More Of "We Are At A Crossroads"

FIRST ISSUE:

We already know that Venezuela's Hugo Chavez is a good friend of Fidel Castro -- witness the photograph.

There should be no confusion now as to where Chavez is directing his country, now that he has openly visited Iran.

Al Jazeera.net says:

Hugo Chavez, the Venezuelan president, has invited Iran to invest in his country's oil and gas industries during talks with Mahmoud Ahmedinejad, the Iranian president.

Talking to reporters in Tehran, Chavez said that he hoped Iran would invest in Venezuela's Orinoco region.

"We invite Iranian companies to the Gulf of Venezuela and the delta for gas production," he said on a visit to Iran as part of a four-nation mission that included Qatar, Russia and Belarus.

Iranian investment in Venezuela last year was worth $1 billion, most of it in oil and gas and engineering sectors.

Venezuela and Iran are both members of the Opec and fierce critics of the US and the pair pledged to stand by each other in their struggles with the United States.

Chavez met Ahmedinejad on Saturday and said his country would "stand by Iran at any time and under any condition", Iran's state-run television reported.

Forbes magazine seems to think that Chavez's little junket may backfire, insofar as there is growing criticism at home and political forces beginning to amass against him, and that the seat he is seeking on the UN Security Council when vacated by Argentina is something less than a "sure thing."

What is clear is this in terms of a Crossroads: China, Russia, Venezuela and Iran are beginning to more closely coalesce in terms of producing a new conglomeration of oil-producing nations. And these nations are forming their links not so closely with regard to the hard economics (though that would certainly be the case for Putin's Russia) but with a greater eye to the politics involved. Additionally, Venezuela has been tacitly providing supplies and cash for Hezbollah -- hence, no shock that Chavez now shakes hands with Ahmadinejad.

SECOND ISSUE:

We have reached another Crossroad, as I predicted; not Homicide Bombers (HB) from without per se, but individual Islamic-driven idealogues from within.

This time, in Seattle, a Muslim opened fire on and shot six people at a Jewish center, killing one woman. 30-year-old Naveed Afzal Haq hid behind a potted plant and put a gun to the head of a 13-year-old girl to gain entry.

Haq, a Muslim, told authorities he was angered by the war in Iraq and U.S. military cooperation with Israel.

"He pointedly blamed the Jewish people for all of these problems," Seattle Police Chief Gil Kerlikowske said at a news conference Saturday.

According to a statement of probable cause, Haq told a 911 dispatcher: "These are Jews and I'm tired of getting pushed around and our people getting pushed around by the situation in the Middle East."

To those who have the ability, training and wherewithal: carry.

More points on the compass to the Crossroads.

BZ