When Putin said that the collapse of the USSR was the greatest calamity of the 20th century, I certainly didn't take him seriously enough. But where was the Bush administration, the steely eyed Texan? DUPED by looking dreamily into 'Pootey poots' eyes. As stupid on this as on not cleaning house after 9/11 at the CIA , FBI, and other advisory panels. FAILURES on critical issues.
So now what? Russia has said if we arm a nation which was in the process of becoming a NATO ally (Georgia) they would look on it as an act of war. Perhaps we should have been saying this of Iran to the Russians all along. This is the same principle they applied in the nuclear blackmail they have been applying to Poland, the Ukraine and anyone who thinks freedom offers a better model. To whom should this kind of decision be trusted?
One lesson is CERTAIN from this, AGAIN. Politics is determined by the result on the battlefield.
The second lesson is the Francis Fukuyama's main conclusions are ridiculous
These people should be armed. Our armed forces are going to have to grow. AGAIN. I cannot tell you the disgust I feel having come to the conclusion that we are now IN a cold war again with this latest anouncement, and that it was probably inevitable because of the outlook of Putin. This FACT is going to have some very serious ramifications in the war against radical islam and jihadism.
Yesterday, these guys tested their ICBM which is designed to attack through missile defenses.I have no idea whether or not it can, at this point, however I can tell you that the last ICBM we developed was in 1983, and it was totally retired from active deployment by 2005. They are about to test a brand new sub launched ICBM, as well .
WHY?
There is a message in this. There is a message in Georgia. The sine wave of history has returned to zero. It is not in our control, but what we do is. Deterrence works. Time to deter. Deterrence kills no one. It instills caution into the international system.