In his warmongering, McCain's not just tone deaf. He's also compromised on policy toward Georgia. Top McCain foreign policy advisor, Randy Scheuneman, a lobbyist and former Director of the Project for a New American Century, helped engineer the war in Iraq. Last week, Scheuneman was paid $200,000 by Georgia for consulting services, about one day before McCain issued a policy statement backing and emboldening the Republic of Georgia in its grab for disputed regions. And it now appears that McCain may have signaled that the US would essentially have Georgia's back if it tried to assert possession of the territories. Read here.
McCain's lobbyist problems just got a whole lot dicier. Read more about his lobbyists problems here.
Note that Georgia has lobbied McCain 49 times. Russia has seriously over-reacted. And, unfortunately, despite calls worldwide for Russia to stop the bombing, pull its troops out of the disputed territories, and negotiate a solution to the crisis, Russia has refused to do so. Read here. But John McCain has not just overreacted; he's meddled. Whatever happened to his reminder that there is only one president at a time? And in the process, he's resurrected the cold war frame. Olbermann's Countdown ran these detailed stories on the subject this week here,and here,
McCain seems not to grasp either the complexity or the fragility of the situation there. Barack Obama, on the other hand, gets it. Obama has called for Russia to cease the bombing. But he also shows he understands the situation and its larger context. Here's his statement:
Good morning. The situation in Georgia continues to deteriorate because of the escalation of Russia's use of military force. I have spoken to President Saakashvili, and conveyed my deep regret over the loss of life, and the suffering of the people of Georgia.
For many months, I have warned that there needs to be active international engagement to peacefully address the disputes over South Ossetia and Abkhazia, including a high-level and neutral international mediator, and a genuine international peacekeeping force - not simply Russian troops.
No matter how this conflict started, Russia has escalated it well beyond the dispute over South Ossetia and invaded another country. Russia has escalated its military campaign through strategic bombing and the movement of its ground forces into the heart of Georgia. There is no possible justification for these attacks.
I reiterate my call for Russia to stop its bombing campaign, to stop flights of Russian aircraft in Georgian airspace, and to withdraw its ground forces from Georgia. The Georgian government has proposed a cease-fire and the Russian government should accept it. There is also an urgent need for humanitarian assistance to reach the people of Georgia, and casualties on both sides.
The United States, Europe and all other concerned countries must stand united in condemning this aggression, and seeking a peaceful resolution to this crisis. We should continue to push for a United Nations Security Council Resolution calling for an immediate end to the violence. This is a clear violation of the sovereignty and internationally recognized borders of Georgia - the UN must stand up for the sovereignty of its members, and peace in the world.
I welcome the visit of the French and Finnish foreign ministers to Georgia as a first step toward mediation. There should also be a United Nations mediator to address this crisis, and the United States should fully support this effort. We should also convene other international forums to condemn this aggression, to call for an immediate halt to the violence, and to review multilateral and bilateral arrangements with Russia - including Russia's interest in joining the World Trade Organization.
The violence taking place along the Black Sea is just miles from Sochi, the site for the Winter Olympics in 2014. It only adds to the tragedy and outrage of the current situation that Russia has acted while the world has come together in peace and athletic competition in Beijing. This action is wholly inconsistent with the Olympic ideal.
While returning to a pre-August 8 military posture is a necessary first step to resolving this crisis, we cannot tolerate the unacceptable status quo that led to this escalation. That means Russian peacekeeping troops should be replaced by a genuine international peacekeeping force, Georgia should refrain from using force in South Ossetia and Abkhazia, and a political settlement must be reached that addresses the status of these disputed regions.
Going forward, the United States and Europe must support the people of Georgia. Beyond immediate humanitarian assistance, we must provide economic assistance, and help rebuild what has been destroyed. I have consistently called for deepening relations between Georgia and transatlantic institutions, including a Membership Action Plan for NATO, and we must continue to press for that deeper relationship.
The relationship between Russia and the West is long and complicated. There have been many turning points, for good and ill. This is another turning point.
Let me be clear: we seek a future of cooperative engagement with the Russian government, and friendship with the Russian people. We want Russia to play its rightful role as a great nation - but with that role comes the responsibility to act as a force for progress in this new century, not regression to the conflicts of the past. That is why the United States and the international community must speak out strongly against this aggression, and for peace and security.
On the other hand, wanting it both ways, McCain saber rattled in cold-war rhetoric and then claimed it doesn't mean going back to the cold war. Note also that McCain has a long history with the hegemonic PNAC, leaving McCain's judgment to lead in question. As a signatory to the 1998 letter to President Clinton, which urged Iraq regime change; as promoter of the Iraq war, and as an insister that "there will be more wars, McCain appears a bit over-eager for the next one. On occasion, his statements on the subject have also bordered on the unintelligible, as when he suggesting going back to the days of czarist Russia.
It is one thing to make a statement about where he stands, but McCain has gone well beyond that. He and Randy Scheuneman are actually perched on a legal precipice, as Will Pitt explains here.
As Steve Benen of The Carpetbaggerreport.com said:
Try to imagine the response if Obama dispatched two of his top campaign surrogates to Georgia to review conditions on the ground. There would be apoplexy - how dare a presumptive nominee act like he's already president.
How dare a presumptive nominee, indeed! The irony is overwhelming. It is not OK for John McCain to meddle in the foreign policy for the US. It is not OK for him to give the impression that whatever Georgia does, the US will have its back. And it is not OK to try to fan a war, at any time.
But the devious and curiously-timed intervention by McCain appears to indicate he'll stop at nothing to make people fear another country, apply the same failed 20th Century thinking to solve problems, and argue that his supposed "foreign policy experience" is superior to his rival. you know the leap of logic voters are supposed to take next. Read what Robert Scheer says about that here.
If this is how John McCain's so-called "experience" plays out, it is abundantly clear he has not the judgment to lead. And he certainly doesn't have the ability to actually put America first, as he so often claims. If he had his way, American voters will follow Pied Piper McCain over the cliff. We need leaders who solve problems, not make them worse. We need a leader who won't manipulate a dangerous situation for his personal gain. Every day, in every way, McCain shows that that he is not that leader.
Also, putting this on Russia would totally ignore German and British militarism (the two were just spoiling for a fight). The Hapsburgs were also spoiling for a fight too, eventhough Serbia responded to favorably to most of their demands after the assassination, they still declared war. And they wouldn't have done so had Germany not been at their back. It was such a tangled web, really all the imperial powers of Europe were at fault.
Read more about what Rove was doing in Yalta from a July 14 article: