Russia

Very interesting Op-Ed in today's Philadelphia Inquirer from columnist Mark Bowden, who writes that we should be very leery of supporting Lukoil, the Russian oil and gas giant which has recently bought its way into the American market: http://www.philly.com/inquirer/columnists/mark_bowden/20070429_The_Point___Darth_Vader_at_the_gas_pump.html. Bowden's point is a good one; it wasn't that long ago that the old Soviet Union was our enemy, and Russian President Vladimir Putin has seemingly taken Russia several--if not many--steps back to those authoritarian days. His second point is equally good; do we really want to support a country which is increasingly acting in ways that are directly contrary to our national interests? Then again, we DO continue to buy oil at alarming rates from our GOOD FRIENDS, the Saudis.......................