Clarification: (08/16/08) Apparently, according to media reports, Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili made a conscious decision to use the opening of the Olympic Games to minimize the media's coverage of Georgia's invasion of South Ossetia, considered to be a breakaway province of Georgia. Therefore, the initial Russian response may very well have been to protect innocent lives of people who seemed more inclined to be Russians than Georgians. However, it seems that Russia may have taken this opportunity to expand its own agenda and pursue control of larger and more strategic targets.
Even though Georgia was a friend of the United States and a potential candidate of NATO, it is now my position that Georgia has taken advantage of the friendship of the United States for its own, and somewhat nefarious, benefit ... and thus has increased the tension in the region and between the United States and Russia.
I hope that when this conflict reaches some state of resolution that someone in the United States has a long talk with President Saakashvili and makes it perfectly clear that his rising democracy does not entitle him to act with impunity when dealing with domestic issues that expand into the international sphere and place the United State at odds with other world leaders.
While we should support democracy wherever it appears, there should be limits on those leaders who transgress and misuse the power of the United States for their own purposes.
Original Blog Entry ...
Once again we are reminded of the impotence of the United Nations as they continue to call for Russia to cease fire on the Georgian military and civilians and engage in a diplomatic solution to the current military crisis which is laying waste to the Republic of Georgia.
They will do what they will do …
While the rest of the world was preoccupied by the Opening ceremony of the 2008 Chinese Olympics, Russia attacked Georgia in order to bring the neighboring country under government control. At issue are historic matters involving separatism and ethnic cleansing. Or are the Russians more pragmatic: seeking control over the pipeline that transfers approximately 1% of the oil that is bound for the West?
[Note: as to who attacked who, the time-line and players are sketchy and foreign correspondents are not allowed into the affected areas. However, Russia, being the larger player, should have demonstrated restraint and is therefore considered the aggressor.]
Putin is not worried about the media …
Russia’s Vladimir Putin is far from worrying about public opinion and media attention. He is a king in his own land much as the Middle Eastern rulers exert life or death power over their subjects with no checks or balances to thwart governmental abuse. Putin seems bound and determined to return Russia to superpower status and, once again, build a superior military force – mostly from billions of hard currency petrodollars and the investment capital flowing inward from other nations. Once again, a nation that is fortifying themselves while America’s Wall Street Wizards are seeking new investment opportunities in foreign and potentially hostile countries.
What can we do?
Which goes to prove a singular point: unless the United States is going to place our entire nation at military risk to assist small emerging democracies, we are somewhat limited to official and unofficial diplomatic means, economic sanctions and, of course, the covert operations which so distress liberal democrat apologists and appeasers who believe in peace at any price.
Where Obama is wrong …
And with the rise of terrorism as a tactic, our actual options are decreasing each moment that we do not take a harder line and threaten retribution against any and all transgressors. Diplomacy may be fine in an abstract sense, but when push comes to shove, having the ability and will to strike fast and strike hard is more important than all of the diplo-speak in the world. Imagine what Obama might say to Putin: stop that, stop that this very instant! And even scarier, Obama does not seem able to think on his own – leaving us with solutions coming from democrat politicians like former Secretary of State Madelyn Albright and former National Security Advisor to Jimmy Carter, Zbigniew Brzezinski – both of whom were deeply involved in the rise of Islamo-Fascism in Iran.
Checkmate!
The world can plainly see that when madmen, such as North Korea’s beloved leader, Kim Jong-IL, have strategic atomic weaponry, they can hold the world hostage with relative impunity. Their demands must be satisfied or they will engage in some form of provocative behavior to encourage those who are militarily stronger but weaker in resolve to “contribute to the cause.” One only can imagine what Iran may do or demand when it achieves nuclear status.
Where is our Russian expert?
One wonders what Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, an acknowledged expert on Soviet affairs is up to? Is she huddling with Henry Kissinger and Madelyn Albright to discover a diplomatic course of actions? It should be noted that Albright’s father, Josef Korbel, was Rice’s political mentor.
“Josef Korbel may be one of the most influential Americans you've never heard of. He died in 1977, but his legacy lives on in his two most famous students: his daughter, Madeleine Albright, and his star pupil at the University of Denver, Condoleezza Rice.”
“Korbel was an up-and-coming Czech diplomat in 1948 when the communists staged a coup in his country. He fled Europe and ended up at the University of Denver, where he went on to found the school's Graduate School of International Studies.”
“Both women say Korbel inspired them to pursue public service, and echoes of his abiding belief in the merits of American-style freedom are clear in their public statements.” <Source>
Time will tell …
The conflict will resolve over time. But it provides a background for developing political questions whose answers will be critical to the American people as they choose their next president.
This one is about oil ...
"[Georgian president] Mr. Saakashvili fears the Kremlin wants to swallow up his US-backed country." "He said: 'They want the whole of Georgia. The Russians need control over energy routes from central Asia and the Caspian Sea." <Source>
So where are the raised voices of the far-left liberals and the so-called elite celebrities? What does Alex Baldwin, George Clooney, Susan Sarandon, Tim Robbins and Sean Penn think? Not that it matters much. They usually support dictators while disparaging America.
What can YOU do?
Watch both political parties and candidates carefully during this August vacation period which finds Congress recessed, Senator Obama vacationing in Hawaii and President Bush attending the Beijing Olympics.
Consider how much this particular conflict between two foreign sovereign nations should impact the United States, both militarily and diplomatically.
Would you be willing to risk an escalating conflict with Russia to enter the fray on the side of the Georgians?
Watch what former officials and likely advisers to the current candidates are doing and saying. Watch Kissinger, Albright, Brzezinski, Baker and others are saying. These are the power players who may be officially or unofficially part of the next Administration.
Consider the role of the United Nations and its effectiveness in resolving conflicts of this nature. Should we be moving the U.N. offshore to Switzerland or other domicile where they can pursue their mission without further inconveniencing the United States in cleaning up their failures?
Think carefully about the candidates. Do you want to throw in with Barack Obama, telegenic and articulate but seemingly bereft of original ideas – or John McCain who will defend the United States against all enemies, both foreign and domestic; but may have some tendency to adopt or accede to liberal policies which are definitely not representative of conservatism?
It is important to make the right decision or the wrongly-chosen candidate may put the entire nation at further risk from international extortion and terrorism.
Do not vote for any candidate or current politician who is willing to subvert the safety, security, sovereignty and economic strength of the United States or limit an individual's right of self-defense for their personal philosophy, power, prestige or profits.
-- steve
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The object in life is not to be on the side of the majority, but to escape finding oneself in the ranks of the insane. -- Marcus Aurelius
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