Russia's war in Georgia

The Nightly Build...

---

Neocons Saddle Up

Nicole Stockdale, in The Dallas Morning News Opinion blog, summarizes the neo-conservative reaction to the Russian invasion of Georgia.

Dick Cheney: "Russian aggression must not go unanswered."

William Kristol: "Surely we cannot simply stand by as an autocratic aggressor gobbles up part of -- and perhaps destabilizes all of -- a friendly democratic nation."

John McCain: "We should immediately call a meeting of the North Atlantic Council to assess Georgia's security and review measures NATO can take to contribute to stabilizing this very dangerous situation."

Maybe Cheney and Kristol's reactions are meant to recall George H.W. Bush's response to Iraq's invasion of Kuwait. Bush Senior said, "This will not stand, this aggression against Kuwait." He adroitly enlisted the international community to support the US position. The US then went to war to ensure that the invasion didn't stand.

But neither Cheney nor Kristol say unequivocally that the US cannot let Russia's invasion stand. Only that the US must answer in some unspecified fashion. McCain's reaction is similarly toothless. Russia goes to war and he says the US should call a meeting. He tells the Georgian president "that the thoughts, prayers and support of the American people are with that great little nation as it struggles today." You can forgive the Georgian president if, instead of prayers, he might want to see the American cavalry coming over the hill.

The neocons are backed into this corner because the US has no leverage over Russia. The same run up in oil prices that saps the US economy makes Russia grow stronger. The US and NATO are over-extended in Iraq and Afghanistan. Russia flexes its muscles while the US has no military power to project into this corner of Russia's back yard.

The neocons were irresponsible in encouraging Georgia's pro-Western government in its overtures to NATO and the European Union and its suppression of separatist movements in South Ossetia and Abkhazia. Bush and Cheney and McCain and the neo-cons overreached. Georgia pays the price.