| 10.08.2008 |
|
||||||||
| In what has been described as a 3 am situation - the military conflict between Russia and Georgia - John McCain continues to maintain his hawkish stance toward Russia. Barack Obama, meanwhile, has switched from a more neutral position to a more hardline approach vis-à-vis Russia, since this foreign policy crisis began a few days ago. McCain, who said he had talked to Georgian President Mikhail Saakashvili again on Saturday, called Russia's military actions "totally, absolutely unacceptable." The Republican presidential candidate advised President George W. Bush to "talk to the American people and talk to the world." "I would be very direct with President Putin that these actions will have consequences long term, in terms of our relationship with Russia, and it is in violation of the norms of international conduct," McCain said in an interview with The Associated Press in Las Vegas. In a follow-up-story, the AP confirmed that McCain did indeed mistakenly refer to Vladimir Putin as Russia's President. Since the election of his successor Dimitri Medvedev, Putin is the country's Prime Minister. Barack Obama said he had also talked to Saakashvili and U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice. "I condemn Russia's aggressive actions and reiterate my call for an immediate ceasefire," Obama said in a statement, "Russia must stop its bombing campaign, cease flights of Russian aircraft in Georgian airspace, and withdraw its ground forces from Georgia." He also demanded a neutral mediator other than Russia start a negotiation process. Previously, Obama, similiar to the messages coming from the Bush administration, had called on both sides to end the conflict and avoided naming one party as the agressor. Does the fact that Obama now feels he must join McCain's position in the conflict and step up his rhetoric lend credence to McCain's claim that Obama lacks the requisite experience with foreign policy to be president? That depends on what really has been taking place in this conflict. But as it looks now, and Russia did indeed react in a disproportionate way, than it will boost McCain's stature as the strong foreign policy candidate. And one can bet that the McCain team will make an ad claiming that their candidate had the the right judgment in handling this 3 am phone call while Obama was vacationing in Hawaii. But then again, the Obama camp can hit right back saying that whoever answers that 3 am call should be awake enough to know the correct title of the foreign leader who may be on the line. |
||||||||
|
||||||||
| 8 Comments |
| A Freudian slip on McCains part where Putin title is concerned. Putin, may be PM in title, but it's merely a ruse to make the last election appear legitimate. He's still making the decision and calling the shots. Medvedev is a puppet. Oblahma got caught off guard. Thankfully MCain didn't have to Google Georgia before revising his statement. Putin has a plan, a not so peaceful one, that should have us all concerned. It's driven by a greed for personal wealth and power. By invading and taking over Georgia, it'll arrest and contorl the oil and gas pipelines that feed and support Europe, thereby impacting on world supply and prices. Let's hope we see McCain, some one who shows some testicular fortitude, gains residence of the White House in Jan 2009. |
||
| PaulP_downunda | Homepage | 17.08.2008, 12:06 | ||
| McCain,welcome to Tskhinvali!! You`d better look at genocid result by your eyes. Look at osetitian people eyes.They have no fault that US spent a lot of money to Georgian military |
||
| eran.ru | Homepage | E-Mail | 11.08.2008, 04:25 | ||
| I wonder much what's in the mind of Saakaszwili regime that they launched a bloody military attack on South Ossetia people there, inflicted heavy civilian casualties? Did this guy think Russia is a peanut and won't react and retaliate at all? The u.s.a & west might have well mislead the regime in Tbilisi, giving them the courage to initiate a dangerous military adventure! Georgia simply started something they couldn't hold. They just started their own punishment!! |
||
| Andy Huang | Homepage | E-Mail | 11.08.2008, 04:00 | ||
| If McCain can't handle his handlers. How can he handle the presidency. Momb Germany when he meant to bomb Russia. lol lol | ||
| fdfd | Homepage | E-Mail | 11.08.2008, 03:59 | ||
| A man should be considered more "ready to lead" I think, if he is willing to change his position after more facts come to light rather than staying the hard line of what he originally said just because he has the desire and need to "always be right." If more facts came to light and Obama switched his position, then that was a great thing. I wish that people in the current administration could take a cue from actions like that. If they could, we might not be in an unnecessary war today and instead would be spending money domestically to help improve our economy and create jobs for the future rather than, as previously stated, staying in a war just to prove we were/are right. On another note, really McCain???.... President Putin??? That is like missing a "freebee" on a test.... something that should not be done.... like the closing line of the blog implies.... who has the better foreign relation credentials? |
||
| JT | Homepage | E-Mail | 10.08.2008, 22:52 | ||
| Only Europeans would chose to accept this fallacy that Putin in not running the show in Russia. So in effect Putin is still president of Russia. Putin chose the guy, promoted him, elected him. I have yet to hear the new "president" of Russia say much on this issue. On TV all I see are quotes from Putin. Putin visiting the site of "genocide." There is a reason that the US is the power it is in the world. The Europeans don't mind living in this fantasy land where they try to ignore the facts around them. They all want everyone to just get along, even if it means letting Russian bully other countries. If it was for the Europeans Germany would have won both world wars and lost the cold war. I think our distance from Europe is a godsend. We get the see the BS and call it as it is. In McCain's case he knows exactly who the president of Russia is and it's not Dimitri Medvedev. If only the people in Europe would catch up. |
||
| coolrepublican | Homepage | E-Mail | 10.08.2008, 22:11 | ||
| His government -- former president Putin, and now Prime Minister Putin -- has taken his country down a path that I think is very harmful," McCain said Obama called Maliki the president of Iraq. Obama said the leader of Canada was the leader of the country. |
||
| david | Homepage | E-Mail | 10.08.2008, 22:09 | ||
| Well at least McCain has the right country for Putin now. Have you seen the clip of him calling Putin the President of Germany? How can anyone seriously vote for a candidate who doesn't know what country a leader is from? Or the leader's position? McCain's handlers can't fix it later if he starts an international incident because he is ill informed or short-fused. His daily gaffes are not funny. Well some of them are, but do we really want to give Uncle Fuzzy the power to destroy us all? |
||
| MaryMc | Homepage | E-Mail | 10.08.2008, 21:54 | ||