Robert Schlesinger

John McCain: Georgia-Russia Is the First International Crisis Since the End of the Cold War

August 15, 2008 RSS Feed Print

I saw on CNN Thursday that John McCain described the Georgia-Russia situation thusly:

"My friends, we have reached a crisis, the first probably serious crisis internationally since the end of the Cold War."

Huh? So...I guess the first Gulf War was not a crisis. And 9/11? Was that not an international crisis? And of course the 2003 Iraq invasion was not so much prompted by "crisis" as—what?—boredom? McCain has heretofore described the threat of Islamic extremists as "the transcendent challenge of the 21st century." Perhaps such a threat is too large to be encompassed by "crisis." Or maybe it has been, ahem, transcended by the possible return of that first foreign policy love, the Cold War.

But I'm probably overthinking McCain's comment by assuming it represents, well, thinking. After all, it comes from the same guy who said, presumably with a straight face, that in the 21st century nations don't invade other nations.

Tags:
Georgia (country),
Russia,
Cold War,
John McCain

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Does anyone else think of "Charlie Wilson's War" when we talk about the Georgia-Russia crisis? John McCain can be played by Tom Hanks and his wife Cindy by Julia Roberts. The timing of this was too coincidental. McCain is a friend of President Saakashvili and they are playing up Cindy's trip to Georgia. What is going on here? Is the US going to continue to pressure other countries to attack their neighbors because certain people in this country think it would be a good thing? The Republicans want to keep the fear going here at home so they can be the protectors, when in fact they may be initiating or supporting the incidents. What makes me fearful is that it is working, These are the same tactics that got Bush re-elected in 2004, fear. But to go up against Russia is just plain stupid.

Kate of WA 11:27AM August 31, 2008

Wondering at what age does dementia begin.

Bruce Jensen of IL 10:53AM August 16, 2008

McCain is old...old...old. Old people tend to remember very long ago, but they forget what they said the day before.

Simple as that. A forgetful old man.

Junius Driver 6:50AM August 16, 2008

Robert Schlesinger

Robert Schlesinger

Robert Schlesinger is managing editor for opinion at U.S. News and World Report, overseeing all opinion editorial content. He is the author of White House Ghosts: Presidents and Their Speechwriters. E-mail him at rschlesinger@usnews.com. Follow him on Twitter: @rschles.

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