D
Dr. Jai Maharaj
Guest
The Cold War Mindset
Editorial
THE NEW YORK SUN
Wednesday, February 13, 2008
The disclosure yesterday by Pentagon officials that an
American aircraft carrier, United States Ship Nimitz, was
"buzzed" over the weekend by a Russian Tu-95 Bear Bomber is
a reminder of the dangers of the world in which we live.
The Navy scrambled four F/A-18 "Hornet" fighter jets over
the Pacific and intercepted the Russian bomber, escorting
it out of the area. The Pentagon's American Forces Press
Service reported that 22 Japanese jets also scrambled in
response to the incident.
What struck us in respect of all this was the comments of
the vice chairman of the joint chiefs of staff, General
James Cartwright of the Marines, who told the Senate Budget
Committee, "Now what we are concerned about is, 'What are
the indications of this return to a Cold War mindset?'. . .
What are the implications of that activity, and how do we
best address that?"
It is something to think about. One of the things about the
Cold War at the time is not everyone thought it was a real
war and not everyone thought it was a "good war" and not
everyone thought we were going to win; indeed, there was
talk of peaceful coexistence between the West an its
adversaries. This went on for decades, but when victory
came, and those living in the communist bloc were freed,
people began to feel more comfortable with the proposition
that there was a right side in the war and we were on it.
The vigilance of our military and covert services began to
look ever more heroic.
The latest incident, coming just weeks after American
warships in the Persian Gulf were challenged by boats of
the Iranian Revolutionary Guard, highlights the challenges
facing American forces on the high seas, challenges that
were met for years and years during the Cold War. If
Russia, led by a former KGB lieutenant colonel named
Vladimir Putin, is returning to a Cold War mindset,
America, too, must be on guard. There's a broad bipartisan
consensus on this; even Senator Obama, the most dovish of
the presidential candidates, wants to expand the American
military. "Obama will increase the size of ground forces,
adding 65,000 soldiers to the Army and 27,000 Marines," his
Web site declares.
Our top politicians are mostly aware of the threats America
faces, as is the military leadership. It is important that
the absence of major terrorist attacks on American soil not
invite a drift into a comfortable peacetime mindset. We
aren't calling for a return to backyard bomb shelters, but
if our potential enemies are back in war mindsets, and
America is in a peace mindset, it raises the potential of a
disastrous mismatch.
More at:
http://www.nysun.com/article/71201
Jai Maharaj
http://tinyurl.com/24fq83
http://www.mantra.com/jai
http://www.mantra.com/jyotish
Om Shanti
Hindu Holocaust Museum
http://www.mantra.com/holocaust
Hindu life, principles, spirituality and philosophy
http://www.hindu.org
http://www.hindunet.org
The truth about Islam and Muslims
http://www.flex.com/~jai/satyamevajayate
DISCLAIMER AND CONDITIONS
o Not for commercial use. Solely to be fairly used for the educational
purposes of research and open discussion. The contents of this post may not
have been authored by, and do not necessarily represent the opinion of the
poster. The contents are protected by copyright law and the exemption for
fair use of copyrighted works.
o If you send private e-mail to me, it will likely not be read,
considered or answered if it does not contain your full legal name, current
e-mail and postal addresses, and live-voice telephone number.
o Posted for information and discussion. Views expressed by others are
not necessarily those of the poster who may or may not have read the article.
FAIR USE NOTICE: This article may contain copyrighted material the use of
which may or may not have been specifically authorized by the copyright
owner. This material is being made available in efforts to advance the
understanding of environmental, political, human rights, economic,
democratic, scientific, social, and cultural, etc., issues. It is believed
that this constitutes a 'fair use' of any such copyrighted material as
provided for in section 107 of the US Copyright Law. In accordance with Title
17 U.S.C. Section 107, the material on this site is distributed without
profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included
information for research, comment, discussion and educational purposes by
subscribing to USENET newsgroups or visiting web sites. For more information
go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml
If you wish to use copyrighted material from this article for purposes of
your own that go beyond 'fair use', you must obtain permission from the
copyright owner.
