Quote of the Day…
“George W. Bush is to Georgia as George H.W. Bush is to Kurdistan”
Marty Kaplan, post at Huffington Post.
It goes back to W’s trip to Georgia, where he told the cheering crowd, “The path of freedom you have chosen is not easy, but you will not travel it alone.” I guess that must be the “Not the quote of the day”, especially in Tbilisi.
Tags: Quotes of the day
Jafapete's Weblog 
August 12, 2008 at 7:24 pm |
I confess to being puzzled, JP. Surely you are not suggesting that the US should declare war on Russia? That is about the only support option still left. The US has tried all the diplomatic ones. Are you saying that GWB’s speech could be construed as a promise of military aid?
August 12, 2008 at 8:21 pm |
MacDoc, It’s difficult to construe it any other way. Here are some extracts from the speech:
“The path of freedom you have chosen is not easy, but you will not travel it alone. Americans respect your courageous choice for liberty. And as you build a free and democratic Georgia, the American people will stand with you. (Applause.) ….
“As you build free institutions at home, the ties that bind our nations will grow deeper, as well. We respect Georgia’s desire to join the institutions of Europe. We encourage your closer cooperation with NATO. Georgia’s leaders know that the peaceful resolution of conflict is essential to your integration into the transatlantic community. At the same time, the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Georgia must be respected — the territorial [sic] and sovereignty of Georgia must be respected by all nations. (Applause.)”
Source: The White House (http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2005/05/20050510-2.html).
But, no, I am not suggesting that the US declare war on Russia.
August 12, 2008 at 11:40 pm |
But, no, I am not suggesting that the US declare war on Russia.
Thank goodness for that. I thought you might be suddenly channelling the spirit of Ghengis Khan or something… 🙂
I assume you think Mikhail Saakashvili is a bit of a prat. Only a complete twit would seriously think that the US would go to war with Russia on their behalf. This is not some pipsqueak army, like Hussein’s. This is Russia – with the bulk of the forces of the former Soviet Union at its disposal. You don’t mess with them unless you’re willing to go nuclear.
You assume correctly, MacDoc. Russia is well and truly in the wrong, but Georgia is culpable too. And you could say that only a complete idiot would go to war with russia without the backing of the US, for exactly the reasons you outline.
You might be interested to know that runner up for quote of the day yesterday was W’s admonishment of Russia for invading a sovereign country. Does the man have no sense of irony at all?
August 13, 2008 at 8:16 am |
Yes, I confess I found that hysterically funny coming from GWB. 🙂
August 13, 2008 at 9:04 am |
Yeah…Kurdistan had nothing to do with the first invasion of Iraq. What the quote alludes to is that Bush I encouraged the Kurds to rise up after the Iraq war with inspiring words like the above:
and they got smashed by Saddam while the US looked on. History repeating itself with Georgia, is what the quote means. Not that Bush II said anything nearly as strong as Bush I…
August 13, 2008 at 9:06 am |
Dunno why I wrote that, you guys can read the links…