“I think it’s very important that I come before you with some humility.”
– President Barack Obama, to Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, July 6, 2009
So, essentially, in a one-sided Obama-Putin conversation earlier this week (that apparently was more like a venting session by Putin), the Cold War between the Soviet Union and the U.S. has been reduced — from decades of fear, nuclear threats, emergency air raids, danger of missile attacks and the imminent clash of opposing ideologies with the possible end result of millions of deaths worldwide — to a period of “shall we say, grayish mood between our two countries, and of stagnation.” (Putin)
And Obama listened to Putin’s blatant misrepresentation — but why not listen? One of President Obama’s primary goals in foreign relations is to rewrite factual history and put a reverse spin on it. Putin’s assessment and description of U.S.-Russian past relations fell right in line with Obama’s. Said Obama, “I thought it was important to listen… I think in the past there’s been a tendency for the United States to lecture rather than to listen.”
That statement, like the quote at the top of this page, are simply further apologies — this time to Russia, since they hadn’t received an official apology yet — of how American Presidents have improperly handled foreign affairs before the coming of Obama. It’s a recurring theme, and it’s not even a surprise anymore.
Obama’s choice of words, like his attempts to rewrite American history, is intentional. As he stated at the New Economic School (NES) graduation ceremony in Moscow on Tuesday:
“Like President Medvedev and myself, you’re not old enough to have witnessed the darkest hours of the Cold War, when hydrogen bombs were tested in the atmosphere, and children drilled in fallout shelters, and we reached the brink of nuclear catastrophe. But you are the last generation born when the world was divided. At that time, the American and Soviet armies were still massed in Europe, trained and ready to fight. The ideological trenches of the last century were roughly in place. Competition in everything from astrophysics to athletics was treated as a zero-sum game. If one person won, then the other person had to lose.
“And then, within a few short years, the world as it was ceased to be. Now, make no mistake: This change did not come from any one nation. The Cold War reached a conclusion because of the actions of many nations over many years, and because the people of Russia and Eastern Europe stood up and decided that its end would be peaceful.”
Hmm. I don’t remember it that way. No one who was cognizant of the U.S.-Soviet nuclear standoff remembers it that way. Obama is simply planting seeds, rewriting American history for the benefit of our youth, and for those who have no first-hand awareness of the tense and fearful situation in the 50’s, 60’s, 70’s and 80’s. It was Ronald Reagan who finally said to the Soviet threat, enough is enough — I’m putting an end to you.
Putin was there, and he knows this perfectly well.
Contrast Obama’s statements, beliefs and philosophy of interaction with other nations with those of the man who brought about the downfall and dismemberment of the Soviet empire:
“Since the dawn of the atomic age, we’ve sought to reduce the risk of war by maintaining a strong deterrent and by seeking genuine arms control. “Deterrence” means simply this: making sure any adversary who thinks about attacking the United States, or our allies, or our vital interests, concludes that the risks to him outweigh any potential gains. Once he understands that, he won’t attack. We maintain the peace through our strength; weakness only invites aggression.” – President Ronald Reagan, March 23, 1983, Defense and National Security
One fact remains unsaid and unacknowledged, with regard to President Obama’s philosophy of international relations, but it carries more weight than any other:
When you’re the lone world super-power, and you propose the reaching of middle ground with everyone else, you have nowhere to go but down.
– RB Stratford
Related Posts:
Red State: And now the President is reminding Russians about Alaska.
Hot Air: Obama to Russia: Stop Iran and we’ll scrap missile defense in Europe
Pajamas Media: WHITTLE/OTT/GREEN TRIFECTA: Is Obama Confused About His Supporters & Critics? – Video
Powerline: Is This Visit Really Necessary?
Is This Visit Really Necessary? Part 2
Obama’s Great Torpor
Notes on Obama’s Great Torpor
Useful idiots: An Update
Gateway Pundit: Obama Won’t Admit the US Won the Cold War (Video)
Patterico’s Pontifications: Obama, the Russians, and Missile Defense (Updated)
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