NATO OKs Missile Defense, Limits Expansion

President George “LBJ” Bush attended his last NATO summit this week and got some of the things he wanted from America’s allies. No doubt, he had hoped for a clean sweep to put some spit and polish on his corroded legacy, but the adage “half a loaf is better than none” applies. That is especially true when the half one gets is a bit more than half. Mr. Bush secured approval of his ridiculous missile defense project, and Croatia and Albania will be NATO members. However, Ukraine, Georgia and Macedonia will have to wait.

The missile defense boondoggle is one of the American right's pet projects. Ronald Reagan’s Strategic Defense Initiative (quickly dubbed “Star Wars” by his critics) died out along with the Soviet Union. However, thanks to Al Qaeda, Iran, and North Korea, the threat of a rogue state or terrorist group launching a nuke-tipped ICBM keeps some strategic planners awake at night (yet, oddly they can sleep despite America’s ports being effectively undefended). So, the missile defense project for Europe (to keep non-existent Iranian nukes from falling on Gdansk) came up in recent years.

In order to annoy the Russians and make sure they are standing under the US nuclear umbrella, Poland and the Czech Republic agreed to let the Yanks install parts of this unworkable system on their territory. The US continues to offer assurances that the missile defense system proposed isn’t aimed at undermining Russian missile capabilities. It is impossible for Russia to see it any other way.

Perhaps as a sop to Mr. Putin, NATO didn’t make a membership offer to Ukraine or Georgia, both former Soviet republics. NATO gave the excuse that neither was stable enough to be offered a membership action plan [MAP], a path to joining. Meanwhile, Croatia and Albania did get offers. Neither is strategically important to Russia, and neither has a military worthy of Moscow’s concern.

Mr. Bush also lost out on getting Macedonia a seat in NATO. This is largely because Greece, a founding member, doesn’t like Macedonia’s name. It fears that if the Former Yugoslavian Republic of Macedonia [FYROM is how it is legally known internationally] got that name recognized, irredentism would threaten Greek territory in the north. This is entirely nonsense as territorial ambitions have little to do with names1:14 PM 4/3/2008; for example the American Georgia has no territorial ambitions in Caucasian Georgia. A nation can call itself what it likes, and its neighbors shouldn’t have a veto over it. A few suggestions for FYROM if it really wants to annoy the Greeks: Very Northern Cyprus, The Republic of Alexandria, The Free State of Western Turkey, or Plato’s Republic. Mr. Bush should have steamrollered the Greeks on this just to prove what a tough guy he still is and how relevant he remains – or maybe he did.

© Copyright 2008 by The Kensington Review, Jeff Myhre, PhD, Editor. No part of this publication may be reproduced without written consent. Produced using Fedora Linux.

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