Putin Offers Alternative

Vladimir Putin offered a concession on the proposed missile defense shield that the Russians seem to have their panties in a twist over. He offered to have the missiles installed in the tiny nation of Azerbaijan. While that may work as it's much closer to Iran and North Korea, it does have a few problems. What do the Azerbaijanian's think? If you put a system like that close to Iran, you cut the time you have to react much shorter. What would the Iranian's do if a new missile shield goes up in their backyard? Are they going to back down from their nuclear program or are they going to feel like they're backed into a corner and be willing to use a nuke?

I think Bush's response was a perfect one though: "Interesting proposal. Let's let our experts have a look at it." That allows us to take a look at it, which gives the Russians the notion that their opinion matters, which is important. It allows us to have a possible strategic advantage over the Iranians, and, it pushes the Iranian's into making a decision on how far they want to take their nuclear program.

It is equally important that Russia has publicly said that the US and them share a common threat: Iran. While that may just be public speak, it does show Iran that the Russians will throw them under the bus if they need to.

Travis
travis@rightwinglunatic.com