Medvedev meets Obama + Global Medical Relief Fund

All right, everyone, let’s get back into the swing of things. TODAY:

– Obama visits Russia
– Magnanimous Monday
– Funny/Adorable Pictures

President Obama meets Russian President Dmitry Medvedev

In what looks to me like his biggest diplomatic success yet, President Obama has come to some agreements on nuclear reduction and loosening airspace restrictions for the war in Afghanistan.

Obama: *through clenched teeth* "Are you sure Papa Putin's okay with this, Dmitry?" ... Medvedev: "Just keep smiling, Barry."

AP article:

MOSCOW – President Barack Obama and Russian President Dmitry Medvedev signed a preliminary agreement Monday to reduce the world’s two largest nuclear stockpiles by as much as a third, down to the lowest levels of any U.S.-Russia accord, and counter what Obama called “a sense of drift” in the countries’ relations….

The document signed by the two leaders at a Moscow summit, Obama’s first in Russia, is meant as a guide for negotiators as the nations work toward a replacement pact for the START arms control agreement that expires in December. The joint understanding also commits the countries to lower longer-range missiles for delivering nuclear bombs to between 500 and 1,100.

The limit for warheads would be in a range of 1,500 to 1,675 each. However, there are disagreements on what to count…

…Among the side deals meant to sweeten Obama’s two days of talks here and show progress toward improving badly damaged U.S.-Russian relations was permission from Moscow for the United States to transport arms across its land and airspace into Afghanistan for the war there. Obama said the deal will save the U.S. “both time and money,” to the tune of $133 million a year, by waiving transit fees and shortening flying time….

…Yet, the two sides remain stalemated over the U.S. pursuit of a missile-defense system in Europe, pushed aggressively by Bush and still under review by Obama’s 7-month-old administration. Both sides hardened their positions ahead of the summit, and Obama gave a lengthy rationale for the system at Medvedev’s side.

Obama suggested the United States has a right to pursue defensive systems separate from the offensive weapons that are the subject of most arms control negotiations. Obama repeated the U.S. position that the planned system is aimed at intercepting missiles from Iran and has nothing to do with countering” a mighty Russian arsenal,” as many in Russia suspect.

Medvedev called it “a difficult area for our discussion,” but suggested that the new openness between the two countries could help.

Obama said he trusts the Russian leader to follow through on the agreements they struck. And he refused to be drawn into a debate over who really holds the reins of power in Russia, widely believed to be Medvedev’s predecessor and mentor, Prime Minister Vladimir Putin. “My understanding is, President Medvedev is the president … and Prime Minister Putin is the prime minister,” Obama simply said.

Wow…have we just had our first Bushism from Barack Obama?

"Now, I'm not sure about this, but my understanding is that I am the President and Vice President Joe Biden is the Vice President. Also, that Cthulu continues to be the overlord of the United States of America. But that's just my understanding."

So, on the surface, this would all appear to be looking much better than it seemed it would go last week, with Obama claiming Prime Minister Vladmir Putin had “one foot in the old ways” of the Cold War. But, assuming Medvedev is speaking with any authority (either his own or granted by Vladmir), this could be a real step in eliminating the threat of nuclear weapons. And, while I’m not a big fan of faciliating the killing of innocent Afghanis, it’s nice to at least come to some sort of military agreement which indicates Russia isn’t scared of us using their airspace against them.

Still, all doesn’t seem entirely legitimate in the great state of Russia. Here’s Wikipedia’s facts on Medvedev’s presidency:

Dmitry Medvedev
Elected May 7, 2008

Medvedev was appointed First Deputy Prime Minister of the Russian government on 14 November 2005. Formerly Vladimir Putin‘s Chief of Presidential Staff, he was also the Chairman of Gazprom‘s board of directors, a post he had held, for the second time, since 2000. Medvedev’s candidacy was backed by then President Vladimir Putin.^[3] On 10 December 2007, he was informally endorsed as a candidate for the forthcoming presidential elections by the largest Russian political party, United Russia and several pro-presidential parties, and officially endorsed by United Russia on 17 December 2007. A technocrat and political appointee, Medvedev had never held elective office before 2008….

