The Stopped Clock Theory

Seven-plus years in, our president has done something I'm in favor of. I'd say that's worthy of a post.

I'm pretty surprised about this, but I heard President Bush on the radio yesterday, taking a stand on an issue, and I agreed with him. Bush was in Kiev, Ukraine, on his way to Romania for the NATO summit, and while there he expressed his support for Ukraine and Georgia joining NATO. Russia strongly opposes this move, and apparently has the French and Germans scared enough that their making noises about opposing it as well.

Bush said that "helping Ukraine move toward NATO membership is in the interest of every member in the alliance and will help advance security and freedom in this region and around the world" and I actually agree with that. Given the propensity of Vladimir Putin to rule Soviet-style, I think we need something to balance him in eastern Europe, and while NATO is far from ideal it's what's available. So, yeah, Let Ukraine and Georgia in, and how about the Baltics, too, while you're at it?

The cynical among us might suggest this is all just posturing to counteract Russia's opposition to our missile defense system. Could be, but if the end result is NATO on Russia's borders, that works for me. Besides, there's no way that missile defense system can built in the next 200 days, right?