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Obama Rebuilds the Iron Curtain: Romania Liberia, Romania

Posted by WILLIAM KERN in International, Media, Miscellaneous, Places, Politics, Science & Technology, War.
Sep 30th, 2009 | Comments

As this article from the Romanian newspaper Romania Liberia shows once again – the divide between East and West Europe over President Obama’s decision to cancel the Bush-era missile shield couldn’t be starker. What West Europe regards as a reasoned and rational decision to bring Moscow more into the fold, Eastern Europe regards as naive if not betrayal.

For Romania Liberia, Cristian Campeanu comments on President Obama’s naivete in part:

“By abandoning the shield, the Obama Administration undermines the confidence of the Baltic States and Poles that their NATO allies will respect their commitments in the event of Russian aggression. Of the poor Georgians, little more can be said.”

After writing that the cost of President Obama’s sea-based shield is far higher than Bush’s, Campeanu writes of the consequences of Obama’s decision and Eastern Europe’s sense of betrayal:

“The weakening of Poland and the Czech Republic in relation to Russia represents a more serious threat than the benefits of the new shield … It has been said many times that Obama announced the abandonment of the shield on the very day that Poles commemorated the 70th anniversary of the invasion of Poland by Stalin’s troops. That was the moment in which the first folds of the Iron Curtain fell across Europe. It took 50 years of Cold War, President Reagan’s Strategic Defense Initiative, and, especially, Polish Solidarity, to trigger its collapse. By allowing Moscow to form a sphere of influence in Eastern Europe, President Obama has given Russia the chance to erect the Iron Curtain once again.”

By Cristian Campeanu

Translated By Helene Grinsted

September 24, 2009

Romania – Romania Liberia – Original Article (Romanian)

Whenever he had the opportunity this weekend – and since he was making the talk show circuit, he had many such opportunities – the American president discussed his administration’s decision to abandon construction of elements of an anti-missile shield in the Czech Republic and Poland, and to explain that this had nothing to do with Russia.

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Silhouette

Cold War Russia's greatest foe was and still is the free-flow of information among its citizens.

Then came the internet. This is a missile shield far more potent than any nuts and bolts could offer. In order to be great and terrible, a leadership needs vast numbers of mind-numbed and brainwashed men to enact their agendas without question. Those days are over... When The Bear starts cracking down on people with PCs, then begin to worry..

Silicon tops iron any day.

AustinRoth

The Internet is a horrible weapon of choice against tanks.

And it is not like the Caucasus and all Baltic states don't have a historical reason to believe the West will not come to their aid. Because prior to WW II, the West certainly ignored our treaty obligations to them when it counted.

Davebo

And it is not like the Caucasus and all Baltic states don't have a historical reason to believe the West will not come to their aid. Because prior to WW II, the West certainly ignored our treaty obligations to them when it counted.

What treaty obligations are your referring to?

AustinRoth

The Treaty of Versailles, British-Polish Common Defense Pact, The Franco-Polish Military Alliance, the Anglo-Polish Military Alliance, to name a few.

You also had the Munich Agreement where we sold Czechoslovakia down the river to the Germans, and of course the Yalta Agreement.

More recently, of course, was the West's inaction during both the Hungarian revolution and the Soviet's invasion of Czechoslovakia to stop the Prague Spring.

All-in-all, they have no reason to trust the West, except their greater fear of Russia.

Here is a good overview from Wikipedia: Western Betrayal

Silhouette

The internet does pose a threat to soviet expansion. Informed people's thresholds for mistreatment become very low the more information about their varied world you introduce. The mind is a powerful thing and can motivate the body{s} to wonderous acts of rebellion.

AustinRoth

All true, but it still provides no defense against a tank. Which is my point.

The pen is mightier than the sword, except of course in a sword fight.

DLS

As I've written before, the lessons were not only taught (in addition to Russia) to the Poles and the Czechs, but also to the Georgians and the Ukrainians, first and foremost.

And how much nicer is even a right-shifted Germany going to be toward Bruno when winter comes and Europe needs that gaaaaaaaaaaazzzzzzzz?

HemmD

AR

Why would Putin send in tanks to a country when he can just collect tribute through oil and gas? I think the old style cold war is over, it's the economic power struggle that matters to Putin now.

The only real cold war that will take place is when Russia shuts down its pipeline to the rest of Europe.

AustinRoth

The number of times throughout history that the claim has been made that warfare was a thing of the past is only exceeded by the gullibility of those who believe that.

Davebo

I apologize, when you said "we" I assumed you meant the United States, not the "west" in general.

AustinRoth

HA! Nice try Davebo, but I did not edit my post you replied to.

It says, and always said, 'the West', never 'we'. Your own cut and paste proves that!

:)

HemmD

AR
Those are fightin' words....

Err, no they're not.

If you can master an adversary by economic means, you have no need for war. If a war in Europe should erupt, it will be the West who is the aggressor. What does Russia want with old eastern bloc countries teetering financially? Just collect the rubles for the gas and occasionally let your renters know you can turn off the spigot anytime you want, and it's "legal" too.

It's like China's chronic purchase of US bonds, you really think they collect our debt just to make money? Now who's whistling in the dark?

AustinRoth

The China situation is different. I believe that Putin wants to completely reconstruct the old Soviet Union. Those who crave power are not always motivated by pure logic.

As an example, relating to this post, and not trying to invoke Godwin, Hitler said just prior to invading Poland, "Now Poland is in the position I wanted. [...] I am only afraid that some bastard will present me with a mediation plan at the last moment"

HemmD

Hitler's motives, like his times, were different. Putin wants power, not land or resources the way Hitler did. Remember, Lebensraum was more than an excuse for war, it was the reason for it.

Putin sits atop a huge portion of the world's resources, and where he may well lose his rational side from time to time, he can't push through to his old satellites while they form economic ties to the rest of the world.

Putin's goal is hard currency, not land.

GreenDreams

Interesting, if weird, response to this post. The "missile defense shield" has nothing to do with tanks or with Georgia. It was a nonworking boondoggle and a waste of money. To the Eastern Europeans: the idea that Russia would launch an ICBM at them is unbelievably preposterous. Do these people not have MAPS?

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