The physical age of our missiles housed in Turkey nearly fifty years ago has no bearing on the fact that they once posed a direct threat to Moscow. The Russians respectively had every right to endeavor to emplace missiles in Cuba, and though we reserved the right to rebuff their effort, we were wrong in our self-righteous approach to the crisis. Trouble with the Georgian conflict is, the U.S. is neither in a military nor a philosophical position by which we might evict invading Russians--and why should we try, given that over the course of the past 63 years we've maintained literally hundreds of thousands of our own troops on foreign soil, often with the reluctant approval of host nations? Our largest contingency of troops based in the Far East are today berthed on Okinawa: Suppose for a moment that China or Russia--or indeed both--were to suddenly renew demands that these troops be removed in that they pose a potential hazard to the peace and security of the entire Far East? Stark truth is, Okinawans themselves have for decades been demanding our withdrawal, and with little favorable result for them.
The Russian invasion of Georgia is by no means a model of the Soviet invasions' of Hungary or Czechoslovakia. This time the Russians are acting in large because for the past twenty years NATO and the U.S. have effectively been seeking to encircle Russia and thereby isolate and further endanger her. Indeed among the first to flee Georgia with opening of the Russian invasion, were American military 'technicians.' (Even the average American knows who we're referring to when our government uses calculatedly obscure terms like "technicians," "advisors," or "observers." And we innately understand that these 'technicians' weren't necessarily there for the health or safety of the Russian border or Moscow's peace of mind.)
If in fact Russia dared embed troops in either Mexico or Canada, and called for Mexican or Canadian membership within a defense network beneficial to Moscow and her satellite partners, American leaders would scream bloody murder, and Americans would rightly be calling for immediate military action.
For the first time in a long time, Russia has the U.S. completely off-guard diplomatically and militarily, and I must admit--patriot that I am; flag-waver that I've long been, and remain--it's somewhat refreshing for a change. Truth is, we've been strategically checkmated by Moscow over the issue of Georgia, and our protestations ring rather hollowly at this point. Such is the result of supreme arrogance on our part.
This sort of thing (Russian invasion of Georgia) is precisely what one gets when one invades the distant, irreconcilable Middle East under the pretense of "regime change," and then, without sufficient reason and for an unwarrantedly protracted period of time, allows its troops to tepidly "peace-keep" at high cost to everyone involved.
If nothing else good comes from the Russian invasion of Georgia, it's great once again to see Mr. Roadkill painfully writhing at the end of a noose of his own making.
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