Posted on 08/11/2008 11:22:13 AM PDT by Free ThinkerNY
On Oct. 3, 1938, Adolf Hitler's armies marched into Sudetenland, a part of Czechoslovakia. Germany said it was responding to separatist demands from the large German population that lived there and that she was merely honoring their desire for reunion with Germany.
Hitler's tanks took over a vital part of an independent country that had largely rejected his overtures and allied itself with the West. Neither Britain nor France nor the United States did a thing to stop him.
On Aug. 7, 2008, Vladimir Putin's armies marched into South Ossetia, a part of Georgia. Russia said it was responding to separatist demands from the large Russian population that lived there and that she was merely honoring their desire for reunion with Russia.
Putin's tanks took over a vital part of an independent country that had largely rejected his overtures and allied itself with the West. Neither Britain nor France nor the United States did a thing to stop him.
Encouraged by his occupation of Sudetenland, Hitler continued his designs on Czechoslovakia itself and invaded the rest of the nation a few months later.
Will history continue to repeat itself?
(Excerpt) Read more at newsmax.com ...
Let me see... 1936/2008... no history will not continue to repeat itself. /s
Can we trust the Uzbecks? Aberzijan?
I think Georgia did something without thinking about the consequences. I think it is clear we, and maybe even THEY were caught completely off guard, while Russian was just waiting for something to happen.
In fact, I read a speculation somewhere that what may have started this was some of the “rebels” taking a few shots at the Georgians and they got fired up and boom...here we are.
Whatever the truth, there isn’t much to do in the near term but hope to prevent an overthrow of the Georgian government and hit the pause button. I would love to “do something” but in the short term, it is hard to see what there is to “do”
I suppose we could start talking about Russia invading Georgia and compare it to Saddam and Kuwait...and try to make the Russians at least think about consequences. It would be interesting to see what Turkey is willing to actually “do” as well. With the current Iraq and Afghan situation, along with the domestic mood, the Russians know we are in the weakest possible position.
If we can hit the PAUSE button, it might be time to start talk of setting up a permanent US base in Georgia and see what the reaction is.
McCain said victory in Iraq would be easy. I wish folks would quit thinking this guy had a clue anymore than anyone else did up front.
I guess I’ll have to research the quotes now, but I could swear I remember him taking hit on the GOP side for talking about the need for more troops. I suppose it could be my brain retconning, but I don’t think so.
The technical invasion of Iraq WAS “easy” relatively speaking. It was the aftermath that wasn’t easy.
I wish I had some background in this.
Thank God Lord Barama has a handle on it all /sarc
Hardly. We have large and extremely skilled veteran forces in Georgia's neighborhood.
Tblisi is less than 400 miles from Mosul.
Putin is gambling - he will easily sacrifice an airstrike to test how far we will go to defend our ally.
What the heck is Bush doing?
Go back to Washington!
He knows we wont do shit overtly in an election cycle
And the world is war weary
No, no. Itd be much, much scarier if he was in Soviet uniform.
Bush is in China using the olympics to poke China in the eye.
And its a smart move. He is using the world stage to promote the idea of freedom
Gotta wonder, eh?
He left Beijing.
Where on earth could he be?
I agree that there is the issue of the initial campaign and the follow-up. What credibility does anyone have saying the campaign would be easy, ignoring what the possible follow-up would be. I’m sorry. Either the guy was a military sage or he wasn’t. He wasn’t.
As for him suggesting a surge in troops strength, John had held an opposing opinion on just about every Bush policy since 2000. Okay, he was right about the surge, perhaps. I’m not convinced that putting new leadership in wasn’t the real factor for positive change. Yes the surge did help. Perhaps the biggest help was the psychological effect it had on the terrorists and the Iraqi populace.
It said the U.S. wasn’t going to back down. That turned the tide IMO. So yes, the surge may have been the straw that broke the terrorists back.
Bush gets that credit. McCain was just a bitter blow-hard IMO. When he’s CIC and everyone is trashing his polices and taking credit for victory, we’ll see who buys into it.
My son an I are talking about WW2 now, and how similar this is to Hitler’s invasion of Poland.
In Georgia clash, a lesson on U.S. need for Russia
By Helene Cooper
Published: August 10, 2008
(excerted)
"While America considers Georgia its strongest ally in the bloc of former Soviet countries, Washington needs Russia too much on big issues like Iran to risk it all to defend Georgia."
"There is no possibility of drawing NATO or the international community into this," said a senior State Department official in a conference call with reporters. "There is none. There is not a danger of a regional conflict in our mind."
"Strategically, the Russians have been sending signals that they really wanted to flex their muscles, and they're upset about Kosovo," the diplomat said. He was alluding to Russia's anger at the West for recognizing Kosovo's independence from Serbia earlier this year."
"Indeed, the decision by the United States and Europe to recognize Kosovo may well have paved the way for Russia's lightning-fast decision to send troops to back the separatists in South Ossetia."
"During one meeting on Kosovo in Brussels this year, Lavrov, the foreign minister, warned Rice and European diplomats that if they recognized Kosovo, they would be setting a precedent for South Ossetia and other breakaway provinces."
"As easily as the West could encourage a former Russian satellite toward independence and away from Russia's sphere of influence, the Russians warned, so too, could Moscow encourage pro-Russian breakaway regions like South Ossetia to follow suit."
"Russia's emerging aggressiveness is now also timed with America's preoccupation with Iraq and Afghanistan, and the looming confrontation with Iran. These counterbalancing considerations mean that Moscow is in the driver's seat, administration officials acknowledged."
"We've placed ourselves in a position that globally we don't have the wherewithal to do anything," Friedman of Stratfor said. "One would think under those circumstances, we'd shut up."
"One senior administration official, when told of that quote, laughed. "Well, maybe we're learning to shut up now," he said. He asked that his name not be used because he was not authorized to speak publicly on the issue."
If Obama becomes President, the Russian Empire will expand at least to cover all of Europe. Maybe when it tries to conquer Canada, the Liberal Messiah will ask to negotiate with Czar Vladimir (or he may simply surrender).
He only left after I posted this.
Is someone awake?
Russia is pushing to see how far they can go.
Someone better set them straight or no allie of the US will ever help us again.
Well, I am and it's nearly 11 p.m.
I agree - we can't abandon our allies in situations like this. Russia is testing her boundaries and we need to show them where the boundaries are.
This is no time for us to go wobbly.
We are witnessing the rebirth of National Socialism.
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