Pushing Russia’s Buttons

Hirsh you are correct. The US is pread very thin. American soilders are dying in Iraq and Afghanistan not for democracy and freedom - these people don't even know what this means. Nor are their brains splattered on the streets of Iraq and Afghanistan for oil. We all know full well that oil has always been limited and new technologies could have been developed long ago. It is for the rich Saudi masters that control this government. Do you see any Saudi, Israeli or German soilders dying over there? huh?

That's right. Who are the masters (rich Arabs) and who are the slaves S A...? This country better get its act together cause Latin America is huge in numbers with Russian weapons at your doorstep. Don't be stupid. Nations rise and fall and the US is on a slippery slope.

Did McCain really say "...in the 21st century, nations don't invade other nations." This geezer is over the hill. I'll bet he will be a lobbyist by March.

St.Petersburg Times is a newspaper handed out for free and most restaurants and shops in St.Petersburg and it is in English. www.sptimes.ru . How can this be controlled by the Kremlin? They have a more balanced view in the media than the US, where every resistance against US imperialsm is a "brutal attack against freedom and democracy".

Mr. Hirsch???s excellent analysis incorporates my own point of view. Both McCain and Obama are discredited by their opportunistic comments regarding the Russian invasion of Georgia. Both candidates, each of whom fully comprehends the Hirsch analysis, nevertheless, seek to take political advantage of the conflict without regard to the long term consequences for U.S. foreign policy. In the coming Presidential election, American will be asked to choose from which one of these carpetbaggers they will buy a used car.

Bravo!!
At last an article that tells the truth!!!!!
Perhaps because of a lack of space, Hirsch fails to mention the terrorists revenge attacks committed by Chechens against innocent Russias: the attack in a Moscow theatre where about 700 or 800 people died, one or two (I forget the number, sorry) Russian civilian aircraft blown up midair by terrorists (women with bombs attached to their bodies,) or the siezure of a middle school near the Chechen border where 200 or 300 innocent Russian children died. Might this have come effect on Russia's policy? Doesn't Russia feel obligated to avenge these attacks? Granted. Georgia had nothing to do with these attacks. But then Iraq had nothing to do with 9/11,. Conservative pundit Jonah Goldberg advocates bombing and shaking up some crappy little country somewhere to show that we mean business. That's just what Russia did.
Also, Hirsh forgets to mention Russia's big 9/11 - the Nazi invasion of 1941 which took the lives of millions of Russians. (1/3 of the population Leningrad starved to death.) If we keep remembering the lessons of 9/11, shouldn't Russians be entitled to the same memories of June 22, 1941? (Granted the Soviet-Natzi friendship pact of 1939 gave Hitler an engraved invitation, so did Stalin's purge which decimated the Soviet Army of all its best generals - but like the U.S., Russia often fails to acknowledge "inconvenient truths."
With Hirsh's article in mind. Obama's approach makes far more sense than McCain's. Months before the invasion Obama warned of potential trouble spots like South Ossetia and advocated immediate high-level negotiation. Had Obama been president, perhaps the current tragedy might have been averted. Obama believes in proactive diplomacy - anticipating problems and de-fusing them - rather than reacting - like Bush and McCain. That;s the real key to an effective defense strategy.
The other Obama specialty is his emphasis on Green Power (Check out his website) It's not as bold as Gore's 10 year plan - which I hope he adopts, but it's really the key to our ability to negotiate with Russia and Iran. Right now Russia can call the shots because it provides the EU with 33% of its oil and 40% of its natural gas. (There really frightening environmental issues connected with Russia's oil exploration, but that's another topic.) Our best bargaining chip will occur when we can tell the Russians (or Iranians) to keep their crude.

P.S. Newsweek;s of fact checkers pointed out that it will take 22 years for off-shore oil to reach the market. We're better off with Gore's 10 year plan to get rid of oil altogether.

Quick Senator Obama, Give the Russians and the Geogians a speech to make them feel all warm and fuzzy!!!!!!!!!

What!?
Shvili himself told that he is "retaking" S.Ossetia as fulfilling his election promise.
All American media started their Breaking News last Friday by the words:
Georgia retakes S. Ossetia.
Therefore, it is Shvili who started it and not Russia.
Two wars is not enough to enjoy and delighten for stupid Americans; they must be reminded that 3 is a lucky number and thus the third war is just necessary.
I hope that McCain is finished by this, not helped.
As to Obama - he too said noisy words to be inline, but nobody seriously thinks that he is as crazy to break precious relations with Russia for the sake of some Georgia.
Besides - its pres, Shvili, is good for Nurnberg trial.

