What say you about the Poland Czechoslovakia issue regarding saving money at their expense. Shades of Chamberlain, hailed as bringing “peace to Europe” after signing a non-aggression pact with Germany. So we piss a bunch of money away on bail outs for contributors to his campaign like Deutsche Bank, BOA, Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, Lehman Bros., Credit Suisse, J.P. Morgan, Fannie Mae, et al. and betray our allies. I think this is cowardly.[/quote]
Aecetia: I agree. Putin’s concerns about NATO’s encroachment into “Greater Russia’s” sphere of influence are well known, as is his desire to see Russia return to her former glory. Between his bullying of Western Europe economically (through fuel/energy supplies and control of the distribution and pipelines) and politically (saber rattling over NATO, “undue” US influence, etc) and his handling of the Ukrainian and Georgian situations, he’s made it abundantly clear he wants the US out of Eastern Europe and for good.
Given what the US represents to these former Soviet satellites, its morally reprehensible for us to cut and run. And, for those advocates that are saying that this is simply us choosing better, more advanced systems: Hooey. This is the US giving ourselves the bum’s rush. All you need to do is watch Russia’s reaction over this to get a feel for what really happened.
Shades of Chamberlain, indeed. Here we have a bully who traffics in Russian cultural iconography and uses language that recalls the specter of Stalinism, but its now recast in a heroic light (a new Russian law makes it a crime to disparage Stalin and his acts during his reign of terror; the “new” story is that Stalin was a hero and the acts committed during his time saved Russia. Imagine how the Poles, Latvians, Ukrainians, Lithuanians and Estonians feel about that, as well as the Finns, Chechens, Ingush, etc, etc, etc).
Do you sincerely believe that the craven Western European countries like Germany, France and Italy are going to do anything about a resurgent Russia? Nope. They’re too dependent on Russia energy supplies and their military forces, especially those engaged in Afghanistan, have shown themselves to be a paper tiger. Obama is simply joining a club of cowards pretending to be diplomats.
What was that chant from 1938? “Don’t be vague, ask for Prague”.
