PRESS RELEASE
At Least One Sane Pair of Voices for U.S.-Russian Partnership
May 10, 2016 (EIRNS)—The Washington Times published a joint op-ed by Gilbert Doctorow and Edward Lozansky, two leaders of the sane faction seeking Russian-American partnership as an alternative to world war. Doctorow is the European coordinator for the American Committee for East-West Accord, and Edward Lozanksy is president of the American University in Moscow. In contrast to the gaggle of Russia-bashers who dominate the American media, and who have dissed the celebrations of the Allied victory over Fascism and Nazism in World War II, Doctorow and Lozansky wrote today about “Recalling when Americans and Russians fought together—The uneasy spirit of World War II should not be squandered.”
After noting the Russian Victory Day traditional parades of May 9, the authors wrote,
“A year ago, another Victory Day parade began that is likely to become a still more enduring tradition, the so-called ‘March of the Immortal Regiment,’ in which ordinary citizens carry photographs of their own family heroes from World War II; fathers, grandfathers, mothers and grandmothers who fought on the front or worked at defense positions behind lines. These processions, which are held in towns across Russia, tap into a nationwide wellspring of emotion and pay tribute to the fact that practically every family in the country lost members to the war effort.”
The authors cited Russian President Vladimir Putin’s speech last September at the United Nations General Assembly, where he called for a new US-Russian alliance to defeat the Islamic State.
The authors traced the collapse of US leadership, post Ronald Reagan, in which Bill Clinton accepted NATO expansion, despite opposition from 19 U.S. Senators, Defense Secretary Les Aspin, Gen. John Shalikashvili, George Kennan, and Daniel Patrick Moynihan. Things got progressively worse under Bush and then Obama.
After noting that Russia and America are different in many ways, they concluded by invoking the best tradition of the World War II collaboration:
“There are, however, also many ways in which we are alike., Our peoples hope and pray that we will never again face another world war that costs so much in blood, treasure and lost opportunities. The threats we face today trouble leaders in Moscow and in Washington who should remember as we celebrate our World War II partnership what we have been able to accomplish when we’ve worked together.”
