George W. Bush is to Georgia as George H.W. Bush is to Kurdistan

It's not a perfect analogy, I know, but it's an improvement over the Hitler/Sudetenland meme coming from the knee-jerk-o-cons.

Fred Kaplan at Slate lays out how Bush/Cheney egged on the Georgians to believe that they're de facto members of NATO, that America will protect them against the Russian bear.

When W went to Georgia, he said this to an ecstatic crowd:

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.... [T]he sovereignty and territorial integrity of Georgia must be respected -- the territorial [sic] and sovereignty of Georgia must be respected by all nations.

If that's what he said in public, what has he been saying in private to Georgian President Saakashvili about the Russian forces that have been encamped in and controlling Georgia's breakaway province South Osettia since the breakup of the Soviet Union?

It's hard not to be reminded of how George W. Bush father, in 1991, notoriously suggested that "the Iraqi military and the Iraqi people... take matters into their own hands and force Saddam Hussein, the dictator, to step aside." When the Kurds tried to do just that, and begged for help, the best 41 could offer was an Emily Litella-like Never mind.

I'm not bothered by 41 having an Oedipal thing to work out with 43. I just wish it they could do it around the dinner table, instead of breaking so much crockery on the world stage.

Follow Marty Kaplan on Twitter: www.twitter.com/martykaplan

Comments

[paixa3]

Spot on Marty. I wonder how many American's know/remember or understand what you wrote. Do you think the number might top 1%, if that high?

[nicholasclaxton]

As always Mary well said!

[magen]

Hmmmmmm..........

Big militaristic nation invades smaller nation and engages in regime change.

Where have I seen this before??

I wonder if oil is involved?

[MagisterLudi]

hmmm, a small belligerent nation oppresses their minorities and a big nation comes to the rescue of the minority. Where have we seen this before?

[nicholasclaxton]

Touche!

(oil is always involved)

[bronceye]

You have to envy the Russians. They can "surge" their military overnight without the need to lie to their citizens. They did better than the Israelis did against Lebanon and did it in less time. They also won.

[CAPTAINSKIPPY]

You're right - too much crockery broken by the ongoing GHWB vs. GWB duel (the big crock contest). So, why not have the two featured on TV's current fad, cage fighting, which has now replaced the ancient Friday night boxing matches? It would boost advertising revenues and our economy , improve TV programming, bring focus to our national issues, and entertain us.

[curiousasheck]

Bush Supporters remind me of a woman who's returning to live with a man who recently broke her jaw. With her teeth clenched and mouth wired shut, she says she's going back, "because he loves me and I love him."

Mikheil Saakashvili supporters are apparently no different judging from todays rally over there where we actually came out in public to give everyone a pep talk.

[UpandSincere]

A better analogy to the South Ossetia/Abkhazia secessions is the Texas Revolution. In all cases independence was favorably supported by the majority of inhabitants. The populations shared ethnic and historic ties with a large neighbor. Aggressions were launched by the country possessing the break-away regions. The larger neighbor rides to the rescue in both cases and brutalizes the aggressors. The US stoped short of conquering Mexico. Russia has stopped short of conquering Georgia.

It's not a perfect comparison. Saakashvili is no Santa Anna and there is a funny double standard working against the independence referendums in South Ossetia. Something tells me the UN would have loved the Texas Declaration of Independence but again, Mexico really had Santa Anna working against them.

How do you say 'Remember Tshkinvali!' in Ossetic?

[mosh]

We are a crumbling empire whose main export has become weapons. We are very good at exporting the means of war under some twisted guise of spreading democracy. Clean hands? Hardly.

[Durango]

As i recall, it was the Shia that Bush the Elder betrayed most effectively.

And I would compare it to the Red Army halting on the outskirts of Warsaw while the Nazi's slaughtered the Polish resistance.

Is it any surprise that the Iraqi's did not greet us as liberators?

