A correspondent says that Russia's Vlad Putin may have a legitimate
gripe about further NATO expansion.
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"The Threat Mr. Putin Sees"
Letter to the Editor
Monday, May 12, 2008; A18
I didn't find Robert Kagan persuasive when he said that what Vladimir
Putin, now Russian's prime minister, has to fear from NATO expansion
into Ukraine and Georgia is only democracy, not a military threat
["Ideology's Rude Return," op-ed, May 2]. Mr. Kagan echoed President
Bush on the subject in writing, "NATO is less provocative and
threatening toward Moscow today than it was in [Mikhail] Gorbachev's
time."
Both columnist and president are wrong. Mr. Putin sees the world
around his immediate frontiers in a strategic sense of military
options. NATO forces are in his face from Murmansk to the Baltic
states, Romania and Turkey. Kyrgyzstan, while not in NATO, is
certainly an American client with its large U.S. military airfield and
staging area at Manas, near the capital. Armenia, Azerbaijan,
Turkmenistan and Kazakhstan have pledged to the U.S. various forms of
direct military cooperation.
Think about Mr. Putin's reduced military options in backing up Russian
policy if Ukraine and Georgia join NATO. Mr. Putin could not be
clearer on this point: Russia will not tolerate further NATO expansion
eastward. He has stated that to any media outlet that will listen. He
has shown his seriousness on this point with stepped-up Cold War-style
flights by his Tu-95 Bear bombers over our ****ps at sea and near
Alaska and Great Britain.
We risk a major confrontation by disregarding Mr. Putin's "red line"
on this subject.
JACK BROADBENT
Grasonville, Maryland
http://www.wa****ngtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/05/11/AR2008051101734.html
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