Yup, we must read different sources.

But as far as who gets "dissed" and who gets "sucked up to", remember the way the foreign relations game is played. The name of the game is to establish relationships--with any kind of country, democratic, socialist or dictatorial--that will achieve the best interests of the United States. Positive resulting relationships are often described as "allies". Allies are only good for as long as the other country can provide what it is we are seeking. There really are no friendships in foreign relations, only temporary relationships where there is a mutual benefit.

We might not like Russian politics, but there are clear mutual benefits that can be gained by strengthening the relationship. The same would even be true of Hugo Chavez. If we could get first dibs on Venezuela's oil reserves, I guarantee that we would "suck up" to him, even though he is a known dictator.

Do you think we really give a rat's a__ about Krygzyzstan other than for the fact that we need a big airbase there to make it easier for us to take military action in the Middle East? And remember where Kryzyzstan is located--it has a major border with China and our airbase is only about 1,500 miles from both Tehran as well as the center of India. The distance to Afghanistan is less than 1,000 miles. We'll make nice with the government of that country--whoever they are--for as long as they let us have our airbase there. If they are a dictatorship, yes, we'll suck up to them.