Putin will not allow Bush's "Missile Defense" system to be deployed

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Putin will not allow Bush's "Missile Defense" system to be
deployed
By Mike Whitney
Online Journal Contributing Writer


Dec 24, 2007, 01:35

It's been a lot of hard work, but Russian President Vladimir
Putin has finally achieved his goal. He's cleaned up the mess left
behind by Yeltsin, put together a strong and thriving economy, and
restored Russia to a place of honor among the community of nations.
His legacy has already been written. He's the man who rebuilt
Russia. The last thing he wants now, is a pointless confrontation
with the United States. But how can it be avoided? He understands
Washington's long-range plans for Russia and he is taking necessary
steps to preempt them. He is familiar with the heavyweights of US
foreign policy, like Zbigniew Brzezinski, and has undoubtedly read
his master plan for Central Asia, "The Grand Chessboard."
Brzezinski's recent article in Foreign Affairs (A publication of
the Council on Foreign Relations), "A Geostrategy for Eurasia,"
summarizes his views on America's future involvement in the
region: "America's emergence as the sole global superpower now makes
an integrated and comprehensive strategy for Eurasia imperative.
"Eurasia is home to most of the world's politically assertive and
dynamic states. All the historical pretenders to global power
originated in Eurasia. The world's most populous aspirants to
regional hegemony, China and India, are in Eurasia, as are all the
potential political or economic challengers to American
primacy. . . . Eurasia accounts for 75 percent of the world's
population, 60 percent of its GNP, and 75 percent of its energy
resources. Collectively, Eurasia's potential power overshadows even
America's.
"Eurasia is the world's axial supercontinent. A power that
dominated Eurasia would exercise decisive influence over two of the
world's three most economically productive regions, Western Europe
and East Asia. A glance at the map also suggests that a country
dominant in Eurasia would almost automatically control the Middle
East and Africa. With Eurasia now serving as the decisive
geopolitical chessboard, it no longer suffices to fashion one policy
for Europe and another for Asia. What happens with the distribution
of power on the Eurasian landmass will be of decisive importance to
America's global primacy and historical legacy."
So, there it is. The US is moving into the neighborhood and has
no intention of leaving. The war on terror is a fraud; it merely
conceals the fact that Bush is sprinkling military bases throughout
Central Asia and surrounding Russia in the process. Brzezinski sees
this as a "strategic imperative." It doesn't matter what Putin
thinks. According to Brzezinski "NATO enlargement should move forward
in deliberate stages." The US must make sure "that no state or
combination of states gains the ability to expel the United States or
even diminish its decisive role."
This isn't new. Putin has known for some time what Bush is up to
and he's been as accommodating as possible. After all, his real
passion is putting Russia back on its feet and improving the lives of
its citizens. That will have to change now that Bush has decided to
install a "Missile Defense" system in Eastern Europe. Putin will have
to devote more time to blocking America's plans. The new system will
upset the basic balance of power between the nuclear rivals and force
Putin to raise the stakes. A confrontation is brewing whether Putin
wants it or not. The system cannot be deployed. Period. Putin must
now do whatever is necessary to remove a direct threat to Russia's
national security. That is the primary obligation of every leader and
he will not shirk his responsibility.
Putin is an elusive character; neither boastful nor arrogant.
It's clear now that Western pundits mistook his reserved, quiet
manner as a sign of superficiality or lack of resolve. They were
wrong. They underestimated the former KGB colonel. Putin is bright
and tenacious and he has a vision for his country. He sees Russia as
a key player in the new century; an energy powerhouse that can
control its own destiny. He doesn't plan to get bogged down in
avoidable conflicts if possible. He's focused on development not war;
plowshares not swords. He's also fiercely nationalistic; a Russian
who puts Russia first.
But Putin is a realist and he knows that the US will not leave
Eurasia without a fight. He's read the US National Security Strategy
(NSS) and he understands the ideological foundation for
America's "unipolar" world model. The NSS is an unambiguous
declaration of war against any nation that claims the right to
control its own resources or defend its own sovereignty against US
interests. The NSS implies that nations' are required to open their
markets to Western multinationals and follow directives from
Washington or accept a place on Bush's "enemies list." There's no
middle ground. You are with us or with the terrorists. The NSS also
entitles the United States to unilaterally wage aggressive warfare
against any state or group that is perceived to be a potential threat
to Washington's imperial ambitions. These so-called "preemptive" wars
are carried out under the rubric of the "war on terror," which
provides the justification for torture, abduction, ethnic cleansing
and
massive civilian casualties.
US National Security Strategy articulates in black and white what
many critics had been saying for years; the United States owns the
world and everyone else is just a guest.
