Georgia 'overrun' by Russian troops - Ground invasion begins

[Molon Labe]

I agree with what you are saying John. Both sides are pumping the media. We all know that Georgia is in an uber strategic location just like Turkey is. One of the major reasons we were in Turkey to the degree we were during the Cold War was location, location, location.

I just read a blog about this and one of the points was well taken:
Does anyone here think that the quick mobilization and deployment of the Russian military was kind of suspicious? Was it pre planned and well thought out?

[Eyelids]

Id rather have let the Nazis have Europe than the fucking Russians

Are you sure about that?

[Eyelids]

Was it pre planned and well thought out?

Well I dont think one night a bunch of them got drunk and decided to invade Georgia.

[NonConformist]

They were after the ports and its proximity to iran and used the 'peacekeeper' and 'Russians being attacked' as an excuse.

Thats why we agreed to take control of the ports IMO, to stop the Russians under the guise(and for) humanitarian aid

[Molon Labe]

Well I dont think one night a bunch of them got drunk and decided to invade Georgia.

They saw what we were doing in 2001 and 2002 when we were getting ready to go into Iraq and Afghanistan and they saw that it's not about the U.N. it's about hegemony. They've been wanting to go into Georgia for a long time. It's looking more and more like all they needed was a reason. What a mess.

[LogansPapa]

John McCain: "Today we’re all Georgians"

By Associated Press | Tuesday, August 12, 2008 | http://www.bostonherald.com | 2008 Pres. Campaign

WASHINGTON - Republican presidential candidate John McCain continued hammering Russia on Tuesday for its invasion of U.S.-allied Georgia, telling a cheering audience that he had spoken again with the tiny Caucasus country’s president to assure him of America’s moral support.

The longtime Arizona senator, who had adopted an increasingly tough line against Moscow well before the crisis in Georgia, told a town meeting in Pennsylvania that he had spoken with Mikhail Saakashvili, president of the former Soviet republic, to assure him that "Today we are all Georgians."

McCain said Moscow is using "violence against Georgia to send a signal" to "any country that chooses to associate with the West." Russian leaders, he said, must realize they risk "the benefits they enjoy from being part of the civilized world."

http://news.bostonherald.com/news/20...16&format=text

[LogansPapa]

In Split Role, McCain Adviser Is Sometimes a Lobbyist

By MICHAEL COOPER / Published: August 13, 2008

When Senator John McCain led a Senate investigation three years ago of Jack Abramoff, the disgraced lobbyist who later pleaded guilty to fraud charges, Mr. Abramoff’s old firm turned to a former McCain campaign adviser for help.

The firm, Greenberg Traurig, which had quickly cut its ties to Mr. Abramoff, hired Randy Scheunemann, who had been the McCain campaign’s foreign policy adviser in 2000 — and is again this year — for advice on handling the Senate investigation.

"After Greenberg Traurig severed ties to Mr. Abramoff, Mr. Scheunemann advised the law firm on how best to cooperate with the Senate investigation," said Brian Rogers, a spokesman for the McCain campaign. "The record reflects that the law firm cooperated."

Mr. Rogers said he believed that Mr. Scheunemann was hired because he had worked in Congress for more than a decade and had experience with investigations, and not because of any ties he had to Mr. McCain. He added that Mr. Scheunemann had served the firm in an advisory role, and had never spoken with Mr. McCain about the issue.

Since the Russian invasion of Georgia, Mr. Scheunemann has drawn attention for his lobbying efforts on behalf of the Georgian government, for which he lobbied until March. Mr. McCain has been outspoken in his support of Georgia. During a flight on Tuesday on the McCain campaign plane, Mr. Scheunemann told reporters that Mr. McCain has known the Georgian president, Mikheil Saakashvili, for more than a decade.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/08/14/us...l?ref=politics

[AmPat]

Russia manufactured the "crises" that REQUIRED their military invasion. I don't see us getting militarily involved and this looks like Russia's evil USSR personality revealed. Like Patton, "I never trusted those Russian Bastards."

Our response will be limited to empty rhetoric and worthless economic isolation. Russia has money and oil. We are powerless to intervene.

[Lanie]

There is a lesson here that will be lost to the NeoCons.

After the fall of the Soviet Union we got involved in all kinds of stupid nation building all over the world. We have found out in Georgia that the world is really no safer.

We should just do what our Founding Fathers suggested and stay out of the business of foreign entainglements.

To a point I want to agree with that, especially since I'm one of those people who often fear that the US will step over the line (to put it lightly). But what you do when you're the superpower, have all this money, and the world looks to you for help? I'm not sure our Founding Fathers considered this. All the more reason not to appreciate the concept of superpowers. :( People think we have to have one, but I hope the day comes when we don't.

[Lanie]

All I'm going to say for now is to not believe the spin. I know it's hard to think of Russia as a good guy, but they actually have a strong case once you dissolve all the American spin on this conflict.

I'm not an anti-American, I just know the score.

The main case I think Russia has is that South Ossetia has separationists who really want to be part of Russia with North Ossetia. If those separationists are the majority, then Georgia really should cut them loose and not kill people for land.

But this doesn't give Russia the right to go fight for land that is technically Georgia's. Keep in mind that Russia (whether ran by a PM, Communist leaders, or a Czar) has a nasty history of seeing land, deciding they want it, and pushing themselves onto others. Ask Chechnya about that. People think they're the bad guys. Yes, terrorist acts are wrong, but Russia is actually the bad guy there. Chechnya has NEVER wanted to be part of that country and Russia forces themselves on them just because they can. Russia needs to take the hint and get their hands off already.