Punishing Russia
The US and allies are now scratching their heads trying to figure out punitive action against Russia to express their extreme displeasure with the Russian invasion of Georgia. Realistically, their hands are tied as there's not much they can really do without risking further escalation or military action.
Options:
1. Sanctions. Yawn. Like that's gonna work. At most it will be symbolic and just piss off the Ruskies even more. Plus, this could backfire especially since Russia supplies Western Europe with a significant amount of oil (~40%) and could easily withold it.
2. UN commits peacekeepers to the area. Not a chance in hell. Russia has veto power on the Security Council so it is highly unlikely any resolution will come from the UN.
3. US and Allies (NATO) take military action and occupy the contested areas as peacekeepers. No one wants to see this happen except maybe the Georgians. The US and NATO do not have the will power or the stomach for this not to mention the US is spread out way to thin already.
4. Admit Georgia and Ukraine to NATO asap. Doesn't really serve much purpose except to rankle the Russians which presumably, flexed their muscles in protest of this very idea in the first place. Still, may be the better option anyways.
I really don't know what to make of it. Maybe it's not a big deal. Maybe it is. The status quo is Russian occupies parts of Georgia. How long will that last?
Will Russia continue moving in on its satellites like the Ukraine? Will the Ukraine refuse to let the Russian Navy return to dock?
What will it take for the US and NATO to respond?
Could this be the onset of Cold War 2?
-----Added 12/8/2008 at 11 : 04 : 51-----
Update: Interesting comment from John McCain.
McCain would back Georgia NATO bid if elected - Yahoo! News
Quote:
McCain would back Georgia NATO bid if elected
2 hours, 47 minutes ago
WASHINGTON (AFP) - Republican White House contender John McCain said Tuesday he would support Georgia's bid to join the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) if he is elected president in November.
"I would move forward at the right time with the application for membership in NATO by Georgia," McCain told Fox News television.
"As you know, through the NATO membership, that if a member nation is attacked, it is viewed as an attack on all," said the Arizona senator, alluding to Russia's military aggression on Georgia.
"We don't have, I think, right now, the ability to intervene in any way except in a humanitarian, economic way, and do what we can to help the Georgians," he added.
McCain, 71, also reiterated his call for Russia to be kicked out of the Group of Eight most industrialized nations.
"Russia no longer shares any of the values and principles of the G-8, so they should be excluded," he said.
Georgia's bid to join NATO has divided the alliance. During an April summit in Bucharest, NATO leaders deferred putting Georgia and Ukraine on a formal path to membership but agreed that the two former Soviet republics "will become members" at some point.
The formula was intended as a compromise between opposing positions taken by France, Germany and several other members, and the United States, which had pushed hard on behalf of Georgia and Ukraine's NATO aspirations.
It extended no security commitments, but it may have emboldened Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili in his dealings with the Russians, as they stepped up pressure on Tblisi.
And it infuriated the Russians who had been given assurances that the summit would not approve a further NATO expansion into the two former Soviet republics.
To distance himself from President George W. Bush on the Georgia-Russia conflict, McCain said the US leader "probably had a higher opinion of (Russian Prime Minister) Vladimir Putin than I do."
Bush once said he that upon looking into Putin's eyes he saw "his soul" while McCain said he saw "three letters: K-- G-- B."
"Yes, I saw that," McCain said Tuesday.
Asked about his Democratic rival Barack Obama's view of the ongoing conflict in the Caucasus, McCain said he respected the Illinois senator's views, adding that he believed it "important that we act in a bipartisan fashion now.
"There's no room for partisanship now."
Obama, on vacation in Hawaii, on Tuesday read a statement blaming Russia for increasing tensions in the Caucasus.
"No matter how this conflict started, Russia has escalated it well beyond the dispute over South Ossetia and invaded another country," said Obama, 47.
"There is no possible justification for these attacks," he added.
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