The last few days of the DNC convention in Denver have been exciting. We've heard some stirring speeches from Ted Kennedy, Michelle Obama, Dennis Kucinich, Hillary Clinton, Bill Clinton, and Joe Biden among others. While these speeches contained the expected amounts of enthusiasm, patriotism, and lots of other warm fuzzy feelings, there was also a disturbing amount of spin. Particularly unsettling was Joe Biden's portrayal of the Georgia-Russia conflict over South Ossetia.
Ladies and gentlemen, in recent years and in recent days, we've once again seen the consequences of the neglect -- of this neglect, with Russia challenging the very freedom of a new democratic country of Georgia. Barack and I will end that neglect. We will hold Russia accountable for its actions, and we will help the people of Georgia rebuild.
Senator Biden appears to be following along the same lines as the Bush Administration and Senator McCain; defending the "democratic country of Georgia" and demonizing Russia's actions in defending South Ossetia.
I have been busy preparing for Fall semester, so I have been unable to blog for a while.
As more information becomes available about the roots of the Russia-Georgia War, it appears that Georgia motivated the Russian "invasion" of their country. According to South Ossetian refugees, their Georgian neighbors told Georgian troops how to target their Ossetian neighbors' houses. Most Ossetian refugees now in Russia agree that Georgia was the aggressor.
John McCain jumped to the conclusion that Russia had provoked the war. I believe that, had he been president, McCain would have brought us to the brink of war or into an actual war with the Russians.
Barack Obama's initial thoughtful and careful response would have prevented any action until more evidence had become available.
I don't think the Russians are our friends. I believe they probably pose a significant threat to the security of the world. Nonetheless, I believe that, in this particular instnace, Russia was not the bad guy.
WHOOPS!
Yesterday, Fox Noise interviewed an Ossetian-American 12-year old girl who was caught in the disputed region at the start of Georgia's war. She and her aunt, who was also caught, thanks Russian troops for saving her from Georgian aggression.
The squirming Fox anchor was not happy the way the interview went because the child didn’t follow the McCain-Bush talking points about who is the aggressor. Clearly, the girl forgot the master narrative being spewed by the McCain-Bush military-information complex.
The video is at www.youtube.com/watch?v=H8XI2Chc6uQ
After an initial feeling of shock and anger at Russia's "invasion" of Georgia, I started looking up information. Like most Americans struggling with the day to day problems of making ends meet and family and work and so forth, I really didn't know too much about the little Democratic Georgia across the world. I learned that the United States government, in its pursuit of Democracy for all, had armed Georgia with weapons, money, and an attitude that they could face down big ole' Russia because the U.S. would be backing them. Then last night I watched an angry Mikail Gorbachav on Larry King Live expressing his feelings that the Bush administration had in effect orchestrated this whole thing for political reasons. Now, wasn't Carl Rove (vacationing?) in Europe (to avoid the supeona by Congress to tesify) just a week before this all happened? He was actually at the Yalta Conference with Mikhail Saakashvili, Bob Shrum, and Richard Haass. And shortly after the conference, Saakashvili made a reckless decision that prompted the Russian invasion of his country. Susequently, Saakashvili seemed to think that the United States was bound by some promise to defend Georgia, and issued public pronouncements to that effect. I woder where he got that idea?http://www.yes-ukraine.org You can view the full list of participants here:http://www.yes-ukraine.org/en/List_of_participants8.htm... Some real disturbing thoughts started to enter my mind, although I have to admit, it is hard for me to believe that anyone would instigate a war that has killed thousands of people, destroyed homes, schools, and hospitals, for political gain. History shows, though, that men can and have done these things (Iraq). Oh, and hasn't John McCain been a proponent against Russia for the past 8 years or so? Isn't this a convenient little war for him right now? I finally found Air America on my car radio yesterday, and lo and behold, people were calling in to the Rachel Maddow show with the very same thoughts as mine. What will it take for someone to get to the bottom of this, because if the American conscience becomes aware that this is true, John McCain will be finished! Please read the following articles published in the past few days - one from Mike Malloy, another from Pravda in Russia, and one from a blogger.
I have been following some of the events in the area of Russia and Georgia.
At this stage many Americans seem to believe that we should unconditionally back Georgia. However, if what is being said about Georgia launching attacks on South Ossetia in the middle of the night is true, and that they indiscrimately bombed civilian targets; we should withhold our unbridled support. There may be some behind the scenes action that need to be addressed. Does it seem strange, to anyone other than myself, that the President of Georgia regularly calls into U.S. news media outlets? He calls our media! Ordinarilly, journalists have to try to contact sitting heads of state; but he contacts U.S. news media personally. I think it is strange. This guy appears to be campaigning for someone.
The international press is saying that the military activity in South Ossetia was an attempt by Bush-Cheney to aid McCain whose only strong suite is war. ( http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2008/08/15/mccain-rises-to-abbas-defense/ )
I hope Senator Obama does not take the bait. He would be wise to determine who is zoomin' who before he weighs-in too heavily on this highly orchestrated drama.
Want the word on the Tbilisi street? This is an excellent blog run by an English teacher in Tbilisi caught up in the middle of this Russo-Georgian War:
http://goingouteast.blogspot.com/
Scary stuff!
Sen. Obama's stated position as of the time of this post on the war that has broken out in Georgia with Russia is weak and unhelpful as an electoral stance. Russia has invaded a sovereign nation, a close ally of the United States, to "protect its countrymen." The countrymen to which Russia refers are legally citizens of the Republic of Georgia, in the separatist region of South Ossetia. Declaring the South Ossetians "countrymen" of Russia is a de facto statement of annexation of the South Ossetian region.
Russia must be publicly rebuked in strong terms for beginning a war with Georgia, and to simply call for "mutual restraint" as well as UN involvement in resolving the crisis, is to appear innefectual and overly sanguine. Sen. Obama's response to date will undermine his credibility in terms of foreign policy strength in the eyes of the American electorate.
