ÿþ<html> <head> <meta http-equiv="content-type" content="text/html;charset=iso-8859-1"> <title>OnlineColumnist&reg;.com: Putin Punishes Georgia</title> <meta name="generator" content="Adobe GoLive 4"> <style type="text/css"> .style2 { font-size: large; font-weight: bold; font-family: Arial; } .style3 { font-size: large; font-weight: bold; } </style> </head> <body bgcolor="white" vlink="black"> <center> <table cool width="624" height="2719" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" gridx="16" showgridx gridy="16" showgridy> <tr height="79"> <td width="133" height="118" rowspan="2" valign="top" align="left" xpos="0"><a href="aboutdiscobolos.html"><img height="110" width="62" src="images/discobolos.logo.transp.gif" border="0"></a></td> <td width="7" height="118" rowspan="2"></td> <td width="482" height="79" colspan="2" valign="top" align="left" xpos="140"><img height="75" width="450" src="images/banner.GIF"></td> <td width="1" height="118" rowspan="2"></td> <td width="1" height="79"><spacer type="block" width="1" height="79"></td> </tr> <tr height="39"> <td width="182" height="39"></td> <td width="300" height="39" valign="top" align="left" xpos="322"><a href="aboutdiscobolos.html"><img height="14" width="267" src="images/divisionofNEW.GIF" border="0"></a></td> <td width="1" height="39"><spacer type="block" width="1" height="39"></td> </tr> <tr height="24"> <td width="624" height="24" colspan="6" valign="top" align="left" xpos="0"> <table border="0" width="100%" bgcolor="black" cellspacing="0"> <tr> <td> <table border="0" width="100%" bgcolor="#99ffcc" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="4"> <tr> <td align="center"> <div align="left"> <a href="index.html"><font face="Arial,Helvetica,Geneva,Swiss,SunSans-Regular" size="2"><strong>HOME</strong></font></a><font face="Arial,Helvetica,Geneva,Swiss,SunSans-Regular" size="2"><strong> &#149; <a href="articlesindex.html">ARTICLES</a> &#149; <a href="books.html">BOOKS</a> &#149; <a href="teflon.html">THE </a><a href="teflon.html">TEFLON</a><a href="teflon.html"> REPORT</a> &#149; <a href="mailto:letters@onlinecolumnist.com">REACTIONS</a> &#149; <a href="aboutdiscobolos.html">ABOUT DISCOBOLOS</a></strong></font></div> </td> </tr> </table> </td> </tr> </table> </td> </tr> <tr height="2"> <td width="133" height="2">&nbsp;</td> <td width="489" height="2576" colspan="3" rowspan="2" align="left" xpos="133" content valign="top" csheight="2573"> <p class="style2">Palin&#39;s Unthinkable</p> <p><b><font face="Arial,Geneva,Helvetica">by John M. Curtis</font></b><font face="Arial,Helvetica,Geneva,Swiss,SunSans-Regular"><b><a href="books.html"><br> </a></b></font><font face="Arial,Helvetica,Geneva,Swiss,SunSans-Regular"><b>(310) 204-8700</b></font></p> <p><font size="2" face="Arial,Helvetica,Geneva,Swiss,SunSans-Regular"><i>Copyright September 9, 2008<br>All Rights Reserved. </i></font>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; </p> <p class="MsoNormal"> &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; <span class="style3">S</span>howing her foreign policy naïveté, GOP vice presidential candidate Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin uttered the unthinkable, telling ABC Evening News anchor Charlie Gibson that a war with Russia could not be ruled out.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>On the seven-year anniversary of Sept. 11, the first-term Alaska governor urged NATO to adopt former breakaway republics Ukraine and Georgia.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span> Palin was especially adamant about Georgia who she mentioned in her auspicious debut at the Republican National Convention Sept. 3.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span> I mean, that is the agreement when you are a NATO ally, is if another country is attacked, you re going to be expected to be called upon and help, Palin told Gibson.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>When Georgian President Mikhail Saakashvili attacked independent Russian provinces Aug. 8, Russia hit him with a ton of bricks.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>Russian troops still occupy Georgia to protect South Ossetia and Abkhazia.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"> <![if !supportEmptyParas]>&nbsp;<![endif]><span style="mso-tab-count:1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; </span>Saakashvili demonstrated precisely why Georgia should not be included in NATO, impulsively trying to annex Russian provinces and then expecting the U.S. to come to his rescue.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>NATO foreign ministers remember well the horrors of the first and second world wars, where Russia killed more of its own citizens and other Europeans than the Nazis.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>Palin shows no awareness of post-WW II European pacifism, unwilling to confront militarily countries with belligerent propensities.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span> Saakashvili demonstrated why NATO must be highly selective in adopting new countries whose leaders show little wisdom and expect NATO to bail them out.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>When Saakashvili s pleas for military help were met with deaf ears in the U.S. and Europe, it signaled the limits of NATO to preserve a delicate peace.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>Palin doesn t quite get Europe s reluctance to go to war to manage petty border disputes.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"> <![if !supportEmptyParas]>&nbsp;<![endif]><span style="mso-tab-count:1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; </span>Commemorating the seventh anniversary of Sept. 11, GOP Presidential nominee Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) and Democratic nominee Sen. Barack Obama (D-Il.) marked the occasion at Ground Zero of the worst terrorist attack in U.S. history.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>Both see the need to prevent future attacks by very different means.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>McCain believes Iraq is the central front in the war on terror, namely, that al-Qaida in Iraq was responsible for 9/11.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>Obama, on the other hand, sees unfinished business in Afghanistan and Pakistan.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>Whether Palin knows it or not, there s much work to be done without opening up a Russian or Iranian front.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span> What I think is that smaller democratic countries that are invaded by a larger power is something for us to be vigilant against .<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>.We have got to show the support, in this case, for Georgia.