skin changes were not as severe as they are now. He also refused a biopsy of his face because he did not want to campaign with stitches. Other doctors have suggested that Mr Yushchenko may have been struck down by a rare illness.

Of course, Russia, who openly backed his opponent before, during, and after the tainted election, is a prime culprit.

Proof that Mr Yushchenko was deliberately poisoned would be a devastating blow for his rival, the Prime Minister, Viktor Yanukovych, as the two candidates prepare for a repeat of a presidential run-off on December 26.

It would raise questions about whether the poisoning was ordered by Mr Yanukovych, his allies, or even the Kremlin, which fears that Mr Yushchenko will take Ukraine out of its sphere of influence by joining Nato and the EU.

Remember that Russia also recently made noise about a new type of nuclear missile. What "nuclear threat" does Russia fear? Perhaps the same "threat" that China is trying to address with its new class of ballistic missile submarines: the threat that America might endanger their designs in their respective neighborhoods. With the Ukraine threatening to slip from Russia's grasp, wouldn't it be nice to have a way to keep America and Europe from meddling? For China, wouldn't it be nice to bring Taiwan back into the fold?

Our cold war adversaries, as I have alluded to before in the case of China, are not just sitting on their hands while we lead the war against Islamofascism and do most of the fighting. They see this war as a chance to increase their own power while America is preoccupied.

On the score of China, RealClearPolitics points to this interesting article. (It's a mixed bag, though. The author clearly could learn a thing or two about economics.)

Russia may have big problems of its own with terrorism and China may have to deal with unintended consequences of its freeing up of the economy, but we should watch what each of these states is doing very carefully.

-- CAV

[Drat! 37 minutes!]