The Cold War: Is it Heating Up Again? Litvinenko's Death and What is Might Mean

One wonders, with the rumored poisoning of a former Russian spy in London and the recent delivery of Russian rockets to Iran whether the heat is once again being turned on in the Cold War. Are the United States and its allies heading into a confrontation with Russia, and former Soviet Union strong man, Vladimir Putin?

According to the Associated Press, Alexander Litvinenko, former KGB agent turned Kremlin critic blamed Russian President Vladimir Putin for poisoning him with a toxic radioactive substance. Indeed, Litvinenko died Thursday night from the radioactive element polonium-210 that was been found in his urine. Unfortunately the substance leaves residue in surrounding areas the victim has visited. Many are hoping they hadn't shaken hands or stood in line recently with the former spy.

Before his death, Litvinenko accused the Russian Putin of having "no respect for life, liberty or any civilized value." As expected, Putin denied the claim dismissing it as political ranting. Yada yada yada, same old verbiage.

The British Home Secretary John Reid confirmed that Litvinenko's death was most likely "linked to the presence of a radioactive substance in his body." The importance of the "substance," is its sophisticated, weaponized nature. Officials speculate the unlikelyhood that such rare poison could be obtained other than through a political state.

From his deathbed, Litvinenko warned "the howl of protest from around the world will reverberate, Mr. Putin, in your ears for the rest of your life." Perhaps so. British Airlines recently alerted an estimated 33,000 passengers and 3,000 staff that "low levels of radioactive traces" have been tracked on two aircraft at Heathrow which had flown between London and Moscow. Several other planes are currently being tested as well.

In addition to Litvinenko's convenient death or perhaps murder, Vladimir Putin, on behalf of Russia, has begun deliveries of the Tor-M1 air defense rocket system to Iran. According to the Russian news agencies, the rocket delivery is yet another sign of a growing rift between Russian-US, particularly as it relates to Iran.

In August, Washington, which has labeled Iran part of the now-infamous Axis-of-Evil, implemented sanctions against Russian arms exporter Rosoboronexport to prevent it from supplying technology to Iran that could one day be used for weapons of mass destruction. One can expect the envelope to be pushed considerably, as was the case in the Cold War. One quakes a bit nowdays, knowing that loose-lips George W. Bush is no John F. Kennedy.

Perhaps the line in the sand is not yet drawn, but the stakes are high (oil and commerce) and Russian and the United States once again are familiar adversaries. It appears as if the mammoth money-generating war machines of all major players on both sides are determined to keep the arms race alive and well for generations to come. One assumes both sides will also guard against combat that would seriously affect special interest and the accumulation of wealth for any of the Bush administration and Putin administration vested interests.

As with the Cold War, the pundits will chat up turmoil while the citizens of all countries involved will dangle in the wind as they wonder what is real and what is not. Meanwhile, China licks its sticky red lollipop chops and waits.