Cheney's Georgia trip brings message to Russia

[inanna]

Source: Reuters

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Vice President Dick Cheney, one of Moscow's harshest critics, will go to Georgia and other former Soviet states this week to reinforce U.S. support for allies in Russia's backyard.

<snip>

The aim, analysts said, is to build morale and offer reassurance of U.S. commitment to the region after Russia crushed Georgia's military and declared two of its rebel regions as independent states.

"From the perspective of sending a signal to Moscow, yes, they want to send the hard-liner out to the region," said Daniel Benjamin, director of the Center on the United States and Europe at the Brookings Institution.

Benjamin said the Bush administration wants to ensure "no one goes weak in the knees in the region."


Read more: http://www.reuters.com/article/politicsNews/idUSN3148717320080831

[Hubert Flottz]

1. Give Dick an M-16 and leave him over there!

[agincourt]

2. Hell....

I'd just leave him there with a shotgun.

[Dont_Bogart_the_Pretzel]

3. and if he needs help send him...

MC Palin
:sarcasm:

[AlphaCentauri]

4. or a lawyer to shoot at n/t

[Hubert Flottz]

5. If he needs help he'll send back for Ted Nugent and GI Joe LIE...

berman. Tarzan Kokoity don't have a freakin' prayer! Time for chimpCo to get even with Tarzan!

[Up2Late]

6. The Message? It's all about the OIL, Babe....

Cha-Cha! (note:read above as Billy Crystal doing his Sammy Davis Jr. impression)

[jaybeat]

7. The aim, analysts said...

Is to encourage continued escalation in the region that the Bush administration (and Republican Presidential candidate John McFlame) hopes will lead to World War III (ensuring continued record profits in the energy, armaments and private security sectors).

Prospects for continued exponential earnings growth in those sectors had been dimming as the administration's previous attempts to start World War III (the confrontation with Iran and the now waning "Global War on Terror"®) failed to produce the desired results.

A senior Wall Street analyst, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said "With the war on terror winding down, we just didn't see the same kind of profit potential for companies like KBR and Blackwater as we had in the recent past. This is just the kind of thing these sectors need to return to the levels of growth that investors have become used to seeing."

Analysts also generally agree that a new open conflict over energy resources against a well-armed adversary is the Republican's best chance of retaining the White House in the November election. "Plus," a anonymous political operative was quoted as saying, "if we can make a big enough sh**storm out of this, we may not have to worry about giving even the appearance of an election. I mean, who's going to question martial law after a nuclear exchange?"

Other Republican constituencies may also get a boost if the White House's efforts go as planned. Said the same operative, "Hey, if you thought there was a lot of money to be made cleaning up after the 'unforeseeable' (laughter) happened with Katrina, just wait till we and the Russians lay waste to a couple of dozen cities. Besides, this way, we could also change the electoral map in one day *way* more than we could have with another generation of gerrymandering!"

:nuke:

[Fearless]

8. Ahh one of two countries he still isn't arrested in on the spot.

Too bad we live in the other. Sigh....

[oldskool]

9. Obama and Biden

stand with Bush, Cheney on this too.