President Bush to Make Statement on Georgia-Russia Crisis at 5:15 p.m. EDT

[Scythian]

Headline only so far on fox news ...

[Repeal The 17th]

“There is nothing Bush can do
to force Russia to back down
short of launching a pre-emptive nuclear strike.”
- - -
You say we will either:
1) do nothing; or 2) use atomic weapons.
I say you are wrong. We will do “something”
and it will not involve atomic weapons.
Time will tell which one of us is right.

[TomGuy]

The ‘new’ Russia under PM Putin is testing the waters.

A province here, a former state there.

They are flexing to see what they can get away with.

Give them an inch and they will retake their former states.

[Enchante]

That’s just a dimwit troll who has been zotted......

[Hexenhammer]

Haha, that was the first thing that came to mind myself.

[mkjessup]

You say we will either: 1) do nothing; or 2) use atomic weapons. I say you are wrong. We will do “something” and it will not involve atomic weapons. Time will tell which one of us is right.

Don't twist my words. I did not say that we would use nuclear weapons. And I did not say that we would 'do nothing'.

At this late stage of the game, and the game is over so far as Georgia is concerned, the Russians are in complete control of the skies over Georgia as I read it, their ground forces have all but pushed the Georgian military to the point of collapse and the Georgian political leadership has been reduced to cowering in the streets with security people piling flak jackets on top of them, that isn't going to inspire much confidence in the civilian population.

Look at it this way FRiend, if for any reason, the United States decided to launch an invasion of New Brunswick, we would most likely complete that operation inside of 14 days, and just what in Hell could Putin (or anybody else) do about it?

The geographical parallel is right in front of us with Russia moving on Georgia.

Do I like it? Of course not. But tell us what you think Bush can do that will actually induce Putin to back off, eh?

I'd like to hear it.

[mkjessup]

If we do nothing in this early stage of Putin's plans

Jeff my FRiend? It is no longer 'early'.

Georgia is going to fold inside of a week as I see it.

[Dog]

Jeff I think the party is over...Georgia will fall before Friday....Tbilisi probably falls Tuesday or Wednesday.

[GSR-TX]

Fairly terse statement...wonder how we’ll respond moving forward.

[Repeal The 17th]

mkjessup: “There is nothing Bush can do
to force Russia to back down
short of launching a pre-emptive nuclear strike.”
- - -
mkjessup: “Don’t twist my words.
I did not say that we would use nuclear weapons.
And I did not say that we would ‘do nothing’.”
- - -
Uhhh, perhaps you could ‘splain that to me again...
exactly which one of your words did I twist?

[Jeff Head]

That may well be true...and certainly will be true if we do nothing.

One intriguing thing is those other former satellite nation's Presidents (Poland, Ukraine, Latvia, Lithuania, and Estonia) have announced that they are on there way to Tiblisis to stand with Georgia.

Will Putin order his military to bomb them? Shoot them out of the sky?

I respect their bravery, but fear that Putin is capable of trying to do them in if it is them alone and then weathering the storm.

But what if Bush joined them there?

Gutsy...some would say foolish...but a gutsy and couragous thing to do and I doubt Tiblisi would fall in a hail of bombs and bullets if Bush were there with his entoruage calling for negotiations.

That is one non-military option that still has time to work.

I believe in conjunction with that, as Air Force One flew in, thet the US air force out of Turkey and or northern Iraq could establish (particularly if they used Raptors) air superiority over the capitol for as long as Bush was there.

That is precisely they kind of gutsy, risky, in your face, eye ball to eye ball actions it is going to take to prevent Georgia's fall.

Action...the time for mere words, no matter how "gruff" is past. Those words have to be backed upo by action.

[Dog]

There won't be a US response.....and yes its frustrating as hell.

But the game is over....the next move is to protect Eastern Europe....the Bear is making noises about that missile shield.

We got to be ready for him to make a move in that direction next.

[Jeff Head]

BTW, I meant early in the sense that this is the first move (the Georgia Operation) in a much larger chess game. If he is successful here, basically uncontested, I expect there are many other moves Putin has in store.

[mnehring]

lol

[Repeal The 17th]

We probably agree 98% on all of this
For us to argue amongst ourselves is the enemies joy.
Freep on, brother.

[ssschev]

Thank you!!!

[Bobalu]

Gutsy...some would say foolish...but a gutsy and couragous thing to do and I doubt Tiblisi would fall in a hail of bombs and bullets if Bush were there with his entoruage calling for negotiations.

Just imagine the face of a very angry President Cheney addressing the nation if something happened to Bush on a visit to Georgia....OMFG ..now that would scare Stalin, let alone Putin.

[Jeff Head]

I just heard that the President of France is going to fly to Georgia to be with the other five Presidents.

Great news if true, and very gutsy. Putin will hold of bombing or taking Tiblisi with a hail of bullets and missiles if those six Presidents are there.

Bush should jump on board this. It is the type of thing history turns on.

[jeffc]

"must" is diplo-speak, as I posted previously. It's in the hands of the diplomats right now, where it should be. Things are now happening behind the scenes of which we are unaware. It gives time for everyone to analyze the situation, let Moscow know where the world stands on this, and what we might be prepared to do.
Gotta keep things ambiguous enough to keep the opposition guessing - show a little of your hand, but not all of it; leave yourself, and your enemy, some wiggle room.
We'll see how this plays out over the next few days.

[mnehring]

Cheney would take Putin hunting.

[nikos1121]

What should they do draw their foot in the sand.

I say you get our aircraft carriers there. You flight sortees as we have been doing using Georgian airspace to Afghanistan.

You take them to the edge. PUtin WILL back down, but we have to be prepared to act not talk.

Bush has ALWAYS backed up what he’s said he will do.