On May 8, Dmitry Medvedev appointed Vladimir Putin  Prime Minister of Russia….

…In his first address to the Russian parliament on 5 November 2008,^[53] Medvedev proposed to change the Constitution of Russia in order to increase the terms of the President and State Duma from four to six and five years respectively (see 2008 Amendments to the Constitution of Russia).

…In May 2009 Medvedev set up the Historical Truth Commission to counter what he considers as attempts to rewrite history unfavorably for Russia.^[55]

Historical Truth Commission? That sounds familiar…

Well, regardless of the specter of corruption, we do ourselves no favors by snubbing Russia during times of war in the Middle East. Getting them on the same page for nuclear arms reduction should be top priority and it seems that, so far, talks are going well. Obama will be meeting with Putin tomorrow.
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Magnanimous Monday: Global Medical Relief Fund

Today’s Magnanimous Monday comes to me from a combination of sources: Idealist, Reddit’s Idealist News, and Razoo.

Alketa from Kosovo

The Global Medical Relief Fund raises money to bring children in need of reconstructive surgery or prosthetic limbs to the U.S. for the treatment that they need. Often, these children are the victims of war violence, landmines, or natural disasters. The success stories are so touching and the organization’s mission is so direct, I can’t find any cons to donating to them and this will be the first Magnanimous Monday that I will follow up by making the small contribution that I can to help their efforts in giving children their lives back. I urge readers to check them out and do the same.

Some words from the site:

The GMRF is committed to bring hope and help to children who are missing or have lost use of their limbs, have been severely burned, or are otherwise damaged due to the atrocities of war, naturall disaster or illness.

The GMRF reaches out both locally and worldwide in search of children in desperate need, with little or no resources to better their condition. We prepare necessary travel documents for both child and guardian, and arrange transportation to the United States, where candidates are fitted with prosthetic limbs and receive medical and/or surgical care. We also provide the patient and his or her guardian room and board for the duration of convalescence.

Since 1997, we have endeavored to give back to children what has been so unfairly taken away. It is often impossible to fully restore the child’s physical condition, but with our help they can regain self-sufficiency and optimism for the future.

Not only do these children gain immeasurably from our organization, both physically and mentally, but they also stand as ambassadors for the United States, reflecting our nation’s generosity, ingenuity, freedom and opportunity.

We at the GMRF feel that it is our obligation as human beings to commit ourselves wholeheartedly to answering those tiny voices around the world whose faint cries call out for our help.

Moises and family from El Salvador

And the organization’s history from the Razoo article by Jennifer Haupt:

Elissa Montanti launched GMRF in 1996, after learning of a 12-year-old Bosnian boy, Kenan, Malkic, who had lost his two arms and leg to a landmine. She helped him to get the prosthetic limbs he needed, and became very close with the child through the years. Kenan is now a 26-year-old web designer living in the US, and helps Montanti to run GMRF…

Since 2004, Montanti has brought more than 50 other children from Iraq, the tsunami earthquake (Indonesia), the Pakistan earthquake, Nepal, China, Bosnia, Kosovo, Niger, Liberia and other war-torn countries to the U.S. GMRF is the only organization that not only brings children here for prosthetic limbs, but is committed to bringing them back for new limb fittings as they grow until age 21. To date, Montanti has helped nearly 90 children through her organization.

You can support GMRF by donating directly on its site or through Razoo. These are the children currently waiting on operations.
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And finally, photo spam. Something from Graph Jam and Pixadus.

What do you think?

Should the U.S. be actively seeking nuclear disarmament by reducing its own nuclear arsenal? Are we leaving ourselves more vulnerable if we eliminate all nuclear weapons? Is it worth finding new forms of defense in order to ensure that we avoid nuclear war?

Quote of the Day

“The prettiest girls in the world live in Des Moines.” – Jack Kerouac