Posted on 08/12/2008 10:13:20 AM PDT by Renfield
IT'S impossible to overstate the importance of what's un folding as we watch. Russia's invasion of Georgia - a calculated, unprovoked aggression - is a crisis that may have more important strategic implications than Iraq and Afghanistan combined.
We're seeing the emergence of a rogue military power with a nuclear arsenal.
The response of our own government has been pathetic - and our media's uncritical acceptance of Moscow's version of events is infuriating.
This is the "new" Russia announcing - in blood - that it won't tolerate freedom and self-determination along its borders. Prime Minister Vladimir Putin is putting it bluntly: Today, Georgia, tomorrow Ukraine (and the Baltic states had better pay attention)......
(Excerpt) Read more at nypost.com ...
Ukraine needs to be brought into NATO tomorrow, along with a NATO demand for Russia to remove itself from everywhere except S. Ossetia. I’m afraid we’ve made too much of a mess with Kosovo to take a hard stand on S. Ossetia.
I’m not condoning what Russia is doing, but in a way it is refreshing. The Russians are not hard to figure out. Look for what they want, that that is what they will go for. They have been looking for chips to play in the world affairs poker game for several years now. They want the pipeline, they want the oil, they want the port.
We on the other hand are unpredictable. We’ll go to war on one whim, submit to the United Nations on another. At least in this case the UN is probably performing the only function it is really qualified to perform - serving as meeting ground where the ambassadors of all the parties involved can meet and pass along messages. It’s when they try to do more than that that they cause trouble.
Probably because there's nothing concrete we can do against Russia without running the risk of all-out war. The smart play is to choose the time & place to confront the Sovi -- er Russians. Frankly, kicking them out of the G8 would be a good start -- if europe would go along with it (doubtful). Russia should never have been admitted in the first place. Economically they don't measure up.
I agree with you... because of Kosovo, we can’t meddle in the S. Ossetia affair... But Georgia proper is a different story
Not really.
Just reverting to what they’ve been historically
As usual, Mr. Peters hits the proverbial nail on the proverbial head.
The Russkies are proud and paranoid, two exceedingly dangerous traits for a country with thousands of nuclear weapons.
They want respect and, it seems, they want the Soviet Union’s empire back.
The Russians respect and authority, and the willingness to push back - at them. They only move, since WW2, when they sense weakness.
But how do we push back?
Isn’t it all the more so obvious that we should tap our own natural resources?
President at the olympics; Vice President angry over Rumsfeld’s firing; Rumsfeld gone; CIA neutered, Congress on 5 week vacation; SecState Rice on vacation.....who’s minding the store?
Peters is right on but he shouldn't have expected anything else from our enemedia, they're always for the leftists.
Isn’t it all the more so obvious that we should tap our own natural resources?
Oh, c’mon. Bad Vlad has an ego way beyond Georgia, the Ukraine and Baltic states. What do you think this says to the European Union??? This was masterful IF it works. IF it doesn't, well, they'll rest’er up and try again. This is the Never ending Story for certain.
The Bear is awake, its period of hibernation over.
Francis Fukayama was and is an ass - history never ended, as this last week has pointed out in spades. The vacation is OVER, time to get back to work defending ourselves and our friends from the resurgent Russkies and assorted other enemies of freedom and liberty.
Even if the Georgian Government did engage in genocide, how the heck does dropping bombs and firing heavy artillery make it better??? Instead of 10 or 15 dying, you get 1,000 or 2,000. What a load of crapola! If this is a case of for every one of us you kill, we'll kill 100, what in the world does that make you????
Stop the criminal activity IF, I say IF, that's IF, it occurred, don't accelerate it
I don’t know if I can agree that they want the whole enchilada again — they may feel it was more of a headache than it was worth to try to manage an empire of captive states.
I would say it was more like the Cuban Missile Crisis. It has to do with their version of the Monroe Doctrine. They feel we’ve been messing in their sandbox, and they are making it very clear that it is THEIR sandbox, and it is time for us to stop messing.
Now it is time for us to demonstrate where we stand. If we were serious about defending the Caucasus, we would be thinking NATO membership right now - ooops, I forgot we’re not the only ones that have a say. But, screw NATO, if it is in our interest to defend Georgia, if there is to be a war, let it begin here.
When this thing is over and the Russians pull back their troops, begin arming the Georgians with anti-tank and anti-aircraft missiles - quietly, over time. Have them send a bunch of their best officers and NCOs to the USA for an extended vacation - and send them home in 6 months to train their army. Let's see the Russkies repeat the events of last week in a couple of years without a major loss of blood.
Ditto for Poland, Ukraine and the Czech Republic. Oh, and put up the missile shield.
Finally, build up our stocks of ammo, ordnance and spare parts, and bolster our inventory of transport ships and planes. Let them and the Chinese know that we're not going away, and we'll be able to sustain a long war if necessary.
No need for a direct confrontation. But if they want to be an imperialist power again, make sure that they face a well-armed and well-trained alliance that can and will resist. Putin gave us in the West a gift-the gift of a warning. Though it is of little or no consolation to thousands in Georgia, it can save literally millions in the future if it is properly heeded.
Exactly right! Russia slaughtered hundreds if not thousands of civilians and I’m sure that included So Ossetians.
Our oil is NOT sucked dry. We have plenty of conventional oil resources that are in Alaska and the outer continental shelf - provided that the EPA and the wack-jobs in Congress allow our oil companies to go get it. Further, we have MASSIVE resources locked in shale deposits in the Rockies and under North Dakota and Montana (as in several times the reserves of Saudi Arabia) - but, again, Congress has to get out of the way.
Also, we should massively build nuke plants - we have only 20% of our electricity from nukes, vs. something like 80% in France. However, it now takes more time to get the permits approved for a nuke plant (IF you can even do that) than it does to build the thing. Yet again, Congress has to get out of the way.
Alternative energy sources sound great and look great, but they are impractical at this point in time. Let's continue research, and gradually transform our economy. But there is no need to do a massive shift now - mainly because it won't work, and because it'd be cost-prohibitive.
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