Putin knows that there's no way to reconcile this doctrine with
his own aspirations for an independent Russia but, so far, a clash
has been averted.
He also knows that Bush is flanked by a band of fanatics and
militarists who plan to weaken Russia, install an American stooge (as
in Georgia and Afghanistan) and divide the country into four regions.
This strategy is clearly presented in forward-planning documents that
have been drawn up in Washington think tanks that chart the course
for US world domination.
Brzezinski is quite candid about this in his article in Foreign
Affairs: "Given (Russia's) size and diversity, a decentralized
political system and free-market economics would be most likely to
unleash the creative potential of the Russian people and Russia's
vast natural resources. A loosely confederated Russia -- composed of
a European Russia, a Siberian Republic, and a Far Eastern Republic --
would also find it easier to cultivate closer economic relations with
its neighbors. Each of the confederated entities would be able to tap
its local creative potential, stifled for centuries by Moscow's heavy
bureaucratic hand. In turn, a decentralized Russia would be less
susceptible to imperial mobilization. " [Zbigniew Brzezinski," A
Geostrategy for Eurasia"]
Partition is a common theme in imperial planning whether its
called apartheid in Israel, federalizing in Iraq, "limited
independence" in Kosovo, or "loose confederation" in Russia. It's all
the same. Divide and rule; undermine nationalism by destroying the
underlying culture and Balkanizing the territory. This isn't new.
What is amazing, is that Bush's plan is going forward despite seven
years of uninterrupted foreign policy failures. Hubris and self-
delusion have a longer shelf life than anyone could have imagined.
Putin is surrounded by ex-KGB hardliners who have warned him that
America cannot be trusted. They have watched while the US has
steadily moved into the former Soviet satellites, pushed NATO to
Russia's borders, and precipitated regime change via "color coded"
revolutions. They point to the Chechen war where US intelligence
services trained Chechen insurgents through their ISI surrogates in
Pakistan -- teaching them how to conduct guerrilla operations in a
critical region that provides Russia with access to the western
shores of the resource-rich Caspian Basin.
Michel Chossudovsky has done some excellent research on this
little-known period of Russian history. In his article "The Anglo-
American Military Axis," he says, "U.S. covert support to the two
main Chechen rebel groups (through Pakistan's ISI) was known to the
Russian government and military. However, it had previously never
been made public or raised at the diplomatic level. In November 1999,
the Russian Defense Minister, Igor Sergueyev, formally accused
Washington of supporting the Chechen rebels. Following a meeting held
behind closed doors with Russia's military high command, Sergueyev
declared that: 'The national interests of the United States require
that the military conflict in the Caucasus [Chechnya] be a fire,
provoked as a result of outside forces," while adding that 'the
West's policy constitutes a challenge launched to Russia with the
ultimate aim of weakening her international position and of excluding
her from geo-strategic areas.'
"In the wake of the 1999 Chechen war, a new 'National Security
Doctrine' was formulated and signed into law by Acting President
Vladimir Putin, in early 2000. Barely acknowledged by the
international media, a critical shift in East-West relations had
occurred. The document reasserted the building of a strong Russian
State, the concurrent growth of the Military, as well as the
reintroduction of State controls over foreign capital. . . . The
document carefully spelled out what it described as 'fundamental
threats' to Russia's national security and sovereignty. More
specifically, it referred to 'the strengthening of military-political
blocs and alliances' [namely GUUAM], as well as to "NATO's eastward
expansion" while underscoring 'the possible emergence of foreign
military bases and major military presences in the immediate
proximity of Russian borders.'"
That's right; there's been a low-grade secret war going on
between Russia and the US for over a decade although it is rarely
discussed in diplomatic circles. The war in Chechnya is probably less
about "succession" and independence, than it is about foreign
intervention and imperial overreach.
The same rule applies to the controversy surrounding Kosovo. The
Bush administration and its EU clients are trying to fragment Serbia
by supporting an initiative for Kosovo's "limited independence. "
But why "limited"?
It's because Bush knows that the resolution has no chance of
passing the UN Security Council, so the only way to circumvent
international law is by issuing a unilateral edict that is promoted
in the media as "independence. " By this same standard, Abraham
Lincoln should have granted Jefferson Davis "limited independence"
and avoided the Civil War altogether.
Author Irina Lebedeva reveals the real motives behind the
administration' s actions on Kosovo in her article "USA-Russia:
Hitting the same gate, or playing the same game?"
