All they did was reluctantly share intel with us while supporting such odious regimes as Syria, Iran and Iraq. And it was not Bush but Clinton admin that supported the Chechen rebels. Under Bush it was the Foggy Bottom clintonites that continued receiving the Chechen reps for a while. It gradually fizzled out. We also pissed the Russians bad when we bombed the Serbs. But that was Clinton again. Now is the time to bury the hatchets and face the common enemy together. Russia has a 20 mln. strong muslim population and is almost surrounded by muslim nations where the wahhabi ideology is taking root slowly but surely. Russia will not be able to stand alone. It is only going to get worse. They will have to wake up and see who there real enemies are. When push comes to shove, who are they gonna rely on, France, China, Germany?
I agree. The Bush Admin policy is also pushing the Russians into an alliance with the Chinese, which is perhaps even more dangerous.
Instead of pushing them away, we should be trying to bring them over to our side. I would also point out that they have a lot of oil, and are busy cementing plans to sell that oil to the EU and to China. Why not encourage them to sell it to us?
I think that the Russians' dealings with Iraq, Syria, etc. is motivated by money more than ideology. I think that if they had an opportunity to engage in more commerce with the US, they would quickly learn that it is more lucrative than selling nuke plants to the Iranians, particularly since Iranian nuke plants endanger their own security.
Unfortunately, we don't seem to have any interest in commerce with the Russians.
The US must firmly and resolutely ally itself with our Russian allies.
NOW!