Picking a Fight with Russia: Very Presidential

[ProSense]

Picking a Fight with Russia: Very Presidential

Posted by Ilan Goldenberg

Things seem to have gone very wrong in Georgia and South Ossetia. It doesn't really look like anybody has a very clear idea of what is going on. As a Presidential candidate you have two choices:

A. Take a cautious approach and call for the cession of violence on all sides
B. Pick a fight with the world's second largest nuclear power by blaming them without taking the time to figure out what is going on.

Obama chooses A.

"I strongly condemn the outbreak of violence in Georgia, and urge an immediate end to armed conflict...Now is the time for Georgia and Russia to show restraint, and to avoid an escalation to full-scale war. Georgia's territorial integrity must be respected."

McCain chooses B.

Today news reports indicate that Russian military forces crossed an internationally-recognized border into the sovereign territory of Georgia. Russia should immediately and unconditionally cease its military operations and withdraw all forces from sovereign Georgian territory. What is most critical now is to avoid further confrontation between Russian and Georgian military forces.

Seriously, nobody really knows what is going on there. It could be that it is all Russia's fault, but the situation is likely much more complicated than that. If we want to play a healthy and mediating role in stopping the violence, which is what McCain and Obama both claim to want to do, we should probably hold off on picking a fight. Especially considering that we have other serious interests with the Russians who also happen to have a lot of nuclear weapons. McCain promises broad cooperation with the Russians on nuclear proliferation. How exactly does he plan to achieve that if he's going to come out so aggressively on this type of an issue without even thinking through the consequences of shooting first and asking questions second?

Update: Also, Think Progress and Matt Duss point out that Randy Schueneman, McCain's foreign policy advisor, was for a long time a registered lobbyist for Georgia.

[MrModerate]

1. Interestingly, they're both cautioning restraint . . .

But Obama sounds like a diplomat and McCain sounds like a guy ready to start a barroom brawl.

[iamthebandfanman]

2. i really dont think its that complicated.

this is a sceen played out over and over in eastern europe after the fall of the soviet union.

my only question is this,
was the ethnic group who declared its independence from Georgia an oppressed group of people before hand? were they mistreated for who they were ? if thats the case, we have another yugoslavia... if not, one must look at the reasons they seperated and decide if they were really valid and worth splitting a young 'democratic' country.

if it turns out that this is just a case of russia favoring one ethnic group, with no real regard for the rest of georgians and their peace/stability... then maybe Russia does have need for having the finger pointed at them.

my knowledge of history in this region is fague at best tho, so could someone enlighten me on georgias history ? has there always been ethnic strife even before the USSR split ?

[janet118]

3. Georgia former client of McCain advisor, Scheuemann . . .

Salon (among others) reports that McCain's long time confidant and senior foreign policy and national security advisor, Randy Scheuemann, was a paid lobbyist for Georgia until very recently. McCain is just rattling sabers at the behest of someone with a dog in that fight. As a bonus, he gets to rev up the Russian-hating, Cold War era crew - his base.

He simply cannot be elected. We have been held hostage by these clowns long enough.

[inna]

4. McCain is a raving idiot and is simply dangerous - hey, even Pat Buchanan said that...

... McCain "will make Cheney look like Gandhi."

[inna]

5. oh, this is FAR, FAR from being "all Russia's fault"

please, see this: http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x3778514

[Thrill]

6. "unconditionally" Who the fuck does he think he is to tell a country like Russia this?

Seriously? And people call Obama arrogant. I can't take this shit anymore