By Rand Paul
Obama acts as though we no longer have a Constitution
Vladimir Putin fired his powerful defense chief over a corruption scandal Tuesday, but a heady mix of sex, power struggles and military vendettas dominated talk in Russia about what was really behind the downfall of the man who has overseen the nation's most radical defense reform in decades.
Russian military officers flew to North Korea for talks about renewing military ties on Monday as North Korean leader Kim Jong-il's armored train rolled through the resource-rich far east of Russia on his secretive journey to a summit with President Dmitry Medvedev.
Talks between the U.S. and Russia over a new anti-ballistic missile system for Europe are stuck on a key point, with Moscow demanding to run the system jointly and Washington refusing to yield.
Alexander Golts, an independent Moscow-based military analyst, said that if Russia sees Mr. Assad's defeat as imminent, it would have to quickly organize a massive air bridge to take its citizens home.
Even now, with Mr. Assad's forces in control of the area around Damascus, Russian planes flew to Beirut in a clear move to reduce security risks, Mr. Golts said.
