Article: Bush Tries to "Humiliate" Russia

What constitutes a “rogue state”? Is that a nation that will not abide by its treaty obligations and pursues its own agenda’s without regard for world opinion? Is it a nation that threatens other nations and agitates its population towards belligerent actions? Is it a nation that supplies arms to other nations without taking responsibility for what the purchasers do with those weapons? Is it a nation that makes the planet a dumping ground for radioactive materials and poisonous refuse? If that is a “rogue state” than I guess I’m living in one.

The United States wants to extend its missile shield into former Soviet satellite states. This missile shield is the type of system that basically drove the Soviet Union out of business. The race to develop the Strategic Defense Initiative is seen by many as the straw that broke the camel’s back, and just about bankrupted the Soviet Union who tried to keep up militarily. Eventually, the SALT II treaty was recognized and adhered to, but never signed by the two countries. With the Soviet collapse, and the NATO encroachment into former Soviet satellites States, another treaty, The Conventional Forces in Europe Treaty, the CFE as it is known, was initially signed in 1990 by the countries of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) and the former Warsaw Pact. It was adapted in Istanbul in 1999 following the collapse of the Warsaw Pact and the enlargement of NATO, but NATO states have not yet ratified the new pact, arguing that Russia must first withdraw troops from Georgia and Moldova.

Putin said that he would not adhere to the terms of the pact until all the NATO countries adhere to the treaty. Ties have been strained over U.S. plans to extend its missile shield into former Soviet satellite states and the chance that Russia might veto a plan to give supervised independence to Kosovo, where NATO has 17,000 troops based. These are issues that could spell the end to this treaty and signal a new “Cold War” with Russia, largely based on the “missile shield” that the United States wants to put into former Warsaw Pact nations. This is the same SDI that caused the Russians so much consternation a few decades ago.

Why does the United States see fit to introduce this renamed SDI program into Eastern Europe? The U.S. says that it is to protect itself from “rogue states”. If that is the case, than why not put it around the United States? From all the data that I have looked at, this entire program is a huge white elephant. First of all, just about four out of five missiles launched at another missile, even with the incoming missile coordinates known, have failed to hit the target. Many in the military can’t see this program ever getting off the ground, let alone actually being deployed in Eastern Europe. To set off a new “Cold War” with Russia over a system that isn’t even working or completed yet is an unbelievable move for the U.S. to make.

The United States seems to believe that it is omnipotent. It seems to believe that its decisions are infallible. Bush said once that he looked into their “soul” of Vladimir Putin. I guess when he did that, he saw a patsy. The United States has no right to ask Russia to live up to it’s treaty obligations while riding roughshod over the wishes of Moscow. Bush should realize that this isn’t Rome, and he isn’t Caesar. This is not the way to politically engage another country. However, it runs true to form for Mr. Bush who seems to think that diplomacy is for weaklings, and this is just an attempt by Bush to humiliate Russia. That is why I started this article asking what a rogue state really was. I’ve thought about it, and I think that it’s about time that all American citizens give it a good hard look. So far this President has just about failed at everything he has tried to accomplish. The only saving grace that saves him from being wrong on everything is that he seemed to improve relations with Russia. Now he seems to be trying his best to sabotage even that. If this were a novel, I would say that Bush is in reality an enemy agent trying everything he can possibly can to bring America down. In reality, the only difference is that he’s not an enemy agent.