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>The support we can show is economic sanctions perhaps against Russia, if this is what it leads to, said Palin.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"> <![if !supportEmptyParas]>&nbsp;<![endif]><span style="mso-tab-count:1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; </span>Before preaching policy, Palin has to get her facts right:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>Georgia, not Russia, moved aggressively against South Ossetia and Abkhazia, prompting the Russian response.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>Georgia, not Russia, is of minor significance to the U.S.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>Rushing to judgment against Russia has hurt U.S.-Russian relations, a far worse scenario than defending the amateurish blunder of the neophyte Georgian president.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>U.S. officials should publicly clip Saakashvili s wings, urging the 40-year-old Georgian leader to try to get along with his neighbors.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>No matter how much sympathy NATO has for fledgling democracies, foreign ministers won t be eager to add Georgia when its leadership could provoke WW III.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>Fighting a ground war with Russia over Georgia s inability to get along with its neighbors has no appeal to NATO or sane voices in the U.S.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>Palin s tough talk with the Russians demonstrates her inexperience, bad judgment and possible consequences of her bad decision-making.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"> <![if !supportEmptyParas]>&nbsp;<![endif]><span style="mso-tab-count:1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; </span>Palin also signaled to Gibson that she d take a tough stance on Iran, who s currently embarked on a crash uranium enrichment program.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>McCain has already said that  the only thing worse than war is a nuclear armed Iran, signaling his White House would not tolerate Iran getting an A-bomb.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>Two foreign policy threats loom for the next administration:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>(1) Iran continuing to enrich uranium and (2) U.S. installing missile defense in Eastern Europe.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>Iran s hothead president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has signaled in no uncertain terms that Iran will not suspend or curtail its uranium enrichment program.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>Russian President Dimitry Medvedev has promised to bomb U.S. missile defense sites in Poland and the Czech Republic.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>Judging by Palin s responses to ABCs Gibson, she leaves military confrontation as a viable option.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp;&nbsp; </span>Any confrontation with Russia would be disastrous.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"> <![if !supportEmptyParas]>&nbsp;<![endif]><span style="mso-tab-count:1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; </span>Palin would no doubt go to a lot of funerals under a McCain presidency, unlikely to have much role in foreign policy or, for that matter, fulfilling her wish to end to Roe v. Wade or pass Constitutional amendments banning abortion and gay marriage.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>Should something happen to McCain all bets are off.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span> Entertaining a military confrontation with Russia shows how little she knows about NATO, whose members seek to avoid military confrontation at all costs.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>If adding Georgia, Ukraine or any other former Soviet satellite to NATO means an increased chance of military confrontation with Russia, it s highly unlikely to happen.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>Palin believes she s ready to be president.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>Judging by her responses to Gibson, she needs a lot of on-the-job training.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>Rushing to judgment, antagonizing Russia and pushing the world closer to the brink does little to reassure her critics at home or abroad.</p> <p><b><u>About the Author</u></b><br> </p> <p><b>John M. Curtis </b>writes politically neutral commentary analyzing spin in national and global news. He&#x2019;s editor of OnlineColumnist.com and author of <a href="books.html">Dodging The Bullet</a> and <a href="books.html">Operation Charisma</a>.<br> </p> <p></p> </td> <td width="1" height="2576" rowspan="2"></td> <td width="1" height="2"><spacer type="block" width="1" height="2"></td> </tr> <tr height="2574"> <td width="133" height="2574" valign="top" align="left" xpos="0"><img height="172" width="111" src="images/johninframe3.jpg"></td> <td width="1" height="2574"><spacer type="block" width="1" height="2574"></td> </tr> <tr height="1" cntrlrow> <td width="133" height="1"><spacer type="block" width="133" height="1"></td> <td width="7" height="1"><spacer type="block" width="7" height="1"></td> <td width="182" height="1"><spacer type="block" width="182" height="1"></td> <td width="300" height="1"><spacer type="block" width="300" height="1"></td> <td width="1" height="1"><spacer type="block" width="1" height="1"></td> <td width="1" height="1"></td> </tr> </table> <table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="2" width="597"> <tr> <td><font size="1" face="Arial,Geneva,Helvetica"> <hr noshade size="1"> </font><a href="index.html"><font face="Arial,Helvetica,Geneva,Swiss,SunSans-Regular" size="2"><strong>Home</strong></font></a><font face="Arial,Helvetica,Geneva,Swiss,SunSans-Regular" size="2"><strong> || <a href="articlesindex.html">Articles</a> || <a href="books.html">Books</a> || <a href="teflon.html">The Teflon Report</a> || <a href="mailto:letters@onlinecolumnist.com">Reactions</a> || <a href="aboutdiscobolos.html">About Discobolos</a></strong></font> <div align="left"> <p><font size="1" face="Arial,Helvetica,Geneva,Swiss,SunSans-Regular">This site designed, developed and hosted by the experts at</font><font size="2" face="Arial,Helvetica,Geneva,Swiss,SunSans-Regular"> <a href="http://www.cmeonline.net" target="_blank"><img height="30" width="138" src="images/cmelogoANIM.gif" border="0" align="absmiddle"></a></font></p> </div> <p><font size="2" face="Arial,Helvetica,Geneva,Swiss,SunSans-Regular">&copy;1999-2005 <a href="aboutdiscobolos.html">Discobolos Consulting Services, Inc.</a><br> (310) 204-8300<br> All Rights Reserved. </font></td> </tr> </table> </center> </body> </html>