OBAMA WANTS GEORGIA TO SHOW RESTRAINT

On August 1, Georgia took a gamble by sending its troops to attack the civilian population in and occupy the breakaway province of South Ossetia. Last week Georgia lost its gamble when Russia responded with its military might. Russia's invasion of Georgia gives us the opportunity to compare the foreign policy capabilities of Senators McCain and Obama.

Just because Georgia happens to be a close ally of the United States, that does not necessarily mean Russia was wrong with its military response to Georgia's repression of the secessionist movements in the pro-Russian provinces of South Ossetia and Abkhasia. Russia complained that Georgia's troops killed 2,000 civilians in South Ossetia. Likewise, many civilians were killed by Russia's military response against Georgia. But, no matter which side is right or wrong in this conflict, we are obligated to do everything possible to back our ally, Georgia.

In response to Russia's attacks on Georgia, both McCain and Obama issued a statement. Here is part of what McCain had to say:

"Today, news reports indicate that Russian military forces crossed an internationally-recognized border into thesovereign territory of Georgia. Russia should immediately and unconditionally cease its military operations and withdraw all forces from sovereign Georgian territory. What is most critical now is to avoid further confrontation between Russian and Georgian military forces. The consequences for Euro-Atlantic stability and security are grave.

.............. The U.S. should immediately convene an emergency session of the United Nations Security Council to call on Russia to reverse course. The U.S. should immediately work with the EU and the OSCE to put diplomatic pressure on Russia to reverse this perilous course it has chosen. We should immediately call a meeting of the North Atlantic Council to assess Georgia’s security and review measures NATO can take to contribute to stabilizing this very dangerous situation. ............."

And here is Obama's entire statement:

"I strongly condemn the outbreak of violence in Georgia, and urge an immediate end to armed conflict. Now is the time for Georgia and Russia to show restraint, and to avoid an escalation to full scale war. Georgia’s territorial integrity must be respected. All sides should enter into direct talks on behalf of stability in Georgia, and the United States, the United Nations Security Council, and the international community should fully support a peaceful resolution to this crisis."

McCain's statement was blunt, unequivocal and direct to the point. He called for immediate and specific action by the United States, the U.N. Security Council, the European Union, the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe and NATO to pressure Russia into stopping and reversing its military attacks against Georgia, a sovereign nation.

On the other hand, Obama hoped to please both sides by issuing a fuzzy feel good statement. He called on Russia and Georgia to sit down together in direct talks to resolve their conflict. And he called on both sides to show restraint.

Restraint? Georgia should show restraint? How absolutely absurd! Georgia is being invaded by the Russian army, its cities are being bombed by the Russian airforce, and its ports are being blockaded by the Russian navy, and they are supposed to show restraint. Has Obama been smoking funny tobacco?

Let's suppose that the Mexicans living in the State of New Mexico wanted to break away from the United States and have that state become a part of Mexico. Our government then calls in the National Guard to repress protests and demonstrations by the Mexicans. The Mexican army then invades New Mexico and its airforce bombs cities in the surrounding states. According to Obama's way of dealing with international conflicts, the United States should show restraint in responding to Mexico's invasion and we should sit down in direct talks with Mexico to see if we could not come up with an amicable solution.

At the Olympics, President Bush confronted Russian Premier Putin and expressed his displeasure and "grave concern" over events in Georgia. His pleas for Russia to stop their military attacks and to withdraw from Georgia fell on deaf ears. Because the United States now finds itself in a weakened position, Putin, in effect, told Bush to go screw himself. And those talks occurred between friends, rather than between enemies.

Obama seems to believe we can resolve most international conflicts by talking to our enemies. Sure sounds good, blut that's not the way the cookie crumbles. I have maintained that an Obama presidency would be a disaster for Israel. With Obama's statement on the Russian invasion of Georgia, I can now say with confidence that an Obama presidency will be a disaster for America's foreign relations.