by Mark Luedtke
In the tradition of Stalin, Russian President Vladimir Putin has played President Bush and western political elites for useful idiots. In just the latest example, after Bush treated Putin to a fishing trip in Kennebunkport, Maine, Putin returned home and immediately ordered the resumption of long range bomber flights to test the air defenses of the US and Britain.
Putin is intent on using Russia's newly developed oil wealth to restore Russia to the status of the old Soviet Union, and he's revitalized the Soviet propaganda machine to build domestic support. Putin turned the plan to station NATO missile defense installations in Poland and the Czech Republic into a propaganda coup, denouncing imaginary NATO aggression. He offered to host the radar installation in Azerbaijan, knowing that radar is not nearly sophisticated enough for the anti-missile platform. This phony offer made Putin look statesmanlike at home and to many Europeans, helping to further divide Europe and the US.
In an attempt to distract from Russia's antagonistic foreign policy, Russian propaganda in an ad supplement for the Washington Post looked like a small town US newspaper and featured popular Maria Sharapova. Maybe Putin forgot she left Russia for the US. Fanning nationalist flames at home, Russian propaganda videos show marching US troops, insinuating that US troops threaten Russia. But a more frightening propaganda film shows 2 prisoners labeled as immigrants kneeling in front of a swastika. A masked man cuts the head off the first, then shoots the second in the head while shouting “Glory to Russia”.
Every tyrant needs an enemy, and Putin is using his propaganda machine to incite fear and nationalistic fervor directed at the US. Putin's use of propaganda is reminiscent of Goebbels, and Russian rule by secret police reminiscent of the Gestapo. Putin's Russia is more similar to Nazi Germany than the Soviet Union, and this new Russian enemy grew from Putin's KGB roots.
Putin has not changed the Russian constitution to allow him to stay in office, so it's unlikely he'll attempt to remain president. But Putin has changed the constitution to consolidate power for his party and guarantee that Russia's dangerous nationalism will continue following upcoming elections. His hand picked successor is virtually assured a victory in March. Marsha Lipman of the Moscow Carnegie Centre explains that Putin controls the elections, “There isn't a single political party or force that can take part in elections without the Kremlin's blessing, so you can't call that a competition. Real power is in the Kremlin, in a small circle around the President.”
Russia's nationalism is armed with Soviet weapons technology and powered by newly developed oil wealth. Putin uses oil supply as a strategic weapon to threaten the old Soviet Republics and Europe. He suspended his treaty limiting conventional troops in Europe. He has rededicated his country to becoming the world's leading exporter of military aircraft while he upgrades his ballistic missile arsenal and conventional forces to better threaten Europe and the US. Russia also laid claim to the resource rich North Pole in a recent propaganda stunt.
But even more scary is Russia's alliance with China. Their joint war-games simulate invading Taiwan, using nuclear weapons against defending US forces. China and Russia both supplied North Korea's and Iran's nuclear programs. China has a voracious demand for oil and weapons, which Russia can supply in abundance.
Russia and China also have a natural demographic link. Like socialism does to every country, Soviet socialism devastated the Russian population. The fertility rate in Russia is only 1.28, nearly halving every generation, and women outnumber men. But China has an excess of males, and new wealth is driving China's birthrate back up in spite of the restrictions on child bearing. As China and Russia get closer economically, they will likely get closer demographically.
Russia and China are allied and using all the tools at their disposal, including supporting North Korea, Iran, Syria and to a lesser extent Venezuela, to defeat us in a new Cold War of Terror. Russia and China have supplied weapons, diplomatic cover, and economic support to these rogue states to drain American resources, our respect in the international community, and generally create chaos. Their spying surpasses Cold War levels, stealing our technological secrets through a coordinated program of traditional intelligence and computer infiltration. Russia and China threaten our allies and our satellites.
Using subterfuge as described by Sun Tzu, Russia and China are waging a new Cold War of Terror against us, and our leaders pretend it isn't so like useful idiots. Downplaying the threat, one prominent columnist foolishly claimed, as supplier and consumer, Russia and China are natural adversaries. That's a gross misrepresentation of economics. He must think Kroger is an adversary of grocery shoppers too.
We didn't win the last Cold War by pretending it didn't exist. President Reagan confronted it head on, and we won it without firing a shot. We need to acknowledge Russia and China's new Cold War of Terror and adopt a strategy now to win it without firing a shot as well. We cannot win the War on Terror until we acknowledge it's a proxy war in this larger Cold War. This is no time for political correctness. It's time for the US to return to a muscular foreign policy regarding our new Cold War of Terror adversaries.
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