Posted on 08/13/2008 5:49:48 PM PDT by kristinn
TBILISI, Georgia -- Russia's invasion of Georgia strikes at the heart of Western values and our 21st-century system of security. If the international community allows Russia to crush our democratic, independent state, it will be giving carte blanche to authoritarian governments everywhere. Russia intends to destroy not just a country but an idea.
For too long, we all underestimated the ruthlessness of the regime in Moscow. Yesterday brought further evidence of its duplicity: Within 24 hours of agreeing to a cease-fire, Russian forces were rampaging through Gori; blocking the port of Poti; sinking Georgian vessels; and -- worst of all -- brutally purging Georgian villages in South Ossetia, raping women and executing men.
The Russian leadership cannot be trusted -- and this hard reality should guide the West's response. Only Western peacekeepers can end the war.
Russia also seeks to destroy our economy and is bombing factories, ports and other vital sites. Accordingly, we need to establish a modern version of the Berlin Airlift; the United Nations, the United States, Canada and others are moving in this direction, for which we are deeply grateful.
SNIP
This war threatens not only Georgia but security and liberty around the world. If the international community fails to take a resolute stand, it will have sounded the death knell for the spread of freedom and democracy everywhere.
SNIP
I have staked my country's fate on the West's rhetoric about democracy and liberty. As Georgians come under attack, we must ask: If the West is not with us, who is it with? If the line is not drawn now, when will it be drawn? We cannot allow Georgia to become the first victim of a new world order as imagined by Moscow.
(Excerpt) Read more at washingtonpost.com ...
It’s nyet... I guess you are not russian.
LLS
Again, Churchill didn’t lead in battle. He didn’t write op-eds after the war started. He stated the plan and carried it out. This guy is to busy to lead because he is trying to get the Washington Post editorial board to demand the U.S. do something.
That might have worked in 1968 it doesn’t now. What he should do is bring the media in and show them the death and destruction and start killing Russians.
I can’t find the exact quote, but a thought submitted by a reader a few years ago to James Taranto of the Opinion Journal (WSJ.COM) had it that thanks to freedom of speech and the Internet we can now quickly find out who the idiots are!
It is pronounced “nyet” but spelled net. I guess you aren’t Russian either.
What the heck else is he supposed to do? Don a helmet and grab his AK 47?
It is not as if anything that he does will matter much, but your take on the situation is rather immature, IMHO.
Well, when the Russians run his ass out of the country maybe he can get a job at the Post as a stringer.
You and I must be strange people.
I thought the same thing. lol
I can think of several leaders who were outnumbered and outgunned whose first response wasn’t to write a letter to the editor. And some of them actually ended up winning.
Most people have seen enough media reports to know what is happening. Easy enough for someone sitting in his Laz-E-Boy to urge "start killing Russians". The Russians have 10 tanks to the Georgians 1. They need help.
Well... It does get your attention.
So if you disagree with the Duncan Hunter crowd you are troll?
It sure got mine! ;o)
Of course they need help. But it would be easier to get the country to help a man who is leading the defense of his country instead of acting like Bob Herbert.
Britain would have been starved out, annhialated, and overrun if not for our help with supplies, arms, and logistics, and history wouldn’t look so kindly upon Churchill’s leadership.
Now Georgia needs our help, and he needs to make his case to the American people.
What do you want him to do, pick up a rifle, fix his bayonet, and charge the Russian lines?
Those people who obfuscate for the Kremlin by claiming that Kosovo set the precedent have it backwards. The USSR, as it collapsed, started or fueled the civil wars in Georgia and Azerbaijan to keep the red boot on the Caucuses. They tried similar ethnic violence in the Baltics, where it failed, and TransDiniester, where it worked. Hence Moldova has not rejoined Romania, despite having been carved out of it in World War 2.
He’s using his time very wisely. Georgia cannot defeat Russia alone, just as Britain could not defeat Germany alone.
Churchill spent quite a bit of time talking to Americans about the greater cause. So in effect, Churchill he is.
With all do respect, Georgia has to do a better job of getting facts out. Thanks to the Russian domination of information in the region and the help of communists and ignorami in the international press, we are told that Goergia initiated this conflict. Actually, it was the Russian-backed Oseetes who did, following Russian reinforcements and a Russian “excercise” in the region.
The man has a well known record as President. Perhaps you should read up on that before casting dispersions.
Voice of Russia is reporting that its the US’s fault, That Condi egged on Misha giving him mixed messages.
Okay....
They also deny sinking ships or bring anywhere near Poti
What a load of horsepucky
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.