To gain stability – on domestic or foreign fronts – he’s willing to trade more than it is worth. Trying to prop up Gorbachev, Baker opposed American support for Balkan [bold mine-DL] freedom, nearly getting into a fistfight with fellow cabinet member Jack Kemp over it. Now, when the Iranian mullahs are beset by falling oil production and growing internal unrest, Baker wants to make it harder for Iranians to overthrow the mullahs just like he wanted to make it harder for Latvia and Lithuania to shake off the shackles of the Soviets. ~Jed Babbin

Ah, yes, the Lithuanians and Latvians now stand atop their Balkan peaks, basking in their freedom!  Well, Baltic, Balkan, whatever–it’s all the same to Jed.  Could Jed find either region on the map?  I wonder. 

In response to this, I propose Larison’s First Law of Foreign Policy Commentary: if you are too ignorant to know basic geography, your opinions on foreign policy are completely irrelevant.