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Bush-Putin
Agreement: Don't Pop the Cork on the Champagne Bottle Yet
July 27, 2001
by
Richard Prasad
Just recently George W. Bush and Vladamir Putin entered into
an agreement to discuss the building of a US space based missile
defense system in return for drastic reductions of the US
and Russian nuclear stockpiles. In addition, Bush promised
a new infusion of economic development in cash starved Russia.
So let me get this straight, Russia gets a reduction in nuclear
weapons, in which we have a clear advantage, in infusion of
dollars, and what we get is the promise of a system called
SDI which we don't even know works? I don't suppose we can
call a do over on an international agreement can we?
The Strategic Defense Initiative was born as an idea March
of 1983, in a speech by Ronald Reagan as a way to defend against
cruise missiles. The SDI program took on many iterations,
smart pebbles, which would shoot out of satellites, and hone
in on missiles in their boost phase. Unfortunately, the smart
pebbles were about as smart as Pebbles Flintone, the perpetually
cooing child of Fred Flintone, and that was the end of that
idea.
The idea was then floated that lasers could be launched from
space base satellites, and the lasers would the intercept
the missiles before the came down to earth and did their world
ending damage. Unfortunately for supporters of SDI, this idea
was even less feasible than the smart pebbles idea. Although
if we shot at missiles with lasers and missed, the entire
country of Iraq or Libya could have free lasic surgery, courtesy
of the defense department. No need to thank us, really! Thankfully
the laser idea hasn't gotten anywhere off the drawing board,
and the most dangerous satellite emission is still the Crocodile
Hunter.
There was also one more little thing that sidetracked the
progress into the system that would protect the Soviet nuclear
menace, the cold war ENDED!!! The conservatives, quick to
take credit where little is due them said that the Soviet
system collapsed because of the increased military spending
of the Reagan and Bush Administrations. What the conservatives
fail to mention is that the same Reagan era defense spending
sent us headlong into 300 trillion dollar deficits for as
far as the eye could see. And the Cold war was not won by
Reagan alone, but a lot of Democratic Presidents as well,
who held the line against Soviet aggression
So in the early 90's, SDI went on the back burner. President
Bush, the elder called for a more limited land based interceptor
system, and Clinton, though he supported such a system, it
was certainly not his top priority. In fact during the Clinton
administration, the last test of SDI failed, and he shelved
SDI, leaving the decision to the next administration.
The Bush administration abandoned the go slow approach of
the Clinton administration and went forward. But it needed
an enemy, so it came up with the rogue nation theory and used
as examples of these, Libya Iraq and North Korea. They announced
that they would go forward with tests and plans to have forward
launching stations in Europe, which outraged Europeans, who
would have to bear the brunt of this US sponsored idea. The
Bush administration has also announced plans for an SDI testing
station in Alaska. I guess Bush can forget about locking up
the treasured Eskimo vote.
There was much fanfare when the latest test of the missile
defense was called a success by the Bush administration. This
one success ignores the recent troubled history of the missile
defense system. In June of 2000, the Pentagon admitted to
'simplifying the tests' making it easier for the kill vehicle
to identify it's target. If SDI can;t pass the tests, make
the tests easier. George W. Bush is probably wondering why
they couldn't do that at Yale. SDI, at this point in it's
development, 18 years after the idea was developed, cannot
tell the difference between a legitimate target and a simple
balloon decoy. Kids, a little tip for you when you got to
the circus, hold on to your helium filled balloons with both
hands, lest you start World War III, if you let go.
Also SDI breaks the ABM. No W, that is not the basketball
league with the red white and blue basketballs, and Dr J with
a big fro. ABM is the Antiballistic Missile Treaty, signed
in 1972 by Richard Nixon and Leonid Breznev, severely curtailed
the ability of any country to build or deploy an anti ballistic
missile system. Building SDI would break the prohibitions
set up by that treaty. But George W has no problems breaking
treaties unilaterally, look at his fine work in scrapping
the Kyoto treaty.
So how did Putin get such a sweet deal out of a lousy missile
defense system? Simple, Putin is a hypnotist, and Bush is
a simpleton. Bush has promised to give Russia economic incentives
to spur the Russian economy. Hey George, psst...you haven't
fixed the AMERICAN economy yet, first concentrate those mighty
brain cells into fixing our sluggish zero percent growth economy,
and then go over to Russia and fix theirs. No, on second thought,
if supply side economics is your bag, go to Russia and stay
there, and watch their economy stagnate and deficits loom.
If Clinton had suggested aid to Russia, the howls would have
come thundering down from the conservatives. "He's throwing
money down a sinkhole." Jesse Helms would have said, and he
would have had a lot of conservatives aping those sentiments.
Where is the alleluia chorus now? They are mute, because Bush
is a conservative Republican. Putin doesn't have to trade
with China anymore, he's got the cash cow US by the short
hairs. Watch the watch, Dubya, you're getting sleepy...
Similarly, Bush made concessions on the US nuclear arsenal,
agreeing to cut US nuclear weapon in exchange for talks on
SDI with Putin. By linking the two, Putin can get what he
most wants, parity with the US on nuclear weapons in exchange
for what? SDI, which is still in it's testing phase, and has
been for 18 years. Even more shocking, Bush had said he would
have cut the US nuclear force unilaterally, if he couldn't
get agreement from Putin, even Ralph Nader got chills when
he heard that! Your eyes are getting heavy, Dubya...
Believe it or not, we have a great nuclear deterrent and
we don't even have to build SDI, the deterrent is called Mutually
Assured Destruction. Simply put, don't bomb us or we'll bomb
you. Conservatives have argued that mutually assured destruction
doesn't work when dealing with 'rogue states' like Iraq, Lybia
and North Korea. Hogwash!!! If Saddam Hussein wanted to die,
he wouldn't have built that bunker during the Gulf War. Libya???
Have we heard anything from him since we bombed his tent?
No! North Korea would enter into an agreement not to build
nuclear weapons for a few bowls of rice, and I don't mean
Condoleeza, they are starving to death!!!
But Dubya's bent on building his new toy, and apparently
Cheney's too busy fighting his heart condition to help with
these negotiations with Russia, and Powell's too busy preventing
a major war in the middle east to help out, but somebody get
in that room with Dubya before the Great Vladamir pulls out
his pocket watch and puts Georgie under again. And Mr. President,
please don't say you looked into Mr. Putin's soul again, that's
just weird.
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