WhatFinger


Where are the liberal protesters gathering in the streets and burning the Russian flag in objection to this “unjustified and illegal” invasion?

U.S. Helpless To Help Georgia?



by JR Dieckmann Why is the American left not reacting to the Russian invasion of Georgia in the same way that they reacted to the American invasion of Iraq? Where are the liberal protesters gathering in the streets and burning the Russian flag in objection to this “unjustified and illegal” invasion? Where is all the shouting that Georgia doesn’t have WMDs, a nuclear program, or ties to al Qaeda? But more importantly, why isn’t the U.S. doing more to help Georgia repel the Russian invasion of their country, as we did when Iraq invaded Kuwait?

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At the collapse of the Soviet Union, Georgia was one of the Soviet bloc countries that broke with Russia and chose to ally with the U.S. and create a western style democracy. Ironically, instead of condemning the aggressive Russian invasion of Georgia, the American left has blamed it on Georgia itself, and the United States because we trained Georgian troops to defend their country and we support their pro-western president. No sooner had Russian President, Dmitry Medvedev blamed Georgia for starting this war and accused Georgian president, Saakashvili, of ethnic cleansing, did the American liberals jump right on the bandwagon with claims that it is all America‘s fault for supporting their pro-western ally on Russia’s southern border. For example, Newsweek had this to say:
“Since the cold war ended, the United States has been pushing the buttons of Russian frustration and paranoia by moving ever further into Moscow's former sphere of influence. And we have rarely stopped to consider whether we were overreaching, even as evidence mounted that the patience of a wealthier and more assertive Russia was wearing very thin. “Georgia, another breadbasket and location of a critical pipeline, is the birthplace of Stalin, who's enjoying a new revisionist popularity in Russia. Putin warned repeatedly that he would never permit NATO in the Caucasus, but we kept shrugging this off as more bluff and bluster. Once you've driven a bear into a cave, it may be wise to stop poking him with a stick. We seemed to delight in it.” “The Bush administration has only stepped up this policy—it is one of the few areas where there has been real continuity between Clinton and Bush—with its unwavering effort to set up missile defense sites in Poland and the Czech Republic.””
Never mind that the missile defense program that Poland has just eagerly accepted is designed to defend against Iranian missiles and is no threat to Russia. Does this Newsweek writer believe that when former Soviet bloc countries choose western democracy, we should tell them no, go back to Russian oppression and domination? Going a little deeper, Antiwar.com has this to say:
“They may be talking of Georgian atrocities, but we in the West have not heard them – nor will we, given the bias of our media, which is in thrall to the Georgia lobby and its U.S. government sponsors. The "mainstream" has already settled on a narrative to explain events in the Caucasus, and nothing short of a South Ossetian holocaust will wake them from their hypnotic state. The Russians, in their view, have got to be the bad guys, i.e., the aggressors. Anything that doesn't fit into that storyline is cut from the script.” “The U.S. is now delivering "humanitarian" aid under the aegis and protection of the U.S. military, a gesture that underscores the Bizarro World absurdity of a foreign policy that has us arming the Georgians and then paying to clean up the damage done by our proxies. This is truly an odd sort of "humanitarianism," one inextricably linked to the inveterate sadism of our foreign policy.”
I bring all this up because it is just this kind of domestic criticism that has brought America to it’s knees in the face of Russian imperialism. These are the same people who accuse America of imperialism for simply defending our country against Islamic terrorism, yet when Russia invades a neighboring country, it’s all our fault. What’s all this about “the bias of our media?” Now the left doesn’t even believe their own liberal media reports on Georgia and thinks Bush is controlling them? They didn’t seem to have a problem believing their media about alleged American atrocities in Iraq and Camp Gitmo. The “Georgia lobby?” I didn’t know the country of Georgia had a lobby in Washington. This must be one special interest group that the Democrats don’t support. Apparently, we shouldn’t be supporting our allies, even those like Georgia, who sent troops to Iraq to help us fight Islamofascism there. When we sent those troops back home to help defend their own country, Russia was outraged that we would do such a thing, and the American left fell right in line with their communist mentors. While Saddam Hussein, with chemical weapons, a nuclear program, support for terrorism, and a history of aggression against his neighbors, was considered a major threat to the region and the western world by nearly every western intelligence agency, Georgia was a threat to no one. Yet the invasion of their country by Russia has met with little criticism from the left, while our own invasion of Iraq was met with nothing but scorn by the blame America first crowd who once again say “it‘s all America’s fault.” This hate the American left has for our own country is nothing short of an irrationality that stems from the psychological disorder of liberalism. Get these people some Prozac, even if we have to pay for it with Medicare! The benefits to the country would be enormous. I’ve been posting daily updates on GreatAmericanJournal.com regarding the conflict in Georgia, but in case you haven’t kept up, here in a nutshell, is what has happened. The province of South Ossetia, located on the Russian border, is divided between Georgian loyalists and Russian separatists who want to break away from Georgia and reunite with Russia. Of course they believe all the anti-Georgian propaganda fed to them from the Kremlin which has been encouraging them to rebel against the Georgian government. The time finally came; they turned to revolt. Georgia sent troops into So. Ossetia to quell the violence. Russia responded with a Russian troop incursion over the border to drive the Georgian troops out. This was not simply a spontaneous response by the Russians. They have had this planned for months and already had the tanks and troops in place to pull this off while