Spreading Freedom Abroad

Fire of Liberty

Ralph Peters has an excellent column on President Bush's visit to Latvia and Georgia in Tuesday's edition of The New York Post(registration required). As a retired soldier with an extensive knowledge of the former Soviet occupied nations, Peters is able to present an impassioned look at the region that has planted freedom and democracy while Mother Russia has begun its regressive slide to the dark days of the USSR. Though the Russian leadership and various foreign policy pros may find the President's visit to the two countries, speeches saluting their turn to freedom and apologizing for Yalta as a slap in the face of Russia, the people of these nations saw a leader with a genuine desire to promote freedom throughout the World. Just read a bit of Peters' work below:

That's why President Bush's visits to Latvia and Georgia were vital. America finally took a stand against Russia's renewed aggression.

To us, these were brief stops, minor footnotes to history. But to the people of the Baltic states and the Caucasus, they confirmed their right to independence. Our president didn't mince words. He denounced the tragic outcome of the Yalta summit and stated clearly that the Soviets had been unwanted occupiers.

Bush's words and deeds mattered immensely. We must make up for time lost during the Clinton years, when incompetent "friends of Bill" insisted that our future lay with Russia — which was bound to become a model democracy. The newly independent states were treated as nuisances. And Moscow began to lust for a restored empire.

While cooperating rationally with Moscow, Bush made a vital course correction. First by supporting popular revolutions in Ukraine and Kyrgystan, and now by digging his heels into the soil of two brave countries — despite the Kremlin's protests. Our president brought us back to the American tradition of sticking up for the little guy.

I hope the trend towards democracy increases in the region and other areas that are darkened by tyranny. From the looks of things, this quest for freedom seems to have caught on.