Sep 26th, 2008 at 11:58 am
Mike O’Hanlon Is Making Sense
Asked to come up with a suggested question for tonight’s foreign policy debate, he comes up with . . . a perfectly good question:
Do we really want to bring Georgia into NATO and risk sending American sons and daughters to remote mountainous inland Asia in coming years to fight nuclear-armed Russia over a territorial dispute involving at most tens of thousands of people?
I’d also like to see a comparable question about Ukraine.
32 Responses to “Mike O’Hanlon Is Making Sense”
Register
RSSLogin
Advertisement
Visit Our Affiliated Sites
Books By Matthew Yglesias
Topic CloudView topics sorted by popularity
Abortion
Afghanistan
Basketball
Blanche Lincoln
Budget
Cars
China
climate
Congress
Crime
DC
Demographics
Economics
Economy
Energy
EU
Finance
Football
Gender
Health Care
History
Inequality
Infrastructure
International Relations
Iran
Israel
Media
Monetary Policy
National Security
NBA
Pakistan
Palestine
planning
Political Reform
Public Health
Public Opinion
Race
Regulation
Sarah Palin
Sports
Stimulus
taxes
Technology
Trade
transportation
Featured
Subscribe to the Progress Report
Contact Matthew Yglesias
Use this form to contact blog author Matthew Yglesias.
ArchivesBlog RollAbout Matt YglesiasContact Me
Donate
September 26th, 2008 at 12:06 pm
Even Michael Hanlon, the serious grown up who opposed
the Bush strategy…
September 26th, 2008 at 12:06 pm
Unfortunately, we will likely get the question posed like this: “Do we want to bring Georgia into NATO ?”
Both candidates will then wax eloquently about freedom and democracy and blah blah blah. No one will bring up the potential cost of such a move.
September 26th, 2008 at 12:24 pm
Also take a look at what Russia is doing to punish us over our stupidity with respect to Georgia…Today, Putin is talking to Chavez about nuclear cooperation. Putin could do this around the world and there’s not a bloody thing that the U.S. is going to do about it…especially if those nuclear facilities are getting built with Russian engineers.
We seriously miscalculated with Georgia (and look to be doing the same thing w/ Ukraine). I think this weak deal that they cut on Iran w/ Russia is hopefully a sign that reality is beginning to encroach upon the emotional bubble that they created.
September 26th, 2008 at 12:26 pm
War on Diplomacy.
September 26th, 2008 at 12:32 pm
When the Soviet Union broke up the US regarded issues of national independence, ethnic sovereignty, and border disputes in the region of Georgia and the Caucuses a matter for the Russians to resolve.
September 26th, 2008 at 12:33 pm
And NATO has long regarded internal disputes and potential triggers for conflict a matter for potential members to resolve before they’re admitted to the club.
September 26th, 2008 at 12:36 pm
Except if Ukraine then it becomes a matter of tens of *millions* of people.
September 26th, 2008 at 12:43 pm
Is Ukraine involved in any legitimate border issues with Russia that would put us at risk of going to war over reasons unimportant to us?
I remember 10-15 years back that the Crimean peninsula symbolically set itself on “Moscow time,” but since then I haven’t really heard that Crimea is a real point of contention between Ukraine and Russia. If there aren’t any low-grade military disputes between Russia and Ukraine, it wouldn’t make for a bad NATO candidate.
September 26th, 2008 at 12:48 pm
O’Hanlon ought to go back under his rock until we can all forget he ever existed.
September 26th, 2008 at 12:56 pm
“I remember 10-15 years back that the Crimean peninsula symbolically set itself on “Moscow time,” but since then I haven’t really heard that Crimea is a real point of contention between Ukraine and Russia.”
The Crimea is a huge flashpoint; there was a very good article on that appearing within the last week or so, I forget where but I’ll try to find it. Here’s a recent article on that topic that is good but not too in-depth: http://www.thespectrum.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080918/OPINION/809180322
September 26th, 2008 at 1:06 pm
Yes it would. Take a few deep breaths and think about this some more. A Cold-War anti-Russian alliance that includes the Ukraine? How do we sell that, as a way to protect our eastern flank against North Korean aggression? And what do existing members actually gain, besides the chance to stick another thumb in the eye of a nuclear superpower and get the new Cold War as warm as possible? If Ukraine is worried about Russia, it just needs to make some noises about unsecured Soviet-era nukes in Ukrainian territory. Remember, never get involved in a land war in the Crimea.
September 26th, 2008 at 1:18 pm
Even Vizzini knew that you don’t get involved in a land war in Asia.
September 26th, 2008 at 1:19 pm
Why not make Russia and Georgia our NATO allies? Then when they get into a war, we can shrug our shoulders and pretend nothing was happening.
September 26th, 2008 at 1:21 pm
We should want to promote all nations to be in NATO, to spread democracy and such, to reduce tensions and spread peace and tolerance I think. John McCain will reform those Washington insiders to make sure that Russia and the South Africa and such as will not interfere with the will of the American people. Reducing taxes and economic growth will enable Georgia and other states, such as the South Carolina, to reform instead of lobbyists and other insiders.
September 26th, 2008 at 1:58 pm
Why not make Russia and Georgia our NATO allies? Then when they get into a war, we can shrug our shoulders and pretend nothing was happening.
Greece and Turkey are both in NATO and they periodically threaten to go to war with one another.
September 26th, 2008 at 2:04 pm
When mentioning NATO, one should also ask McCain to clarify his position on meeting with the head of state of Spain, a NATO ally fighting in Afghanistan. Or does NATO not matter since the Spanish people decided to vote for a more left-leaning prime minister?
September 26th, 2008 at 3:17 pm
even a broken clock…
September 26th, 2008 at 3:36 pm
Good question, Mike. But I still want to punch you in throat.
September 26th, 2008 at 4:31 pm
(”When the Soviet Union broke up the US regarded issues of national independence, ethnic sovereignty, and border disputes in the region of Georgia and the Caucuses a matter for the Russians to resolve.”
Where did you find this Linus?)
A noted foreign policy expert.
(You mean the wikipedia Linus.)
That may be true.
(You can’t believe everything you read on the wikipedia Linus.)
What about this:
“A characteristic of the smurf language is the frequent use of the word “smurf” and its derivatives in a variety of meanings.”
(You can probably believe that.)
smurftastic
September 26th, 2008 at 5:34 pm
an even better question — and we can ask it of sarah palin, who seems quite keen on the idea of adding a second georgia to the u.s.:
September 26th, 2008 at 6:57 pm
If the people of South Ossetia want to be independent why do we insist they must remain Georgian. They were considered Russian for over 200 years.
How is South Ossetia different than Chechnya?
March 11th, 2009 at 5:39 am
I bookmarked this site. Thank you for good job!
March 13th, 2009 at 12:42 am
Excellent site. It was pleasant to me.
March 17th, 2009 at 2:44 am
If you have to do it, you might as well do it right
tramadol
March 22nd, 2009 at 6:43 am
tramadol
Great site. Good info
April 2nd, 2009 at 6:09 am
Incredible site!
buy cheap viagra
April 3rd, 2009 at 4:41 am
Excellent site. It was pleasant to me.
cheap brand pfizer viagra
April 9th, 2009 at 11:27 am
thanks !! very helpful post! viagra
April 14th, 2009 at 10:08 am
Very interesting site, Hope it will always be alive!
viagra