The violent history of Eastern Europe inspired Irish author Bram Stoker
to create his classic horror character Dracula in 1897. Stoker based
his vampire on a Romanian ruler named Vlad Tepes, who, in the 15th
century, committed incredible atrocities like impaling thousands of
captured people on felled trees. Nice guy.
For this Tepes was called "Vlad the Impaler."
Now we have Vladimir Putin, the Russian martinet who is orchestrating
the violence in Georgia in order to show the world that the Russian
military is back in fighting form. Using the old Third Reich ruse of
"protecting" ethnic "Russians" living in Georgian territory, Putin
launched a violent action that has angered most decent people.
For this Putin should be known as "Vlad the Assailer."
Why is Putin doing this? Well, like Dracula, it is in his blood. As a
former Soviet Secret Police director, Putin has no problem using harsh
methods to achieve his goals. Under his presidency, Russia became a
crime-ridden state where dissenters (and Putin's business competitors)
were routinely beaten, imprisoned and, on occasion, murdered.
There is no question in my mind that Putin is a thug who still calls
the shots in Russia despite the election of his protégé
Dmitry Medvedev as president.
Putin's vision is a Russia that dominates the countries on its borders
and competes with the United States and China for global influence. He
has done everything he can to weaken America -- including selling Iran
sophisticated weaponry like the Tor-M1 air defense system, as well as
500 surface-to-air missiles. Obviously, Putin is no friend of ours.
The United States has tweaked Putin back by supporting Georgia's entry
into the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, and that is the crux of
the current conflict. Realizing that the Bush administration cannot
handle another armed conflict right now, Putin decided to show the
world that he could punish America's friend, Georgia, without a
meaningful response. He has succeeded in doing that.
Down the road, either John McCain or Barack Obama will have to deal
with Vlad the Assailer. This dour, brutal man senses weakness in both
America and Europe, weakness that will drive him to become bolder. The
only thing a guy like Vlad understands is the stick.
But how to wield it is the question. As with Iran, diplomacy is not
likely to deter Putin because Europe needs Russia's natural gas and oil
and is not likely to challenge Russia by supporting sanctions. So it
will come down to the United States vs. Russia, mano a mano.
Putin is one tough customer. It will be interesting to see whether the
United States will elect a leader who can effectively neutralize him.
If that does not happen, old Vlad, like Dracula, will commit scourge on
the countryside.
