Posted by Fawn
Bush sends Condi to Georgia today. What can we reasonably expect as an outcome? Nothing. Recently Condi said, "This is not 1968 and the invasion of Czechoslovakia where Russia can threaten a neighbor, occupy a capital, overthrow a government and get away with it," Rice said just hours before leaving for France. "Things have changed." and President Bush said, "My call, of course, is for the territorial integrity of Georgia to be respected and for the cease-fire agreement to be honored."
Can our leaders get any more elusive, any more mealy-mouth, any less supportive? Their apathy is palpable...and disingenuous, dishonest, and for the Georgians, disastrous. The Georgians lost two large chunks of their country...forever!
Here's the Russian translation of Bush and Condi's sentiments – and I paraphrase as my Russian is, well, rusty:
We are unwilling and incapable of intervening at this time. We are virtually leaderless, pre-occupied with our national beauty contest – the Presidential election, and are too busy absorbing our current events from the photographs in People magazine, and awaiting the next season of American Idol to be bothered with supporting or defending a fledgling democracy we helped set-up and have been encouraging for almost 15 years. Please, please don't put us in a tight spot, we are almost out of creative rhetoric and olive branch desk ornament gifts.
The Georgian translation is a little different. For those of you that don't know the Georgian language is unique in the world and not Russian. In fact there is only about a 20% overlap between the two. They don't even use the same alphabet. The Georgian translation:
Ah, sorry. What color blankets do you prefer?
13 comments:
It seems to me that we're caught between a rock and a hard place here. On one hand, we support Georgia's independence and democratic leanings and want to help them any way we can, but on the other hand, we don't want to have our troops in proximity with Russian troops....that would be inherently dangerous.
In addition, I think this as much about Pootie Poot thumbing his nose at the West as much as it is about punishing Georgia for breaking away 15 years ago. Putin is in effect announcing, "We're back, and we're going to control our own neighborhood, and there's nothing you arrogant, meddling Americans can do about it."
Maybe he's right. What can we do?
He may also be a not-so-subtle warning to Bush not to put a missile defense shield in Poland(which is scheduled to take place soon). He's saying to America basically, "If you take Poland under your protective wing against Russia, you endanger her more than if you left her alone."
If there is a silver lining to all this, it's that hopefully the US voters will see that with an awakening ogre(Russia) storming back onto the world's stage, we need somebody with a little experience as CiC, and not an empty-suited community organizer with nothing to offer but feel-good platitudes.
What should our course of action here be?
I pretty much agree with you on the first part, Ed - not much we can do, really. In my opinion Georgia's first step was a little naive (not to say stupid); did they really believe the US would (could) send troops? As you said - that would be inherently dangerous.
Capt, you mean you disagreed with my characterization of Obama? I'm shocked!
For anybody who's interested, former US ambassador to the UN, John Bolton, wrote a very good analysis of this situtation, and our anemic response to it, in the London Telegraph this morning. Go here and read it.
we don't have any business interfering in Georgia any more than we had in Iraq. Georgia isn't NATO yet. and from what I've read, they provoked the Russians.
Are you claiming that it's fine for Georgia to break away from Russia, but not fine for South Assetia to break away from Georgia? Supporting Georgia is your position only because you're an American and as such, the Russians are by definition bad. The enemy of my enemy is my friend, that sort of thing.
Lesson to Georgia and other border republics: You don't poke a bear with a sharp stick, he's liable to take a swipe at you.
Anon, we had business attacking Iraq. They were funding terrorism, and we didn't want to get attacked. Therefore, attacking Iraq made it our business to attack them. That is unless you actually want to see America get attacked and thousands of innocent people get killed.
Who is this fawn character
My memory failed me but, I'm told it is an obscure reference to a character in Animal House. Other than that, he is an anonymous contributor to whom I've given permission to post on TRR.
How can we attack a Muslim country in part to sew the seeds of democracy (whether right or wrong) but fail to support one of the oldest Christian countries in the world where THEY have sewn the seeds of democracy? In the first, five years later we are still running around with Ortho weed killer trying to prep the ground. In the latter saplings are everywhere being tended by the people of the country.
For those educated in a government school I'm alluding to Iraq and Georgia. Hopefully you can figure out which is which.
The Russians might borrow an idea from Henry Ford: You can have any color blanket you want as long as it's red.
p.s. embroidered hammer and scythe are optional!
Shelly,
While the democracy comparison is valid, Georgia and Iraq are apples and oranges. Georgia wasn't underwriting terrorism against the US, or torturing and raping it's people, or thumbing it's nose at 17 UN resolutions to allow nuclear inspectors access while creating the illusion that it had a nuclear and chemical program. Iraq, on the other hand, wasn't a burgeoning democracy. It was a corrupt, third-world dictatorship. Nor did they share a border with a nuclear superpower. But they do play a role in the stability of a region from whom we need oil.
Agree with them or not, the reasons for going into Iraq do not exist in Georgia, and the reasons for not sending troops into Georgia do not exist for Iraq.
Our only realistic option in Georgia is to push for the ouster of Russia from the G8 or encourage economic sanctions by countries who deal with them. We will not place troops on the ground to fight the Russians....are you kidding me?
Sure, Bush and Condi were woefully tardy in responding to the invasion...it took like 3 days for Bush to say anything, but what difference would it have made? Putin waited until we were distracted by the Olympics and made his move.
Fawn is correct, Balkinization seems to be everybody's solution to hostile ethnic diversity. We thought, and may be still thinking, of trying it in Iraq with the Sunnis, Shiites, and Kurds. If the South Ossetians identify with, and want to be, Russian, then there will be generations of trouble in Georgia if they are forced to remain Georgian, and no amount of diplomacy on the part of the US will have much of an effect. We can, and should, voice support for Georgia but, what other options are there? It's just a crappy problem with few solutions.
Oh, if only we could wrap things up in Iraq and Afghanistan. Then we could address the Bear with something less dangerous than meat-soaked pants.
Currently we are helpless (militarily) to Russia's re-emergence as a regional, if not superpower. Our only hope to paint Russia as a worse global enemy than the environmentalists have done to the U.S. effectively sticking the booger on Russia's sleeve.
Meanwhile practice hyper-miling as I predict gasoline prices will start back up soon.
When can we discuss the U.S.'s woeful fiscal policy's role in the devaluation of the Dollar and ITS effect on rising gasoline prices?
David,
I've been meaning to tackle the dollar issue but, I know less about macro economics than I know why my wife likes hospital corners on our bed sheets. That said, I'll read up and try to open it up for discussion in the next few days. Thanks for the request.
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