Originally Posted By Mr X I'm not necessarily looking for a debate here, though feel free to write whatever you want but I'd appreciate a "yes" or "no" first if that's possible. This isn't even really about Palin either, though her answer concerns me. I'm wondering about that whole "noise machine" and the fact that people can be led to believe something that isn't actually factual, just by hearing it enough. Now, I've heard that Russia overstepped their bounds, went to far, responded disproportionately...but I've not yet heard they attacked for no reason. Maybe I missed something. So, was the Russian attack on Georgia "unprovoked"? I'm going with "no".
Originally Posted By Mrs ElderP Long View, yes it was provoked. Short View, no it was not. Explanation: I think in the short view this was a fight between Gorgia and its break away provinces. Russia didn't have a "dog in the fight" (not even a bulldog with lipstick) and it was an unprovoked attack. However, taking a slightly longer view, we(the west) have been poking Russia for a long time, doing what we want regardless of what Russia thinks. So, to maintain national pride an attack of some sort was necessary. This wasn't unprevoked, it was the first reasonable opportunity. S. Ossetia (spelling butchered) asked for the help, iirc.
Originally Posted By plpeters70 You know, I've felt for quite a while that our whole national attitude towards Russia after the end of the Cold War has been completely idiotic. We got so caught up in the "USA, USA, USA" crap that we forgot to help make Russia a strong, democratic partner. We should have worked much, much harder building strong ties with them instead of letting their economy go to crap – which lead to a resurgence of the old USSR-type leadership. And now, we’re paying the price for it – and the rest of the world is going to pay with us.
Originally Posted By ChurroMonster The breakaway province (East Ossetia) in Georgia wants to become part of Russia. Russia defended it as if it was already part of Russia. Disproportionate response? Possibly. But what if Baja California (Mexico) wanted to join the United States and the Mexican army moved in and started slaughtering people? I kind of think our military would get involved. I'm not sure we'd go out of our way to bomb Mazatlan or Jalisco but who knows?
Originally Posted By Mr X ***But what if Baja California (Mexico) wanted to join the United States and the Mexican army moved in and started slaughtering people? I kind of think our military would get involved.*** I doubt it, but how much oil do they have there?
Originally Posted By Mr X Well, there ya go. Take over Baja and solve our dependence on foreign oil then!
Originally Posted By fkurucz My understanding is that Georgian troops attacked Russian peacekeepers in Ossetia (to reclaim the province), and that they did it with US help. We definitely need 8 more years of neo-con leadership. It will help take care of the housing crash. After we get nuked there will be a lot fewer houses on the market (and unfortunately, a lot fewer buyers).
