Drone Threat by Mike Maden Page A

pariah.”
    â€œPresident Titov has made a few strategic blunders of his own, andthe political class in my country has exploited those blunders for their personal political gain.”
    â€œYour sanctions have crippled our economy. It would be hard to form a strong relationship without first removing them.”
    Chandler sighed. “Unfortunately, the president has been advised that removing the sanctions would send the wrong signal to the rest of the world that we’re weak on human rights and the rule of law.”
    â€œA very strange idea, considering the fact you make alliances with governments that behead, whip, cripple, and imprison their own citizens for minor civil and religious infractions.”
    â€œWe aren’t consistent in our moral umbrage, I’ll grant you that.”
    â€œYou in the West don’t play a very smart game. Israel funded Hamas to discredit the PLO when Arafat was preeminent, but now Hamas is built up and they are Israel’s implacable enemy. The same with Bin Laden and the CIA. Over and over, you keep supporting religious terrorists as a weapon against your secular enemies, but you create worse enemies in the bargain.”
    â€œWe supported Bin Laden and the mujahideen in response to your invasion of Afghanistan.”
    â€œWe invaded to stop an Islamic uprising that was overthrowing the secular government. If we had been allowed to crush the rebellion and restore the government in Kabul, would you or the world be any worse off? Would there have been a Bin Laden or 9/11?”
    â€œPerhaps not. But the way you brutalized the Afghan people—”
    Tarkovsky raised a hand. “I was speaking only in geopolitical terms. I make no excuses for the brutality of Brezhnev and the Communists. Good riddance to all of them. But from our perspective—you and me, here, just friends speaking in a friendly way—I think we can both acknowledge that mistakes were made on both sides. The fact we have been and still are competing at the tactical level causes our respective governments to make strategic errors. By not cooperating with each other on the grand strategic issues, we become desperate to find weaker allies to achieve our goals. In my country, the scoundrels invoke historic paranoia to justify their irrationality. In yours, selective humanitarian concerns.”
    Chandler nodded. “The purpose of national security is to protect the nation from its enemies, period. We need statesmen at the helm, not Sunday-school teachers.”
    â€œYou are one of America’s most articulate leaders. If I may be so bold, I’m not sure why you made common cause with President Lane, who so clearly does not favor Realpolitik.”
    â€œI’m just a soldier, Aleksandr. I serve my country any way I can. I hope to serve her even more effectively once I’m president.”
    Tarkovsky’s eyes widened. “You intend on challenging Lane in the next election?”
    â€œNot at all. He’s a very popular president, and while I might not agree with many of his policies, he possesses one priceless talent above all others.”
    â€œYou mean his military background?”
    â€œNo. His luck. And like Napoleon said in regard to his generals, it’s better to be lucky than clever, and Lane is the luckiest politician I’ve ever known.”
    â€œAnd you are hoping his luck will rub off on you?”
    â€œI make my own luck. I agreed to run as his VP only because the party assured me that Lane would endorse me after his eight years, but I’m no fool. I need to lay my own firm foundation in the interim. President Lane is about to conduct the Asia security initiative with China as his partner. My intention is to launch a European security initiative with Russia as a partner. A true partner. It’s time we bring stability to the European continent, not to mention the Middle East.”
    Tarkovsky smiled. He knew that it was actually Vicki