John McCain's Bay of Pigs

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By Stephen Pizzo (about the author) Page 3 of 3 page(s)

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By promising Georgia America’s undying support, Senator McCain basically told the 90-pound weakling that America had its back if it threw a punch at Russia. Georgia’s president, Mikheil Saakashvili, did just that last week, launching a lightning attack to retake its separatist province — and lo and behold, the bully struck back with overwhelming force.

But Senator McCain couldn’t keep his promise. Georgia is not a NATO ally. And while America should punish Russia severely for its disproportionate use of force, we should hardly enter a third war in the Caucasus while we still have two hot wars on our plate.

Our next president will have to face down Russia’s increasingly noxious foreign policy. He will have to set uncrossable red lines and clear punishments if Moscow continues to disdain the course of “peaceful rise.” But in so doing, it would be useful to avoid embroiling America in a war with another vast nuclear power. On that score, John McCain has lost round one. (Conservative Foreign Policy Watch -- Rachel Kleinfeld and Thomas M. Donnelly (Source)

A final observation on all this. Conservatives will dismiss this as an "apples and oranges" comparison. But it's not. It's right on the money. Because the money is what it's all been about for the past eight years.

The Randy Scheunermann's of Washington have had a lucrative field day during the Bush/Cheney years. Lobbyist like him used their access to fleece those wishing to use that access to buy legislation. Jack Abramoff is another example. Abramoff decided that he did not have to look overseas for suckers when he had them right here at home: American Indians. Like Schuenermann, he collected six-figure fees from Indian tribes hoping to gain administration and congressional backing for their issues, mostly involving high-dollar Indian Casino operations.

Abramoff, like Scheunermann, made promises he either knew he could not deliver on, or had no intention of even trying. And trust me, Abramoff and Scheunermann were only two of dozens of other Bush/Cheney-connected lobbyists who treated their access as licenses to steal. These guys made post-Civil War Carpetbaggers look like social workers.

And then we have John McCain's first international crisis since he became a candidate for Commander in Chief, and how did he do? He led a tiny nation thousands of miles away to believe that he could deliver US backing if Russia threatened them. Then, when the Georgians acted on those assurances, he could not, would not, and did not deliver. Instead all he could deliver was more words -- "Today we are all Georgians." Empty words, but at least this time, for the first time, those words had not been bought and paid for. Because Georgia isn't about to be fooled twice.

Now that tiny democracy must face down an dangerous, enraged next door neighbor. The Georgia affair was John McCain's very own, personal, Bay of Pigs Invasion. Georgians died, Scheunermann profited, and America's prestige took another giant hit:

"The taunting Russian troops are already making fun of Americans as they roll deeper into Georgia. According to media reports from War fronts, Russian troops waved at journalists and one soldier jokingly shouted to a photographer: "Come with us, beauty, we''re going to Tbilisi!” Where is George Bush and his super power military ask the common Georgians who face the Russian armored vehicles and tanks in their door step. " (Source)

While Georgia itself lost, neo-cons see progress. Russia and the US are back to staring daggers at each other.

Can big boosts in the defense budget for a new generation of large weapons systems be far behind? That would be just fine with John McCain.

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Stephen Pizzo has been published everywhere from The New York Times to Mother Jones magazine. His book, Inside Job: The Looting of America's Savings and Loans, was nominated for a (more...)

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