Here are a couple examples representing the tip of the iceburg:
1) The Russians don't want radical Islam (i.e., Islam) dominating the nations on their southern Asian border-creating more radical Islamic enemies out of formerly Soviet nations in the same area. Sooner or later, Russia would have to intervene in that part of the world at great risk and expense. Bush/Rice offer an irresistible alliance, and the western Europeans hate that kind of thing. Bush warns the Germans: Be part of the solution or be part of the problem. The new German government about to be elected in the Fall understands far better than Schroeder.
2) Russia is poor, having been Soviet for 70 years. Their infrastructure, physical and institutional, is barely recovering even after these 11 years. They need capital, and Putin's first priority is creating the environment to attract it. He sees a bunch of worthless sub-human Saudi rats living like wealthy kings because they sell oil to the West. He has more oil than they do, as well as gold, diamonds, uranium, and dozens of other untapped treasures. With the help of Bush/Rice, he can put those resources to use to rebuild his infrastructure. In the process, we (the US) change the entire energy economy of the world, and create a global economic boom to boot [nice to have a president who understands energy economics for a change]. The Europeans wanted this windfall for themselves, and are livid that Bush/Rice are beating them to it.
Against all this, the junking of a few nuclear-tipped relics, combined with joint ABM ventures, is no cost at all.
Meanwhile the American liberal is still ringing his hands that we offended Europe by calling the Global Warming Fraud as we see it... |
