Thursday, June 12, 2008

FURTHER ON MCCAIN AND COLD-WAR MENTALITY: PUTIN HAS NOT STARTED A NEW COLD WAR

POSTED RESPONSE TO COLUMN BY DANIEL FINKELSTEIN IN THE TIMES

Mr. Cox,

You've written complete rubbish here.

You may not like Putin's policies, but he is cooperative and intelligent in his relations with the West.

There is no Cold War attitude from Putin, but he does defend Russia's interests, and he does reject many nasty American policies, and rightly so.

The various degrees of censorship one finds today in Russia are little different to what exist in many lands.

In the U.S., for example, the major networks and quality newspapers have never done any reportage giving anything but a rather benevolent face to the murderous fiasco in Iraq.

The New York Times, which beat the drum for the stupid invasion, even insists on using the affectionate WWII term "G.I.s" for the occupying professional army that invaded Iraq. I suspect they don’t extend that to the mercenary thugs of outfits like Blackwater though.

Today, the U.S. occupies two large countries, carries on a series of assassinations and attacks in surrounding territory such as Pakistan, keeps a huge fleet off the coast of Iran and threatens that country daily.

It also supports the endless brutality and oppression of Israel, making no genuine demands to end that human-rights disgrace.

And, as I mention in my previous post, the U.S. runs an international gulag for "suspects." Thousands illegally held and tortured.

The Patriot Act within the U.S. has virtually suspended the Bill of Rights for those selected for the attention of the good folks at the FBI.

Who has a Cold War posture today? Only someone deliberately blind to reality could possibly write what you have written.

John McCain is just what we do not need to make it worse.