Posted on 03/02/2006 8:08:40 PM PST by Tailgunner Joe
On March 3, Hamas envoys will arrive in Moscow. Their Russian hosts have prepared a banquet fit for a sultan. Gifts will be abundant. Russia's foreign minister Sergei Lavrov has offered to provide Hamas with foreign aid. There may even be shipments of everything from guns to helicopters. Moscow's position undercuts the strategy of U.S., European, and Israeli officials who had hoped that isolation would encourage moderation.
Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice remained composed in the face of Vladimir Putin's shocking invitation to the group. She merely demanded that Moscow "send a firm message," but privately the Bush Administration was irate. It was one thing for Hamas to receive invitations from international pariahs like Iran or Venezuela. And although Turkey's invitation was a disappointment, Prime Minister Erdogan's antics and acceptance of Islamist capital has long since made Ankara irrelevant to most U.S. or Middle Eastern policymakers. But Moscow was a member of the Quartet, and host of the 2006 G-8 Summit.
Israeli politicians were likewise caught off-guard. Hadn't Putin been the first Russian president ever to travel to Israel? In Tel Aviv last April he said, "[T]here is the will and desire on both sides to strengthen our friendship, trust and cooperation and to build a constructive partnership together." Hadn't trade relations between the two countries doubled under Putin's tenure? Hadn't senior delegations from both countries visited each other in the past several years, signing lucrative energy deals, swapping military technologies, and even sharing counter-terrorism intelligence? And hadn't attacks on Russia's theatres and schools created solidarity between two peoples plagued by Islamist terrorism? Many Israeli officials had come to trust Putin. Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, a friend of Putin's, told the Israeli newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth that Russia's "intentions had changed."
Reacting to Moscow's overture, Israeli cabinet minister Meir Sheetrit reflected widespread feelings of betrayal, telling Ha'aretz that Putin had "stabbed Israel in the back."
The Israelis were not the only ones duped by Putin. In recent years, Middle East analysts in the U.S. and Europe have viewed Russian-Israeli relations through rose-tinted glasses. Leading defense analysts published articles in nationwide Russian newspapers calling for expanded military cooperation between Moscow and Jerusalem, while in Israel, Ha'aretz and the Jerusalem Post sang Putin's praises. Even in Washington, typically sober Putin-watchers praised the Russian president for recognizing Israel as a "strategic ally." One researcher writing recently for the influential Middle East Quarterly asserted that Putin was pursuing a deliberately "pro-Israel" policy.
Nothing could have been further from the truth. Even as the Kremlin signed weapons deals with Jerusalem, the Russian government sold high-end surface-to-air missiles to Syria — a rogue nation which supports Hezbollah operations out of Lebanon. Of even greater danger, Russia continued construction of a nuclear reactor in Bushehr, Iran — even after Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad called for Israel to be "wiped out from the map of the world." Throughout, Putin remained steadfast in his refusal to recognize Hamas and Hezbollah as terrorist organizations. Russian officials sought help from Israeli intelligence services in dealing with their "Chechen problem" while continuing to support terrorist organizations calling for the destruction of Israel.
If there is any silver-lining to Putin's invitation to Hamas, it is the exposure of Putin's true colors. Putin has crafted a two track, deliberately ambiguous policy towards the Middle East, allowing Russia to feign friendly relations with Israel while also developing competing interests with Arab countries in the Middle East. The Kremlin operates according to Lord Palmerston's old adage that "Nations have no permanent friends and no permanent enemies; only interests." While a clever strategy for a weakened Russia, Putin's duplicity poses serious dangers to the region.
This is not the first time that Putin has used Israel as a marionette, nor will it be the last. Only last April, having failed to stop the color revolutions sweeping through the former Soviet republics, and facing falling polling numbers, Putin asked Israeli officials if he could travel to Jerusalem. Putin's visit laundered his image, but not his policy. His latest offer to Hamas comes as Moscow seeks to reaffirm its standing as a major international actor.
So long as U.S., Israeli, and certain European statesmen believe that Putin shares their interests on matters of geopolitics, let alone energy security, they will see their interests undermined again and again. Moscow's gala for Hamas should serve as evidence to the West that Putin is as likely to be working against them as with them.
I agree it is not an unprincipled act, it is simply an act of war by Russia. They have a principle, world conquest. And they intend to use the Jihadi to get there. It isn't M16's the Jihadi are carrying...
Russia can no longer be trusted.
PING
"Russia can no longer be trusted."
Correction: Putin cannot be trusted.
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