by John M. Curtis
(310) 204-8700

Copyright August 17, 2008
All Rights Reserved.                    

            Shocked by Russia’s recent invasion of Georgia, the White House continues to ratchet up the Cold War rhetoric trying to get Moscow to back down.  Secretary of State Condoles Rice—a Soviet expert by academic training—insisted this was not 1968, referring to the Soviet invasion of Czechoslavakia.  While the Berlin Wall fell in 1989, Russia continues its repressive ways, collectivizing private industry and dismantling the  free press.  When former president Vladimir V. Putin named his successor, left office March 1 and was named prime minister by the Kremlin, it signaled a return to the old Soviet days.  While President George W. Bush called Putin his “friend,” the ex-KGB agent dismantled Russia’s free press, jailed dissidents and expropriated private industry.  When Russia invaded Georgia Aug. 8, it was a continuation of the same repressive and strong-arm tactics.

             NATO has no answer for Russia’s powerful army, capable, at any given moment, of conquering any European country or any one of its former satellites.  Rice blasted Russia for “playing a dangerous game,” promising that NATO would not permit a return to the old Soviet days.  “We have to deny Russia strategic objectives, which are clearly to undermine Georgia’s democracy, to use its military capability to damage and in some cases destroy Georgian infrastructure and weaken the Georgians state,” said Rice, realizing that U.S. commitments in Iraq and Afghanistan make it impossible to confront Russia in Eastern Europe.  NATO can’t provide enough troops in Afghanistan, let alone consider how to contain a growing Russian threat to Eastern or Western Europe.  Rice hasn’t quite caught up to the reality that the world’s last superpower lost much of its global influence.

              When Bush decided to make Iraq his priority in the wake of Sept. 11, he weakened U.S. national security, draining the military and treasury.  Before the Soviet Union collapsed in 1991, it wasted untold billions losing a long, bloody guerrilla war in Afghanistan to CIA-funded Osama bin Laden.  When the Soviets finally pulled out Feb. 15, 1989 they were nearly broke, eventually accelerating its complete collapse Dec. 21, 1991.  Spending nine years in Afghanistan, the Soviet Union learned a bitter lesson:  Not to squander a nation’s blood and treasure on a useless war.  Nearly eight years into Afghanistan and over five-and-half years into Iraq, the U.S. finds itself in the same predicament.  Nobel prize-winning, Columbia University economist Joseph E. Stiglitz came to the same conclusion about Iraq:  The war has broken the U.S. economy and weakened U.S. national security.

             If Rice can’t get NATO to commit enough troops to Afghanistan and Iraq, she’s not going to get them to defend Georgia or other former Soviet satellites.  “We are not going to allow Russia to draw a “new line” at those states that are not yet integrated into the transatlantic structures,” said Rice, continuing to push for Georgia’s and Ukraine’s entrance into NATO and the European Union.  While Condi talks a good game, she knows three’s very little interest in Western or Eastern Europe for a military confrontation with Russia.  Russia’s recent invasion of Georgia, over the pleas of its hothead president Mikhail Saakashvili, unwilling to concede one inch of territory to mother Russia.  White House officials won’t admit that the Iraq War has damaged U.S. national security by draining the economy and military to the point that there’s little left to intervene elsewhere.

            Presumptive Democratic nominee Sen. Barack Obama (D-Il.) must make the argument that Bush’s national security plan—including the Iraq War—has weakened the country.  There’s no getting around the fact that the U.S. was virtually impotent to deal with Russian tanks steamrolling over Georgia.  Should the White House go ahead with plans to place missile interceptors in Poland and the Czech Republic, the U.S. might have to confront Russia should they bomb the sites.  Russian Gen. Anatoly Nogovitsyn warned Poland—and the U.S.—to not go forward with its missile defense system.  “Poland by deploying [the system] is exposing itself to a strike—100 percent,” said Nogovitsyn, leaving the door open to a nuke strike.  Condi may be right that things aren’t 1968:  They’re 2008, a far more dangerous world with both nuclear and conventional options still on the table.

             Bush seems intent on staying the course in Iraq until he leaves office Jan. 20, 2009.  Without an end in sight, the U.S. economy will continue to bumble along until the order is finally given to pull out.  McCain promises, like Bush, to continue the war until a mythical “victory,” perhaps defined by zero U.S. casualties.  Obama sees the damage done to the U.S. economy, military and national security, promising to withdraw forces within 16 months.  Russia’s invasion of Georgia and Iran’s continued uranium enrichment was made possible because of a U.S. military too bogged down in Iraq and Afghanistan to intervene elsewhere.  Rice hasn’t faced reality that there’s no rescue plan in NATO for Georgia or any other country—including Poland—that may be subjected to Russian aggression.  White House plans to install missile interceptors in Poland could be the next flashpoint.

About the Author

John M. Curtis writes politically neutral commentary analyzing spin in national and global news. He's editor of OnlineColumnist.com and author of Dodging The Bullet and Operation Charisma.

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