From Russia With Love

In all the coverage of Russia's current adventures in Georgia/South Ossetia, I've yet to see one person relate the crisis to the Bush Doctrine of preemptive strike. It's hardly surprising that the US, which unilaterally invaded Iraq, has no standing to criticize Russia's own actions. This is the fallout from the Bush Doctrine and the dangerous precedent it set. It just doesn't seem as if anyone is willing to admit it, not even the "liberal" New York Times. Are we really doomed to watch the press dutifully ignore this glaring issue when the next belligerent nation decides to annex territory? Imagine what China thinks of the ineffectual West. We all know of China's designs on Tibet, and really, who is to stop them?

Let me be clear - I'm no hawk. The United States neutered itself with the bombs it dropped on Baghdad five years ago. And as we reap what we have sown, the harshest losses will fall on the people of Georgia, who now realize how fickle an ally the US really is.