We’re Talking About Unchecked Aggression Here, Dude
The Post editorial page gets their Walter Sobchack on regarding Russia’s missile launch into Georgia. While it’s clear that Russia is up to their standard Georgia baiting tricks, the Post comes to a fairly dangerous conclusion:
By violating Georgian sovereignty, Moscow may hope to bait Georgia into responding with force of its own near an already tense border. Added conflict in the region could make Western governments nervous about Georgia’s suitability to join NATO, membership being a key goal of pro-Western President Mikheil Saakashvili. So far, however, the Georgians have wisely limited themselves to releasing information and lodging diplomatic protests.
The United States and Europe should help Georgia bring the issue before the U.N. Security Council. And if, after a full vetting of the facts, it remains clear that the Russians are at fault, Georgia’s aspirations for NATO membership should not be hampered. Indeed, stemming this sort of aggression is what NATO was set up to do.
Do they not understand why Russia is so antsy about Georgia? It’s because of their pro-American orientation and desire to join NATO. Can the solution to this issue really be to further inflame Russia, to extend the US security blanket right up next to them, in a region that they’ve dominated for hundreds of years? Does the Post understand the full implication of NATO membership – that the US would be obligated to defend Georgia if it enters into a military conflict with Russia. If Georgia actually makes it into NATO we’d have to intervene on Georgia’s behalf if a conflict erupted with Russia. Of course, we would never do so – lest we risk an all out war with Russia – and thus we’d lose a fight we should have never gotten into in the first place. If we swear off Georgia’s entry into an anti-Russian military block, then maybe we could defuse the conflict, but if we impetuously insist that Georgia must join NATO, then this business with Russia simply won’t stop.
