Shouldn't we cut Russia some slack?
Both presidential candidates have spoken about taking action against Russia for their activities in Georgia. My opinion is that we should work out a compromise.
Consider for a moment how things must look from the Russian point of view. The major political event of the second half of the 20th century was the dissolution of the Soviet Union. Referring to this in terms of the Soviet Union diminishes the historical significance of what happened, which with only slight exaggeration can be referred to as the end of the Russian Empire. There are territories that the Russians lost control of that they had held since the time of Peter the Great.
Now areas formerly controlled by Russia are parts of NATO and are part of the missile defense system, some of which must be directed against the Russians.
Unless climate change makes it considerably more habitable, the chances of Russia becoming a major influence in the near future do not seem very likely. Between an emerging China in the East and NATO in the West, the Russians do not have much wiggle room. The Russian economy has shown improvement over the few years, but only by them selling oil and natural gas.
Here is what I think we should do. Let the Russsians annex Osetia. It is not worth going to war over. Establish Georgia and the Ukraine as buffer zones, meaning the Russians keep out and Georgia and Ukraine are not incorporated into NATO. Have the Russians promise to put more pressure on Iran to prevent, or at least slow down, their march toward becoming a nuclear power.
So what do you think?
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11 Answers
Whose idea was it to “take action against Russia” in the first place? And why do we always feel the need to get involved in the business of other countries? I don’t see why we feel the need to be the world’s police and other prominent and powerful countries don’t.
I totally agree with Allie. We really can’t afford to puff out our chest right now. We don’t have the money or the military to defend ourselves in an all out skirmish at this point. That is what happens when you commit all your resources (largely made up of National Guard)to a war you were ill prepared for and never should have been in, in the first place.
You know, Russia was Russia before the Soviet Union; Russia was Russia during the Soviet Union; and Russia is still Russia, now the Soviet Union is gone.
Russia was always expansionist. There is no reason to believe this impulse has gone away. When they have a Tsar, the Tsar feels his oat, and tries to make his name expanding. He might have been an elected official at one time (or maybe now, too), but Putin is still a Tsar.
This country can’t do shit to change what they are doing on their borders. Even if we weren’t bogged down in Iraq, we couldn’t do anything. That’s the way it is. All we can do is make noise. We’ll need their oil and gas. We have no power over there. The only thing left is bravado and posturing. The Bush administration is good at that. I don’t think it’s necessary, but I’m not running the state department. Alas.
To start with your opinion:
I think any geographical group of people should have the right to secede from one association and form another, as long as the residents of the region agree. In this sense I agree.
However Russia’s invasion of Georgia is wrong. No other country should be permitted to occupy, uninvited, another country to force a secession.
It’s clear that Putin is trying to rebuild the empire of the USSR that was broken up by his predecessors. His belief that former USSR countries should not be allowed to join NATO supports his intent. NATO and the UN should actively voice disapproval at such military occupations and take whatever non-military steps to encourage withdrawal.
Putin knows his power is in the oil and gas reserves under his control and will use that control to achieve whatever ends he desires as well as work to obtain more.
Tough talk is ok by me, and all democratic countries should be vocal.
I think Obama will talk tough, longer and seek non-military ways to achieve resolution.
I’m concerned that McCain will speak tough talk for a short time, and switch to military force fairly quickly.
That would be wrong.
Who knows what really happened? I work with a guy from Russia, and as I have read on alternative news sources, we trained Georgian troops and had them provoke the incident. I think Allie is on point with her statement. We have troops stationed in 140 countries and spend a trillion dollars a year on offense(“defense”) spending.
With the way our media is, who knows the truth.
@jvgr
When you say,“No other country should be permitted to occupy, uninvited, another country to force a sucession,” do you mean other than the US? We also have power in oil and gas reserves and use that control to achieve whatever ends the real people that run this country desire. Just remember that the pentagon uses 395,000 barrels a day. So if you think that we dont have a huge interest in the control of oil, you are dead wrong.
chris6137: You certainly read a lot into my post since I didn’t bring up oil at all, consequently your statement: “So if you think that we dont have a huge interest in the control of oil, you are dead wrong.” makes absoutely no sense. How can I be wrong about an issue I did not raise.
When I say: “No other country should be permitted to occupy, uninvited, another country to force a sucession,” that’s what I meant. Had I intended for exceptions to no, I would have provided them. (If you prefer, you can strike out the other)
Note: In order to communicate effectively, the receiver (you in this case) needs to understand the message. That you choose to read words that don’t exist or imagine meanings that are neither stated nor implied only serves to indicate that you didn’t understand the clearly written message.
You’re McCain think is showing.
Georgians were shooting at civilians. Russia stepped in to stop them from shooting at civilians. And now the US wants to stop Russia, apparently so that the Georgians can continue the shooting civilians again unopposed. And this is how we show we love freedom?
@jvgr
You said,“Putin knows his power is in the oil and gas reserves under his control and will use that control to achieve whatever ends he desires as well as work to obtain more.”
I know you didn’t say anything about us and oil, but you did talk about Russia’s control of oil, which our control of oil is a huge reason for the wars we are in.
My McCain think is showing?? What exactly do you mean by that??
Lurve to Allie!
My philosophy, if it was ever called “Soviet”, leave it alone, not our business.
Ironic question from 9 and a half years ago…
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