Russia’s Nervous Neighbors

Why should we pay good American money to rebuild Georgia's military and start a war with the eastern side of the world...why? Georgia started this fight and got their a%^es kicked and we are suppose to come come up the mess. I would not even send humanitarian aid, because those dumb leaders would do it again and draw us into a war. They can't beat Russia and they want us to do it for them. Russia's Navy is having port call's in South America, Russia and China have a Defense agreement. Do think we can beat up on Russia like we did little Iraq. Is Georgia worth the 1000's and 1000's of youth American live, is that all the military is for...are we trying to rule the world?

Why in the world does the US support a fake democracy like Georgia? The Georgian Mafia has terrorized Moscow for years. Georgia is the birthplace of Stalin where he is still considered a hero. It is the diplomatic and strategic blunder of the century for the US and it will backfire on them. The present policy is setting the stage for Russian bases in Cuba and Venezuela. As usual the US policy is for the wrong side.

OK, let me get this straight. We went into Georgia to help their "ragtag Army" to be a better fighting force and overlooked teaching them tactics concerning "tanks, artillery and helicopters"? Since WWII the basic ground warfare doctrine has centered around blitzkrieg and envelopment, which means the use of highly mobile forces bearing awesome firepower; since the 14th century indirect fire has been central to western warfare; and since the Korean war the tactical use of combined arms to deliver teams quickly and unexpectedly has been central to all major tactical operations, and is ESPECIALLY suited to counter-terrorist/-insurgency missions. How could we, then, have simply failed to mention any of these "conventional" tactics in our training of Georgian troops? This is absolute bull. What we're concerned with over there is getting people on our side who will fight our so-called "War on Terror" for us cheaper than will all those mercenary companies we've made into Fortune 500 successes. Besides that, we're concerned with three things: 1) there's an election coming up and those pansy-assed Washington chickenhawks (from both parties) have to look tough; 2) shoveling money into the hands of our out-of-control military industry in the guise of "equipping" foreign powers to protect themselves (from threats we won't deem necessary to tell them about); 3) to protect our precious "national interest" in Georgia's oil reserves. What a crock. Americans wake up! Vote against all these idiots who play Monopoly with the world, wagering the lives of our soldiers and entire people groups in order to have the most money at the end of the game. Enough! Back to Constitutional government! Obama won't save you! McCain will send you to die. Join the New Revolution, the Campaign for Liberty, and let our country once again belong to "We the People".

No ! There is no way we are responsible for their situation. It is about time the US stops sending our money to every other country that has issues, or wines they are needy. We have MANY issues here is the US, homes being lost due to scams, unemployment, homeless families, children going hungry and needing medical treatment, seniors going hungry, to name a few. The US needs to man up and start taking care of the AMERICAN BORN citizens !!! RJ - Washington St.

By arming Geogia's army and bringing them into NATO, you are creating a moral hazard. In other words, Geogia will feel little risk in attacking South Ossetia again (in case you didn't know, the side we are supporting attacked first), becase good old uncle sam will be there to protect them this time thanks to NATO's rules (an attack on one is an attack on all). And guess who will pay the price, yes that's right uncle sam. Oh, and in case you thought that this would be a principled fight, it would, but for mostly for the other side. That is because the vast majority of South Ossetians do not want to be part of Georgia. They want their self-deptermination, freedom and independence. This was the same principle that the West fought for when it defended the Kosovars in 1999 by bombing Serbia for 78 days. So by rearming Georgia's military, we are in effect encouraging the denial of another people's human rights and freedom. And in case you thought the principle we are defending is a country's territorial integrity, obviously that is BS, we we all saw earlier this year when we accepted Kosovo's declaration of independence (which meant the denial of Serbia's territorial integrity).

This war started when Georgia attacked a province who's people don't want to be part of Georgia (just like the Kosovars didn't want to be part of Serbia). This province was at relative peace for 16 years before this attack. When Kosovars wanted to be free of Serbia, Western leaders and media frames focused on the denial of Kosovar human rights. When Ossetians want to be free of Georgia, Western leaders and media frames focus on Georgia's erritorial integrity. We never heard that the vast majority of South Ossetia's people don't want to be part of Georgia (as we did in Kosovo). While the
West bombed Serbia for wanting to protect its territorial integrity in 1999, it supports Georgia who wants to deny the Ossetians the same rights as the Kosovars received through Western recognition. Is this not blatant hypocrisy and a failure to apply principles equally? I have not heard one logical explanation of why South Ossetia should be treated differently than Kosovo if one is to apply principles equally in international relations. Someone please explain why this is anything than other than power politics (where ethics only a rhetorical guise by the powerful)

The Georgia joins NATO, it will destroy the alliance. Georgia isn't worth World War III, and the West knows it. If Georgia became a member, Russia would invade, and then there would be a "now what?" followed by the same impotence to act this past month. NATO members would doubt the reliability of the alliance on their own behalf because collectively they couldn't justify intervention on behalf of Georgia. If we're NATO I'd keep the alliance strong by keeping these little two-bit countries out.

Russians are great people but a history of authoritarian grip has left them longing for a return to the vices of the old regime. One of which is unbridled fear of anything that might just represent a threat to the motherland. The move into Georgia, and threats of the same for Poland, Ukraine and other outlying former client states will continue UNLESS and until the west....unfortunately meaning the US, apply pressure to restrain Russian expansion. Americans, who have never had a real threat to their personal security since WW2 do not believe or begin to comprehend what it is like to be under totalitarian rule. Thanks to those who have seen what loss of freedom is like, still try to step forward to halt aggressive nation states and even try to hold back the tide of Islamic terrorism. Those who think that there are no threats out there merely run risk of sacrificing the freedom of future generations because they think that freedom is free of those who would take it from them.

The Georgian conflict shows how powerless the West really is against Russia. The EU can't even impose economic sanctions on Russia while the Americans dare not send in troops. Once Russia bites back, the West turn out no more than a paper tiger.