“Missile Diplomacy” Is Not In America’s Best Interests

The Georgia Conflict

8/13/08 The day began with President Bush conducting a Press Conference on the Georgian Crisis.  Flanked by his top national security advisor’s Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and  Secretary of Defense Robert Gates.

8/14/08 US Defense Secretary Robert Gates and Vice Chairman Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. James Cartwright hold a press conference to discuss the crisis.  Gates rules out military intervention.

As of 8/14/08, one day after a single C-130 aircraft lands in Georgia with relief and humanitarian aid for 100,000 displaced citizens.  (Sound familiar?  There’s a pattern here.  The US responded with aid in the same manner & expediency as Katrina. Not to bash the USA, but Americans need to recognize that it takes their U.S. Government 4-6 days to save citizens from natural or man-made disasters. So, be prepared!)

8/14/08 Rejuvenated Georgian President cites US ties as “turning point” in conflict

8/14/08 US and Poland Set Missile Deal, absolutely infuriating Russia, despite Russia’s expressed warnings months ago. On July 17, 2008, Obama Vice Presidential hopeful Sam Nunn expressed concern about the Bush Administration deploying missile defense system.  “We in this country are about to, under this government, under the Bush administration, deploy [a] missile defense system in Poland and Czechoslovakia,” Nunn said.

Well, Sam Nunn’s suspicion’s have materialized — almost magically.  As it appears to an already innocent and seemingly naive American public, there is now strong justification to exercise a show of force against the Russian Bear for their brutality against a democratic government.  As Americans, that’s our soft spot;  our entire history has been founded on zero tolerance towards any threats to Democracy, especially against smaller, weaker countries.

Questions:

Should we give the Bush Administration the authority to wage war; albeit Cold, Warm, or Full-Blown, on our behalf with only months of tenure remaining?

Should we learn from our past experience with the Evil Soviet Empire?  The beginning of the end of the Cold War was ultimately based on a trusting relationship between Ronald Reagan and Mikhail Gorbachev, was it not?

Should we learn from the wise words spoken by Mikhail Gorbachev, a special guest of Larry King Live on the evening of 8/14/08, that the United States and Russia could potentially escalate the crisis without trusting diplomacy?

In the words of Mikhail Gorbachev, the United States has a military budget of $600 billion dollars, half of the world’s military budget.  Just think about that.  No spin.  No rebuttal necessary.  As an American citizen — think about that statement for just a minute.

Is “Missile Diplomacy” going to bring a positive resolution to this crisis, or could it further escalate the situation?   It seems as though we have already thought about putting missiles in Poland, Russia has been opposed, but we didn’t have “Smoking-Gun-WMD-Like-Justification” (as we did in Iraq) to stir up the pot and go to war.

More importantly, with the stakes so high, do the American people really trust in the Bush Administration’s leadership to resolve this crisis peacefully through a show of military force?

Haven’t they [the Bush Administration] already cost future generations enough for the mistakes in Iraq?

Watch the entire interview with Larry King and decide for yourself whether Gorbachev makes sense.

Whether you’re a Democrat, Republican, or “athiest”, decide for yourself if missile diplomacy is the right solution to building a better relationship with Russia.

Again, don’t spin it.  Just think about it.