I was searching for a response from Senator Obama on what is quickly becoming an all-out war in Georgia, but then I remembered he was on the way to Hawaii for a vacation.
But then again, Senator Obama would probably just say, “this is not the Russia I knew.”
Just to recall, it was Senator McCain who said he’d move to kick Russia out of the G8 for rolling back freedoms. Obama, not so much:
WASHINGTON, July 12 (Reuters) – Democratic U.S. presidential candidate Barack Obama opposes excluding Russia from the Group of Eight industrial nations, as suggested by Republican rival John McCain, saying Moscow’s cooperation was needed in the fight against nuclear proliferation.
“It would be a mistake,” Obama told CNN in an interview when asked about McCain’s proposal. CNN on Saturday released excerpts from the interview that will air on Sunday.
“Look, if we’re going to do something about nuclear proliferation, just to take one issue that I think is as important as any on the list, we’ve got to have Russia involved,” the Illinois senator said.
“The amount of loose nuclear material that is floating around in the former Soviet Union, the amount of technical know-how that is in countries that used to be behind the Iron Curtain, without Russia’s cooperation, our efforts in that on that front will be greatly weakened.”
McCain has said he would push for Russia’s removal from the G8 as punishment for rolling back political freedoms.
The G8 also includes the United States, Britain, France, Italy, Germany, Canada and Japan. Their leaders gather each year in one of their countries to discuss major economic and political challenges.
Russia is a fairly recent entry into the group, joining the Group of Seven in 1997. Russia’s prime minister, Vladimir Putin, hosted the G8 summit in St. Petersburg in 2006 when he was president.
McCain, as expected, has answered the 3AM call:
“Today, news reports indicate that Russian military forces crossed an internationally-recognized border into the sovereign territory of Georgia. Russia should immediately and unconditionally cease its military operations and withdraw all forces from sovereign Georgian territory. What is most critical now is to avoid further confrontation between Russian and Georgian military forces. The consequences for Euro-Atlantic stability and security are grave.
“The government of Georgia has called for a cease-fire and for a resumption of direct talks on South Ossetia with international mediators. The U.S. should immediately convene an emergency session of the United Nations Security Council to call on Russia to reverse course. The U.S. should immediately work with the EU and the OSCE to put diplomatic pressure on Russia to reverse this perilous course it has chosen. We should immediately call a meeting of the North Atlantic Council to assess Georgia’s security and review measures NATO can take to contribute to stabilizing this very dangerous situation. Finally, the international community needs to establish a truly independent and neutral peacekeeping force in South Ossetia.”