Russian Ultimatum: Choose Us or Georgia

Posted on August 14, 2008
Filed Under American Sovereignty, Democrats, Republican Party, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Vladimir Putin |

Hmm, why isn’t Russia using the diplomatic tone it has so often accused the U.S. of not taking? The answer should be pretty obvious: Russia and Putin only believe in diplomacy when one of their interests is at stake.

Here’s an excerpt on the story from CNN.com:

Russia pressed the United States on Wednesday to choose between “a real partnership” with Moscow or an “illusory” relationship with U.S. ally Georgia.

Washington said it’s sticking with Georgia.

“As to choosing, the United States has made very clear that it is standing by the democratically elected government of Georgia,” Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said Wednesday.

She spelled out the Bush administration’s stance after Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov called Georgia’s government “a special project for the United States.”

“And we are aware that the U.S. is uptight about this project,” Lavrov said in remarks broadcast on Russian television. “But a choice will have to be made someday between considerations of prestige related to an illusory project and a real partnership in matters which indeed require collective efforts.”

I’ll side with Georgia as opposed to the Stalinist wannabes Dmitry Medvedev and Vladimir Putin.

I’m going to make a controversial statement here: if this war with Georgia is what it takes to get the West’s attention on the growing threat Russia poses, so be it.

Now I’m not suggesting we go to war with Russia at the moment. We can’t. But this where the diplomatic road should start, and I mean meaningful, hard-hitting diplomacy. I think John McCain’s proposal to remove Russia from the G8 is a start, but by means is it enough.

There should also be strong encouragement for Russia to go back to making democratic reformations.

Most importantly, Russia, and particularly Putin, ought to be instructed to stay out of our way with respect to missile defense.

I will submit, however, that Russia has no reason to take these suggestions seriously because we don’t have the power to put force behind them. Putin and Medvedev can say, “We don’t agree to any of these conditions. What are you going to do about it?”

Right now, there’s not much we can do. This is the position we have been put in by our so-called Republican and Democrat “leaders.” Our economy is increasingly leveraged to China and the Arab oil states; the military is handcuffed and prosecuted by rules of engagement that no one can win under; and the liberals take the side of the enemy.

Am I supposed to just ignore those facts and write about how we’re winning gold medals at the Olympics in a country that’s at war with us economically and we do nothing about it?

Am I supposed to be blindly optimistic and write that there’s nothing to worry about? That the War in Iraq is going well now? Am I supposed to believe that the Arab oil states owning more and more of the country is not an issue? The morons on Wall Street tell us that we have nothing to worry about because the Arabs want to make money just like everyone else, so it’s not as if they’re going to dump property and reserves when it might cost them a profit. Really? These are the same people who are dying all over the world for their religion. You really think they wouldn’t take a financial loss to bring America to its knees?

You have got to be kidding me.

But hey, let’s ignore all of these issues and see where end up. Want to be around for that? Want to be relegated to a second- or third-world nation? It’s coming.

Most of conservatives fall back on Ronald Reagan’s description of America as the “shining city upon a hill,” but it isn’t any longer. But we can get it back there. And it must start the sobering recognition of the problems and issues we currently face. Then, and only then, can we start to develop solutions designed to make us the shiniest city upon the hill.

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