Is the Pot Calling the Kettle Black?

Apparently Comrade... er, President Vladimir Putin didn't see the declassified Soviet files regarding his own country's behavior between the Bolshevik Revolution and the collapse of the U.S.S.R. Oh wait, he's a former KGB agent! He would know all about kidnapping, murdering, espionage, and stealing top-secret information. Putin has compared U.S. foreign policy to the Third Reich (read the International Herald Tribune article here). Of course, this is nothing new. We've had a poor excuse for a college professor from Colorado refer to the victims of 9-11 as "little Eichmanns". Even the former Chancellor of Germany (a member of the spin-off to der Fuhrer's political party) had called President Bush "Hitler". This is also not the first time that "our friend" has blasted U.S. policies abroad.

In a speech from Munich on February 10, Putin accused the United States of trying to establish itself as "one single center of power: One single center of force. One single center of decision making. This is the world of one master, one sovereign." First of all, if this were the case, we would have already conquered "Mother Russia", the Soviet satellite nations, and the entire Middle East...back when Reagan was President. We would have torn down the wall for Mr. Gorbechev (and spanked the Red Army in the process), dusted both Ayatollah Khomeni and Saddam Hussein, and put Kim Il Sung in a straight jacket. They'd all be English-speaking, Judeo-Christian, democratic societies, gas would be $0.50 a gallon, and we would all be vacationing in Cuba for Spring Break. Hugo Chavez ("Big Red"), Kim Jong Il ("Big Mac"), and Mahmood Ahmadenijad ("Small Fry") would not have had the opportunity to rise to the level of power that they have. Then again, we aren't bullies and would prefer the rest of the world to solve its own problems as peacefully as possible.

Secondly, does Putin even talk to Russia's ambassador to the United Nations? Is he getting the Cliff's Notes version of what goes on there, or is he taking a nap during the phone call? If there was ever a force at work in the world to establish One World Order, it would be the United Nations, and the Third World thugs that abuse the institution to line their pockets with foreign aid meant to feed their starving masses. They hate our guts, but love our money. It sounds like the kind of marriage that requires a pre-nup.

To top this off, Putin's largest point of contention appears to be our development of a missile defense system. What makes him think we don't already have it? It's not a new idea, and R&D is always a busy (and clandestine) business. Do we not have a right to defend ourselves and our allies? Or are we supposed to be like pre-WWII France and let our enemies roll through the nation's capital? Unfortunately, that may have to happen before people realize that this is real...and it's serious. "War is upon you, whether you'll risk it or not."