McCain for Georgia, Obama for Russia
by tdaxp ~ August 9th, 2008
As if there wasn’t enough reasons to vote for John McCain already, John McCain’s defense of Georgia:
“For many years, I have warned against Russian actions that undermine the sovereignty of its neighbors. Unfortunately, we have seen in recent days Russia demonstrate that these concerns were well-founded.
“This afternoon I spoke, for the second time since the crisis began, with Georgian President Saakashvili. It is clear the situation is dire. Russian aggression against Georgia continues, with attacks occurring far beyond the Georgian region of South Ossetia. As casualties continue to mount, the international community must do all it can to avert further escalations. Tensions and hostilities between Georgians and Ossetians are in no way justification for Russian troops crossing an internationally recognized border. I again call on the Government of Russia to immediately and unconditionally withdraw its forces from the territory of Georgia.
“Given this threat to Euro-Atlantic security, I am pleased to see the United States, the European Union, and NATO acting together by sending a delegation to the region, in an effort to broker a cease fire. This is an important first step.
was parralleled by Obama whining that McCain was insufficiently pro-Russian.
Back in January 2005, I priased Hillary Clinton and John McCain for their work building democracy in Eastern Europe. Barack Obama has the audacity to condemn John McCain for standing by Georgia.
Unbelievable.
I think this is your...
August 9th, 2008 at 9:32 pm
Would be fun if the Americans voted for John McCain as president. The US could make its standpoint on the world more clear. Already the US is not very loved in Europa because of its aggressive politics. Bush did one thing very well and that was that he showed the world the true face of the US. McCain would probably show this even more, by it’s aggressive standpoint towards Russia. America loses its credibility by the day.
August 10th, 2008 at 3:50 am
Seraphiel,
Since Bush became President, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Romania, and Bulgaria have joined NATO[1], while the Crezh Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Slovakia, Slovenia, Malta, Cyprus Romania, and Bulgaria have joined the EU [2]. With respect to Europe, Bush’s major substantive accomplishment has been to enable the further consolidation of EU/NATO and to permanently roll-back Russian influence to a great extent.
The next logical success, for either a McCain or an Obama administration, is Ukraine [3]. Putin, a leader with a penchant for alienating friends [4], has just made this more likely. In a way, we should be thankful for the Putin administration.
[1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NATO#Expansion_and_restructuring
[2] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Enlargement_of_the_European_Union#Eastern_bloc_enlargements.
[3] http://www.tdaxp.com/archive/2006/10/28/ukraine-belongs-in-europe.html
[4] http://www.tdaxp.com/archive/2008/02/14/the-descent-of-russia.html
[5] http://www.tdaxp.com/archive/2006/11/23/give-thanks-for-putin.html
August 11th, 2008 at 4:04 am
Jeffrey’s comment included profanity, and has been removed.
To address Jeffrey’s point, however, the only anti-Obama reference in my post was in response to Obama’s politicization of the issue. The Obama campaign chose to use the invasion of Georgia as a pretext of for accusing McCain of having ties to pro-Georgian lobbyists.
I doubt this is standard practice for Obama. The next time Hezbollah or Hamas abducts an Israeli, I doubt Obama will accuse McCain of being too close to Israel.
August 11th, 2008 at 4:29 pm
What profanity do you speak up? Even if there was profanity, I find it funny that you found it necessary to throw the baby out with the bath water than, dare I suggest, deleting the offending word/s.
August 11th, 2008 at 4:30 pm
of*
August 11th, 2008 at 4:50 pm
You know what? Between this and some other mysteriously disappearing posts of mine, I think it is best that I don’t come back here until the election is over. That way I will give you time to get the fanaticism out of your system.
August 13th, 2008 at 4:47 am
I disagree with your article on two fronts. First, Obama first argued that both Russia and Georgia must stop their aggressive actions. If you recall, Georgia invaded south Ossestia – a break away Province that declared de facto independence. Russia intervened to protect their interest in Ossetia. At this time Obama stated that both states must stop the violence.
Than, Russia continued to advanced within the borders of Georgia. And than Obama attacked Russia.
I believe that Obama was the right person in this situation, as he assessed the situation as an objective and independent person. I rather have my President think of what’s best for America independently rather than express his own predisposition toward another state.
I find McCain is to aggressive. He is ready to exert America’s military muscle and power at any chance.
August 14th, 2008 at 12:06 pm
Andrew,
You note that Georgia did not use interstate war as a method of exporting power, while Russia did. This is correct, and of course a knock against Russia. [1]
Russia is rightfully a state of concern [2], and if he does not recognize it (as you seem to imply he does not), that is a knock against Obama.
Your last sentence is absurd, and is not worth comment.
Jeffrey,
You are welcome back any time.
Monitoring of language is an important tool, because it prevents one from falling into logical fallacies too easily.
[1] http://www.tdaxp.com/archive/2008/08/14/war-is-bad.html
[2] http://www.tdaxp.com/archive/2008/08/14/russia-is-bad.html