Georgia on our minds

There’s a saying that if you’re going to kick the tiger in the ass you’d better know where his teeth are. Georgia found that out over the past week.

I have to ask; what was Georgia thinking in taking on the imperial might of the Russian army? And why did a “U.S. Official” describe Russia’s response as ‘disproportionate’? Worse, why is our president, Vice President and presidential hopeful John McCain warning Russia about ‘consequences’?

Russia has more to show here than its wish to stop Georgia’s invasion – this is a demonstration for the world lest we forget what Russia is capable of. And the Russians are a tough bunch. They have been aching, according to recent news reports, to reclaim a place in the world as a superpower. Georgia’s aggression has obliged them well. And Russia has done nothing if not live up to its word that it would defend the breakaway provinces; it seems as though they have bulldozed much of the territories into the ground.

American’s response would better be left unsaid. There are no’ disproportionate response’s in war - war is an escalation of violence. Is the use of American military might – air force, bombs, artillery bombardment, cruise missiles, Apache helicopter strikes – a disproportionate response against an attack on a convoy by a militia armed with AK’s and RPGs? How about two nukes on civilian populations – events remembered by the Japanese recently. The fact is it doesn't matter whether you kill the fly with a swatter or a sledge-hammer; dead is dead. The notion of disproportionate response is, for the want of a better word, “silly;” there’s no such thing.

George Bush, Dick Cheney, John McCain would have been better off to have muttered ‘tut, tut, Russian problem…’ and gone back to whatever it is they do. Georgia is well beyond our sphere of influence and is frankly none of our business. This makes perfect sense when we remember that the U.S. has been quietly importing Russian oil for the past couple of years and Europe relies heavily on that Russian oil pipeline to stay toasty during the winter. ‘Consequences’ my (ample) ass.

What Georgia’s President, Mikheil Saakashvili, has done is a nothing less than a war crime. In attacking the breakaway province what did he expect as a response? Georgia has been playing brinksmanship with Russia for years and it finally came to a head with this confrontation. Russia warned Saakashvili that they would defend the breakaways. Saakashvili should be immediately charged with a war crime because of the innocent people killed by this futile and foolhardy attempt to do the impossible; for putting his people in harm’s way.

One of my kids asked recently why violence has died down in the Iraq – were the insurgents finally accepting us? “No,” I responded, “we killed them all.” And we did so with ‘disproportionate response’.'

That's how wars are won.