One of the biggest problems with the United States becoming a debtor nation instead of a creditor is that we really lose any ability to help out our valued friends in times of trouble. As such, the banking crisis in Iceland has forced the government to turn to Russia - who is happy to throw some of its excess liquidity toward the relatively stable instruments of the country in the form of a $5.4 billion loan. Reykjavik is really not all that happy about it, and seems to display some awareness that this is exactly the kind of deal that can end up outsourcing your Ministry of Foreign Affairs to Kremlin oversight just like Finland. Prime Minister Geir Haarde tells the Financial Times, "We have not received the kind of support that we were requesting from our friends. So in ...