Pathetic

Russian warships recently steamed into waters off Venezuela, where they participated in exercises with Hugh Chavez's mighty armada. The first Russian naval operation in the region since the Cuban Missile Crisis, the so-called provocation was as threatening as toy ships in a bathtub.

As noted by Anne Applebaum on today's Op/Ed page, neither President Bush nor President-elect Obama seems perturbed. Russia possesses considerable military assets, yet it is not nearly so strong as the former Soviet Union. Although Moscow cannot be ignored, this is not 1962 revisited.

Fidel Castro has proved an irritant for more than 40 years. He is not a material danger, and never has been. Chavez considers him a comrade and shares his charisma and rhetorical gifts -- and his cruelty, ideological delusions, and personal megalomania. Washington must pay attention but elevating Chavez into a threat to national security would play into his hands. Chavez wants to foment anti-Americanism in his neighborhood, and would like to incite disorder as he seeks to spread his peculiar brand of proletarian dictatorship. He will fail. And the best way to ensure he inflicts scant damage before his fall is to promote reform in Latin America, to continue to expand trade opportunities, and to become a beacon for human rights.

The Russian-Venezuelan war game resembled the thumbing of a nose. Countries reduced to nose-thumbing are pathetic.