Georgia - An Alternate View

Smarter Than Me - But is it RIGHT?

Okay, Instapundit has some thoughts from two folks who are quite a lot smarter than I am - and they're both anti-Aiding Georgia. But their views appear to be based upon a very solid reading of Realpolitik and the isolationist views of President George Washington. Like it or not, the United States IS involved in the world right now and heavily entangled in alliances.

So, to me, like it or not, we need to stand by those allies. Otherwise, the word of the United States is useless (it's already taken enough hits after the way we shafted the Shiites in Iraq after Gulf War I, the Hmong, the South Vietnamese, and more than a few others).

I LOATHE basing our actions upon what is best for our interests, our oil supplies, or because it's too difficult to do. Which is why I'm not President...

Instapundit.com -

Some thoughts -- which I don't necessarily agree with, but which are worth mentioning -- from Jerry Pournelle:

I continue to thank God that Georgia is not yet yet a part of NATO. NATO is an entangling alliance of the sort that George Washington warned us against, and guarantees our involvement in the territorial disputes of Europe. We have no national interest in the independence of Georgia or any portion of it, and we should have no permanent alliances in Europe to begin with. We have as many good reasons to become friends with the new Russian Republic ( Empire if you like) as we do with most of the continental nations; and none of them need an American alliance. If the balance of power in Europe is out of balance, it is due to the new European nation being built there; and that certainly doesn't need US blood and treasure to defend it.

Russia remains a major nuclear power, and that should not be forgotten. They no longer are part of a criminal conspiracy to take over the world. Their rivalry with China is great and deep, and they have a number of common interests with the United States. Going to war with Russia would be egregiously stupid.

Over at the CounterTerrorism Blog, Walid Phares says something similar.

It's very worth a read. After all, it was easier, in 1938, to let the Germans have the Sudetenland - Why cause problems? But you know, doing the WRONG thing tends to lead to a worse mess a little ways down the road. But when you're gambling with two immensely powerful nuclear nations - it surely doesn't pay to be wrong.

Orion