Arnold Shcherban - 10/15/2009

What do you want, Ms. Klinghoffer, now? Russia to dissolve as a state, as did USSR?
Russia give up all her WMDs to the US and NATO?
Your hatred towards Russian people, the entire Russian nation (not just Russian governments) just emanates from all your pertaining statements throughout all your articles on ...-Russia relations, with ellipsis left for any other country, especially, US and Israel.
Why? Don't you, as a Jew, have a bit
of gratitude to Russians for sacrificing millions of its citizens, and thereby (together with the US) saving millions of Jews from Nazi genocide over WWII?
You know very well that it was the Soviet Union (regardless of how evil was Stalin's regime) who saved, giving the refuge in its Eastern regions, to millions of Soviet and Polish Jews, don't you?
No matter what one thinks about it the fact remains that Russia did what no other European or American country would do at the time.
It is also the fact of history that it was the Soviet Union whose UN representative voted among the first
for establishing Israeli state in Palestine in 1948 and did allow
Soviet and other Eastern European Jews then to go to Palestine.
Yes, Stalinism did repress many Jews,... as well as Georgians (if you know what I mean), Ukrainians, Chechens, Uzbeks, Tatars, much more Russians and whoever not.
If one accuses Stalinism/Soviets in anti-semitism, then being even mildly objective person they have to also accuse them in anti-Russism, anti-Georgianism, virtually anti-anybodyism.
Stalin/Soviet regimes were totalitarian, but not anti-ethnical.
On the contrary, those regimes and their ideology were as international, as they get.
Now let's talk about the present.
You say: <Hence, reset buttons, revival of arms control talks and to crown it all, throwing the Poles and the Czechs to Russian bear by canceling the missile shield.>
What's wrong with the revival of arms control talks?! Hasn't this, the most PEACEFUL country in the world, declared on multiple occasions (as president Reagan himself suggested) that its eventual goal is the world's full nuclear disarmament?
Hasn't the US unilateral exit from SAT obligations more than significantly spoiled US-Russian relations under Bush presidency?
Then, there is your contempt for cancelling the Poles' and Czechs' missile shield. Why this decision of the US government throws those people
to Russian bear, as you put it?
Wasn't that shield, according to numerous affirmations of Bush
and Obama's governments, meant to protect Poland, Czechia, and other NATO states from Iranian missiles and was not meant to affect Russian national security (though it looks like you and other in your ideological and political camp refuse to acknowledge that the latter exist or, at least, has to ever be considered in US-Russia or NATO-Russia relations/negotiations)?
Then what's wrong with the proposed new pan-European security system?
In that regard, let me raise the issue that none seems wants to even touch: what's NATO for now?
NATO, as it's well known was created
and maintained throughout Cold War period as the US and Western Europe military union to resist possible Soviet aggression against the respective countries.
The Soviet Union, its totalitarian regime together with its aggressive, threatening behavior has been no more for 18 years by now. The so-called socialist camp along with the Warsaw Pact was gone 20 years ago.
Today's Russia is essentially a capitalist country with not a bit lesser (if not greater) freedoms and democracy than say Turkey (NATO member), or Ukraine, or Georgia and with definitely greater ones comparing to many US friends, such as, e.g. Egypt, Saudi Arabia, and Columbia, to name just a few.
Is its (Russia's) democracy as developed and modern as some Western ones? Surely, not. It cannot be yet, as Russia has never been democratic, either before or after Bolshevik revolution and only 20 years passed since Russian democracy was given a chance to evolve. The Western democracies, e.g. had a couple of centuries to come to fruition (should I remind of colonial system, imperialist wars, slavery, and racism those "democracies" used to embrace.)
Moreover, contemporary Russia has immeasurably less territorial, human, economic, and military potential/ army forces than the 15 united Soviet Republics used to have, which even back then together with the rest of socialist camp did not dare to attack
the Western world/civilization.
So, whom NATO, this allegedly defensive organization, was meant to "resist" after its main enemy - so-called Russian/Soviet bear - turned to a puppy and its ex-juniors are gone whatsoever?
First, to strategically and morally justify its continuing existence it had to INVENT NEW enemies, which should be shown as no less dangerous
than the former Evil Empire.
But contemporary folks around the world is also less ignorant and naive
than their parents and grandparents were. The former have a hard time to
believe that gangs of Muslim religious fanatics with the help
of one or two Muslim countries, whose
combined economic and military potential is miniscule comparing to just one middle-sized Western European state is capable to constitute serious threat to entire Western civilization (as it is virtually screamed on your side.)
And thus - let's revive the mythology of monstrous "Russian bear" whose alleged only goal and life meaning is to scare, upset, or aggress (against) the West, in general, and US, in particular, not to leave in peace with the latter and its neighbors and secure its citizens.
You see NATO surrounds Russia with a tight circle, US encourages, if not
provoking Georgian democrats (read
political gangsters and election fraudsters) to aggress against South Ossetia, killing Russian peacekeepers,
the Ukranian pro-US government helps the aggressor with arms while unfolding fierce anti-Russian propaganda (the type that
usually precedes a war), but it is Russia who "challenges" NATO with its pan-European security proposal!???
Just PROPOSAL (which, in addition has a microscopic chance to become a real deal) is not only equated by Ms. Klinghoffer to already happened AGGRESSION and other described above DECISIONS, and ACTIONS, but calls for the same reactions.
Thus,... the logic itself is defeated here.

And , finally we read: <Obama is learning the lesson Carter learned when he was president though forgot after he was booted out. We are still paying for the price of his temporary enlightenment. For those who forgot, they included the Soviet take over of Afghanistan and the Islamist take over of Iran.
Firstly, pay attention folks. Carter was "booted out", i.e. he wasn't reelected for the second term.
But you see only such Presidents as Papa Bush deserve the latter terminology the others were "booted out.."
So apparently he was booted out for
because he did not do what any sensible US president MUST do: invade Afghanistan and Iran (perhaps, Iraq too) back then, which would scare Soviets (who are now freely equated with Russians) so much that they would raise their hands and disarm., instead of doing the same what Americans did after Soviet invasion to Afghanistan, i.e. provide full monetary and military assistance to the bordering Afghan and Iranian massive resistance (though not to Taliban and Al-Qaeda, as US did over Pakistani territory, which they are bombing now.)
But stupid or treasonous President Carter decided just to sufficiently provoke the Soviets by launching wide-scaled covert operations to overthrow Kabul's communist government, the provocation that according to Z. Brzezinski himself led to the Soviet invasion, and eventually to the demise of Evil Empire.
As far as Iran was concerned, Carter
is hardly the one who has to be blamed for Islamist takeover in Iran, since what really caused Iranian people's revolution that propelled anti-American Islamists to power is full and unconditional support and spoinsorship all the US presidents before Carter provided for Shah's reactionary regime. And Iranians (Islamists or not) were supposed
to forget that the first Iranian truly democratic (though not pro-British-American) government was
overthrown by the covert CIA operation
(at British request) in 1953, with Shah's power restored. And that president Ford at his last visit in in pre-revolutionary explosive anti-Shah atmosphere "wisely" called Shah "American Friend."
That certainly watered eyes of millions of anti-Shah protesters with tears of joy and firmly secured pro-American sentiment there.
If not for that Carter...

Really, Ms. Klinghoffer is not only a gifted and sharp political observer, but also a joke-master.