Bush, Putin: Soul mates to enemies in six short years

President Vladimir Putin has plans to rearm Russia with new nuclear weapons and missile… President Vladimir Putin has plans to rearm Russia with new nuclear weapons and missile technology. In fact, Russia has already test-fired a new intercontinental ballistic missile, a move that has left many wondering whether we might have another Cold War on our hands.

According to an Associated Press report, the weapons are allegedly part of a plan to increase Russian defenses with enough capability to defeat the U.S. anti-missile system set up in Europe.

Putin seems to think the United States might be after Siberia’s resources. He somehow got this irrational idea into his head that Bush would actually invade Russia. What would ever make him think that the United States would attack a country simply to get at its commodities?

The feelings of apprehensiveness are mutual. According to The New York Times, in a recent press conference Bush called Putin “wily” and “secretive about his future plans.”

But why is Russia suddenly a prospective enemy when less than a decade ago, the two countries were supposedly making great strides in international diplomacy? Is it possible that beneath Russia’s cold, frigid exterior there lays a warm, sensitive friend who is only misunderstood? After all, this is the country that is so bad a** that its children can survive clinging to the wing of an airplane for two hours in well below freezing temperatures.

Back in the golden days, Bush and Putin were the best of friends. According to a White House press release, upon their first meeting in 2001, Bush, in his infinite wisdom, decidedly judged Putin to be a straightforward and trustworthy guy, going on to claim that “[he] looked the man in the eye and was able to get a sense of his soul.”

Lucky for us, Bush obviously knew that gazing into the soul of government officials was the secret to making important foreign policy decisions.

Unfortunately, as time passed, the relationship once filled with camaraderie, diplomacy and large portions of Alionka chocolate dissolved into a battle of venomous backbiting and ominous threats.

The U.S.-Russia relationship first began to sour when NATO started to occupy Eastern European countries, which all happened to be former members of the Soviet Block.

The United States then proceeded to disregard several treaties made with Russia, including the Antiballistic Missile Treaty, the START I treaty – which would reduce nuclear weapons and create a system for monitoring compliance – and the Cooperative Threat Reduction Programs, which had been set up to secure Russian nuclear materials.

Meanwhile, U.S. diplomats felt Russia wasn’t doing enough to further its own democracy.

According to CNN, at the G8 summit in the summer of 2006, Bush urged Putin to model his country after Iraq, where – according to Bush – there was now “a free press and free religion.”

By freedom of press, Bush was of course speaking of his Iraqi policy “Do/print what the United States wants or we will blow you into tiny bits and pieces and then take all of your oil.”

Putin replied that “[Russia] would certainly not want to have the same kind of democracy as in Iraq, quite honestly.” The man obviously was not paying attention to international news because Iraq is clearly the perfect choice as a model country.

In response to this blatant jibe, Bush had only one response: “Just wait.”

It has now been a year since that press conference. Iraq is still in crisis, and Bush’s approval ratings are at an all-time low of just 24 percent, according to the newest Reuters/Zogby Poll.

Meanwhile, Putin’s approval ratings are at nearly 80 percent, despite that he has been making nice with the United States’ arch-foe, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

Not to say that a nuclear response is the right one, or that we shouldn’t be concerned about the potential threat that Iran holds for us and other countries, but the United States has made a habit out of making other countries’ business our business, and it keeps getting us in trouble.

The United States has accused Russia of not being democratic enough, violating human rights and gagging the press.

Putin responded by saying that many western countries themselves – including the United States – have violated human rights, noting Guantanamo Bay as just one example.

And I think he has a point.

It’s difficult to say whether there will be another Cold War or not if the relationship between the United States and Russia continues to strain. The best we can hope for, I think, is a more open-minded, understanding perspective of international affairs.

Have you looked into the eyes of Vladimir Putin? Tell Molly what you saw at mog4@pitt.edu.