Editorial
THE NEW YORK SUN
Wednesday, February 13, 2008
The disclosure yesterday by Pentagon officials that an
American aircraft carrier, United States Ship Nimitz, was
"buzzed" over the weekend by a Russian Tu-95 Bear Bomber is
a reminder of the dangers of the world in which we live.
The Navy scrambled four F/A-18 "Hornet" fighter jets over
the Pacific and intercepted the Russian bomber, escorting
it out of the area. The Pentagon's American Forces Press
Service reported that 22 Japanese jets also scrambled in
response to the incident.
What struck us in respect of all this was the comments of
the vice chairman of the joint chiefs of staff, General
James Cartwright of the Marines, who told the Senate Budget
Committee, "Now what we are concerned about is, 'What are
the indications of this return to a Cold War mindset?'. . .
What are the implications of that activity, and how do we
best address that?"
It is something to think about. One of the things about the
Cold War at the time is not everyone thought it was a real
war and not everyone thought it was a "good war" and not
everyone thought we were going to win; indeed, there was
talk of peaceful coexistence between the West an its
adversaries. This went on for decades, but when victory
came, and those living in the communist bloc were freed,
people began to feel more comfortable with the proposition
that there was a right side in the war and we were on it.
The vigilance of our military and covert services began to
look ever more heroic.
The latest incident, coming just weeks after American
warships in the Persian Gulf were challenged by boats of
the Iranian Revolutionary Guard, highlights the challenges
facing American forces on the high seas, challenges that
were met for years and years during the Cold War. If
Russia, led by a former KGB lieutenant colonel named
Vladimir Putin, is returning to a Cold War mindset,
America, too, must be on guard. There's a broad bipartisan
consensus on this; even Senator Obama, the most dovish of
the presidential candidates, wants to expand the American
military. "Obama will increase the size of ground forces,
adding 65,000 soldiers to the Army and 27,000 Marines," his
Web site declares.
Our top politicians are mostly aware of the threats America
faces, as is the military leadership. It is important that
the absence of major terrorist attacks on American soil not
invite a drift into a comfortable peacetime mindset. We
aren't calling for a return to backyard bomb shelters, but
if our potential enemies are back in war mindsets, and
America is in a peace mindset, it raises the potential of a
disastrous mismatch.
More at:
http://www.nysun.com/article/71201
Jai Maharaj
http://tinyurl.com/24fq83
http://www.mantra.com/jai
http://www.mantra.com/jyotish
Om Shanti
Hindu Holocaust Museum
http://www.mantra.com/holocaust
Hindu life, principles, spirituality and philosophy
http://www.hindu.org
http://www.hindunet.org
The truth about Islam and Muslims
http://www.flex.com/~jai/satyamevajayate
DISCLAIMER AND CONDITIONS
o Not for commercial use. Solely to be fairly used for the educational
purposes of research and open discussion. The contents of this post may not
have been authored by, and do not necessarily represent the opinion of the
poster. The contents are protected by copyright law and the exemption for
fair use of copyrighted works.
o If you send private e-mail to me, it will likely not be read,
considered or answered if it does not contain your full legal name, current
e-mail and postal addresses, and live-voice telephone number.
o Posted for information and discussion. Views expressed by others are
not necessarily those of the poster who may or may not have read the article.
FAIR USE NOTICE: This article may contain copyrighted material the use of
which may or may not have been specifically authorized by the copyright
owner. This material is being made available in efforts to advance the
understanding of environmental, political, human rights, economic,
democratic, scientific, social, and cultural, etc., issues. It is believed
that this constitutes a 'fair use' of any such copyrighted material as
provided for in section 107 of the US Copyright Law. In accordance with Title
17 U.S.C. Section 107, the material on this site is distributed without
profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included
information for research, comment, discussion and educational purposes by
subscribing to USENET newsgroups or visiting web sites. For more information
go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml
If you wish to use copyrighted material from this article for purposes of
your own that go beyond 'fair use', you must obtain permission from the
copyright owner.
