Putin Is Throwback
To The Editor:

Looking into the eyes of [Russian Prime Minister Vladimir] Putin, [President George W.] Bush should not have forgotten history. Russians patiently await opportunities that benefit their agendas. They are a nation autocratically governed, founded upon suspicion, predicated on deceit.

A peasant society was ruled by dictate for millennia. The masses have grown accustomed to the yoke, satisfied by crumbs that fall off the table of their masters. Russians do not reject democracy—they simply have no understanding of it. They seek the rewards of stability even at the expense of liberties others consider fundamental.

Putin as Prime Minister remains the Russian government. As a KGB officer, Putin believes in the political goals of the Soviet regime. Regardless of what the Russians say or promise, Putin will seek to regain the territorial possessions that were lost with the collapse of the Soviet Union. To Putin, the freedoms claimed by these former States have no merit. Putin insists upon a Russian sphere of influence that extends to the German border.

Putin feels insulated due to the oil and gas Russia exports to the West. Putin will use energy as a weapon. He hopes the fear of energy shortages will intimidate opposition as he did to the Ukraine and others.

There is little the U.S. and Europe can do to protect Georgia and the other former Republics. It is clear that Georgia is a test case for Russia and the West. If Russian occupation of Georgia is permitted, it will not be long before Russian boots cross other borders. It is a contest between Putin's quests of reclaiming Soviet possessions versus the commitment of the West to defend democracies under attack. Edward Horn Baldwin, New York