Georgia: U.S. Impotent Against Russia

Blogger Interrupted comments on the latest developments in Georgia and says that the U.S. can now be seen to be impotent in the face of a Russian invasion of Armenia’s northern neighbor. The blog also argues the case for an Obama presidency in light of the failure of U.S. foreign policy.

Look closely at this map. I know, it’s hard to make sense of something which, like every Republican blogger on the planet, you haven’t ever seen before. What don’t you see here?

American power, that’s what.

Russian President Medvedev announced today, almost as if he had finished shopping at Target, that Russian military operations in Georgia are over, thank you very much. The status quo prior to today, a Georgia whose territorial integrity was intact, is gone. What is left are vast swaths of Georgia occupied by Russian troops. As with this military operation, those troops will leave when Russia pleases. Which means never.

George W. Bush and John McCain, as is always the case, both ended up on the same page eventually - blustering their way to bellicose rhetoric, in the face of a Russia whose timetable was wholly Russian. On this map, if you can point out any spot where American influence could have, would have, or ever has resided during this Bush administration, I will refrain from laughing at the hysterics displayed in the Rose Garden yesterday.

Georgia paid the price for the Bush-McCain failed foreign policy. Georgia bought into the Bush democracy tonic, assuming that behind it lie more than rhetoric. That led to Georgian miscalculation over South Ossetia, a “breakaway” region that isn’t even on the top of the “breakaway region” list in Georgia, let alone the rest of the Caucasus. This sparked wildly disproportionate Russian overreaction…is there any other kind?