Secretary Gates is going to Russia to tell the Russians we will build missile defenses in eastern Europe and the Russians can just get used to it.
The Russians are complaining about our planned missile defenses in Eastern Europe, but part of the complaint is simply that we are there:
Some critics also see broader strategic problems with the United States putting missile defense assets in formerly Soviet-allied territory, casting it as an incursion into Moscow's sphere of influence.
A second senior administration official traveling with Gates dismissed discussion of spheres of influence," saying the United States would negotiate with Poland and the Czech Republic as sovereign nations.
"We don't believe in spheres of influence in general and we believe that the countries that emerged from the wreckage of the old Soviet empire ... are actually sovereign countries not in anybody's sphere of influence," that official said.
This is amazing. The Russians sincerely believe that they have the right to call the shots in a region simply because they once controlled it.
The Russians seriously need a beating with the reality stick to realize that their long-range safety lies in joining the West. I wonder if the Chinese will administer the hit from the outside or if Russia's demographic implosion will allow Moslems to gain influence within Mother Russia.
And I hope the Russian leaders will avoid doing something stupid in the next generation until a new post-Soviet generation can take the lead. We can be firends with Russia--and should be. But we can't be friends with the nominally ex-Soviets.
