Records and inventories are not being adequately guarded or maintained. This was the conclusion of a panel of American experts appointed by former President Clinton, who made several visits to Russia. An oral report by one member of the panel sent chills up and down the spines of listeners. In the last four years, the situation has deteriorated.

Warehouses are being guarded by a handful of soldiers who haven’t been paid in months. A case of vodka may be enough to have the soldiers look the other way. If that won’t do the job, then cash certainly will.

Make no mistake about the prize inside those warehouses. They are filled with nuclear weapons and delivery systems that can be readily transported. They include long range and intermediate missiles, row after row of menacing looking black tubes. There are piles and piles of tactical nukes, short range weapons such as torpedoes, depth charges, artillery shells and mines.

The huge dark cloud hanging over our planet, posed by these nuclear weapons, is not something I have created. The subject is so compelling that I decided to use it as the back drop for my next novel Enemy Of My Enemy, which will be released on February 1. Researching the novel, I became terrified by the threat posed to world peace from the weapons.

As if all of this wasn’t terrifying enough, a new frightening scenario has emerged in the last couple of months. These weapons may become a critical part of the arsenal for the next Russian autocrat Vladimir Putin. Or Czar Vladimir The Great, if you prefer.

Only a foolish optimist could believe that there is anything left to Russian democracy. It was a great theory. Bold in concept that seemed like it had a chance of succeeding during euphoric days of the often confused and misguided Gorbechav regime. Those were the days my friend. Hard drinking Boris Yeltsen brought the nascent democratic movement in for a crash landing amid his chaotic rule. Following that, Czar Vladimir The Great raised his large boot and trampled out the embers that remained.

Historically, a dictatorship of one form or another has been the usual form of government for Russia. No Magna Charta or Declaration of Independence for the people who created some of the world’s greatest music and literature.

The United States made a tactical error, beginning in the Clinton Administration when we encouraged Russia, with words and money, to consolidate within its borders the nuclear weapons in the vast Soviet empire. We should have paid them to destroy the weapons. Perhaps it’s not too late to rectify the error.

President Bush has a summit scheduled with Czar Vladimir The Great to take place in Slovenia on February 24. There are plenty of subjects for the two leaders to discuss. Putin’s interference in the election in the Ukraine. Putin’s heavy handed intervention in the Yukos scandal and the theft of the oil giant by his pals. Putin’s snuffing out of all independent television and newspapers. The replacement of economic and political freedom in Russia with corruption and fear. Putin’s behind the scenes meddling in Iran and Iraq. Finally, Putin’s anti-Western statements which hearken back to the Cold War.

Bush believes that he has some political capital with Putin. Our President has said that: “Vladimir Putin and I have got a good personal relationship, starting with our meeting in Slovenia,” in June 2001. It’s unclear how many of these subjects Bush will raise with Putin. However one topic he should raise is those menacing nuclear weapons.

Bush should offer to help fund the destruction of the weapons or their burial in deep underground vaults. Vladimir The Great may dismiss this request out of hand, but nothing will be lost by trying. The world will be a safer place if Bush achieves any measure of success.