More to Georgia than meets the eye

A recent letter about the danger represented by Russia perpetuates the lack of understanding of this issue. It isn't as simple as the Manichaean Cold War thinking that dominated the last half of the 20th century.

Unfortunately, the media has done almost nothing to explain the nuances of this situation. The neocons, led by Dick Cheney, have been pursuing the expansion of NATO to the doorstep of Russia since its breakup in the 1980s. Read about bills like the NATO Participation Act in 1994, which was tacked onto an international drug enforcement law, and allowed the United States to treat former Soviet states as de facto allies, without actual treaties. This allowed the Pentagon to send them their "surplus" and "trainers." Then, in April 2007, the NATO Freedom Consolidation Act passed. This allowed the President to treat Ukraine and Georgia as NATO allies, even though they weren't members of NATO, sending weapons and advisers. While this was not reported in the American press, Russia expressed its outrage at our expansionist designs and Georgia reported this as a prelude to NATO membership. This helped set the stage for Georgia's invasion of Russia and Russia's response.

Obviously, this situation is much more complicated that the U.S. press paints it. In addition, our Congress has been busily forming treaty-like arrangements with other countries, without debate or votes on actual treaties. This is another example of the secrecy and lack of transparency in our government and the strong influence of the military industrial lobby in Washington. The demand for oil will be a driving force in foreign policy in the next century, and we need a debate about how to resolve it. We also need to demand that our media provide in-depth analysis of policy issues so that we can be an informed electorate.

Lynn Barnett

Vernon Hills