No Cold War, but Big Chill Over Georgia

[DeepModem Mom]

NYT, pg1: News Analysis
No Cold War, but Big Chill Over Georgia
By STEVEN LEE MYERS
Published: August 15, 2008

CRAWFORD, Tex. — “The cold war is over,” President Bush declared Friday, but a new era of enmity between the United States and Russia has emerged nevertheless. It may not be as tense as the nuclear standoff with the Soviet Union, for now, but it could become as strained. Russia’s military offensive into Georgia has shattered, perhaps irrevocably, the strategy of three successive presidential administrations to coax Russia into alliance with the West and integration into its institutions. From Russia’s point of view, those efforts were never truly sincere or respectful of its own legitimate political and security interests. Those interests, it is now clear, are at odds with those of Europe and the United States.

As much as Mr. Bush has argued that the old characterizations of the cold war are no longer germane, he drew a new line at the White House on Friday morning between countries free and not free, and bluntly put Russia on the other side of it. Tensions are manifest already, and both sides have done their part to inflame them. The flare-up over an obscure territorial dispute in the Caucasus, one barely known to most Americans, has set off a series of tectonic shifts.

The United Nations Security Council has reverted to a cold-war-like stalemate, with American and Russian vetoes blocking meaningful action over Georgia and other issues. While the United States and Russia will continue to negotiate out of necessity, as the old superpowers did, cooperation and collaboration — however limited in the past few years — now appear even more remote over such issues as Iran’s nuclear program. The Russian offensive — the first outside its territory since the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991 — has crystallized a realignment already taking place in Central and Eastern Europe, where the new members of NATO and the European Union have warned of the threat posed by a resurgent Russia. And it is already forcing a reassessment of American strategy toward Russia, as Secretary of Defense Robert M. Gates said on Thursday....

These repercussions have prompted some to question the wisdom of Mr. Bush’s aggressive response to the Russian incursion into Georgia. “What worries me about this episode is the United States is jeopardizing Russian cooperation on a number of issues over a dispute that at most involves limited American interests,” said Ted Galen Carpenter, vice president for defense and foreign policy at the Cato Institute in Washington.

It may seem outdated to speak of blocs in Europe, but they are emerging just as clearly, if less ideologically, as those that existed on either side of the Iron Curtain....

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/08/16/washington/16assess.html?_r=1&adxnnl=1&oref=slogin&ref=todayspaper&adxnnlx=1218907138-NSYVuw9QNkjx5WgH+WYURw

[Submariner]

1. The Russian offensive — the first outside its territory since the collapse of the Soviet Union

Say What?

Unless I missed something, this article does not once mention that Georgia invaded South O., and Russia went on the defensive. If that is the case, then this article is nothing but Bushco propaganda.

[Andy823]

2. You can't fine very many

News sources in the U.S. that point out that Georgia did in fact "invade" South O. BEFORE Russia came on the scene. Not endorsing the war one bit, but Georgia did a very stupid thing, although I do believe they though they had the support of Bush before they did it. This is just another game by the neo cons to help McCain in November. They talk tough, try and bring back the "hate" for Russia that we had during the cold war, and McCain talks tough to make him look like the only one who can "save" us from Russia! I think it is going to backfire on them big time. I could be wrong, but Bush seems to screw up everything he does, so I am looking forward to him screwing this up also.

I think it's a win win for the republicans. If it helps McCain win, then it worked for them, if it doesn't, then they leave Obama with a big mess to add to the rest of the mess Bush has made in his 8 years of screw ups!

[caledesi]

3. KKKarl Rove was in the Ukraine 2 wks. before the Georgia dustup. Coincidence? NT

[Igel]

5. Wrong question.

Better question: "Relevance?"

That's something that's at least plausibly provable or falsifiable.

[asjr]

4. The Georgians have become, as have

the Iraqis, pawns in an ego-driven war between the U.S. and whoever is next on the agenda. The Bush administration should have been impeached years ago.