Because of the magical pixie dust force field around the continental United States that will shield you from all the geopolitical and economic ramifications of allowing a totalitarian state to regain its status as a superpower and seize control of the majority of the world’s oil reserves?

How far-sighted of you.

Better them than us.

Pardon the ad hominem, but I always wanted to punch Walter Duranty in the mouth. Since time travel hasn’t been invented yet, I thank you for presenting a suitable textual substitute.

Of course Russia didn’t invade Tbilisi. That is not their goal. Their goal is to make everyone in the region kowtow to their demands because they’ve shown they can send a column on tanks rolling towards the capital city of any one of them, without fear of reprisal.

They have been using the imagined plight of ethnic Russians in the sovereign countries neighboring them as a catch-all casus belli for diplomatic and economic strongarming ever since Putin took office. Now this de facto dictatorship (let’s break term limits by changing terminology!) has used the same Sudetenland excuse to invade sovereign countries that threaten its oil interests.

Russia is weak now, maybe (not as weak as you think). But by ignoring this sort of flagrant bellicosity and complete disregard to any sort of civilized school of foreign policy, you’re just covering your eyes until they become far too strong for you to handle. They have very, very serious aspirations to become an empire again, to ensure that Europe is wholly dependent on them for all its energy needs. And their inebriated, illiterate soldiers will rape and pillage everything that gets in the way and won’t fight back.

Should it move beyond what can reasonably construed as protecting those interests, then we should worry, but too many people are reacting to this as though the Soviets (North Koreans) just invaded (Georgia) South Korea.

Ron Coleman’s last blog post..Bloggers use deoderants, eat cupcakes

Arnold Harris
Mount Horeb WI