Aggression.

Editor,

American media repeat again and again that Russia is engaging in aggression. Let's go back to where this crisis started:

a) The U.S. and EU insisted that Yanukovych choose between aligning Ukraine with the EU or with Russia rather than to allow Ukraine not to align itself exclusively with either the West or Russia.

b) Agreeing to do business with the West entailed "security" agreements that were frankly hostile to Russia. This is why Yanukovych balked, and when nationalist and anti-Russian demonstrators took to the the streets, the USA was only too happy to lend them ideological support and material encouragement in the form of promises of loans.

Who is the aggressor here? Why is NATO on Russia's doorstep? Why is Russia viewed as an enemy by the USA, particularly in view of the cooperation Russia has extended in matters such as nuclear disarmament, Syria, and Iran?

I can answer these questions. Europe wants Russia's oil and gas and doesn't want to pay for it. All this talk about Russian expansion into the Baltics overlooks one pesky little detail: NATO's expansion into the Baltics.

This situation mirrors the Americans' choice after WWII not to cultivate a constructive relationship with the USSR -- yes, Stalin was a savage madman, but he was true to his word when he signed agreements with the West -- but rather cultivated enmity and military competition.

Fantasies of Russian expansionism are pretexts for NATO aggression. Russia is not an expansionist power. The USA is.

Re: "Crimea and Punishment" (3/27/2014)