Happy Molotov-Ribbentrop Day!
President Obama celebrates the 70th anniversary of the fruition of the famous non-aggression pact … the Sept. 17, 1939 Soviet invasion of Poland* … with a big present for Stalin wannabe Vladimir Putin. He scraps Euro missile shield! Reuters:
PRAGUE/WARSAW (Reuters) – U.S. President Barack Obama has told east European states he is backing away from plans for an anti-missile shield there, in a move that may ease Russian-U.S. ties but fuel fears of resurgent Kremlin influence.
Russia said it would welcome abandonment of the plans, which have been a major source of Russian-U.S. tensions.
Tensions gone!
The shield, involving interceptor missiles in Poland and a radar complex in the Czech republic, was promoted by Obama’s predecessor George W. Bush to defend against any missile launches from “rogue” states such as Iran and North Korea.
…
The Wall Street Journal newspaper said Washington had decided Iran was not as advanced in developing long range missiles as it had previously thought.
The Obama administration seeks to “reset” battered ties with Russia so that the two former Cold War foes can cooperate on Iran, on fighting Taliban insurgents in Afghanistan and on reducing their vast arsenals of nuclear weapons.
Russia is allowing the United States to move trains carrying supplies for U.S. forces across the country via Central Asia to Afghanistan, avoiding routes through Pakistan that had come under frequent attack from the Taliban.
Washington also wants Russian support in economic sanctions against Tehran, which it accuses of developing nuclear weapons.
Diplomats in Moscow say Russian hardliners could read the shield backdown as a sign of U.S. weakness. Far from doing the bidding of the United States, they may instead press for further gains to shore up Russian power in the former Soviet bloc.
No kidding. Hey, remember what a belly laugh the Russkies got out of leaking Neville’s … I mean Barack’s double secret letter proposing the appeasement for cooperation vs evil swap?
“This would be very bad,” said Witold Waszczykowski, deputy head of Poland’s National Security Bureau which advises President Lech Kaczynski. “Without the shield we would de facto be losing a strategic alliance with Washington.”
Ignoring U.S. assurances that the system was not targeted at Russia, President Dmitry Medvedev threatened last year to station missiles in a Russian enclave near Poland if the United States implemented the plan.
For Poland, the timing of the announcement is particularly sensitive. Thursday marked the 70th anniversary of the Soviet invasion of eastern Poland following a pact between Moscow and Nazi Germany, an event seen by Poles as “a stab in the back.”
“I hope this is just a coincidence,” said Waszczykowski.
Actually, it probably is. The Obama administration doesn’t study history. It reimagines it. If there is any purposefulness to this date, then its because the Ivans proposed it: “Hey there, my yankee imperialist capitalist lackey fellow traveling tovarich. OK, we’ll make this deal. One thing, could you announce it on Sept. 17? Works better for us. (Muffled giggle).”
Have to say, I like the part about Eastern European leaders getting their phone calls after midnight. Kind of mean phone pranky way of telling your pals it’s over. “Hi, Czech Republic? Poland? You awake? You might want to check something. Is your refrigerator running? Ha ha ha!”
But more likely the O crowd hoped they could just leave a message.
Memorandum’s got your big news and commentary roundup. With a nod on links and art on this matter to Closing Velocity, including this from WSJ:
Last week, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said he expected the Obama administration to drop the missile-defense plans. He said that Moscow wouldn’t view the move as a concession but rather a reversal of a mistaken Bush-era policy.
Well, of course. Giving them everything they want, in exchange for nothing, is just the beginning.
Congratulations, Ivan! Happy Molotov-Ribbentrop Day. (And a big posthumous congrats to Ted Kennedy, Surber adds. Malkin, reassuringly, don’t worry, be happy. HotAir, even more reassuringly, with Biden: Iran not a threat.)
This is a much better deal for the neo-Stalinists than the Molo-’Trop was. Cutting deals with Hitler was a predictably dodgy game, destined to end badly … as any fool could see given what Hitler was doing with the Munich Agreement. So the Obama-Putin Iranian Nuclear Disarmament/Eastern European Betrayal Pact is more like if Stalin had cut a deal with Chamberlain on, say, Sept. 2, 1939, to help contain Hitler. Or maybe like Hitler cutting a deal with Chamberlain to keep Mussolini in line.
* The Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact, signed Aug. 24 and ironically titled the “Treaty of Non-Aggression” … Nazi-Soviet humor … divided Poland between Germany and the Soviet Union. Hitler’s forces invaded Poland Sept. 1, 1939. Stalin’s forces invaded Sept. 17. This turned out to be a stupid move on both parts, as the Germans followed on with the invasion of the Soviet Union in June 1941, before Stalin had a chance to invade them. Tens of millions of Russians, Germans and other Eastern Europeans were dead, including almost all the Jews, and vast swathes of both countries … plus everything that lay in between … were laid waste before it was all over six years later.
Anyone reading this with any White House contacts, please tell Obama to google it. “World War II.” It was a really big deal. Here’s some quick reading, if your guy needs to bone up on the subject:
POLAND BETRAYED: The Nazi-Soviet Invasions of 1939 David Williamson
Lenin, Stalin, and Hitler: The Age of Social Catastrophe Robert Gellately
The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich: A History of Nazi Germany William Shirer
Absolute War: Soviet Russia in the Second World War Chris Bellamy
Quest for Decisive Victory: From Stalemate to Blitzkrieg in Europe, 1899-1940 Robert Citino
Story of a Secret State Jan Karski
The Second World War Winston Churchill
The Second World War John Keegan
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Topics: Nazis, Obama, Russia, commies, history
Posted by Jules Crittenden at 9:40 am Comments (15) on Thursday, September 17, 2009
15 Responses to “Happy Molotov-Ribbentrop Day!”
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September 17th, 2009 at 10:24 am
So incredibly depressing. And frightening.
In this context, three years is a hell of a long time.
September 17th, 2009 at 11:42 am
[...] me that September 17 is the 70th anniversary of the Russian invasion of Poland. Nice going! Jules has more, lots more, on [...]
September 17th, 2009 at 12:13 pm
[...] of this evokes a different Englishman entirely in the mind of history fan Jules, who also notes the auspiciousness of this particular date: This is a much better deal for the neo-Stalinists than [...]
September 17th, 2009 at 12:24 pm
It really is disturbing, how quickly he is willing to bend over backwards to help out autocratic leaders, while telling our democratic allies to get bent.
Does he see a kindred spirit in these people? What’s the angle?
It’s always interesting to examine the question “cui bono” (who benefits) when it comes to Obama’s actions. Domestically, it is never the stated beneficiary, but always a political ally.* It’s a great way to tell which groups really have the “juice” and which don’t.
In foreign policy it’s different, though. There is not always a beneficiary for his actions, which make them more disturbing. Sure, he pissed off China and potentially ignited a trade war to pay back his trade union supporters. That’s stupid, but understandable, like his domestic policies. He’s perhaps been loathe to get rough with Iran because talking to Iran was one of the centerpieces of his campaign, which would also be understandable.
However, he cozies up to Chavez and Chavez wanna-be Zelaya for no apparent reason or gain. He pre-emptively capitulates to Russia, for no apparent reason or gain. He deliberately insults the British, and throws our eastern European allies to the wolves, for no apparent reason or gain.
Minus any overriding factors, his default mode seems to be to support despots and spurn democratic allies. Why? If not for American interests, and not for his own political interests, then why?
September 17th, 2009 at 12:25 pm
* NOT to be confused with the actual voters who put him into office.
September 17th, 2009 at 12:45 pm
I’ve given up expecting anything good out of this administration. Not that I expected much to begin with. I’m stocking up on Maalox for when the Russians stab us in the back and the Obama spin begins.
September 17th, 2009 at 1:01 pm
[...] Foreign Policy, History, Idiocy, Missile Defense, Poland, Russia, Stupidity trackback Obama has commemorated Molotov-Robbintrop day by scrubbing plans for missile interceptors and radar in Poland. But it’s okay, because the Russians are our allies. They were in WW2 as well, [...]
September 17th, 2009 at 1:52 pm
[...] move is a unilateral suckup job to Putin, who has given up exactly nothing for it. It’s a fine Molotov-Ribbentrop Day gift to the Russian Bear who has duped yet another Democratic President into believing its intentions [...]
September 17th, 2009 at 5:05 pm
[...] Happy Molotov-Ribbentrop Day! [...]
September 17th, 2009 at 8:46 pm
[...] Crittenden plays “This Day In History”: President Obama celebrates the 70th anniversary of the fruition of the famous non-aggression pact [...]
September 17th, 2009 at 11:29 pm
[...] I’m sure the former leader of the famous “Solidarity” non-communist trade union, whose movement led ultimately to a succession of anti-communist revolutions in Eastern Europe, was especially pleased that the announcement of this historic double crossing coincided with the 70th anniversary of the Soviet invasion of Poland. I wonder if prefaced his announcement to the Polish diplomats by wishing them a happy Molotov-Ribbentrop day? [...]
September 18th, 2009 at 11:23 am
[...] Jules Crittenden has more: [...]
September 18th, 2009 at 2:32 pm
[...] Is Obama even aware of the historic irony? Probably not. As Jules Crittenden points out, “The Obama administration doesn’t study history. It reimagines it.” [...]
September 18th, 2009 at 8:09 pm
[...] Happy Molotov-Ribbentrop Day! [...]
September 19th, 2009 at 10:12 pm
[...] Happy Molotov-Ribbentrop Day! [...]