Unthinkable Thoughts: Russia Has A Case

 "Russia has been, actually, extraordinarily patient. They have made the point, year after year after year, that they did not want hostile missiles and troops near their border. And the United States has expanded NATO right up to the borders of Russia. And Russia doesn't want that. They will not tolerate - and they've made that repeatedly clear - they will not tolerate missiles and armies on their borders - in the same way that the United States would not tolerate [it]. In 1962, the world came the closest it ever has come to a nuclear war over the stationing of missiles in Cuba by the Soviet government at that time. And the United States made the point emphatically it would not permit missiles of any outer European state ninety miles from the border of the United States. And that's consistent with a policy the United States has had in place for two centuries, the so-called Monroe Doctrine, that prohibits, or we prohibit any dangerous outer North American or outer forces on our borders. And the United States was ready to go to nuclear war to prevent Russian Soviet missiles in Cuba. And by the same token the Russians do not want missiles and forces directly on their border, which is what NATO encroachment on their borders would mean. And the United States has ignored those pleas over and over, even though they're quite reasonable."

--------Mark Weber, The Political Cesspool