Cold War's Over, But Communist Threat Lingers

Cal Thomas | Syndicated columnist | Updated: Aug 02, 2001

Cold War's Over, But Communist Threat Lingers

The Cold War may be over, but is communism dead? Have hardline communists who made it their life's work to rid the planet of the United States and democracy graciously accepted defeat? Are they now free market democrats?

Not necessarily. Russian president Vladimir Putin killed a lot of people in Chechnya. He's now testing a long-range ballistic missile, according to Bill Gertz of the Washington Times, which is targeted at defeating any missile defense shield the U.S. might deploy. Moscow and Beijing recently signed a friendship treaty. China's prisons continue to be packed with dissidents, including Christians, without the high profile necessary to win them the personal attention of Secretary of State Colin Powell.

Some are saying we can let down our guard and further cut the defense budget. I disagree. There will always be evil in the world against which we must defend ourselves. And the communist evil of the last century has yet to be completely vanquished.

Cold War's Over, But Communist Threat Lingers