President George Bush has seemingly signalled his willingness to live up to the high-sounding rhetoric of his Inaugrual Address by scolding Russia on its political crackdown — am move that is sure be unwelcome to Russian President Vladimir Putin:
Three days ahead of his visit with Russian President Vladimir Putin, Bush added his voice to growing worldwide criticism that the Kremlin is trying to consolidate power and squelch dissent.
“We must always remind Russia that our alliance stands for a free press, a vital opposition, the sharing of power and the rule of law,” Bush said in an address to Brussels’ diplomatic and academic elite. He also suggested that a Russian failure to meet those goals could affect its hopes of entering the World Trade Organization.
Later, Bush addressed criticism — from Europe and even from some in his own Republican Party — that he is too personally friendly with Putin to confront him over recent moves to seize control of Russia’s oil industry and meddle in the Ukrainian election.
“I’ve got a good relationship with Vladimir; I intend to keep it that way,” Bush told reporters during a photo opportunity with French President Jacques Chirac. “But as well, I intend to remind him that if his interests lie West, that we share values … and those values are important.
Yes, personal relationships can move mountains in international politics but ignoring key values in favor of the values could spark an avalanche. Putin can’t be led to think that because Bush feels he has some chemistry with him he has can curtail Russia’s young democracy, tinker with elections in the Ukraine and continue to help Iran with it’s nuclear program. There have to be some consquences.
Joe Gandelman is a former fulltime journalist who freelanced in India, Spain, Bangladesh and Cypress writing for publications such as the Christian Science Monitor and Newsweek. He also did radio reports from Madrid for NPR’s All Things Considered. He has worked on two U.S. newspapers and quit the news biz in 1990 to go into entertainment. He also has written for The Week and several online publications, did a column for Cagle Cartoons Syndicate and has appeared on CNN.