H.D.S. Greenway writes an op-ed in the Boston Globe that says the U.S. led Georgia’s Mikheil Saakashvili to believe that he could walk in, pick up some disputed territory called South Ossetia and Abkhazia, and keep the change [pun intended]. Russia had other ideas. Namely, they had no intention of allowing further encroachment. “If you don’t like the status quo, then we’ll let you know how we really feel”, seems to be the Russian position.
So now, the U.S. can’t jump in and claim righteous battle against the Russians, they can’t support their newfound friend in the Georgians, and after a lot of hand-wringing…the rest of the world may start rethinking how much the U.S. is really willing to back their ”strongly worded” friendships. Or maybe…others will start thinking that it’s time to go grabbing all that disputed territory that has been sitting dormant under “status quo” of one kind or another. After all, the U.S. appears otherwise occupied right now and can’t come save the world.
How many regions would the U.S. ignore before this becomes the spark that triggered a world-war unlike the previous wars…numerous small enclaves all out for their own flag planting sessions. No single big, bad guy. Just a lot of noise. No combined factions. Just lots and lots of demons taking pot shots at innocents and others to redraw political boundaries, map lines, or ethnic enclaves. The U.S. would be powerless to say who was on the right, and who was wronged. This could go on for decades.
Oh wait…what was I thinking…it already is.
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