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McCain On The Georgian/Russian Conflict

Fascinating. Does the guy want us to attack Russia? "Today, many are dead and Georgia is in crisis, yet the Obama campaign has offered nothing more

Fascinating. Does the guy want us to attack Russia?

"Today, many are dead and Georgia is in crisis, yet the Obama campaign has offered nothing more than cheap and petty political attacks that are echoed only by the Kremlin," said McCain aide Tucker Bounds in the statement. "The reaction of the Obama campaign to this crisis, so at odds with our democratic allies and yet so bizarrely in sync with Moscow, doesn't merely raise questions about Sen. Obama's judgment -- it answers them."

What is he trying to say?

"Russian President Medvedev and Prime Minister Putin must understand the severe, long-term negative consequences that their government's actions will have for Russia's relationship with the U.S. and Europe," McCain said.

And, describing the Russian assaults that have gone beyond the disputed territory and into sovereign Georgia as "Moscow's path of violent aggression," the GOP nominee suggested that Putin's aim may be to overthrow the pro-U.S. government in Georgia.

"This should be unacceptable to all the democratic countries of the world, and should draw us together in universal condemnation of Russian aggression," McCain said.

As I blogged yesterday, neocons loves them some military conflict, as long as they don't have to fight it. The biggest neocon chickenhawk of them all, William "The Bloody" Kristol is rah-rahing for it: (reg. req'd)

When the "civilized world" expostulated with Russia about Georgia in 1924, the Soviet regime was still weak. In Germany, Hitler was in jail. Only 16 years later, Britain stood virtually alone against a Nazi-Soviet axis. Is it not true today, as it was in the 1920s and '30s, that delay and irresolution on the part of the democracies simply invite future threats and graver dangers?

Have you learned nothing from your warmongering ways? If you're so hot to fight, suit up, Kristol. Our resources are tapped out by your last cheerleading effort. Matt Yglesias agrees with me.

If Kristol really thinks we should go to war with Russia, he's being crazy and irresponsible. If he doesn't think that, then he has no business busting out these Munich analogies. Nowhere in his column does he propose a single concrete step with any meaningful chance of altering the situation - it's all dedicated to mocking doves, but utterly lacking in viable alternatives.

That's it in a nutshell.

UPDATE: Where is John McCain getting his foreign policy positions vis à vis Georgia? Wikipedia, of course!

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