[Peace-discuss] A new Cold War?

[C. G. Estabrook]

[In a typically adroit survey, Chomsky includes this crucial bit of context: 
"Clinton quickly reneged on that commitment [i.e., Bush I's promise not to 
expand NATO], also dismissing Gorbachev’s effort to end the Cold War with 
cooperation among partners. NATO also rejected a Russian proposal for a 
nuclear-weapons-free-zone from the Arctic to the Black Sea, which would have 
'interfered with plans to extend NATO, strategic analyst and former NATO planner 
Michael McGwire observes. Rejecting these possibilities, the US took a 
triumphalist stand that threatened Russian security and also played a major role 
in driving Russia to severe economic and social collapse, with millions of 
deaths. The process was sharply escalated by Bush’s further expansion of NATO, 
dismantling of crucial disarmament agreements, and aggressive militarism..." --CGE]


	September 11, 2008
	Ossetia-Georgia-Russia-U.S.A.
	Towards a Second Cold War?
	By NOAM CHOMSKY

Aghast at the atrocities committed by US forces invading the Philippines, and 
the rhetorical flights about liberation and noble intent that routinely 
accompany crimes of state, Mark Twain threw up his hands at his inability to 
wield his formidable weapon of satire. The immediate object of his frustration 
was the renowned General Funston. “No satire of Funston could reach perfection,” 
Twain lamented, “because Funston occupies that summit himself... [he is] satire 
incarnated.”

It is a thought that often comes to mind, again in August 2008 during the 
Georgia-Ossetia-Russia war. George Bush, Condoleezza Rica and other dignitaries 
solemnly invoked the sanctity of the United Nations, warning that Russia could 
be excluded from international institutions “by taking actions in Georgia that 
are inconsistent with” their principles. The sovereignty and territorial 
integrity of all nations must be rigorously honored, they intoned – “all 
nations,” that is, apart from those that the US chooses to attack: Iraq, Serbia, 
perhaps Iran, and a list of others too long and familiar to mention...

Full article at <http://www.counterpunch.org/>