the world’s attention was focused on the Olympic Games in China. Although it is true that Georgian troops have fired weapons at Ossetia citizens and press reporters, it is not clear what provoked them to do so. It is also not clear whose bombs or artillery shells were falling on Ossetia. Reports of rogue elements of the Georgian army disobeying orders and firing on civilians out of frustration are also likely true. Again, the fact that we see no reports of what provoked them to start this carnage cannot be overlooked. Something had to set them off, and there can be little doubt that Russia was behind it. Late reports claim that Georgian military uniforms were stolen by Russian troops, who then wore them while attacking Ossetian civilians while news cameras rolled. Russia didn’t stop with So. Ossetia. They then sent tanks and bombers into central Georgia to destroy the Georgian military and infrastructure. They want to oust the pro western, democratic president, Mikheil Saakashvili, and replace him with a pro Russian leader. Russia is also very interested in taking possession of the major independent oil pipeline that runs through Georgia, from the Caspian Sea to Turkey, which provides a significant amount of oil to much of Europe. Russia wants to own that monopoly, to increase their power over European countries, in their quest to regain the Russian Empire of their former Soviet years. What is America doing about this aggressive invasion of one of our best allies in the region? Therein lies the problem. If you listen to our government officials, they tell us there is little we can do - and military action is off the table. It’s not that they are doing nothing. Sec. of State, Condoleezza Rice, was sent to revise a ceasefire agreement worked out by French president, Nicolas Sarkozy, which read an awful lot like what the U.N. usually comes up with. It was an “aggressor takes all” sort of agreement that did little for Georgia. President Saakashvili signed the agreement, and on Saturday, it was signed by Russian president, Medvedev, who agreed to begin removing troops by Monday. As of Monday night in Georgia, there have been no signs of withdrawal of Russian troops who had captured the strategic city of Gori, and nearly advanced to the capitol city of Tbilisi, leaving a wake of destruction and death in their path. Instead, Russia has been fortifying their positions in Georgia and continuing their efforts to destroy what’s left of the Georgian military and police. It is becoming clear that Russia has no intention of honoring the agreement, or of leaving Georgia. Russia has now installed short-range ballistic missile launchers in South Ossetia, and is requiring Russian credentials for anyone, including foreign reporters, to work in Georgia. The SS-21 missiles have a range of 40 to 70 miles, meaning they can reach the capital of Tbilisi from practically any part of South Ossetia. It appears that Russia now considers itself the ruler in Georgia, in violation of Georgian sovereignty, which apparently no longer exists. It’s just a matter of time before Russia removes the Georgian government and installs their own. This is the fate that awaits Poland, Hungary, Lithuania, Bulgaria, Czechoslovakia, and the rest of the former Soviet bloc countries if Russia isn’t stopped. All this has prompted the Polish government to rush approval of American anti-missile systems to be installed in their country. Russia has responded to this by threatening to NUKE Poland. Meanwhile, U.S. response is limited to diplomatic measures. The days of combating Iraqi aggression against Kuwait would seem to be long gone. If we are afraid to stand up to Russia now, simply because they have the big bomb, then what are we going to do about Iran when they finally have their bomb? Will we simply let them destroy Israel, then offer diplomatic solutions to the problem? That is exactly what will happen if we allow the American left to take full control of our government and country. What all this shows is the difficult position that America finds itself in today. Our lack of military support for Georgia essentially has given Russia a green light to do whatever they want in eastern Europe. The diplomatic measures being considered against Russia are: expulsion from the G-8; denial of admission into the WTO; refusal to participate, along with other European countries, in the 2014 Russian Olympic games; and the immediate taking in of the former European Soviet bloc countries under the NATO umbrella. Then there are always the useless options of sanctions and embargos against Russia, for what that’s worth. They didn’t do any good against Iraq, and they haven’t helped with Iran. But suppose we did all of these things, and Russia continued their aggression to recapture the old Soviet Union countries? What then? Do we continue to appease and cower, for fear of starting a nuclear war? That prospect doesn’t seem to bother Russia a bit. It’s not that they welcome nuclear war, it’s that they know that people in the U.S. fear it so much that we won’t do anything militarily to stop the Russians from doing whatever they want to do. It’s not hard to figure out how Russia got this pacifist impression of the U.S. Look no further than the American left with their antiwar appeasers, their megaphones in the media, and the politicians who pander to them for votes. Is there any doubt that if Democrats controlled both the White House and Congress, that Russia could take back Europe and attack on American home soil without fear of retaliation? We have lost all respect on the world stage by not maintaining our posture of strength in the world, but rather becoming a paper tiger of the left, afraid, not only to defend our allies, but ourselves as well. We see this everyday in the liberal fight against the War on Terror in Iraq. America should be ashamed of herself. I know we on the right are, and want to restore America’s position of strength and respect in the world. Standing up to Russia by defending our allies just might be a good place to start. I’m not suggesting that we nuke Moscow or anything like that, but a strong showing of American troop strength on the southern Georgian border, along with a 48 hour warning to Russia to get their troops out of the country might show them that we mean business. We have this saying in America: “Remember the Alamo!” We lost that battle, but should be reminding Russia at this point, to “remember Kuwait,” and the “highway of death” that followed. Where is Ronald Reagan when we need him?


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