Team Infidel
Forum Spin Doctor
Wall Street Journal (wsj.com)
May 8, 2008 WASHINGTON (AFP)--U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates on Thursday dismissed Russia's order to expel two U.S. military attaches as "just the usual tit-for-tat" in response to Washington's expulsion of a Russian spy.
Gates offered no other details on the circumstances surrounding the expulsion order, but the U.S. expelled a Russian military attache on April 21 and kicked out another in November.
"There's a major aspect of reciprocity here," Gates told reporters.
"I think at some point recently we expelled a Russian for spying. And then these things get into a kind of a back and forth, and at some point everybody decides to stop," he said.
The State Department disclosed the expulsion orders a day after Vladimir Putin handed over the Russian presidency to his hand-picked successor, Dmitry Medvedev. Putin then assumed the position of prime minister.
"There are some intriguing developments in Moscow, but I don't read much into the attache thing other than just the usual tit-for-tat," said Gates.
The former CIA director and career Soviet analyst suggested that plans for a big military parade through Red Square on Friday was a throwback to the Cold War.
"I'm waiting to see if the leadership will be standing atop Lenin's tomb and see if we'll be back to Kremlinology about who's standing in what place and so on," he said.
He recalled that the CIA used to devote enormous efforts to deciphering the Soviet military parades.
"I mean, not only looking at the equipment that was going by, because they'd run some of their newer stuff out - they don't have a lot of new stuff now - but sure, looking at who was standing next to whom and who was more heavily bundled up than the next geriatric," he said.
State Department spokesman Sean McCormack insisted on making no link between the expulsions of the U.S. military attaches and a number of expulsions involving both countries since November last year.
McCormack said Russia expelled a U.S. diplomat on April 14, and confirmed the U.S. expelled one Russian a week later as well as one in November.
"We don't draw any particular connection among these various incidents. We deal with them in their own right," McCormack told reporters.
McCormack said the Russians "gave us some reasons" for the expulsions but he wouldn't disclose them.
"We believe that the expulsions were not justified. But as we all know, in the world of diplomacy sometimes these things happen," McCormack said.
"As far as we're concerned, we don't intend to take any further actions. Of course, we always reserve the right, but at this point I don't see that we're going to take any further action in response," he added.
In Moscow, a Russian foreign ministry spokesman contacted by AFP declined to comment on the report of expulsions.
May 8, 2008 WASHINGTON (AFP)--U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates on Thursday dismissed Russia's order to expel two U.S. military attaches as "just the usual tit-for-tat" in response to Washington's expulsion of a Russian spy.
Gates offered no other details on the circumstances surrounding the expulsion order, but the U.S. expelled a Russian military attache on April 21 and kicked out another in November.
"There's a major aspect of reciprocity here," Gates told reporters.
"I think at some point recently we expelled a Russian for spying. And then these things get into a kind of a back and forth, and at some point everybody decides to stop," he said.
The State Department disclosed the expulsion orders a day after Vladimir Putin handed over the Russian presidency to his hand-picked successor, Dmitry Medvedev. Putin then assumed the position of prime minister.
"There are some intriguing developments in Moscow, but I don't read much into the attache thing other than just the usual tit-for-tat," said Gates.
The former CIA director and career Soviet analyst suggested that plans for a big military parade through Red Square on Friday was a throwback to the Cold War.
"I'm waiting to see if the leadership will be standing atop Lenin's tomb and see if we'll be back to Kremlinology about who's standing in what place and so on," he said.
He recalled that the CIA used to devote enormous efforts to deciphering the Soviet military parades.
"I mean, not only looking at the equipment that was going by, because they'd run some of their newer stuff out - they don't have a lot of new stuff now - but sure, looking at who was standing next to whom and who was more heavily bundled up than the next geriatric," he said.
State Department spokesman Sean McCormack insisted on making no link between the expulsions of the U.S. military attaches and a number of expulsions involving both countries since November last year.
McCormack said Russia expelled a U.S. diplomat on April 14, and confirmed the U.S. expelled one Russian a week later as well as one in November.
"We don't draw any particular connection among these various incidents. We deal with them in their own right," McCormack told reporters.
McCormack said the Russians "gave us some reasons" for the expulsions but he wouldn't disclose them.
"We believe that the expulsions were not justified. But as we all know, in the world of diplomacy sometimes these things happen," McCormack said.
"As far as we're concerned, we don't intend to take any further actions. Of course, we always reserve the right, but at this point I don't see that we're going to take any further action in response," he added.
In Moscow, a Russian foreign ministry spokesman contacted by AFP declined to comment on the report of expulsions.