Excerpt from today's WaPo:
Back in 2005, speaking before a crowd of more than 150,000 exuberant Georgians cheering "Bushi! Bushi!", President Bush made a promise to the people of that former Soviet republic: "The path of freedom you have chosen is not easy, but you will not travel it alone. Americans respect your courageous choice for liberty. And as you build a free and democratic Georgia, the American people will stand with you."
So where was Bush as Russia launched a major military attack against Georgia? Monkeying around with the U.S. women's volleyball players -- and otherwise amusing himself at the Beijing Olympics. This is not to suggest that Bush should have sent in the Marines. But his impotence in the face of such a gravely destabilizing move highlights not only his personal loss of stature, but how deeply he has diminished American authority on the world stage generally and, particularly, in the eyes of Russia.
LINK:
washingtonpost.com
Remember what happened at the end of Desert Storm in 1991? Papa Bush had egged the Shiite's toward rebelling against Saddam Hussein. The thinking was Saddam was so weak after the Gulf War that the Shiite's would topple him. So the Shiite's revolted against Saddam and surprise, Saddam slaughtered them en masse. USA support for the Shiites was non-existent. Saddam also turned on the Kurds, and we had to protect them with no fly zones.
Bush Jr spoke the above strong words to the people of Georgia in 2005, egged them on, so Georgia attacks the breakaway regions, which have been free of Georgian control going on 15 years. Here we go again - no USA support is forthcoming.
Bush and McCain will run their mouth, say "tough" things, but the truth is, we've emptied our clips in Iraq and Afghanistan and have little left to throw at anyone, not that the loudmouths know they can do anything except mouth off to Putin, who laughs.
Another diplomatic debacle for the USA. Like father, like son.
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Bush's Betrayal of Georgia
