No issue with this move. He's telling Putin we're sending aid, so back the hell off. It's a way to get Putin to back off without confronting him directly with force. If Putin "accidentally" shoots down one of our planes then he knows real troops will follow the aid and even though Putin acts like a bad ass, he's not an idiot.
What better way to enhance a shaky legacy than with his own Berlin Airlift. Frankly to me it sounds like the right response. And beside if you announce you are initiating a humanitarian airlift, you can shuffle all sorts of things in and out covertly. It wouldn't be a bad idea to have some recon assets in place so you at least know if the rooskies are moving on Tbilisi.
Probably the best move the US could have made in this situation. On one hand your are not showing that you are making a military move against Russia to agitate the Kremlin. On the other hand the US is showing that it won't simply throw Georgia to the wolves so that it could still show its allies that the US is still able to stand up to Russia. Bush is pretty much betting that Russia won't try to take the Capital with US personnel and senior officials on the ground. Risky but effective, by flying and landing US planes in Georgia it would make Russia think twice before dropping another bomb on Georgia's airports. That will buy them more time to "borrow" more jets since the Russians have pretty much dominated the skies there.
World war 3 Here comes that draft McCain said he would implement (if he is president) Here is his excuess.
Congratulations! Georgia is just as important as Iraq. Bush must be very happy that Russian gave him an excuse to invade Georgia.
I see the partisans are separating themselves from the loons in this thread. I guess it's a welcome change.
edit: nevermind. Overall, agree with those seeing this as the best possible move. Wish Europe ("old Europe") was doing likewise in droves...
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Nothing wrong with this, glynch, no need to go into paranoia. I definitely don't want to go to war with Russia, but if a limited force can calm things down, then it's a good idea.
lol i bet you anything one of those drunk russian soldiers is going **** up and kill an american and this is going explode like donkey kong
maybe i'm jaded, maybe i'm not being fair, but it pisses me off everytime we jump to the aid of foriegners after leaving those people in New Orleans stranded. I'll never forgive the way bush handled that disaster.
not excusing the handling of new orleans but getting a foothold in a country right next to russia >>>>>>> helping a flooded NO
If New Orleans A. was strategically located near Russia and Iran B. owned a huge oil pipeline connecting Central Asia to the Turkey coast C. was mostly composed of Caucasians (pun intended) the lower 9th ward would look like River Oaks by now.
I guess no one wants to bring up the pipeline from the caspian sea and into georgia. Why do we feel the need to protect the world. There are humanitarian efforts that needs to be done for the vfw's who are hungry and homeless.
Media seems to blame russia entirely, who the hell does Georgia think it is to take on the entire might of Russia? Surprise attack from Georgia on Ossetia, and thats what they get.
