Rule .303: Attack, Attack, Attack
Good advice: I'll tell you what I would do if I was the President of Georgia right now. I would make Russia pay as dearly as possible for this victory. Right away, this very minute while Georgia still has an air force, I would muster every combat aircraft and ballistic missile and order attacks on Russian soil. Moscow is probably too far to hit, but I would identify the most important strategic Russian asset within bombing range and launch an offensive to reduce it to rubble. Forget playing this defensive game that Russia is forcing. Go on a hard offensive with everything left. A very American response. The Georgian Republic deserves a lot more than the platitudes it is currently receiving -- here is a nation that is begging to be a part of the West: EU membership, NATO membership, 2,000 soldiers supporting our mission in Iraq, and a strong ally in the War on Terrorism.
How is that professed friendship and alliance being repaid?
If I were a Georgian, this would be a defense-in-depth followed by the most aggressive anti-personnel campaign I could reasonably muster. This is not a nation that should be easily conquered. Most of the topography lends well to regions where the Russian Army's performance has been catastrophically poor: Chechnya, Afghanistan, and Dagestan.
It isn't just Georgia that is at stake, nor is it even the Caucascus region. American prestige and reliability is at stake. If we cannot help our friends, why wouldn't the Georgian people find it easier to live under Russian totaltarianism, rather that as the focus of it's imperial rage?
You hear more Democrats railing for action in Georgia than Republicans at this point, and not for the sole point of illustrating how America is currently involved in two wars some still feel as unnecessary.
The way the United States used to combat totalitarianism was simple: funnel as many guns and ammo to those fighting on the front lines. It takes a version of realpolitik many leftists are uncomfortable with, but such support for West Germany, Taiwan, South Korea, Afghanistan, Israel and elsewhere was often the best insurance against the spread of totaltarianism.
Perhaps the scales are falling off. It's still a dark world after all, and just maybe American exceptionalism is something to appreciate rather than assume will endure.
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Jackson Landers 
1 Comments:
While it's mostly Democrats calling for action in support of Georgia, I think that Bush actually had the best idea for how to prevent this and similar crises from happening in the first place. That meaning NATO membership for Georgia and Ukraine. Personally, I would add Belarus to that list.
The problem is that Bush has essentially been giving Europe the finger for the last 8 years, so when he finally figured out what needed to be done to contain Russia, he was no longer able to do it on account of having made other NATO members despise the United States. They shoot down his requests just on account of them having come from Bush.
One has to wonder how different things might have been had he started out in 2001 with the current cabinet make up, especially had he a different VP. With Gates in place of Rumsfeld, we never would have walked away from the '2 major wars' preparation strategy. Having Powell calling the diplomatic shots instead of Cheney and Rumsfeld, Bush would have had the good will to get NATO membership for a ham and cheese sandwich if he'd wanted it. The world would be very different today and Russia would certainly not be in the middle of an invasion of Georgia.
Oh well. I think Obama will have sufficient international good will to get Ukraine and Belarus into NATO next year. Georgia will probably consist of a government in exile at that point.
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