Mass Murderer to Mass Murderer: Russia supplies weapons to terrorists

U.S. Vice President Dick Cheney met with President Shimon Peres on the sidelines of the Ambrosetti forum on the edge of Italy's Lake Como on Saturday, telling the Israeli leader that Russia is selling arms to Damascus and Iran with the clear knowledge that they are being channeled to Hezbollah and terror groups in Iraq.

The American vice president later reiterated these remarks in his address at the economic conference, saying that "Russian arms dealing in the Middle East has endangered the prospects for peace and freedom in the region." He added that the Russian leaders view democracy as a direct threat to their regime. Russia crossed a clear line when it invaded Georgia and attacked democracy and the rights of innocent civilians, Cheney said.

The conflict between Russia and Georgia erupted early last month when Georgia tried to retake the breakaway region of South Ossetia, and Russia responded with overwhelming force sending tanks and troops into Georgian territory.

Cheney went on to say that the U.S. demands that Russia implement a policy of full disclosure and to allow its neighboring countries to exercise their sovereignty, in peace and with democracy. Russia needs to ask itself whether it wants to remove itself from the global family, democracy, freedom and modern free economy, he added.

In order to end the conflict between Russia and Georgia, Cheney continued, and to dissipate the tension in the region, Europe must adopt a clear and unified policy on this issue.

Addressing the U.S.'s proposed deployment of shield components in Poland and the Czech Republic, Cheney said that Russia sees the expansion of NATO as a threat on its sovereignty. The deployment of U.S. defense systems aims to protect the West from attacks coming from the Middle East, and not to harm Russia, he explained. He added that the U.S. had tried to include Russia in the defense plan, but the Russians responded with aggression toward Poland.

Peres recounted to Cheney his recent talks with Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin on the day that Russia invaded Georgian soil. The president said that Russia, like the U.S., opposes the prospect of nuclear weapons in the hands of extremist religious regimes, such as Iran. Religion is opium for leaders, and Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is seeking to impose terror and religious hegemony on the Middle East as a whole in the name of fanatic religious beliefs, Peres told his colleague. He went on to urge the U.S. and Europe to produce an alternative energy source, explaining that oil profits fund most of the world's terror and its extremist leaders such as Ahmadinejad and Venezuela's Hugo Chavez.

The President added that Israel is determined to fight terror in the most effective way, using advanced technology. Peres stressed that Israel and the moderate Arab states must collaborate on a joint intelligence arrangement, with the help of the U.S. and Europe, in order to be able to fight world terror, which centers around the Middle East.

Peres also voiced his strong opposition to allowing the Islamist Palestinian group Hamas participate in democratic elections in the Palestinian Authority, explaining that the course of action in which a group, such as Hamas, uses democratic tools to impose a military dictatorship and terror on an entire population, is unacceptable.

Haaretz