Watching Russia's recent moves into the Middle East is almost like reading the Bible. In fact, so much of what we're seeing today is like reading the Bible. But, we all knew that, sooner or later, these days were coming.

For those not familiar with Bible prophecy, I would recommend reading chapters 38 and 39 in the Old Testament book of Ezekiel, and then read this article posted by the Asian Times Read it here. Except for the part about Israel living securely, today's real world picture couldn't be a better match. And according to this report Read it here, it appears possible part of Putin's new Middle East strategy could be to lure Israel into her foretold false sense of security.

This morning I stumbled on an insightful commentary about the EU's failure to establish a meaningful common foreign and security policy. The writer says:

Currently, the Political and Security Committee (COPS) is empowered to handle the tactical creation and management of EU operations, which mostly involve member state assets, but it does not have the bigger mandate. On the other hand, the commission holds all the instruments for implementing all aspects of a strategy, but lacks the power or ability to generate one.

(Keep in mind, the Political and Security Committee is where the EU's High Representative and the 10 Western European Union nations have their emergency powers provided by Recommendation 666.)

The writer goes on to say:

An immediate solution may be the creation of a standing committee at ambassadorial level - ie one that would carry weight - to deal with the matters generally known as CFSP and ESDP - but there is no chance that either member states, or their permanent representatives to the EU, would agree to such a formulation Read commentary here.

But as interesting as the thoughts expressed in the above commentary are, I found some comments made by a reader even more interesting. The reader says:

I too live and work in Brussels, for the Commission. I too share your concerns. But even if there were a Constitution it would make no difference. The problem, as i am sure you must be aware, is not the European Commission or even the European Parliament, but the Council.

The reader continues:

COREPER is unfortunately stymied because the Council does not act as an EU body but as a collection of individual States whose Ministers vote according to national, not EU, instructions.

And then the reader ends by saying something that I've been saying. She says:

And the personalities - well, you know as well as anyone, that not toe-ing the Party line gets you fired!

You see, it's the EU member states in the Council who hold the real reigns of power in the EU. And when push comes to shove, it's the interests of the member states that count. That's why I see it so significant that at the EU's December European Council the EU heads made arrangements for their High Representative, Javier Solana, to have his seat within the Commission without the ratification of their new Constitution. With Solana present within the Commission, Solana can oversee his New European Neighborhood Policy for the EU  heads, even without having the legal authority to do so. And if anyone doesn't go along with the program, well, the reader says it best.

And the personalities - well, you know as well as anyone, that not toe-ing the Party line gets you fired!

Yes, reading the news is like reading the Bible.