Petraeus Warns - New Cold War is Coming

Petraeus Warns Of A Return Of The Cold War With Russia

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09/23/2015

Russian Imperialism: As if President Obama hadn't caused enough national security crises, the esteemed Gen. David Petraeus now warns of Moscow's designs on Syria. America may have itself a new Cold War to win.

According to the architect of President Bush's successful (but since squandered) 2007 surge strategy in Iraq, Syria is "a geopolitical Chernobyl," the meltdown of which Vladimir Putin's Russia is taking full advantage.

"Russia's recent military escalation in Syria is a further reminder that when the U.S. does not take the initiative others will fill the vacuum, often in ways that are harmful to our interests," Petraeus told the Senate Armed Services Committee on Tuesday.

It was a scathing condemnation of the Mideast policies of an administration that Petraeus served as CIA director and U.S. forces commander in Afghanistan. "We should not allow Russia to push us into coalition with Assad, which appears to be President Putin's intention," the four-star general cautioned.

But "the Middle East is not a part of the world that plays by Las Vegas rules: What happens in the Middle East is not going to stay in the Middle East," Petraeus told the senators, arguing that the Russian ruler and ex-KGB officer has global designs.

"I think that what Vladimir Putin would like to do is resurrect the Russian empire . . . or at least the Soviet Union," he said. Putin's immediate goal "is to solidify the corridor on the Mediterranean coast between Latakia, where he has his air base, and Tartus where they have the Russian naval base, the only naval base left in the Mediterranean."

So the Russian bear that we thought we'd vanquished has reawakened, adding to the list of foreign policy fiascos for America during the Obama presidency.

We've perpetuated Iran's nuclear program, keeping that Islamofascist state at the doorstep of the atomic weapons club with an Arab nuclear arms race an inevitable consequence.

Our premature exit from Iraq has allowed elements of al-Qaida to mutate into the Islamic State, a self-proclaimed caliphate rolling in cash that televises beheadings and incinerations, and is eager to attack the U.S.

The war that Obama has said "we have to win" — in Afghanistan — is lost, with the Shariah-imposing Taliban whom we thought we'd obliterated after 9/11 poised to return to power, and where that group's seemingly effortless attacks on military facilities in next-door Pakistan may someday give it access to that nation's nuclear arsenal.

Now, Petraeus noted, there's even "an Islamic State presence being established" in Afghanistan.

How could we handle a new Russian cold war on top of all that? Especially now that our gutted armed forces can no longer wage two major wars simultaneously?

Petraeus may blame the Obama administration for the stiff $100,000 fine that he had to pay, plus probation, for supposedly mishandling classified materials, and some might believe that explains such harsh criticism of his former boss. But Petraeus is more likely motivated by alarm at what he sees.

For instance, he advises that any move by Tehran to obtain highly enriched uranium must "be met with military force. This guarantee must be ironclad to reassure our partners in the region and have the desired effect with Iran." Under Obama's appeasement deal, it's more likely that Iranian cheating will be winked at — for the sake of preserving the deal, and Obama's legacy.

Russian designs on Syria may not yet be viewed as a foreign policy emergency for the world's lone but diminishing superpower. But Gen. Petraeus reminds us that inaction may mean the return of another superpower over which the free world thought it had prevailed.

Read More At Investor's Business Daily: http://news.investors.com/ibd-editorials/092315-772498-petraeus-russia-using-syria-for-new-cold-war.htm#ixzz3mfisQrGP
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