U.S. Pot Calls Russian Kettle Black
John McCain blisters Russia for its military intervention in Georgia, saying “in the 21st century, nations don’t invade other nations.” Excuse me?? What does the good senator think the United States did in Afghanistan and Iraq? And the last time I looked, both 2001 and 2003 were years in the 21st century. The man has apparently no sense of irony, or he is elevating hypocrisy to a whole new level.
Similarly, President Bush accuses the Russians of “bullying” behavior. Now, I certainly don’t like what the Russians are doing in Georgia–even though the Georgian government is not exactly the poor democratic victim of unprovoked aggression as it it typically portrayed in the Western media. But even if Moscow’s actions do constitute bullying, consider the number of occasions since the end of the Cold War that the United States has initiated military force against small, weak countries. Panama, 1989, Iraq 1991, Somalia, 1992, Haiti, 1994, the Bosnian Serb republic, 1995, Afghanistan 2001, Iraq (again), 2003. Only the invasion of Afghanistan was truly justified on the basis of self-defense.
Before Bush, McCain, and their warhawk allies start lecturing Russia about improper use of military force, they need to acquire one crucial foreign policy tool that they apparently lack. A mirror.