Good for Putin for Exposing U.S. Hypocrisy

I must admit that I couldn’t help but smile when I read that Putin was threatening to send Russian troops to Cuba and Venezuela in response to U.S. attempts to absorb Ukraine into NATO, which would enable the Pentagon and the CIA to send U.S. troops, missiles, and tanks to Russia’s border.

When I read Putin’s statement, I knew immediately what the U.S. response would be  … and that it would not be a principled one. Not surprisingly, U.S. officials didn’t like Putin’s idea at all, as reflected by U.S. National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan exclaiming, “If Russia were to move in that direction, we would deal with it decisively.”

Whoa! Now just wait a minute. We keep hearing U.S. officials saying that Ukraine is an independent, sovereign country (despite the fact that the U.S. government helped foment the regime-change operation that installed a pro-U.S. puppet regime in the country). As such, U.S. officials maintain that Ukraine has the rightful authority to join NATO, that old Cold War dinosaur that should have gone out of existence decades ago.

But Cuba and Venezuela are independent sovereign countries too, aren’t they? As such, don’t they have the authority to invite foreign troops into their countries? And just as the U.S. government establishes military bases all over the world, including in countries that are located close to Russia, why doesn’t Russia have the authority to do the same in Cuba and Venezuela?

Oh, no, say U.S. officials. The Pentagon and the CIA have the authority to establish military bases around the world but Russia doesn’t have the same authority. The U.S. government also has the authority to send troops, missiles, and tanks “over there” — i.e., close to Russia’s borders — but Russia doesn’t have the same authority to send troops, missiles, and tanks “over here” — i.e., to Cuba and Venezuela.

I’m reminded of the Cuban Missile Crisis, when the Soviet Union sent nuclear missiles to Cuba. U.S. officials went ballistic back then too, with the Pentagon and the CIA beseeching President Kennedy to immediately start bombing and invading Cuba, claiming that the Soviet Reds weren’t supposed to do that … notwithstanding the fact that the Pentagon and the CIA had missiles in Turkey aimed at the Soviet Union. How’s that for bit of rank hypocrisy? 

To Kennedy’s everlasting credit, when he struck the deal with the Soviets to resolve the Missile Crisis, he secretly agreed as part of the deal to remove those U.S. nuclear missiles in Turkey in return for the Soviet removal of its nuclear missies in Cuba.

In other words, Kennedy immediately recognized the rank hypocrisy of the Pentagon and the CIA and acted to rectify it. But then again, Kennedy is the only president since 1945 who has had the courage to take on the U.S. national-security establishment. 

Don’t count on President Biden to do that. Like every president before him (except Kennedy), he’s going to defer to the Pentagon, the CIA, and the NSA, which, when it comes to foreign policy, rule the roost in Washington. In any event, good for Vladimir Putin for exposing the rank hypocrisy of the U.S. national-security establishment.