In another powerful and significant move for peace, the President of the Russian Federation Vladimir Putin has cancelled a presidential order which in 2011, had set up an interdepartmental working group under the authority of the Russian Presidential Administration designed to develop ways to establish cooperation with the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) in the sphere of 'missile defense'.

Many experts and NATO watchers familiar with the decree and the attempts by the Russian Federation to develop an equal partnership relationship with NATO on the basis of mutual respect and transparency may now breathe a collective sigh of relief that President Putin has finally run out of patience with the alliance.

The wisdom of the president can not be questioned after what many have been saying for years and dozens of failed attempts to develop a partnership with the alliance. These "failures" have been many fold and compounded by NATO own actions and have included NATO insistence on Like the proverbial Russian bear, President Putin has been slow to be provoked into action but once that action has been decided it is resolute.

Empty rhetoric
It was almost obvious from the outset that despite all of its rhetoric to the contrary, rhetoric that has proven time and time again to be as empty as the minds of those espousing it, that NATO had no intention of allowing the Russian Federation into its "fold" as an equal partner.

This total inability by NATO to adjust and modernize its strategic mission taking into account the contemporary realities of Russia as a leading European power interested in peace, rule of law and mutually beneficial cooperation, may be due to its inherent nature of being an organization that was designed, and whose only purpose was, to contain the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, and/or that NATO has become a wholly owned global proxy for the attempted advancement of short-sighted, myopic US geopolitical military domination and American hegemony by force.

Failure of cooperation
Since the chaotic days at the end of the cold war the newly formed and struggling Russian Federation, rising from the ashes of the shattered and broken greatest power in the history of mankind, vainly attempted to find a way to cooperate, and at times it seemed to appease, its former Warsaw Pact adversary, one which should have been disbanded at the moment of the demise of the Soviet bloc. But unfortunately the lust for hegemony and global military domination and the new modus operandi of "advancement of interests by force" did not allow the West to dismantle their war and death machine.

This first occurred in Yugoslavia and Serbia, when NATO promised Russia to allow Russian peacekeepers, the when the time came for Russian boots on the ground quickly did an about face.

This slap in the face to Russia and Russian interests and allies then occurred many times again, as NATO was used to launch illegal wars of aggression and military adventures against country after country all over the world.

Then with what has been revealed to be the false "War on Terror" paradigm, when Russia on countless occasions attempted to cooperate express its will, Russia was spurned time and time again.

Lastly, we have seen that despite the new nature of Russia, as a growing democratic country, promoting peace and cooperation, NATO continued expanding to the east and in fact expanding globally and even into space, while at the same time surrounding Russia with missiles and military weapons, under the pretense of the bogey man of an attack from the equally demonized Islamic Republic of Iran.

Seeking to become an equal mutual partner in their Missile Shield, Russia attempted time and time again to work with NATO. However NATO locked out all attempts by Russia to participate and gain assurance that the missiles were not being placed to neutralize Russia itself.

Russia repeatedly asked for a written guarantee, in light of the track record by the West of proving their spoken guarantees mean nothing, something proven in Serbia and Kosovo, but one was never provided, let alone considered.

Russia attempted to introduce what was called the Sectoral Approach, a wise and carefully planned as well as effective "shield" strategy to protect both Europe and Russia itself, but was spurned at every turn.

Missile defense a Trojan horse for a first strike

It has been proven and is now part of the public record that the interceptor missiles and missile shield elements of the US and its NATO allies, the ones that have been surreptitiously placed to surround Russia, can be turned into first strike offensive weapons with almost the literal flick of a switch. These so-called "defensive" missiles are also largely capable of delivering nuclear payloads directly into the heart of Russia.

This can be further underlined by witnesses to US and NATO Missile Defense Shield tests and scientists knowledgeable in radar and the elements that make up the shield. As a "shield", the US/NATO missile system is almost completely ineffective allowing more than 40% of missiles to pass unstopped and almost 100% ineffective against small missiles and shorter range weapons. It is a given that the designers of the system are aware of this. So why install the system? For a totally devastating and unanswerable first strike.

Peace
The victory for President Putin, the Russian Federation and peace in Syria has now proven beyond any shadow of a doubt that President Putin is a leader who truly honors and believes in peace, rule of law and transparency. Unlike the Nobel Peace Prize winning Obama, who attempts to continue policies of aggressive war, advancement of interests by force and personally approved extra-judicial execution by drone. President Putin has said he does not care about the Noble Peace Prize and in this he is sincere. He cares about peace.

New arms race
NATO's relentless worldwide and eastward expansion have forced countries to build weapons to defend themselves, a right any sovereign nation has against the threat of an aggressor and has caused the world to enter a global arms race the likes of which make the Cold War seem like a training exercise.

Russia, China, Venezuela and North Korea in particular, have been forced to spend billions on defense and their militaries to counter the threat of NATO. And with the constant bellicose elements North Korea and other countries the US does not favor, have been forced to seek a nuclear deterrence. This has led to a much more dangerous world but has proven to be necessary after what the world witnessed was done to Iraq, Afghanistan and Libya by the US and its NATO allies.

Arctic
US/NATO continue to attempt to advance their interests by force and to militarize once neutral and peaceful countries and regions, with the case of Scandinavian countries and even the Arctic. The attempted move into the Arctic by the US/NATO is clearly a strategy to obtain resources and territory by force. Something as illegal as its aggressive wars and the Bush Doctrine of preventive wars.

Russia's new position in the world
Two recent events, one the refusal by President Putin to be swayed by the threat of terrorist acts by Saudi Prince Bandar with the "full backing of the United States, and two, the prevention of another aggressive attack on a sovereign nation by US/NATO on Syria, have once again moved the world into the realm of being a healthy multi-polar place and have effectively put an end to US plans for "Global American Hegemony", a fact admitted even by grand geopolitical chess architect Zbignew Brzhinky.

Warnings issued
Warning have been issued to Russia from many corners since the beginning of NATO's eastward expansion. This includes the warnings that the the US/NATO shield can be quickly and seamlessly converted into deadly first strike architecture. So why would Russia continue in attempting to cooperate with a plan to surround itself with NATO missiles? The answers to that may be Machiavellian or they may be as simple as the fact that Russia was attempting to cooperate with the West until the very end, in a peaceful manner.

End of an era
With the very quiet repealing of the presidential order, dated April 25, 2012 officially establishing cooperation with NATO and titled: "On the Repeal of the Russian President's Order 'On the Special Representative of the Russian President for Missile Defense Interaction with the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO)'", President Vladimir Putin has officially put an end to the era where Russia attempted to appease and cooperate with its former foe NATO and has quietly, once again quietly asserted Russia's own sovereignty and shown that Russia will stand on the side of peace, not only in word but by quiet dignified deed.

Source: Voice of Russia