It is not correct to call this "paranoia" from Russia. This has been build up for a long time and it ended in a US sponsored ethnic cleansing in Ossieta by pouring money into the Georgian army the last 4 year and giving CIA a almost limitless budget there.
Since the cold war the US has expanded NATO closer and closer to Russias borders, assisted breaking up Yugoslavia to create dependent states and bomb Serbia into submission. The coups in Ukraine and Georgia (with colorful names) where the US has manipulated elections and media to gain control and create satelite states with anti-Russian government which we aparently call democratic. American attempt to create control and dominance in Eurasia is of great concern and with a rocket shield to gain first strike capabilities Russia has the right to feel "paranoid". Putin asked in Munic why the US was placing army bases along their borders and encirceling them. The US tactics have been to demonize, isolate, weaken and humiliate Russia. Russia has learned that the cold war never ended for the US and taking up weapons is the only option left now that the greatest threat is standing at their borders, very similar to what happened over 60 years ago. It is also worth to note that the US "aid" to Georgia now consist of war ships and war planes... United States have moved far beyond attacking sovereign states, changing regimes, breaking international law on daily basis, having torture at Guatanamo, placing terrorist organisations like the KLA inpower, the US has also moved into ethnic cleansing. Calling the Russian intervention a crime and bringing war to European soil should make Europe re-evaluate their relationship with the US, not Russia

It is not correct to call this "paranoia" from Russia. This has been build up for a long time and it ended in a US sponsored ethnic cleansing in Ossieta by pouring money into the Georgian army the last 4 year and giving CIA a almost limitless budget there.
Since the cold war the US has expanded NATO closer and closer to Russias borders, assisted breaking up Yugoslavia to create dependent states and bomb Serbia into submission. The coups in Ukraine and Georgia (with colorful names) where the US has manipulated elections and media to gain control and create satelite stateswith anti-Russian government which we aparently call democratic. With a rocket shield to gain first strike capabilities Russia has the right to feel "paranoid". Putin asked in Munic why the US was placing army bases along their borders and encirceling them. The US tactics have been to demonize, isolate, weaken and humiliate Russia. Russia has learned that the cold war never ended for the US and taking up weapons is the only option left now that the greatest threat is standing at their borders, very similar to what happened over 60 years ago. It is also worth to note that the US "aid" to Georgia now consist of war ships and war planes... United States have moved far beyond attacking sovereign states, changing regimes, breaking international law on daily basis, having torture at Guatanamo, placing terrorist organisations like the KLA inpower, the US has also moved into ethnic cleansing. Calling the Russian intervention a crime and bringing war to European soil should make Europe re-evaluate their relationship with the US, not Russia

Glenn, Norway

Putin's invasion of Russia??? Why does everyone keep forgetting that Georgia started this mess??? This was not an invasion, this was a response to the clear and brutal violation of the peace treaty.

Mr. Hirsh, in his unusually objective commentary (for an American), looks at the "big picture" but fails to address the issue of freedom. The kind of freedom that the Neocon crazies want for some, but deny others. Why does Georgia have the right to be "free" of Russia, while the Ossetians and Abkhaz don't have the right to be "free" of fascist Georgia? In order to understand why the Ossetians and Abkhaz don't want to be part of Georgia, all one has to do is look at how the Georgians treat their two other minorieis: The Armenian and the Azeris. That will explain it all.
Here's a suggestion for Americans who oppose Ossetians right to be independent or join Russia! If Georgia is such a great country (democratic, freedom-loving, and other idiotic nonesense being spread by the Bush regime), why does not the USA become part of Georgia? That would be fair.
Otherwise, let the Ossets and the Abkhaz decide for themselves.

Russia has agreed to both sides withdrawing their armies only because it has no intention of pulling its forces out. It sees an opportunity to make Georgia disarm unilaterally. Russia will claim that its army in Georgia is peacekeepers, policemen or voluntary militia of the South Ossetians and keep it in. The only way to ensure that both sides withdraw their armies is to send in an international peacekeeping force, no member of which is from Russia, Georgia or any group in Caucasus. That force should have the arms and authority to enforce withdrawal of armies.
Georgia was the lightning rod for Eastern Europe. Russia focused its economic, propagandistic and military bullying on Georgia, lightening the pressure on countries of Eastern Europe. In the 1990s Russian military planes were flying over the Baltic states and Russia imposing trade sanctions on them. After the Rose Revolution in Georgia this activity shifted there. Now that the lightning rod is broken Eastern European countries should expect a lot more economic and military trouble from Russia.
An old anecdote from the post-communist countries: An American, a German and a Russian are boasting in a bar. The American says: ???On my farm I drive a Ford, when I go to work I drive a Lincoln and when I go abroad I drive a Cadillac.??? The German answers: ???When I am at home, I drive a Volkswagen, at work I drive a Mercedes and in other countries I drive a BMW.??? The Russian says: ???I drive a Zhaporozhets at home and a tractor at work.??? ???And when you go to another country???? the others ask. ???When I go to another country I drive a tank,??? the Russian answers.