Accidental Blogger

Sen John McCain’s wife Cindy McCain traveled to Georgia this week on a humanitarian mission.  McCain has taken a tough pro-Georgia position against Russia since the recent eruption of hostilities between the two countries. A few posts down, in answer to Joe’s question about the Russia – Georgia conflict, I expressed my suspicion regarding the possible role of the US and also my incredulity that anyone in our government would be foolish enough to try and re-ignite the Cold War. Some others too harbor the same fears and suspicions.  It is possible that the neo-cons in the US political establishment are feeling a bit frustrated at their impotence in containing a shadowy menace like global terrorism and in failing to capture an elusive enemy like Osama Bin Laden. Neo-cons like the world to be defined in black and white and as good and evil. It is simpler to do the math and wage wars by such calculus. Given that the current enemy is an amorphous entity, they are pining for a time when the adversary used to have a name and address. (Which is why we invaded Iraq even though it had nothing to do with the attack on 9/11) Who better to play war games with than the current mandarins of the erstwhile Evil Empire with whom we have competed for decades in arms race and one-upmanship and who know all the rules of engagement? In the grips of that nostalgic euphoria, it is entirely possible that the warmongers in the Bush administration and their right wing cheerleaders are willing to be reckless in an area where we should be desperately seeking peace and diplomatic co-operation. Rosa Brooks, LA Times columnist and professor of law at Georgetown University, agrees with me that the Georgia-Russia flare up could be a prelude to resurrecting old enmities.

So you haven’t liked the last couple of decades? Been longing for a simpler time, before text-messaging, Hannah Montana, the Global War on Terror and other total bummers?
No problem. For you, we’ll make it 1981 again.

Rick Springfield, whose single "Jessie’s Girl" was Billboard’s No. 1 hit in August 1981, is back on the charts this week. And just for you, we’ve also brought back 1981 producer price index levels. According to data released Tuesday by the Labor Department, the cost of goods bought by U.S. business leaped this year by almost 10%, an Olympic-worthy high-jump of the sort last seen in … you guessed it, 1981! July’s overall inflation rate — 5.6% — didn’t quite make it to 1981’s impressive 10.35% average, but it’s the highest average rate since 1982.

And that’s not all. As an extra treat (and with a little assistance from Russia and the Republic of Georgia), we’re bringing back the Cold War.

In 1981, Ronald Reagan began his first term as president and lost no time warming up the shivering Cold War. Remember the "evil empire," the debate about a "Star Wars" missile defense and how thrilling it was to be in a perpetual nuclear standoff with the Soviets?

Wouldn’t it be great to go "back to the future," as in the 1980s hit movie? The Cold War was, as Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates mused in 2007, "a less complex time" for which he was "almost nostalgic." Historian Niall Ferguson shared the sentiment: "I miss the Cold War," he wrote in 2006 in the London Daily Telegraph. "Soviet wickedness made politics so much simpler."

Among neocons and assorted righties, Cold War nostalgia has been widespread lately. And no wonder: Just compare the Cold War with the Global War on Terror. "Cold War" had a real ring to it. But "Global War on Terror"? Clumsy, and what a crummy acronym — GWOT.

There is an old saying, "Any fool can start a war or a love affair. It takes considerable wisdom to wrap up either one neatly."  I hope that the newly enthused neo-cons are aware that the cost of provocation can sometimes run beyond the initial budget. That reminder comes in a letter to the editor in today’s Houston Chronicle.

Don’t risk Polish missile crisis

I was one of the National Guardsmen stationed in Hunt Armory in Pittsburgh, Pa., on Oct. 28 and 29, 1962, when the Russian supply ships were heading to Cuba during the Cuban Missile Crisis. Trucks were readied to take us to the airport, and planes were warmed up on the tarmac to fly us into Cuba if the ships did not turn around. Diplomacy between Nikita Khrushchev and John F. Kennedy won. We were dismissed when the ships reversed course. We were told that Khrushchev had agreed to remove missile sites from Cuba and that the United States proved itself the stronger power.

It was a well-kept secret that Kennedy had agreed at the same time to remove American missile sites from Turkey. Years later at a party in Houston, I met a Russian who had been called up at the same time as I. He stated that it was a good thing that Kennedy promised the United States would never invade Cuba again.

President Bush did not pay attention to lessons on military strategy or diplomacy when he served in the Texas National Guard. Unless we want a Polish missile crisis, we had best not install so-called anti-ballistic missile batteries in Poland, when anyone knows that, to be effective, you must also install artillery batteries and missile launchers with a strong complement of troops to protect them in the event of attack.

IRVING N. ROTHMAN
Houston