From the Wall Street Journal: France’s decision to go ahead with the deal without prompting any NATO objections is particularly disturbing in light of Moscow’s recent aggressions. It’s just some 18 months ago that the Russians snubbed Mr. Sarkozy when they refused to comply with the French-brokered Georgia War cease-fire agreement President Dmitry Medvedev had signed. Then last fall Russia conducted a military exercise in which Moscow simulated a nuclear attack against Poland. Once again, NATO didn’t protest. And last year Russia changed its laws empowering the president to deploy troops abroad without any parliamentary approval. Finally, President Medvedev two weeks ago signed a new military doctrine that declares NATO a threat and calls for the protection of vaguely defined ‘compatriots’ and lowers the threshold for pre-emptive nuclear strikes.

Europe greeted all these destabilizing policies by queuing to buy Russian natural gas, feting Mr. Putin in Paris and Berlin, and selling him modern weaponry. Lenin called this ‘capitalists selling us the rope with which we will hang them.’ Only this time, Russia may try to hang Ukrainians and Georgians first, before expanding its naval might to the Mediterranean, the Baltic and the North Atlantic. (photo: Getty)