Wednesday, August 20, 2008

Pot calling the kettle black??!!

Как шально это??!! (How crazy is this??!!)

Condoleeza Rice stood before those television cameras and said, "This is not 1968 (and the invasion of Czechoslovakia) where Russia can threaten its neighbors, occupy a capital, overthrow a government and get away with it. Things have changed." What things have changed? WE get to do it with impunity?? Everything she accuses Russia of doing is exactly what we've done in Iraq and then some (let's not forget we not only sanctioned, but were complicit in the murder of Saddam Hussein)!!

Does anybody really think, given Russia's current economic standing compared to ours, that Putin or Medvedev (same thing) really care about threats from NATO countries - especially the United States? Please!!!

No matter the amount of "international condemnation" or indefinite suspensions of the NATO-Russia Council meetings, European countries particularly, are well aware on which side their "energy bread" is buttered. Which is why NATO Secretary General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer said yesterday, ""the future will depend on concrete actions from the Russian side," but he was forced to add that "no specific decisions on programs or projects (with Russia) have been taken." As hard as we are pushing them, they know good and damn well that if push comes to shove, we do not have the resources to help them mount a defense, much less an offense against Russia.

Poland is playing a dangerous game agreeing to partner with the U.S. on this missile defense system on their soil and so are we. With only our participation in play, it looks like aggression on our part - plain and simple. Can we afford the appearance of aggression against a country like Russia? Will, no - can, any of those NATO allies stand with us militarily should Russia decide to "protect themselves" from what they no doubt perceive as western aggression? Can we stand alone? I doubt it.

Down to the proverbial wire, the Bush Administration continues to muck-up international relations as they bluster about what we will or won't put up with from Russia. As they sashay on into revisionist history, the next president will definitely have his hands full all around. H-m-m-m, now which of the current presidential candidates do you think will be able to dig us out of this quagmire?

5 comments:

Sonya said...

Girl, you know Condi doesn't have good sense, and being one of dimwit-W's most trusted advisers absolutely guarantees that we're about to get into a hot mess with Russia. Gee, who could have imagined that it would come to this? Hmmmmm:

"I am deeply disturbed by the latest Russian actions regarding Georgia, and Russia’s broader policies towards its neighbors.

Several weeks ago I called on NATO to extend a Membership Action Plan (MAP) to Georgia and Ukraine at the Bucharest Summit. I emphasized that this move would be a litmus test for the success of President Bush’s leadership of the trans-Atlantic community. My support for MAP was based on the need to send a positive signal to Tbilisi and Kyiv to encourage them to stay on track with their positive reforms as well as to send a signal of our concern to Moscow about the future security of these countries.

I deeply regret President Bush’s inability to convince our NATO allies to take this action. This is the first time in memory a U.S. President has traveled to a NATO summit and failed to achieve his publicly proclaimed goals.

Now the Russian government has taken advantage of the lack of unity coming out of the Bucharest Summit to further ratchet up the pressure on young democracies on its borders. Moscow’s actions this week to strengthen ties with the separatist regions of Abkhazia and South Ossetia undermine the territorial integrity of the state of Georgia and are clearly designed to destabilize the government of President Mikheil Saakashvili.

Georgia is a small democratic state in a turbulent region. It must not be allowed to be undermined. Two weeks ago President Bush sat with President Putin in Sochi just a few kilometers away from the Georgian border. He prided himself on his close working relationship with Vladimir Putin. President Bush should call on the Russian leadership to immediately rescind these steps.

I also call on President Bush to immediately send a senior representative to Tbilisi to show our support for the government of Georgia. The United States should raise this matter in the United Nations Security Council, in a special 26+1 session of NATO’s North Atlantic Council (NAC), and in the NATO-Russia Council. Russia needs to hear a unified message from the United States and our European partners about our shared commitment to Georgia’s security and territorial integrity.

These are not the only Russian moves that I have found troubling. Senior Russian officials have engaged in a pressure campaign to prevent Ukraine from seeking deeper ties with NATO. President Putin even raised the prospect of retargeting nuclear missiles against Ukraine.

I am not advocating, nor do I envisage, a return to a new Cold War with Russia, which I believe ought to remain in the G-8, where the United States and its allies can together address our growing list of concerns with Moscow. But the current Administration’ s mishandling of Russian relations has contributed to Moscow’s belief that it can do as it pleases. America and its allies can and must do better."
-- Hillary Clinton, April 18, 2008

Anonymous said...

This is the bad part about having a us-good/them-evil approach to everything. It dumbs down any possible conversation and essentially removes the possibility of compromise and peaceful resolution. Ignorance is not our friend, and ignorant leaders are our enemy, no matter the country.

Anonymous said...

Should be "an" before "us-good...".

Anonymous said...

Condoleeza is the "tough" that Michelle Obama wishes she was. Condi seems like she's got "short-timer" syndrome. lmao She's there, but she's not there, there.

DebC said...

Hey Ladies!!! I know I'm more than a day late and a dollar short here and I do so apologize! I'm finally at a place where I can just sit, pinch myself and catch up!

sonya...Gi-r-r-l, point taken. At least she had a thought! I've got no love for Condi, PRECISELY because she's "one of dimwit-W's most trusted advisers." And while Hill was right on time with her response, I'm more and more troubled by the idea that America sees itself as the boss of everybody.

ea...You're exactly right, though I fear we're a long, long way from even the possibility of any real compromise or peaceful resolution with anybody! This new, little country that could, got caught up in its own hype and there will be all kinds of serious chickens coming home to roost as a result. Nothing good ever comes from such blustering.

Sugar...Condi's never been allowed to ever be "there, there." - except for window dressing. I see no "tough" in her at all though she and Michelle Obama are definitely "more alike than they are different." And NONE of what they share is positive, IMHO.

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