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In my previous post, I hit on some of the issues going on with the recent outbreak of war in the country of Georgia with Russia. You can check that post to get yourself aquainted with the situation if you don't know much about the issue.
Well, the Presidential Candidates have responded....
...For Barack Obama, the problem is foreign policy
incoherence. Obama has become a willing pawn of foreign policy experts
-- to the point that he's embraced Georgia's entry into NATO without
understanding the full implications of that strategy. As we now see,
embracing Georgia in NATO means a willingness to defend that country in
a war against Russia. Yet Obama's response has been all over the map,
matching consensus global opinion. At first, he blamed both Georgia and
Russia, then called for Russia to withdraw, now he's demanding an
immediate cease fire. Events are in the saddle and Obama is going along
for the ride -- this matches President Bush's approach to the crisis,
and that's not a good thing.
For John
McCain, the problem isn't coherence, it's bellicosity. McCain has been
the strongest global voice behind Georgia since the shooting began. The
problem is, when does the McCain tough rhetoric end and World War III
begin? The McCain team will argue that the only way to deter Russia,
Iran and other global aggressors from taking actions like this is to
stand up to them forcefully, with credibility. The problem is the
second half of that equation -- with U.S. troops in Iraq and even
Georgia unsure how to get their 2,000 Iraqi troops back home in time to
make a difference, how exactly would the U.S. help Georgia in this
conflict, short of starting an all-out war with the second biggest
nuclear power? At this moment, the U.S. has no credible way to threaten
Russia. So unless McCain is willing to get the U.S. in the middle of
every armed conflict on earth -- giving new definition to his promise
of "more wars" -- a McCain Presidency would mean that we're at least
going to enter a new age of foreign policy brinkmanship that will
demand a military sufficient to fight these battles. That means either
getting out of Iraq or reinstating a draft, because the military today
is incapable of matching McCain's rhetoric..
Ok, let's ignore that Russia is a major power, has nuclear weapons, and that our military is already stretched way too thin with stop losses, national guard deployments, and the like thanks to us already being engaged in two wars in the middle east. McCain says let's be aggressive to Russia. Even Bush isn't going there. Sending Blackwater Mercinaries to Georgia apparently, but not endorsing a confrontation with Russia from an "offical" stance.
But then again, McCain is the only one still saying no timeline for Iraq. Obama wants one, and now the Bush Administration is talking about it, and as I pointed out in my last post, the Iraqis are all but demanding it.
So is he really just a warmongering old man, or is there more to the story. Turns out there is more to his stance on the Georgia/Russia Conflict than meets the eye....
...But the sound of Until early this year, Scheunemann was simultaneously working for Ahhh, Imagine a world, where lobbyists could potentially re-ignite a cold war. Where they potential start and stop wars. And consider, the lack of morality and respect a candidate would have to have to endanger troops and his nation, by always shouting their wishes, regardless of the facts or consequences. Haven't we had enough of this crap yet? This election is way too important this time. McCain Cannot Win, or our nation is already wrecked by Bush, and now McCain invites even greater disasters ahead. We can't let that happen.
sabers rattling is music to the ears of Randy Scheunemann, the McCain
campaign's senior foreign policy and national security advisor. A
long-term confidant of the candidate, Scheunemann also supports a very
tough stance toward Russia. Unlike McCain, until very recently he was
paid to support that stance. McCain, already under fire for the role of
lobbyists in his campaign, is taking his foreign policy advice from
someone who was a paid lobbyist for former Soviet Bloc countries that
are wary of Russia, and seems to advocate those policies the countries
and their former lobbyist want. Notably, McCain supports a quick
expansion of NATO, and Scheunemann has already helped two former Soviet
satellites gain admission to NATO and has worked on behalf of two
others.
the McCain campaign and as a lobbyist for a shifting menu of Eastern
European and former Soviet Bloc countries with NATO aspirations. Some,
including Georgia, have chilly relations with Russia. At various times
from 2001 through early this year, Georgia, Latvia, Romania and
Macedonia paid Scheunemann and his partner, Mike Mitchell, more than $2
million. Much of Scheunemann's work focused on paving the way into the
NATO fold. Two of Scheunemann's clients, Latvia and Romania, were
admitted to full NATO member status in 2004, after which they ceased paying him....
posted on Aug 11, 2008 10:29 PM ()
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