They knew better than to trust anyone named Bush. Or Cheney for that matter.

[mosh]

Yes, after pappy bush bombed the crap out of the Iraqi civilian infrastructure (a war crime under the Geneva Conventions, btw) destroying their electricity grids and water treatment plants - and Clinton then continued the assault with ruthless sanctions that led to tens of thousands (if not hundreds of thousands of civilian deaths a majority of them children), is it any wonder the Iraqi's didn't welcome us a liberators? And now of course there is blackwater, faluja, and abu Grahib, among other things, to add to the list of torments.

[Durango]

As I recall the networks had reporters in Baghdad during the first Gulf War.

The people on the street were ambivalent to Americans and the west. Until the Air Force bombed a civilian shelter in downtown Baghdad and killed dozens of women and children.

At that point even the TV viewer could see a change in attitude.

And like you say, nothing the USA has done since has helped any.

[jetlit]

Ah, the comparisons abound. How about "as was like Ike in '56 to Hungary?" Or "as was like NATO in 1968 to Czechoslovakia?" Etc., etc.

[Henry]

And...how many troops do the USA have in Georgia, right now?
It's messy, this independence thing. Think of Kosovo, is it a part of Serbia or
is it a sovereign nation? Now, think of Ossetia and Abkazhia. And Georgia, doesn't
it look a bit like Serbia vis-a-vis Georgia. Wht's good for the goose must be good for the
gander.

[lwaxanatroi]

But doesn't anybody get it? The tough talk by American (dare I say GOP?) presidents was never about the freedom-loving fillintheblanks [georgian, hungarian, kurd, whatevers] -- it was about American politics pure and simple. We talk tough. Our so-called allies feel their oats and tweak the tail of the russian bear or saddam or whover we hate at the moment. The big bully does what big bullies do and goes after the tail-tweakers. our prez of the moment gets to thunder on the world stage about what big bullies the big bullies are and millions of American voters cheer his wonderful freedom-loving speech while knowing they wouldn't send one American to defend the tail-tweakers. GOP coffers fill with donations and the military--that we wouldn't actually use to defend the freedomlovers--gets built up and defense contractors grow fat and the GOP captures the white house because it's a mighty scary world out there and we need tough freedomtalkers in tough times like these. As I said elswhere, this is Bush Jr's gift to John McCain--a shiny new cold war. Bring on the military spending!

[bronceye]

Now we must wonder what his parting shot will be. GeorgeI sent a bunch of underarmed, unprepared troops and ships to Somalia to hinder Clinton. Where will GeorgeII stir a pot of s&*t for Obama to clean up? You say that it can't be any worse? It's George II with the reins for 6 more months.

[bystander01]

So what would the appropriate US response have look like? Should we have immediately declared war on Russia and sent in the bombers?

[Durango]

There is no appropiate response. That is the point.

Bush has squandered the influence and power of the United States.

Needlessly antagonized Russia and tragically encouarged georgia on advetures the USA could noty back up.

Georgia is screwed.

And World War I started on less provocation.

[mosh]

Ah, the hubris of empire.

[mosh]

I think Obama's response during his vacation press conference struck the right tone - political reconcilliation - while Georgia should pull back its offense against South Ossettia and, in response, Russia should call for a cease fire.

[bystander01]

I don't think that would have made an ounce of difference to Russia. They obviously had this planned out well ahead of time, and anything short of military action by us wouldn't have changed a thing.

[TLV]

I love the comments Bush made about Russia being aggressive, cruel. Too funny. I guess Shock and Awe was just a gentle tap and a kiss.

[darthmaul]

Sorry Marty, but you have to be pretty naive to expect Bush to keep a hollow promise like this. I would expect at least some of the leaders of governments to be intelligent. I know it's a tall order, and we have nothing to talk about, but to take aggressive military action, on a border of a country with a giant military that dislikes you, doesn't seem to me to show the best of judgment.