Submitted by Matt, Feb 18, 2007 18:04

Excuse me apparently it is an issue to point out that the current Russian President was a high ranking KGB Officer. Is that not true? Don't you think that might explain some rather curious behavior on the part of the current Russian Government, cutting the Ukraine off from energy in the middle of the winter and isolating Georgia for example? Historically Russia has sought to dominate its neighbors. Look at Russian expansionism friom the 1600's to the present date.

President Reagan realized that economically the old USSR could not compete with America. In order to colaspe it he expanded military spending to about 6 to 7% of GDP from about 5% GDP The Soviet economy was already deep into double digits in military spending when Reagan did this and it could not support the strain. The evidence was everywhere. Average life expectancy for males in the USSR was 58 years during the Reagan years as aopposed to 75 in the US. Standards of living poorer, acoholism rates higher. Reagan took the weaknesses of the Soviet system, the strengths os the American system and exploited them. The result was freeing millions of persons enslaved in Eastern Europe.

NATO has expanded because the former satellites of the USSR want to join. They wanted to try and ensure they did not end up as Russian satellites once again. NATO did nor coerce the states of Eastern Europe to join it, they did so out of an abundance of caution, given Russian history.

It is interesting to note how you condemn aerial warfare in the Balkans, but fail to note the agreesive behavior of the Serbs in attacking their neighbors. Of course then again as I am sure you know the Serbs are allied with the russians and have been historically. Srbian agression in the Balkans in the 90's resulted in Hundres of thousands killed and millions displaced from theur home as the Miloshevic government tried to create a greater Serbia from the carcass of Yugoslavia.

600,00 dead civilians in Iraq? It is interesting that the Brookings Institution puts the civilian casualty figures at 60,000 dead and the UN at about 120,000. While the loss of any life in regretable, you seem to radically overstate the numbers. Furthermore I suggest you look at who is doing the vast amount of killing of civillians in Iraq. It is not the US but folks in opposition to the collition and its goals of a peaceful democratic state.

There has been a request to expand the military in the current budget to met current needs. The Clnton adminstration cut the military by 60%. Russian and Chinese military expenditures have escallated. For example China over the past 12 years has expanded its military by over 10% a year. Russia is now the world's largest exporter of weapons.

Hiroshima and Nagasaki? Japan was fighting a war with the US and its allies. It was estimated that an invasion of the Home Islands would have cost 1 million US servicemen their lives as well as countless Japanese. The Atomic attacks on those cities got Japan to surrender saving millions of lives both Allied and Japanese. You also seem to forget that Japan had extended peace feelers before the attacks throufgh the USSR, which for some reason were never communicated to Washington. I believe that was because the USSR leadership wanted apiece of Japan and Japanese occupied China. I would suggest to you Sir the fault here lay at the feet of the USSR and not the US.

Maybe if you wiould recall your own history, you wopuld write a letter that is more sensible.

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