Last Thursday Russian forces invaded Georgia to retake South Ossetia, a pro-Russian province. Fighting actually began when Georgian military forces attempted to retake the province, which declared independence from Georgia in the 1990s. That claim is not internationally recognized.
Click for Putin Criticizes America Over South Ossetia
Click for Cheney Says Russian Aggression Must Not Go Unanswered
On Sunday the Bush Administration warned Russia that continued military escalation could have a “significant, long-term impact” on relations between Washington and Moscow.
Returning from the Olympic Games in Beijing on Monday, Mr. Bush said, “Russia has invaded a sovereign neighboring state and threatens a democratic government elected by its people. Such an action is unacceptable in the 21st century.”
Georgia, itself a former Soviet satellite, is considered a U.S. ally.
John McCain and Barack Obama also spoke about the deteriorating situation, but their comments ran along the “Russia must leave or we’ll be cross” line used by Mr. Bush and Mr. Cheney.
The truth is Russia is going to “stomp the guts” out of Georgia and, aside from righteous indignation peppered with sporadic whining, the international community will sit on their hands and do nothing.
If you’re big and bad enough, then you can do whatever you want. This shouldn’t come as a surprise to anyone because it has been the guiding principle behind American foreign policy for the last seven years.
2 responses so far ↓
1 Joe Pitkin // Aug 12, 2008 at 3:16 am
Fred Kaplan over at Slate provides some really useful thinking about the Georgian mess, how badly the US set them up over the last few years, and how we’re about to sell them out. Reminds me a little of Iraq after the first Gulf War or how badly we screwed over the Bosnians. Also, it’s hard to overstate how tied up the whole thing is with the big gas pipeline that runs through Georgia. Anyway, here’s the link: http://www.slate.com/id/2197281/
2 Erik J. // Aug 18, 2008 at 10:46 pm
I must agree with our President on this one. Invading sovereign nations is unacceptable in the 21st century. This is clearly a ploy for Russian oil companies to pump up their profits.
Besides, I have heard reports that Russia has been developing WMD’s, and also sells weapons and technology to other countries in order to expand their sphere of influence and destabilize regions.
Shameful.
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