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WTF? McCain Thinks Georgia is the 'First Serious Crisis' in Post-Cold War Era

Posted by Steve Benen, The Carpetbagger Report at 11:04 AM on August 15, 2008.


Um... it's been 19 years since the end of the Cold War John ... you sure you can't think of any others?

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Once in a while, the depth of John McCain's foreign policy confusion stops being funny, and starts getting scary.



For those of you who can't watch clips online, McCain told an audience at the Aspen Institute yesterday, "My friends, we have reached a crisis, the first probably serious crisis internationally since the end of the Cold War. This is an act of aggression."

About a month ago, McCain said the war in Iraq is the "first major conflict since 9/11," which seemed pretty odd given the war in Afghanistan.

But this is considerably worse. The Cold War effectively ended 19 years ago, and the conflict between Russia and Georgia is the first serious international crisis in that time? Are you kidding me?

Since the fall of the Soviet Union, the U.S. has fought (or is fighting) two wars in Iraq, a war in Afghanistan, and two conflicts in the Balkans. There have been multiple crises in Israel. There was a burgeoning nuclear crisis with North Korea. There is, and has been, a crisis in Darfur. There have been multiple, shall we say, tense moments between Pakistan and India, nuclear powers both. One could make the argument that the attacks of Sept. 11 were, themselves, a serious international crisis.

And yet, there's John McCain, describing a regional conflict between Russia and Georgia as the first "serious crisis internationally" since the end of the Cold War. Do the other crises simply not count? Or does McCain not remember them?

Digg!

Tagged as: mccain, georgia, post cold war era

Steve Benen is a freelance writer/researcher and creator of The Carpetbagger Report. In addition, he is the former lead editor of Salon.com's Blog Report, and has been a contributor to Talking Points Memo, Washington Monthly, The American Prospect, the Huffington Post, the Guardian, Crooks & Liars, Salon.com’s War Room, Political Wire, and Seven Days.


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John McCain is unfit to be president of the United States of America.
Posted by: thekidde on Aug 15, 2008 11:23 AM   
Current rating: 4    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
Parties, politics, religion, gored oxen, special interests, whose hand is in whose pocket, left wing, right wing, up wing, down wing (sorry Tom) are all irrelevant. McCain is unfit - without further qualification.

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» Obama may not be perfect, Posted by: ikonoklast
Just remember he's a time traveler
Posted by: jebpgh on Aug 15, 2008 12:28 PM   
Current rating: Not yet rated    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
John McCain is really Dr. Who. He has traveled back and forth in time so much that he cannot know for sure when something begins and when it ends. The guys on the other end of the cameras must have been falling off their chairs. Maybe this was the stand-up portion of the Aspen Institute's program.

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He is simply not in touch with reality!
Posted by: Quannah on Aug 15, 2008 12:53 PM   
Current rating: Not yet rated    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
This conflict in Georgia is a minor one by comparison to the many wars listed in this article.

He's either incompetent, stupid, or both. And what kind of staff does he have working in his campaign that they set him up for these ridiculous situations where he can hang himself out to dry?

No wonder they took his cell phone away! No wonder they said "John McCain does not speak for the McCain Campaign!"

This is beyond bizarre!

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Big Bang
Posted by: QQOblivion on Aug 15, 2008 1:38 PM   
Current rating: Not yet rated    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
Maybe we are all being too hard on Mc John-Boy. Maybe he believes, or KNOWS, that this thing with Russia will get nuclear with the US. THEN it WOULD be the biggest event since the Cold War (maybe since the Earth was formed out of interstellar dust). I bet McCain is hoping, anyway!

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» RE: Big Bang -- Seriously Posted by: QQOblivion
LESDER LV NV
Posted by: les on Aug 15, 2008 1:52 PM   
Current rating: Not yet rated    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
Gee, Wally, have you seen "the Beev?"... I'm afraid, folks, that we just can't "Leave it to Beaver," anymore! Beaver, is a tad bit confused! Now, we can't afford to have a confused Beaver running around on the world stage, which is of itself, a bit confused and out-of-sorts

Once a Beaver is confused, they forget the basics. One of which is; 1. How to build a dam that will hold water.

McCain reminds me of the confused Beaver! "His stories, just don't hold water!"

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» What an insult to beavers! Posted by: chuckjs
Ready, aim, fire!
Posted by: progressive-life on Aug 15, 2008 2:06 PM   
Current rating: Not yet rated    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
McCain isnt far off the mark on his comment.. Remember, Iraq 1& 2 and Adghanistan didn't have the opportunity to turn into a world conflict the way Russia/Georgia does.

We can still watch the "reality show" called Iraq and not be too bothered by it and turn it off if we dont like what we see. The poor guys/gals over there can't turn it off (do we need a draft or what).

But Georgia/Russia is very different..major oil route, Russia sticking it in our faces when there isnt much we can do militarily (there really wasn't ever a time we could just walk into their back yard and take a seat).

If Bush get his cowboy hat on and starts looking for his six shooters, we/the world, is in trouble!

The world is a very different place now then it was in 1962 and Obama, McCain and especially Bush aint no JFK!

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» RE: eady, aim, fire! Posted by: herronsmith
Caspian Oil Wars will become Armageddon..!
Posted by: TJColatrella on Aug 15, 2008 2:56 PM   
Current rating: 4    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
Bush and Cheney the Neo Cons and the Oil magnates are playing a dangerous game, and it's all about Caspian Oil..!

Are you ready for World War III, Armageddon..?

Do you think Putin will sell out Russia as quickly and easily as our leaders sell out America every day..?

