Is it back to the old 'Cold War days?

I got quite a shock today when I saw the headlines that a Russian general is talking about making a pre-emptive strike against the missile system being proposed for Eastern Europe. This is a NATO-USA led inactive and it reeks of the old Cold War Days.

The USA says that it is in response to ‘threats from Iran. We all know about the controversy involving Iran moving toward a possible nuclear future and that is enough to raise the hairs on anyone’s back. It is almost akin to the feeling one gets when North Korea starts strutting its stuff along the same lines.

I doubt anyone wants to turn the clock back to the bad old days when we had nightmares about a possible nuclear confrontation. How do we avoid this terrible scenario?

 We step back and put ourselves in the shoes of our ’counterparts.’ By that I mean, the USA needs to be a lot more sensitive to the way Russia feels about this issue and have talks that really matter. On Russia’s part, they need to look south at Iran and see the bigger picture. Perhaps they are in a position that South Korea feels--- about its northern neighbour. Russia may be a vast country but having a neighbour that is seeking to arm itself with a nuclear capacity should be enough to push it towards a ‘common’ approach with its NATO neighbours.

That Iran sponsors terrorism is also another reason to bring a voice of reality to the table. Do we have to go back as I said before? One difference now is that I know Russians have access to what Western commentators say in a manner they never had before. They have many more outlets in which to express their point of view. I know that Russia is my third largest readership group. That would never have happened in the distant past.

It is time for Russians to be aware of the threat we can assume in the rhetoric reported in today’s papers. We must never get to the point where we are going to bed at night knowing that nuclear clock is once again approaching midnight.

Russia is little different to the USA. Just take the issue of the war in Afghanistan. The vast majority of American people are against this war, but the USA is still actively involved in that country.

 I wonder if the Russian people are happy with their government’s stance on the issue of taking Russia to the brink. Time will tell, hopefully in a manner which will let us all sleep.

USA---- Russia---- NATO partners---- talk to one another.