There's No War Like A Cold War

Those were, by God, the days. Black and white. Two superpowers in perpetual confrontation. An Empire of Evil. Populations cowed by oppressive security measures and the constant threat of nuclear annihilation. An upward spiraling arms race, anti-missile systems, Star Wars, Communist subversion and best of all (unless somebody did something unbelievably stupid like invade Vietnam or Afghanistan ), no casualties ! No body bags or flag-draped coffins, no grieving families, no daily tallies in the press, no legion of the maimed and disabled.

In short, all the benefits of war with none of the burdens. Well, it appears that some of the old Cold Warriors are nostalgic for this not so distant past and are looking to jump start the old system.

Taking the lead (and that, by God, is what leaders do), was Dick Cheney putting it in the face of the Russians by accusing them of "blackmailing" their neighbors through their energy policies and "backsliding on democracy". Pretty bold for a man who was given his position by a divided Supreme Court on which his hunting buddy cast the deciding vote.

Count on the Russians to not take this kind of stuff lying down. Former KGB spook and current Russian President Valdimir Putin fired back, charging the U.S. with hypocrisy over human rights, caring about them only when our interests aren't affected.

Enough to have the shade of Richard Nixon perking up and saying, "Now that's what I'm talking about ! ", but we're not through.

Days later, SecDef Donald Rumsfeld weighs in and throws another shot at the Russians for "using their energy resources as a political weapon". Pretty bold for a guy who presided over the purchase, wholesale and retail, of the "coalition of the willing" that went to war with us in Iraq.

Russia comes right back with Kremlin Chief of Staff Sergei Sobyanin taking a slap at U.S. plans to put conventional warheads on ICBMs (that's intercontinental ballistic missiles to you youngsters) which have previously been reserved for nukes. Seems the Russians think its irresponsible for us to create a situation in which countries with a launch-on-warning system have a problem telling if the SLBM (that's submarine launched ballistic missile to you youngsters) they just detected is nuclear or not. Oh yeah ? Well, Better Dead Than Red ! (That was the all-purpose response to criticism of the U.S. back during the Cold War. It's best if you shout it over and over so you can't hear the critic.)

Welcome children, to the Second Cold War. Terrorists may come and go, but the Russian Bear is an enduring bogey that can carry unlimited defense spending for decades.

Stay frightened and

Stay Naked
jd