Stavridis: ‘We Need to Look with Clear Eyes’ at Putin; He’s ‘Channeling KGB’

EXCERPT:

STAVRIDIS: "Senator McCain was asked, 'You've met with Putin, you've looked into his eyes. What did you see?' And McCain said, 'I saw three letters — KGB.' I don't think this one is a tough call. The question really is not about how to deal with Putin, it's about how to deal with Russia. Here, we need to confront where we must — Syria, Assad, Ukraine, Crimea, cyber-hacking — but we ought to try and find zones where we can cooperate. Counterterrorism, counterpiracy, potentially the Arctic and maybe some trade space in arms control — there are some zones of cooperation. We don't want to stumble backward into Cold War, but on the other hand we need to look with clear eyes at Vladimir Putin. He really is channeling KGB."