Do you really think that the KGB is spending their time at Hotair?

MB4 on August 11, 2008 at 4:04 PM

I think that the Russians are probably monitoring everything from the U.S..

elduende on August 11, 2008 at 9:14 PM

That is actually a very good plan. Machiavelli said there are two kinds of people in this world. Those who dominate and those who are dominated… and you get to choose which one you want to be.
I don’t think we should be a bully in the world… but we should be the guy who sits by quietly and is nice to everyone… but punches the bully in the nose when he tries to steal your lunch money.
or we could be the guy who looks the other way and whistles as you dig into your pocket… then goes “man that sucks dude, next time I’ll have your back though, promise”

Free West Alaska!

I forgot to add that at the end.

TABoLK on August 11, 2008 at 6:15 PM

we should immediately begin issuing US passports/citizenship to those in West Alaska…

EJS shush about the spaceport/black hole navigation thing. it’s top secret. But my favorite part is how we get all the Navy’s aircraft carriers and submarines through it.

funky chicken on August 11, 2008 at 5:52 PM

It’s bigger on the inside. :)

Stop the hand-wringing; this is the price we pay for the country we live in. When you put gas into your car or heat your home this winter remember it is because of the regulatory and environmental policies and punitive litigation that we have due mainly to leftists that the energy markets are the way they are.

This situation can be managed in our favor; there are economic, diplomatic, and military levers we can use to resolve this crisis short of war but we need the resolve to do it;

Diplomatically and Economically;

We need to force the Russians to Veto a condemnation resolution in the UNSC. Then we can proceed to isolate them diplomatically. we can convene every forum that exists to issue condemnations and offers of assistance. We can dissolve the G8 and exclude the Russians from it. We can have the Russian request to be admitted into the WTO rejected. We can convene NATO and OSCE to Censure Russia and offer both military and Humanitarian aid to Georgia.

We need to announce immediate deployment of anti-missle defenses to the Czech Republic, Poland, Latvia, and Ukraine.

Militarily;

We have a great opportunity to bleed the Russians here folks. The Georgians are no pushovers; It took 3 wars for the Bear to crush Chechnya and the Chechens had no outside help. With our help we can turn Tblisi into a meatgrinder a Russian graveyard.

What we need to do is immediately reinforce our SPECWAR and Special Forces people on the ground (they can come in overland from Turkey). Resupply the Georgians with both anti-tank (JAVELINS and DRAGONS) and short range anti-air weapons (STINGERS.)as well as deploy Naval assets (DDGs AEGIS Destroyers)into the Eastern Black Sea from the Eastern Med immediately they could be there by the end of the week to bolster Georgian airspace. We can also stage out of Incirlik in Turkey.

Then its up to the Russians to decide if they want a war with the United States by firing on our ships.

Buck up people this is serious but not a lost cause;

oh and before some sniveling turd tries to cover up their own cowardice by impugning me (by calling me a chicken hawk or some other cowards argument) I wore the uniform of a Naval Officer and would do so in a heartbeat if called upon to do it.

Russia huffed and puffed

Yes but they’re no longer huffing and puffing but launching wars! If thats not blowback then what is. You’re right that Putin and his ex-KGB pals are thugs. I suppose they would have arrived at their present course anyway but as Ed says its harder to decry them given all thats been done in the Balkans. I don’t know what the solution is.

Romeo13, how many days does it take subs to get from, oh, the mid Atlantic and mid Pacific to interesting locations close to this area?

funky chicken on August 11, 2008 at 5:52 PM

Thing is that Subs are not out in the mid Atlantic or Mid Pacific… there is almost at least one hanging with any Carrier Battle Group… one or two active in the Med, Often one (or two) up in the North Atlantic… and of coure, the Boomers runnin their tracks…

Thing is that one sub in the Black Sea has been done many many times… more than that and the chances of them getting run across goes up… Black Sea is a tough environment without Surface support… and Naval Air to run CAP…. too many sub hunting subs and planes which can stage from land and range over the entire area.

I forgot to add that at the end.

Seems fair to me.

be patient

funky chicken on August 11, 2008 at 5:55 PM

Yes, I agree. It would probably be different if Bush wasn’t 4 months from retirement! He has to be sure that whatever is done that it can’t be undone by Obama if he should succeed as president. And the best and longer lasting action is for Europe to stand up and tell Putin to sit down. They also need to see what they could face without a strong US president in light of this provocation.

Nobody here is ignorant of Russia’s game here. It’s just that putting together enough power to do something about it takes time. And broadcasting intent right off the bat when serious people and important current/future allies are lining up on Georgia’s side and leading the diplomatic, public charge.

You really think Poland doesn’t understand this issue? How about Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia, Ukraine, and Finland?

be patient

aengus on August 11, 2008 at 5:47 PM

Correctly?

It has already been accomplished…ask the Baltic countries. Russia huffed and puffed…but they are still part of NATO.

A bully is a bully is a bully. Once you let a bully know they have power they own you. Time for Russia to finally be free of the ex-KGB cliques that are robbing Russia of its wealth each and every day, with Putin et al being deeply involved at all levels.

But anyway, how much do you want to escalate this BS to rescue GeorgiaCzechoslovakia?

should have been a quote….

Romeo13, how many days does it take subs to get from, oh, the mid Atlantic and mid Pacific to interesting locations close to this area?

I give up. I really do. I can’t honestly believe so many people can act so ignorant about what Russia has been doing.

He said the Russians may be trying to overthrow “The Government of Russia“!

pseudonominus on August 11, 2008 at 5:25 PM

LOL.. Freudian slip?

From NRO Corner. But the Euros are too wussy and need Russian oil and gas. That’s why they vetoed Georgia’s membership. Putin put on the screws.

Wethal on August 11, 2008 at 1:00 PM

Well yeah they do need Russian oil and gas! It would be better if the US and Canada would supply it but they won’t.

In any case expanding NATO right up to Russia’s borders would be (correctly) interpreted by the Russians as aggression.

The dollar is strong and getting stronger, gold dropping, oil is steady (or dropping), foreign investment here is rising, again, other than the housing crunch, most other US economic indicators are within a range that we could easy stand this 30 day economic war program, and most of Europe could as well, as could South Korea, and certainly China and Japan.

It would be enough to tell Russia that we will hit them where they are weakest…and another 30 days beyond that could well push their economy over the edge. The amount of Russian money in the West (and Far East) isn’t chump change. There is legal precedent for it here in the US, within the EU and certainly under the eunuch-UN.

Still trying to hear something, anything, other than the sound of crickets…

MB4 on August 11, 2008 at 5:33 PM

If I were Bush, I’d signed legislation outlawing Russia forever.

And announce we begin bombing in five minutes.

Right after we received confirmation that Medvedev soiled himself, call Putin up to say “jk”.

I can picture the entire leadership watching Bush’s statement on TV, then as one… big, guffawing laughs echo through the room.

This truly, truly sucks.

Key is who will blink first.

Romeo13 on August 11, 2008 at 5:08 PM

I think that would be us. But I could be wrong. Kind of hope so.

Not if Pelosi has anything to say about it.

Darth Executor on August 11, 2008 at 5:07 PM

She won’t.

It was like the worst orgasm anyone will experience in their life. The foreplay was terrible, same pillow talk as always, and just when you think it’ll climax with an “or else”, he just walks away.