NATO Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen © Yves Herman / Reuters
Georgia Today: Former NATO Chief Claims Putin Was Once a Pro-Western Politician
KYIV - Former NATO Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen claimed in an interview with independent Ukrainian broadcaster Hromadske that Russian President Vladimir Putin was a pro-Western politician when he first came to power in late 1999, but later soured on his relationship with the West.
“The first time we saw each other was in May 2002. At that time, he was a very pro-Western and pro-European president. I had met him under different circumstances in later years, and each time his attitude become increasingly negative. All this because of the color revolutions in Georgia and Ukraine. He was convinced that the revolutions were instigated and financed by the United States,” said Rassmusen.
Georgia’s 2003 Rose Revolution and Ukraine’s Orange Revolution in 2004 - known as the 'color revolutions' - attempted to overthrow the two countries' post-Soviet governments, which were widely seen as endemically corrupt and staunchly pro-Russian.
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WNU Editor: I do not think Putin was "pro-West" when he came to power in late 1999. He always struck me as someone who was bitter that the Soviet Union collapsed, and doubly bitter that the Communist Party was too slow and too disorganised to institute the necessary reforms that could have saved it. As for his belief that the U.S. was responsible for the overthrow of pro-Prussian governments in Georgia and Ukraine .... he is not the only one.
On a side note, former NATO Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen now wants the U.S. to be the policeman of the world .... Former NATO chief Rasmussen wants US ‘to police the world’ (RT).
Fogh Rasmussen is not an American and he like most of NATO do not have American interests at heart when formulating policies. The entire concept of NATO needs to be renegotiated. While the US will continue to provide for security for these nations based upon prior commitments, it needs to be made abundantly clear to these nations that the American commitment is not indefinite. In other words, they need to get ready for their own defense needs in preparation for the day when American forces redeploy. Also, we will NOT under ANY circumstances play the role of muscle man for the advancement of their interests at the expense of our own. Essentially NATO. as it is today, serves no American interest.
ReplyDeleteAs for Georgia and Ukraine, the United States was not responsible for these coups but the United States will be blamed for it. This is the nature of things today. America will be blamed for everything that its adversaries and potential adversaries deem bad and it will never be given credit for any good it does by anyone. This is simply the nature of things today.
With that said the United States government did not move to condemn the overthrow of pro-Russian governments in Georgia and Ukraine and even, in the case of Ukraine, acted as a cheerleader for the anti-Russian forces. To say this was bad optics is an understatement.
We are going to need Russian assistance in a whole host of areas if we are to be successful. It's probably to late for the current POTUS and his team to make the necessary changes to American policy towards Russia. the next POTUS should make it clear to Eastern Europeans, western Ukrainians, etc that attacks on Russia or eastern Ukrainians will be treated as attacks on America itself and America will respond in kind. While Russia does not need our help and would very likely reject it even if offered, I think they would appreciate such a gesture and it would probably help us improve relations with this great power.