President Trump’s National
Security Advisor John Bolton was in Moscow last week organizing what promises
to be an historic summit meeting between his boss and Russian President
Vladimir Putin. Bolton, who has for years demanded that the US inflict “pain” on
Russia and on Putin specifically, was tasked by Trump to change his tune. He
was forced to shed some of his neoconservative skin and get involved in
peacemaking. Trump surely deserves some credit for that!
As could be expected given
the current political climate in the US, the neoconservatives have joined up
with the anti-Trump forces on the Left — and US client states overseas — to
vigorously oppose any movement toward peace with Russia. The mainstream media
is, as also to be expected, amplifying every objection to any step away from a
confrontation with Russia.
Bolton had hardly left
Moscow when the media began its attacks. US allies are “nervous” over the
planned summit, reported Reuters. They did not quote any US ally claiming to be
nervous, but they did speculate that both the UK and Ukraine would not be happy
were the US and Russia to improve relations. But why is that? The current
Ukrainian government is only in power because the Obama Administration launched
a coup against its democratically-elected president to put US puppets in
charge. They’re right to be nervous. And the British government is also right
to be worried. They swore that Russia was behind the “poisoning” of the
Skripals without providing any evidence to back up their claims. Hundreds of
Russian diplomats were expelled from Western countries on their word alone. And
over the past couple of months, each of their claims has fallen short.
At the extreme of the
reaction to Bolton’s Russia trip was the US-funded think tank, the Atlantic
Council, which is stuck in a 1950s time warp. Its resident Russia “expert,”
Anders Åslund, Tweeted that long-time Russia hawk Bolton had been “captured by
the Kremlin” and must now be considered a Russian agent for having helped set
up a meeting between Trump and Putin. Do they really prefer nuclear war?
The “experts” are usually
wrong when it comes to peacemaking. They rely on having “official enemies” for
their very livelihood. In 1985, national security “expert” Zbigniew Brzezinski
attacked the idea of a summit between President Reagan and Soviet leader
Mikhail Gorbachev. It was “demeaning” and “tactically unwise,” he said as
reported at the time by the Washington Times. Such a meeting would only
“elevate” Gorbachev and make him “first among equals,” he said. Thankfully,
Reagan did engage Gorbachev in several summits and the rest is history.
Brzezinski was wrong and peacemakers were right.
President Trump should
understand that any move toward better relations with Russia has been already
pre-approved by the American people. His position on Russia was well known. He
campaigned very clearly on the idea that the US should end the hostility toward
Russia that characterized the Obama Administration and find a way to work
together. Voters knew his position and they chose him over Hillary Clinton, who
was also very clear on Russia: more confrontation and more aggression.
President Trump would be
wise to ignore the neocon talking heads and think tank “experts” paid by
defense contractors. He should ignore the “never Trumpers” who have yet to make
a coherent policy argument opposing the president. The extent of their
opposition to Trump seems to be “he’s mean and rude.” Let us hope that a
Trump/Putin meeting begins a move toward real reconciliation and away from the
threat of nuclear war.