The withdrawal of the soviet army from Afghanistan and the collapse of the soviet state was a major cause of the Taliban regime coming to power in Afghanistan, with it concomitant infiltration by the al-Qaida terror network, followed by their massive terror attacks on US soil, followed by the wars in which we are now entangled in Afghanistan and Iraq, with the growing likelihood of more of the same coming.
The existence of a stable, friendly and powerful Russian state dominating the eurasian continental mass is as important for the maintenance of international peace in central Asia as is peace in this hemisphere dependent upon dominance by the power of the United States.
So I would not purposefully do anything to weaken Russia. Even if that meant implanting democracy in Ukraina. And, despite the glib promises of this Yushchenko and his orange-scarved crowds in the streets of Kiev, I think democracy is no more likely to come to Ukraina than it did to Belarus or to the various turkish republics of the former Soviet Union.
If the Russian power had kept Afghanistan within its grip 15 years ago, there would have been crazed fundamentalist islamic government in control in 2001, probably no nuclear weaponry in the hands of the unstable islamic government of Pakistan, and almost certainly less likelihood of nuclear weaponry getting into the hands of the ayatollas who run the affairs of Iran.
So, yes, we did indeed win the cold war and we bankrupted are long-time soviet adversary. But the world was a far more stable place then than what we witness today, and there is little certainty that the repairs for which we are currently striving shall prove to be more than international band-aids.
Against that perspective, I really don't give a damn whether Yushchenko, supposed friend of western civilization, beats Yushchenko, supposed old-time KGB and Politburo thug. My only concern is the balance of the gigantic tectonic plates of the world's power relationships, which alone keep the peace or smash us with the volcanoes and tidal waves of war.
I think that a challenge would not necessarily be a bad thing. It would further demonstrate to the broader public that the battle in Ukraine really was a battle between democratic and anti-democractic forces.
Arnold,
I remember the "duck and cover" part of the cold war. I don't recall that period being particularly stable. When one went to bed at night, there was always the wonder if one would awake in the morning to a nuclear holocaust.
I think we tend to remember the past more fondly that it really was. I think our brains are wired to drop most of the bad stuff and keep the good stuff to keep us from going crazy.
I don't believe current times are any much better or worse than prior times. But they are different. Change is stressful, but I'm not sure I want to go back to when we and the Soviets with a nuclear gun to each other's heads with itchy trigger fingers.
Whether the Bush doctrine in Iraq will ultimately make the world more stable and the U.S. safer, I don’t know. My crystal ball is pretty foggy and I recently dropped it in the mud. For me, I see that coin in slow motion suspended in mid air slowly flipping end over end.
I'm sure glad President Reagan stood up to the Communists and thereby won the Cold War. I'm counting on President Bush to do the same vis-vis the Muslim terrorists.
SMA, I too was glad presient Reagan stood up to the communists and thereby won the cold war. And I too am counting on president Bush to do the same vis-vis the muslim terrorists.
But I remind that had if Afghanistan were occupied by Russian troops, their army and not ours would be the one bearing the major load of battling Islam and its terrorist adherents.
The existence of a stable, friendly and powerful Russian state dominating the eurasian continental mass is as important for the maintenance of international peace in central Asia as is peace in this hemisphere dependent upon dominance by the power of the United States.
So I would not purposefully do anything to weaken Russia. Even if that meant implanting democracy in Ukraina. And, despite the glib promises of this Yushchenko and his orange-scarved crowds in the streets of Kiev, I think democracy is no more likely to come to Ukraina than it did to Belarus or to the various turkish republics of the former Soviet Union.
If the Russian power had kept Afghanistan within its grip 15 years ago, there would have been crazed fundamentalist islamic government in control in 2001, probably no nuclear weaponry in the hands of the unstable islamic government of Pakistan, and almost certainly less likelihood of nuclear weaponry getting into the hands of the ayatollas who run the affairs of Iran.
So, yes, we did indeed win the cold war and we bankrupted are long-time soviet adversary. But the world was a far more stable place then than what we witness today, and there is little certainty that the repairs for which we are currently striving shall prove to be more than international band-aids.
Against that perspective, I really don't give a damn whether Yushchenko, supposed friend of western civilization, beats Yushchenko, supposed old-time KGB and Politburo thug. My only concern is the balance of the gigantic tectonic plates of the world's power relationships, which alone keep the peace or smash us with the volcanoes and tidal waves of war.
Arnold Harris
Mount Horeb WI
I'm am feeling deja vu: Phillipines, 1985.
here
I remember the "duck and cover" part of the cold war. I don't recall that period being particularly stable. When one went to bed at night, there was always the wonder if one would awake in the morning to a nuclear holocaust.
I think we tend to remember the past more fondly that it really was. I think our brains are wired to drop most of the bad stuff and keep the good stuff to keep us from going crazy.
I don't believe current times are any much better or worse than prior times. But they are different. Change is stressful, but I'm not sure I want to go back to when we and the Soviets with a nuclear gun to each other's heads with itchy trigger fingers.
Whether the Bush doctrine in Iraq will ultimately make the world more stable and the U.S. safer, I don’t know. My crystal ball is pretty foggy and I recently dropped it in the mud. For me, I see that coin in slow motion suspended in mid air slowly flipping end over end.
But I remind that had if Afghanistan were occupied by Russian troops, their army and not ours would be the one bearing the major load of battling Islam and its terrorist adherents.
Arnold Harris
Mount Horeb WI