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Some bitter truths

WHEN Vladimir Putin speaks, these days, indications are that the world is slowly, but surely, heading back to the Cold War days. In the minimum, the days of Moscow’s silence are over. So with his televised, three-hour question-answer session, an annual feature of his governance over the past eight years, this week.

The Russian president is taking firm stands and showing the boldness to call a spade a spade. For one, he called upon the US to set a date for withdrawal from Iraq. The call comes two days after his Iran visit, where he warned America against a military adventurism in the name of denuclearisation of the Islamic Republic. And, there, again, is his warning against the US plans to set up the European Missile Defence Shield.

Putin has stated that the American invasion of Iraq, in 2003, was partly, if not fully, guided by a “desire to control its oil reserves”. This is what everyone suspects, but hesitates to openly state. Putin is also being candid when he tells Americans that, to fight, or dismantle, a regime is one thing; and fighting the people, as is currently the case in Iraq, quite another; and a “pointless” obsession.

The Russian leader is speaking the obvious, again, when he notes that, as long as a US pullout date is not announced, the Iraqi leaders will continue feeling comfortable, and “won’t rush to build their own troops”. What else could have motivated men like Nour Al Maliki to plead that the US troops should stay on, even when these leaders know this is only fanning the flames of insurgency there?

Putin’s open expression of differences with the US on international matters and his offer of support to nations like Iran cannot be seen in isolation. While an alliance against American adventurism is not even a distant reality yet, the frequency and vehemence of the criticism against the US by Russia and others are proof of the growing global concerns over what they perceive as cases of US muscle-flexing. Yet, what is desirable is not the revival of the Cold War conditions, but an earnest attempt on everybody’s part for the re-emergence of a spirit of co-existence and collective human welfare —causes to which the newly-emerging leadership in the US is duty-bound to rededicate the nation and its people.