Vladimir Putin’s Missile-Defense Pitch
6 Jun 2007
Do you remember when President Bush claimed to peer into Putin’s soul and get the warm fuzzies? Since then the Russian president has been squashing democratic reforms like fire ants caught in an elephant stampede, not to mention snatching freedoms from his folks like Kojak would tootsie pops from toddlers. Now, on the heels of his recent sable rattling, in which he threatened to re-target us and our allies with his voluminous arsenal of nuclear weapons, Putin has offered Bush an olive branch of sorts. He has promised to soften his rhetoric and ratchet down his ire over our proposed missile-defense system if we will simply agree to station it in Azerbaijan.
Back in the good old days when Ward and June Cleaver were raising Wally and Beaver, an American president would have laughed his head off over such an insane proposal. Such lunacy is tantamount to a serial killer promising to agree with your right to bear arms as long as he gets to carry your pistol in his holster. In case you don’t know, Ward Cleaver is dead and sane leadership in Washington is as scarce as chickens’ teeth. Thus, far from laughing, Bush gave Putin a big old Russian bear-hug and agreed to have our people call his people.
Yesterday’s incredible goings-on at the G-8 Summit reminded me of the fatal foolishness of Hezekiah the King of Judah (2 Kings 20:12-18). When ambassadors from Babylon were sent to him with gifts and a get-well card during a life-threatening illness, Hezekiah was so taken with his enemies that he took them on the grand tour of his kingdom, showing them all of his armory and treasury. Henceforth, the Chaldeans never stopped salivating over Judah’s treasures or scheming to defeat its army until it sacked Jerusalem and burned its temple to the ground in 586 B.C. Interestingly, Hezekiah seemed little concerned about the Prophet Isaiah’s prediction of impending destruction, since it wouldn’t occur during his lifetime, but during the lifetime of his descendents’ (2 Kings 20:19).
Like Hezekiah, President Bush appears to be quite taken with his enemies, whether it is Vladimir Putin’s missile-defense pitch or Teddy Kennedy’s pardoning of 12 million illegal immigrants. In both cases, Bush’s infatuation with his foes has the potential of proving fatal to our nation. If Hezekiah was foolish to show his armory to the Chaldeans, how much more so is Bush, who wants to export ours to the Russians and only execute it under their control? Of course, Bush, like Hezekiah of old and most modern-day politicians, appears completely indifferent to the fatal consequences of his foolishness, since we’re unlikely to suffer them on his watch, but on that of some future White House jester’s.
Perhaps, you’ll dismiss this piece as delusional due to the popular belief that Russia is no longer our foe but our friend. Like most Americans, you have bought into the belief that the Russian bear has become “Gentle Ben”—our faithful partner and pal. If so, you have that prerogative. On the other hand, looking at Russia through the specs of Scripture I still see a hungry grizzly with claws and fangs.
Don Walton
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