"The North Atlantic alliance (the US and its EU allies) documents
indicate that the bloc aims at the 'Balkanization' of the post-Soviet
space by way of overtaking influence in the territories of the
currently frozen conflicts and their follow-up internalization along
the Yugoslavian lines are set down in black and white. For example, a
special report titled 'The New North Atlantic Strategy for the Black
Sea Region,' prepared by the German Marshall Fund of the United
States on the occasion of the NATO summit, already refers to Black
Sea and South Caucasus (Transcaucasia) as a 'new Euro-Atlantic
borderland plagued by Soviet-legacy conflicts.' And the 'region of
frozen conflicts is evolving into a functional aggregate on the new
border of an enlarging West.' Azerbaijan and Georgia in tandem, the
report notes, provide a unique transit corridor for Caspian energy to
Europe, as well as an irreplaceable corridor for American-led and
NATO to bases and operation theatres in
Central Asia and the Greater Middle East.'"
Once again, divide and rule; this time writ large for an entire
region that is being arbitrarily redrawn to meet the needs of mega-
corporations that want to secure "transit corridors for Caspian
energy to Europe." The new Great Game. Brzezinski has called this
area a critical "land-bridge" to Eurasia. Others refer to it as
a "new Euro-Atlantic borderland." Whatever one calls it; it is a good
illustration of how bloodthirsty Washington mandarins carve up the
world to suit their own geopolitical objectives.
Putin has seen enough and he's now moving swiftly to counter US
incursions in the region. He's not going to wait until the neocon
fantasists affix a bull's eye to his back and take aim. In the last
few weeks he has withdrawn Russia from the Conventional Armed Forces
in Europe Treaty (CFE) and is threatening to redeploy his troops and
heavy weaponry to Russia's western-most borders. The move does
nothing to enhance Russian security, but it will arouse public
concern in Europe and perhaps ignite a backlash against
Bush's "Missile Defense" system.
Russian Navy Admiral Vladimir Masorin also announced last week
that Russia will move part of its fleet to Syrian ports where "it
will maintain a permanent presence in the Mediterranean. Israeli
leaders are in a panic over the announcement claiming that the move
will disrupt their "electronic surveillance and air defense centers"
thus threatening their national security. Putin intends to go ahead
with the plan regardless. Dredging has already begun in the port of
Tartus and a dock is being built in the Syrian port of Latakia.
Also, Russian officials are investigating the possibility of
building military bases in Serbia and have been invited to discuss
the issue with leaders in the Serbian Nationalist Radical Party (SRS)
The prospective dialogue is clearly designed to dissuade the US from
pursuing its present policy towards Kosovo.
Russia also delivered its first shipment of nuclear fuel to Iran
last week, which means that the controversial 1,000 watt nuclear
plant at Bushehr could be fully operational within three months.
Adding insult to injury, Iranian officials announced last Monday
their plans to build a second plant in defiance of US orders to halt
its nuclear activities.
Also, last Monday, "Russia test-launched a new intercontinental
ballistic missile part of a system that can outperform any anti-
missile system likely to be deployed," according to Reuters. "The
missile was launched from the Tula nuclear-powered submarine in the
Barents Sea in the Arctic.
"'The military hardware now on our weapons, and those that will
appear in the next few years, will enable our missiles to outperform
any anti-missile system, including future systems,' Col.-Gen Nikolai
Solovtsov was quoted as telling journalists. " [Reuters]
Bush's "Missile Defense" system has restarted the nuclear arms
race. Welcome to the new Cold War.
Finally, Russian Chief of Staff General Yuri Balyevsky warned: "A
possible launch of a US interceptor missile from Central Europe may
provoke a counterattack from intercontinental ballistic
missiles. . . . If we suppose that Iran wants to strike the United
States , then interceptor missiles which would be launched from
Poland will fly towards Russia and the shape and flight trajectory
are very similar to ICBMs." [Novosti Russian News Agency]
Balyevsky's scenario of an "accidental" World War III is more
likely than ever now that Bush is pressing ahead with his plans
for "Missile Defense." Russia's automated missile warning systems can
be triggered automatically when foreign missiles enter Russian air
space. Its a dangerous game and potentially fatal to every living
thing on the planet.
To a great extent, the American people have no idea of the
reckless policy that is being carried out in their name. The gravity
of the proposed "Missile Defense" system has been virtually ignored
by the media and Russia's protests have been dismissed as trivial.
But hostilities are steadily growing, military forces and weaponry
are being put into place, and the stage is set for a major
conflagration. This is every bit as serious as the Cuban Missile
Crisis, only this time Russia cannot afford to stand down.
Putin will not allow the system to be deployed even if he has to
remove it through force of arms. It is a direct threat to Russia's
national security. We would expect nothing different from our own
leaders.