Article...Old enemy, new friend...
October 25, 2001
by Paul M. Weyrich
culturezero.com
Fidel Castro is foaming at the mouth. Not since Boris Yeltsin pulled thousands of Russian troops from Cuba and cancelled the annual Russian subsidy to the Cuban economy has Castro been this upset.
You see the United States and Russia have formed a strategic alliance. Right now that alliance has to do with fighting terrorism. But later on, hopefully, the alliance will broaden so that Russia and the United States will become real partners and what was once Christendom will again be united.
However, Yeltsin did leave one operation in Cuba that was a relic of the Cold War, as President Bush so aptly put it. That was the massive eavesdropping facility at Lourdes. Just the rent for this massive operation pumped $200 million annually into the Cuban economy. Russian President Vladimir Putin announced that the facility would be closed immediately and that the money used to operate Lourdes would be transferred to fighting terrorism. A spokesman for Castro went ballistic. He said the Russians had no right to close Lourdes because the Cubans had not approved it.
Right. So what is Castro going to do? Will he send armed thugs to Moscow to keep robbing banks until the take totals $200 million? Or maybe he will send guerrillas to the Central Asian Republics of the former Soviet Union so he can help their Moslem elements begin a war against Russia.
Castro had better face facts. The Cold War is over. Putin has cast his lot with the United States and the West. Why does Russia need a massive intelligence gathering facility a hop and a skip from the USA when we are not their enemy anymore?
Now granted, Castro has every right to be bitter. It wasn't long ago that Putin paid a visit to Cuba and praised the work of the folks manning Lourdes as vital for Russian interests. Cuba had every right to believe then that Russia would maintain Lourdes and Cuba could count on receiving its $200 million.
That was before Putin and Bush had really hit it off. That was before the two nations had started to talk seriously about co-operation on a variety of levels. And that was certainly before the events of September 11th, which caused Putin to shift his direction so distinctly in favor of the United States and the West.
Castro called the decision to close Lourdes "a gift to the United States." That is not far from the truth. The existence of Lourdes was an irritant to this country. No matter how much we spoke of co-operation between Russia and the United States there was always Lourdes as a stark reminder that the then-Soviet Union was determined to defeat the United States and Cuba was its base of operations in this hemisphere. Lourdes was constructed by Russia in 1964, immediately following the Cuban missile crisis, when Cuba was convinced that the United States would be launching another Bay of Pigs type operation to invade Cuba and topple Castro. Lourdes gave the Cubans and the Russians every bit of intelligence they needed to detect any signs of an impending invasion.
As long as Lourdes was open for spying, there were elements inside the US military who were constantly pointing to its existence and warning that we should not have an alliance with Russia because if Russia was truly sincere then Lourdes would be closed. Now, this argument will no longer have much credibility.
Putin's decision to close Lourdes is an indication that he is sincere and that we now need to look at forging a long-term strategic alliance that will outlast the war on terrorism. Putin is popular in Russia and he has a strong majority in the Duma, or parliament, unlike Yeltsin whose popularity quickly waned after 1993 and who never enjoyed a majority in the Duma. But Putin's move toward the West brings risks for himself too. Oil prices are depressed. If they stay depressed for much longer Putin is going to have the same problem as Yeltsin did of being able to pay all of Russia's bills.
Russians are a very patient people but there is a limit to their patience. There are demagogic elements inside Russia ready and willing to try to blame any problems that may come up on Putin's shift to the West. His popularity can decline quickly even if he is dealing with problems that are beyond his control.
The United States needs to look at things we can do to give Putin some breathing room. There is the matter of the debt Russia inherited from the Soviet Union. This is not debt incurred by Yeltsin or Putin. This debt goes back many decades. Most of it is owed to Europe and not the United States. First, with respect to that smaller portion that is owed to the USA, we should either forgive the debt or restructure it in such a way that it is not a burden for Putin. Second; we should put pressure on our European allies to restructure their debt to the point where Putin can survive depressed oil prices or other potential crises.
Now, Putin is not perfect. I don't like some things he has permitted to happen which have caused fear among dissenters from his policies. Still, all in all, I would much rather be dealing with a leader who openly professes that he is an Orthodox Christian. And Putin proves it by attending the Divine Liturgy on Sundays and Holy days. I would much rather be dealing with a leader who proclaims that Russia should once again seek to be known as Holy Russia by returning to her Christian roots than with some of the ugly alternatives waiting in the wings.
In the past, the United States has sought alliances with nations and used their leaders, only to leave them high and dry at the moment of truth. The Shah of Iran comes immediately to mind. We cannot let this happen to Putin. The man is taking remarkable risks these days. He even invited the Pope to visit Russia. If you have followed the issue, you know that that makes the Russian Orthodox Patriarch join Castro in foaming at the mouth.
Putin is day by day proving himself to Bush and other Western leaders. If we fail to take advantage of this remarkable development then we should not be surprised if the Cold War revives and Russia again becomes our enemy.
[Oh, and now that Lourdes will be shut down and Castro won't know if we are planning to invade, maybe when Bush finishes the war on terrorism he can also take care of some unfinished business left over from the days of John F. Kennedy.]
Mr. Weyrich is president of the Free Congress Foundation and is widely considered the father of modern conservatism. |
