" Losing China",My last diary, got such silly responses, calling me "fear troll" and completely avoiding the issue of Kerry playing too-nice in the diplomatic arena, that I was stunned.
But that was before the Russian invasion of Crimea, and today's declaration by a Russian envoy that they would basically consider letting Iran develop nukes if the West does not recognize their takeover of Crimea. That was also before an Iranian ship full of weapons was boarded in an operation the Obama administration agreed to work on WITH the Israelis, knowing full well this may collapse the Iranian talks that I predicted will falter. That was before Russia decided to start preparation for pulling out of the START treaty. That was before Kerry started to play hardball with Sergei Leverov.
But it was NOT before the report on North Korea being as bad as the Stalin Gulags of the 1930's.
So I hope you "Isolationists Without Borders" listen this time, because you got it coming:
The new Cold War, version 2.0, is already here. The similarities to how WWII started are scary: In 1935 The Nazi's organized a referendum in Saar land that led to this neutral region's annexation by Germany. They did something similar in Austria, then in Sudetenland (part of the Czech Republic) in 1938. Bullies need to be contained!
This is NOT the stupid 2003 Iraq war re-visited. This is about progressive values - not neocon values. WE could hold the high ground.
We have all the advantages, if we don't close our ears and shout ``la la la la la'' at the top of our lungs. If we do, it will be us that reap our fair rewards, instead of a second rate actor that stole Kennedy's thunder the last time around.
It is not hard to be a progressive that has roots in the Truman doctrine and containment of the anti-democratic forces in the world. The ideas of moral-high ground foreign policy remained with us throughout (maybe except for the Johnson administration).
Let us remember that the reason the Soviet Empire crumbled was that we have shown it to be an empire of bullies, not a group of benevolent equality champions. OUR Truman policy of containment has led, after they confiscated all of Eastern Europe and China, to them pushing their luck time after time in Korea, Hungary, Czechoslovakia, Angola, and Afghanistan. It was OUR policy of "stand-up-to-bullies" by Kennedy that led to Cuba stepping back, the world seeing the evil of the Berlin wall, and on to Granada.
All Reagan had to do is articulate what we, progressive, said better. That is ALL he did.
Alas, too many on our side are happy to go back to their 1960's pipe dreams of world-commune (something the Soviet Union never was) and compare our relatively minor faults with those of the extreme dictatorship of the new (and old) Russia.
That would be a huge mistake for our cause in the long run.
Most of those on our side do not understand that compassionate policy at home does not mean dictator-fodder abroad. We need now, more than ever, to stand up to the bullies, contain them, provide alternatives to the (economically and politically) bullied.
We must therefore go back to containment and a `Marshall Plan' for the likes of Ukraine, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Mongolia, and even Turkey, and persuade the Europeans to do the same. Unlike republicans, we should NOT try military solutions.
Russia, that still has no capabilities except through its power of being a bully and having some gas reserves, will collapse again.
7:46 PM PT: Reading some of the comments, and the response to the poll, here is one thing I did not include:
Think about the Republican old-guard response: (McCain 12 points)
http://www.businessinsider.com/...
I cannot agree with military exercise on the Russian border and small arms to Ukraine and embargo on Russian gas and oil. That's escalation, not containment. Containment is in helping all countries around Russia. That's a stronger statement without quid pro quo.
8:08 PM PT: Not much exposure, but I am glad only 20% of readers "bury their heads in the sand" and think this will blow over, and only one falling for the Chomsky trap of equating inherently totalitarian regimes with our own naive and error-prone leadership.
Thu Mar 20, 2014 at 7:21 PM PT: Obama's way is not a good way. Playing "chicken" with banks is much more risky than making alliances with countries surrounding Russia. Instead of saying to the world: "You cannot trust Russia, so let's make sure they don't invade others" we are saying: "bad boys! Bad! Bad!" as if they were dogs. Bad move.