Learn all you can about the Caspian Oil and Gas fields because there's a good chance you're gonna die for it or one of your kids will at the very least..

Are Bush and Cheney willing to start WWIII and unite Russia with Iran and other nations in that region against America just for Oil and greed and in an attempt to co-opt and encroach upon Russia and other nations natural resources..causing the deaths of millions maybe billions..

Sure you bet they are..!

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blupot
Posted by: blupot on Aug 15, 2008 3:19 PM   
Current rating: 5    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
John Mc must use X-Lax for mouth wash, he never knows which end is talking.

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Foot in mouth -- again
Posted by: Jeanne on Aug 15, 2008 7:10 PM   
Current rating: Not yet rated    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
Unfortunately, this latest episode (is he a millipede?) will likely not be shown on any of the network news broadcasts. Imagine those words coming out of Obama's mouth . . . . It would rate "Breaking News" headlines. John McCain is suffering mental deficits. Is it age-related cognitive impairment? Is it early Alzheimers? Is it vascular dementia? No choice is reassuring for the person who will have his finger on the "button." In video of second term Reagan I recognized that blank look in his eyes. My question to my husband then was, "Is anyone home?" Seeing McCain dither his way through the campaign is very reminiscent of Reagan-term-two.

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Could Mac be Trying to Screw Up Cheney Corp??
Posted by: Purple Girl on Aug 16, 2008 7:34 AM   
Current rating: Not yet rated    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
Much like I wondered if Bill was intentionally sending smoke signals regarding Hillary's complicity with CheneyCorp, perhaps Mac is trying to derail the Corporationists Too.
Bill seemed to undermine everything Hillary claimed (able to think straight at 3 am, but was so tired at 11pm she confused the 'sniper fire' scenario. Willing to jump on the Racist gernade- 'Just like Jackson won'. 'Picking on her because she was a girl'(Innuendo- Girl can't play fair at the big boy table- Too weak to handle the heat, needs hubby to stick up for her?)
So Now Mac drags out every corrupt advisors as proof of his allegience to ChenyCorp- Gramm?
Makes Numerous 'Senior moment' gaffes
Blatantly and shamelessly flip flops on various issues
Willing to take on 'Christian extremeist'- Who heard of Hagee's sociopathic doctrine before Mac got his endorsement- very revealing about who has been supporting and adhering to Hagee's Agenda for Armegeddon ah?
Could Mac be jumping on this gernade to save the country from the Ones 'he doesn't speak For'??The same ones who screwed him in '00??
I'm willing to take his advise, I'm voting for Obama.
things are not allows as they seem- Hillary proved that during her campaign- she too is a devoted follower of the CheneyCorp Doctrine.

OBAMA/HAGEL '08

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Unreal
Posted by: Grandma Crabby on Aug 16, 2008 8:18 AM   
Current rating: Not yet rated    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
How can this man be so dang popular?

He is a MORON.

Straight-talking maverick, my ass. He is a capitulating, double talking puppet.

The MSM covers him with kid gloves. If they covered him half-way honestly, his poll numbers would be in the toilet where they should be.

www.youtube.com/user/Whoopteedoo
(Granny's crazy videos)

Luv,
Granny

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Georgian conflict is McCains 9/11 moment
Posted by: outlook on Aug 17, 2008 3:09 AM   
Current rating: Not yet rated    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
By over emphasising this conflict, McCain is playing fear politics. 9/11, at the time, gave the Bush presidency credibility. This Bush-enabled scenario, in Georgia, greatly improves McCain's bid for the White House.

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Whose agression?
Posted by: login@bugmenot.com on Aug 17, 2008 2:52 PM   
Current rating: Not yet rated    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
This whole thing was because Georgia was trying to supress an independence movement. Georgia sneak attacked South Ossetia and Russian peacekeeping troops in the region.
Russia sends in tanks to reinforce peacekeeping troops.

How is that Russian agression?
Is this an accurate description of the events?

Notice how all MSM and US politicians say "Russian Agression" is unacceptable, when really the U.S.-backed Georgians are the agressors.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europ e/georgia/2565469/Georgia-crisis-Timeline.html




http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europ e/country_profiles/1102575.stm


^^ copy/paste these links and remove the space in the word "europe". i had to make the space because SOMEBODY doesnt like words more than 60 characters long!

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The Glaringly Obvious For Those Who Research
Posted by: Mr. Terrific on Aug 18, 2008 8:44 AM   
Current rating: Not yet rated    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
Alternet has one big flaw. Whenever any situtation has Jewish extremists or simply just people of Jewish faith attached to it {in the shadows}, they will totally omitt the connection and the people on this board will simply act as if blind by that fact!

Americans have been putting their lives on the chopping block for Israel {the so-called Jews} of the "Holy Bible" for a very long time now whether they like it or not! What does this have to do with McCain?

Simple:

http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/vjw/armenia.html
http://cja.huji.ac.il/NL14Georgia.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Georgian_Jews
http://www.eki.ee/books/redbook/georgian_jews.shtml
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1010229.html
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1010223.html

"Jewish Defense League - Florida
How does JDL feel about Dr. Baruch Goldstein?...We feel that Goldstein took a preventative measure against yet another Arab attack. We understand his motivation, his grief and his actions. We are not ashamed to say that Goldstein was a charter member of the Jewish Defense League. We quote without comment the rabbi who conducted the services at Goldstein's funeral, "A MILLION ARABS ARE NOT WORTH ONE JEWISH FINGERNAIL."

How conviently ignored.

Yet shouts of "anti-semetism" ring out loudly when the truth comes out!

Terrific

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