Originally posted by Jackal1
Got to love the way the media takes common knowledge and trys to make it into BIG news.
Russia is not your friend.
Never will be.
Neither current US government is our friend.
Enough "friendship". Churchill said that "Britain doesn't have permanent friends, it has permanent intersts" (I translate it back to English from Russian, so the quote is definetly incorrect). Alexander III, the only Emperor who didn't wage wars, said that Russia has only two allies: it's Army and Navy.
We all have to admit that our countries have their own intersts, and sometimes this interests contradict. The only thing to add here is that "country" != "elite".
The most important thing about Chavez's visit is not weapon contracts. It's natural gas and oil agreements. Weapon contracts are mostly propaganda issue. I mean - showing that he's making his own decisions and doesn't care about some opinions.