White House Smacks Down Russian President’s Comments

The world of hypocrisy should be in a deep belly laugh at the moment. President George Bush’s White House strongly dissed comments by Russian President Vladmir Putin that the U.S. is “fostering a new arms race”. This is the same White House that appointed numerous high officials with goals remarkably similar to Mr. Putin’s accusations.

Bush’s appointees are riddled with signers of the various Project for the New American Century documents. It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to pull up a few key position papers and find astounding agreement between conservative Republicans and the Russian President.

White House National Security Advisor Gordon Johndroe stated in response to the Russian President, “His accusations are wrong”.

Really Mr. Johndroe? What would you say in front of a large conservative Republican audience attending a PNAC gathering when those same subjects were mentioned?

U.S. Military Power (including nuclear weapons):

PNAC document Rebuilding America’s Defenses states on page 7 “But it is precisely because we have such power that smaller adversarial states, looking for an equalizing advantage, are determined to acquire their own weapons of mass destruction.”

Russian President Putin said “Nations "are witnessing an almost uncontained hyper use of force in international relations. This is nourishing an arms race with the desire of countries to get nuclear weapons."

PNAC on nuclear weapons, “U.S. nuclear superiority is nothing to be ashamed of; rather, it will be an essential element in preserving American leadership in a more complex and chaotic world.”

U.S. Reach beyond its traditional borders:

PNAC states a key U.S. armed forces mission of the future is “control of space and cyberspace” (page 51). This is needed to retain American global leadership. The document goes on to say “Much as control of the high seas—and the protection of international commerce—defined global powers in the past, so will control of the new “international commons” be a key for a world power in the future. An America incapable of protecting its interests or that of its allies in space or the “info-sphere” will find it difficult to exert global political leadership.”

The Russian leader said “One state, the United States, has overstepped its national borders in every way.”

On Iran

PNAC stated the main goal was Iraq but offered this on Iran. “Over the long term, Iran may well prove as large a threat to U.S. interests in the Gulf as Iraq has.”

The Russian President likely wasn’t referring to Iran but his statement could be predictive in America’s interactions with the Persian country. “Unilateral, illegitimate actions have not solved a single problem, they have become a hotbed of further conflicts.”

I looked hard but could not find Vlamir Putin’s signature on any of the PNAC documents or letters. That’s surprising given all they have in common…