If The World Wasn't Imploding, This Would Be Huge News..

Georgian President Lauds Moscow Terror Attack as ‘Payback’ for 2008 War Georgian President Mikhail Saakashvili rockets to the top of the "Crazy and suicidal enough to fuck with Putin/ Medvedev" chart today. I guess the President outgrew his "Tie-eating" phase(The kooky starts at 1:01).. Look for escalation at the Russian/Georgian border shortly. First link excerpts:

While most of the world reacted with the predictable combination of shock and eagerness for more security measures in the wake of Monday’s suicide bombing in the Moscow Domodedovo Airport, Georgian President Mikhail Saakashvili is openly cheering it.
According to Saakashvili, the bombing was “payback” for the brief Russo-Georgian War of 2008, and that he had recently told Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin that he would face “payback for his country for supporting separatists.”

Wow. Saakashvili really enjoys starring in his own International/ Political version of Kenny Rogers Jackass.. From The Independent/ UK

Mr Saakashvili and the Russian leadership have exchanged regular insults since the 2008 war between the countries over the breakaway territories of South Ossetia and Abkhazia, but his comments are likely to enrage Moscow, coming so soon after the blast at Domodedovo Airport that killed 35 people.
..
"I discussed this personally with Vladimir Putin a while ago. I said to him that the payback for his country for supporting separatists would be that violence would come back to hit them as well," Mr Saakashvili said. "Putin said, 'No, if anyone tries anything against us, we shall crush them like cockroaches,' while jabbing and twisting his thumb on the table in front him."

Before his interview with The Independent, the Georgian President made similar comments in a televised question-and-answer session. "Russia has a political mentality which is on the level of a reptile, like a crocodile ready to swallow you up," Mr Saakashvili said. There is a well-documented personal enmity between Mr Saakashvili and Mr Putin. The Georgian President once said that talking to Mr Putin was "like somebody standing with an axe at your head and saying: "Don't worry, everything's OK, close your eyes and relax.'"
And:
Yesterday, Mr Putin said preliminary investigations into Monday's blast suggested that the bomber did not come from Chechnya. It was unclear whether he meant he had no links to the North Caucasus, or was from a neighbouring republic such as Dagestan. He also ruled out negotiation with terrorist groups.

Saakashvili's almost gleeful remarks not only requires Putin to respond, but is, if not this close to an admission of Georgian involvement, or at least facillitation to the bombing. Or, maybe not.. And Putin just ruled out Chechnya. On purpose or not, President Saakashvili now has the complete attention of Vladimir Putin; again.

I wonder what flavor of tie goes with Provoked Russian Invasion, Winter, 2011?

Next Year's Wars

Bored with the same old Korea vs. Korea, Israel vs. Gaza(for now..), Russia vs. Georgia, and U.S. vs. Iraq and Afghanistan conflicts?  Foreign Policy has taken the time to compile 2011's new apocalypse all stars line up.  Short answer?  Most on FP's list lack the firepower to be more than a civil or regional conflict at best.  The few breakouts include Tajikistan, Pakistan, and Lebanon, as each country deals with border tensions, proxy nation involvement, and the possibility (or availability by a potential ally or enemy) of escalation involving nuclear weapons.

My guess?  Pakistan, drawn into war through a (possibly rogue/possibly government-sanctioned) terror attack, either involving India, the United States, or both. 

Russians say UN Security Council meeting needed to send 'a restraining signal' to North Korea

Sunday morning at 11 a.m EST.  The tension is still building,   Excerpts:

Russia's U.N. ambassador says Moscow called for an emergency Security Council meeting because of escalating tensions on the Korean peninsula.

Vitaly Churkin said the Russian government believes the Security Council must send "a restraining signal" to North Korea and help launch diplomatic actions to resolve all disputes between North Korea and South Korea.

From Bloomberg/Business Week South Korea to Hold Drill This Week; Security Council to Meet
..
The artillery exercises will take place on Dec. 20 or Dec. 21, a spokesman at the Joint Chiefs of Staff who declined to be named, citing military policy, said today by telephone in Seoul. North Korea warned it will retaliate if the exercise takes place.

Shelling by South Korea “would make it impossible to prevent the situation on the Korean peninsula from exploding,” North Korea’s state-run Korean Central News Agency cited the Ministry of Foreign Affairs as saying in a statement yesterday. South Korea sees no reason for abandoning the drill just because other countries say it shouldn’t happen, the South Korean military spokesman said today.

The Security Council meets later today, and neither side will budge.  It's not good, but there's your update.

N Korea vows retaliation if S. Korea conducts live-fire drills near border

"North Korea vowed Friday to retaliate with greater firepower if South Korea goes ahead with its planned live-fire drills from the front line island that has been devastated by North Korean shelling."

Nice.  Eventually, someone will blink.  Or not.  Oh yeah;  This is today, so we'll know soon.  Happy holidays!

Uh Oh..

Expats recalled as North Korea prepares for war

A mass exodus of North Korean workers from the Far East of Russia is under way, according to reports coming out of the region. As the two Koreas edged towards the brink of war this week, it appears that the workers in Russia have been called back to aid potential military operations.

Nothing coming out of the region suggests an easing of hostilities.  And there's still those pesky Military Exercises coming up..  What will happen next?

So That's What That Was.. But The Tension's Still Escalating..

North Korea intensifies threats ahead of Korea-U.S. military exercise near Yeonpyeong Island slated for Sunday.   Excerpts:

Threatening "a shower of dreadful fire," North Korea warned Friday it will wipe out its enemies if its sovereignty is violated, raising already high tension after the communist country exchanged deadly artillery barrages with South Korea earlier this week.

 The warning by the North's Committee for the Peaceful Reunification of Korea is the latest and one of the strongest threats the North has issued since South Korea and the U.S. agreed to hold joint drills near the communist country in a show of force.

  Two South Korean marines and two civilians were killed in the artillery exchange between the Koreas on Tuesday in one of the most violent clashes on the peninsula since the 1950-53 Korean War.

North Korea, officially called the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), denies initiating the clash, warning it will mount additional attacks if its territorial waters are violated.
And:
Meanwhile, South Korea's military is checking reports of sounds of artillery fire around Yeonpyeong Island in the Yellow Sea border with North Korea, officials said. (Hence the "So that's what that was" reference..)

Joint Military Exercises with the U.S. start Sunday, so we've got that to look forward to..

Tensions Don't Seem To Be Easing, Do They?

'Artillery fire' heard near South Korea island  Pre War Excerpts:

South Korea's military said two explosions were heard on Friday and it was checking the source of the sounds.

The two blasts were heard off Yeonpyeong island near the disputed border in the Yellow Sea, a Joint Chiefs of Staff spokesman told AFP.

"We're checking the origin of the sounds," he said.

And:

Officials said “dozens” of artillery rounds had landed on Yeonpyeong Island at in the Yellow Sea, 50 miles off the South’s northwest coast in an area close to a disputed sea border.

Other reports suggested around 200 shells could have been fired in the attack which began at 2.34pm local time (7.34am GMT).

F-16 fighter jets were scrambled and South Korean land-based forces returned fire on the North as civilians were evacuated to emergency bunkers, according to witnesses quoted by the Seoul-based cable news television channel YTN.

If this turns out to be artillery fire, the Korean situation is rapidly blooming into Worldwide crisis.   Once again, timing(Global Debt Crisis)and associations(China) figure heavily into why this sabre rattling is so much more important than past border squabbles.  If we aren't already there, we're rapidly approaching the border of "One wrong move and it's over."