Forget the good old Bomber Gap, that’s so last millennium. In the here and now we have something far more effective that both sides have already proven more than adept at: The Asshole Gap:
Russia has said it may target its missiles at Ukraine if its neighbour joins Nato and accepts the deployment of the US missile defence shield.Russian President Vladimir Putin made the comments in Moscow alongside Ukraine’s President, Viktor Yushchenko. BBC
The quick thinker may now ask, why isn’t there a treaty to govern such things? Bush quit such an ABM treaty in December 2001 without a replacement for it.
Making matters worse the US is pressuring former East European countries, many of which are now members of the EU, to put US operated missile defence systems in their countries, thereby not only ticking off Russia, but also the EU.
Of course Putin now feels he has to show strength, just as Bush would if Putin had been the one who called the treaty quits only to establish bases in, say, Cuba. As a result Bush and Putin are facing off, neither one wanting to be the one to back down, in this massive Asshole Gap derby.
