In the middle of the Olympic Games in China when the world was distracted, Russian troops stormed over the border into South Ossetia, a long-contested separatist region of Georgia, both of which were part of the former U.S.S.R.
Immediately after the invasion, President Bush and Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice responded with a strongly-worded, verbal defense of this small, beleaguered republic. The two presidential candidates were quick to add their support for Georgia, with McCain uttering tough words and Obama, well . . . not-so-tough.
No matter. If Georgian President Mikhail Saakashvili expected more than verbal support from the U.S., he should have checked in with Washington before he decided to launch a rocket attack against South Ossetia on August 7. That barrage was the only excuse that Russia needed to launch an invasion of this tiny country – an act for which Putin was undoubtedly set to go and for which he needed only the slightest pretext.
Saakashvili made a key strategic blunder. He should have realized that the U.S. is currently in no position to military engage Russia on his behalf at a time when our troops are committed in Afghanistan and in Iraq. Dead, displaced and injured Georgians are now paying the price of this miscalculation.
Note: For an excellent analysis of this conflict, see http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/7549736.stm
Showing posts with label Putin. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Putin. Show all posts
Friday, September 5, 2008
Tuesday, August 19, 2008
The Bear is Back
If anyone ever thought that the breakup of the U.S.S.R. in 1991 would result in a declawed, friendlier Russian bear wholly unable to assert itself on the international scene, recent events in The Republic of Georgia have reminded the world community that the Russian bear will be a very potent influence in the 21st century.
Vladimir Putin – a former KGB agent and judo devotee – is still smarting from the dissolution of the Soviet Union, which he labeled, “The greatest political catastrophe of the last century.” Now buoyed by the economic stimulus provided from Russian oil fields, he seeks to reassert Russian influence over some of its strategically-positioned, former client states.
In June, 2001, when Presidents Bush and Vladimir Putin first met in Slovenia, they both seemed to hit it off well personally. At least President Bush thought so, because he voiced his opinion that, "I looked the man in the eye. I found him to be very straightforward and trustworthy and we had a very good dialogue. I was able to get a sense of his soul."
Well! Well! I don’t know about you, but I have enough challenges just trying to get a good sense of my own soul, let alone anyone else’s. I prefer to leave that relationship up to the Almighty.
If George Bush was about to dance with this particular Russian bear, he would have been much better off to forget about trying to peer into Putin’s soul; and, instead, to keep very alert for the condition of that bear’s claws – that, it seems to me, would have been a much more accurate indicator of the state of Putin’s soul.
Vladimir Putin – a former KGB agent and judo devotee – is still smarting from the dissolution of the Soviet Union, which he labeled, “The greatest political catastrophe of the last century.” Now buoyed by the economic stimulus provided from Russian oil fields, he seeks to reassert Russian influence over some of its strategically-positioned, former client states.
In June, 2001, when Presidents Bush and Vladimir Putin first met in Slovenia, they both seemed to hit it off well personally. At least President Bush thought so, because he voiced his opinion that, "I looked the man in the eye. I found him to be very straightforward and trustworthy and we had a very good dialogue. I was able to get a sense of his soul."
Well! Well! I don’t know about you, but I have enough challenges just trying to get a good sense of my own soul, let alone anyone else’s. I prefer to leave that relationship up to the Almighty.
If George Bush was about to dance with this particular Russian bear, he would have been much better off to forget about trying to peer into Putin’s soul; and, instead, to keep very alert for the condition of that bear’s claws – that, it seems to me, would have been a much more accurate indicator of the state of Putin’s soul.
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