"We understand the Russian need to be secure on her western frontiers by the removal of all possibility of German aggression. We welcome Russia to her rightful place among the leading nations of the world. We welcome her flag upon the seas. Above all, we welcome constant, frequent and growing contacts between the Russian people and our own people on both sides of the Atlantic. It is my duty however, for I am sure you would wish me to state the facts as I see them to you, to place before you certain facts about the present position in Europe.
From Stettin in the Baltic to Trieste in the Adriatic, an iron curtain has descended across the Continent. Behind that line lie all the capitals of the ancient states of Central and Eastern Europe. Warsaw, Berlin, Prague, Vienna, Budapest, Belgrade, Bucharest and Sofia, all these famous cities and the populations around them lie in what I must call the Soviet sphere, and all are subject in one form or another, not only to Soviet influence but to a very high and, in many cases, increasing measure of control from Moscow." -- Sir Winston Churchill, from his speech "Sinews of Peace," delivered this day in 1946 at Westminster College in Fulton, MO. The speech became famous for the use of the term "iron curtain" to describe the Soviet Union's occupation of eastern European countries. It's noteworthy that Churchill prefaced the "iron curtain" description by acknowledging Russia's need for security, especially on its western borders, and it's role as one of the leading nations.
After what we thought was the end of the cold war in the 1990s, a new and dangerous Russia has emerged under a thug and autocratic war criminal, Vladimir Putin -- a product of the old Soviet state security apparatus -- who's attempting to enlarge its territory by conquering former Soviet lands. Today, former Soviet satellite states are part of the Western alliance, which angers Putin, who's nostalgic for the Soviet Union. Now it's Russia, not a Nazi Germany, that's creating pretexts for aggression against its neighbors (e.g., "protection" of Russian-speaking people), and creating a similar threat to world peace.
(photo: Churchill, with President Truman. Associated Press)
