Little or No Leverage

[Kathianne]

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080812/ap_on_go_pr_wh/us_russia_georgia


US, allies weigh punishment for Russia

By MATTHEW LEE, Associated Press Writer 29 minutes ago

Scrambling to find ways to punish Russia for its invasion of pro-Western Georgia, the United States and its allies are considering expelling Moscow from an exclusive club of powerful nations and canceling an upcoming joint NATO-Russia military exercise, Bush administration officials said Tuesday.

But with little leverage in the face of an emboldened Moscow, Washington and its friends have been forced to face the uncomfortable reality that their options are limited to mainly symbolic measures, such as boycotting Russian-hosted meetings and events, that may have little or no long-term impact on Russia's behavior, the officials said.

With the situation on the ground still unclear after Russian President Dmitri Medvedev on Tuesday ordered a halt to military action in Georgia, U.S. officials were focused primarily on confirming a ceasefire and attending to Georgia's urgent humanitarian needs following five days of fierce fighting, including Russian attacks on civilian targets...

[Gaffer]

We won't play war games with you and we won't come to your parties and we might use harsh language in response to your invading another country. Yeah, that's the ticket. That will really make putin feel bad.

I'm still not hearing anything about collateral damage or the unfairness of russia in fighting a country their forces out number. Shouldn't russia be held to the same standards as the US?

A REAL war of aggression is taking place and there's not a word from the "anti-war" crowd. Doesn't war apply to everyone? It's a prime example of a true unilateral invasion of a sovereign country. Totally illegal. Come on lefties, let's hear the condemnation.

[Kathianne]

We won't play war games with you and we won't come to your parties and we might use harsh language in response to your invading another country. Yeah, that's the ticket. That will really make putin feel bad.

I'm still not hearing anything about collateral damage or the unfairness of russia in fighting a country their forces out number. Shouldn't russia be held to the same standards as the US?

A REAL war of aggression is taking place and there's not a word from the "anti-war" crowd. Doesn't war apply to everyone? It's a prime example of a true unilateral invasion of a sovereign country. Totally illegal. Come on lefties, let's hear the condemnation.

With a few exceptions, all I've seen is the US is wrong, but former Soviets are right. Might there possibly be a message here? It's a long war.

[avatar4321]

We've reached a point of no return when we can't do a darn thing and the world knows it.