PART 1 Russia's Big Lie PART 2 The New Warsaw Pact

Russia's Big Lie

By INVESTOR'S BUSINESS DAILY | Posted Friday, August 15, 2008 4:20 PM PT

Russia: After hearing the hard, cold facts of Russia's brutal occupation of Georgia, the West has no choice but to respond harshly to Vladimir Putin's regime. Failure to do so would only invite further attacks.

Apologists for Russia say it really had no choice: Because of "genocide" in South Ossetia and Abkhazia, Russia had to intervene. It was an "emergency." It wasn't.

This is the kind of big lie for which Hitler was famous — as when he suggested his interest in Czechoslovakia was really to rescue the Sudeten Germans, then gobbled up the entire country.

In Russia's case, this was a carefully planned operation. Once in place, Russia's leaders knew full well they weren't going to simply occupy the disputed territories, but rather fully invade Georgia — and, hopefully, topple its humiliated government.

The reason is clear: Russia wants to control the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan pipeline, the only non-Russian conduit that brings oil from the Caspian Sea to Europe's thirsty market. To do so would give it unparalleled control over Europe's economy.

In a riveting speech Friday, Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili, with U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice at his side, revealed in graphic detail how Russia had gone about subjugating his country. The entire speech can be found on our Web site.

Russia systematically built up the rail infrastructure in Abkhazia to make it easier to send in troops, Saakashvili said. They began building tank bases in South Ossetia and Abkhazia.

"They started to bring in lots of military specialists, reconnaissance," he said. "They brought in paratroopers. We screamed to the world, stop it! And there were some statements from Washington, but I have to tell you that for most of the European countries . . . there was pretty muted and quiet reaction to all this."

The trouble started when Europe balked at letting Georgia join NATO last spring. At the time, Saakashvili complained. Then, when Russian planes repeatedly violated Georgian airspace, he complained again. Though the signs were clear, he was ignored.

Now we see what Russia was preparing. The brutality and lack of humanitarian concern shown by Russia's poorly disciplined troops in attacking Georgia are shocking.

• Russia used SS-21 missiles, one of the deadliest weapons in its military's arsenal, on areas they knew contained civilians.

• Russian aircraft dropped incendiary devices on Georgian forests to create fires, panic and terror.

• Putin's forces also dropped cluster bombs on civilian populations, knowing full well those munitions' main use is to kill and maim people, not destroy buildings or damage property.

• Troops have looted, robbed banks, stolen goods, murdered, burned towns and raped women as part of a terror campaign.

Putin prepared the Russian public for this by using the cowed Russian media to whip up nationalistic hysteria, suggesting Russia was under siege and encircled by enemies ready to do NATO's bidding.

Russia planned for months, watching and learning from our response to Iran. The West told Iran to halt the enrichment of uranium and its nuclear weapons program. It hasn't, and we've done nothing. Now, our lack of resolve has come back to haunt us.

Knowing this, Russia executed its plan with brutal precision.

Our weakness invited an attack — and will invite more if we don't respond now. But the U.S. can do even more than just isolating Russia in diplomacy, or issuing pleas. We can also neutralize Putin's use of the "oil weapon" — his implicit threat to cut off oil sales to the West — by drilling for more oil ourselves.

To help, the Democrat-led Congress could immediately approve drilling on all federal lands containing oil — a move that would send crude prices tumbling and slash Russia's hard currency earnings from energy. We hope they will — but won't hold our breath.


Email To Friend

PART 2 PART 2 PART 2

The New Warsaw Pact


By INVESTOR'S BUSINESS DAILY | Posted Friday, August 15, 2008 4:20 PM PT

Missile Defense: In the face of renewed Russian imperialism, Poland agrees to host U.S. missile interceptors on its soil. Now the only opposition is from the Russians and the Democrats.

Nothing concentrates the minds of a country's leaders like naked aggression. If one of Putin's goals in attacking Georgia was to intimidate the rest of NATO and those considering joining it, he has failed miserably.

Poland, once before the victim of Moscow's aggression and occupation, has no intention of repeating the experience. Despite threats of being moved up on Russia's target list, Polish leaders have finally inked a deal to allow the deployment of 10 U.S. missile interceptors on its territory. The interceptors will work in tandem with tracking radars the Czech Republic has already agreed to accept.

Poland had been dragging its feet, hoping to get a better deal and worried that an Obama administration might pull the plug after Warsaw had stuck its neck out. In exchange, the U.S. agreed to a plan to upgrade Poland's military, establish a permanent U.S. military base on Polish soil and deploy Patriot air defense missiles.

"We have crossed the Rubicon," Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk said after the successful end to 18 months of negotiations. Unsure of NATO's seriousness, Tusk welcomed the pact with the U.S., saying: "This is a step toward real security for Poland in the future."

Needless to say, the Russians are not amused. Gen. Anatoly Nogovitsyn, their deputy chief of staff, said: "Poland, by deploying (the missile interceptors), is exposing itself to a strike — 100%." He added that Russia's military doctrine sanctions the use of nuclear weapons "against the allies of countries of countries having nuclear weapons if they in some way help them."

Never mind that the missiles are to defend against Russia's client, Iran, as it develops nuclear weapons with Russian assistance and the missiles to deliver them. NATO on its doorstep is an impediment to the dream of reconstituting Moscow's former empire.

Yuri Baluyevski, Russia's top general, has said Moscow wouldn't hesitate to use its nuclear weapons pre-emptively against a perceived threat. "We have no plans to attack anyone," he said recently, "but we consider it necessary for all our partners in the world community to clearly understand . . . that to defend the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Russia and its allies, military forces will be used, including pre-emptively, including with the use of nuclear weapons."

Officially, they had no "plans" to attack Georgia either.

The missile defense deals still have to be ratified by the Czech and Polish parliaments. They also need the approval of a Democratic U.S. Congress reluctant to fund them and a possible U.S president vehemently opposed to missile defense in general and this plan in particular.

Part of Poland's hesitation was the fact that, as Foreign Minister Radek Sikorski said July 8, John McCain has pledged to carry out President Bush's missile defense plans in Poland, but no such assurances have been forthcoming from Barack Obama.

In a video pledge to the liberal group Caucus4Priorities, Obama vowed to "cut investments in unproven missile defense systems" and not "weaponize space." In other words, he will not defend Poland, the Czech Republic, NATO or the U.S. from missile attack.

Arsonists hate smoke detectors and sprinkler systems. The Russia of Vladimir Putin and whichever of his hand puppets holds the presidency hates missile defense. As in the days of the evil empire that was the Soviet Union, Moscow's foreign policy is based on threats and intimidation. Ours is based on tenacity and technology.

Democrats would replace that with weakness and what Obama calls "aggressive personal diplomacy."

In a floor statement before a vote on missile defense, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi asserted that the U.S. doesn't need a missile defense.

"If we need anything," she said, "we need a strong nonproliferation policy."

Like her party's standard-bearer, she views missile defense as unproven, unworkable and unnecessary.

The Poles beg to differ. So do we.