Presidential debates: Left's counter-argument on the Georgia situation

[IndianaGreen]

No doubt McInsane will point to a distorted view of the recent events regarding South Ossetia in Georgia as justiffication for a new Cold War with himself as an American Napoleon leading the charge. Here is the Left's counter-argument regarding the situation in the Georgia and the Caucasus region, and by Left I mean the Marxist Left (the folks that warned you about attacking Iraq way back in 2002).

The following statement by the Communist Party of Greece pulls no punches, and has no illusions as to American hegemony and Russian oligarchs:

Statement of the PB on the international developments and the crisis in Caucasus

1. The bloody war in South Ossetia was launched at the request of the US and NATO by the government of Georgia that they control, taking advantage of the well known contradictions between Georgia and Russia. It was one more episode in the “series” of terror caused by the intensification of the contradictions between the imperialist powers in a wide region, extending from North Africa to the Arctic and from the Balkans to the Caucasus and the Caspian Sea.

The competitions between USA, EU, Russia as well as other regional powers in the imperialist “pyramid “ are unfolding with the goal of increasing the superprofits of the monopolies through the control of wealth resources, energy pipelines, markets and spheres of influence.

Thus, a dangerous conflict over the so Called “Big Middle East” is being escalating. These developments are related to the occupation of Iraq and Afghanistan , but also to the preparations of war against Iran, and may result in domino effects affecting our region, even our country.

EU and most of its member-states, which are also members of NATO, on the one hand cooperate with the US , and on the other they compete for the sharing of the loot. They even try to hold the “reins” in a series of regions as it was demonstrated by the active interference of France and Germany in the Caucasus crisis At the same time, the contradictions within the EU concerning the stance towards Russia grow stronger.

2. The other political forces of our country, which celebrated the overthrow of socialism in Europe and the dissolution of the USSR, have been proven false. That development caused only pain, blood and suffering for tens of millions of workers living in the territories of the former USSR. It has also brought a general setback in the life and the rights of millions of workers all over the world. The road to the restoration of capitalism, to the integration of these countries in the global capitalist economy, was paved by the corpses of the international conflicts, caused by the imperialist powers which compete for the control of the region’s wealth and the increase of the exploitation of workers.

The uneven development of capitalism has led, over the last years, to the emergence and strengthening of new global economic forces, with high economic growth rates, such as Russia , China , India and Brazil . These forces claim a share of the world market and they cause serious reshufflings at the global imperialist “chessboard”. Their economic growth is inevitably followed by the increase of their political and military power. It leads to the intensification of the competition with the currently leading powers such as the US and EU and to the formation of new “axes” and “anti-axes”.

3. The US tries to maintain its hegemonic position, both generally and in relation to Russia specifically. Through the deployment of the so-called “antimissile shield” in Poland and Czech Republic they aim at overturning the current nuclear balance of forces with Russia. This move will inevitably bring an answer by Russia. It will escalate the armaments race with negative consequences for the people. At the same time the USA promotes the militarization of space, the further expansion of NATO towards the Balkans and countries of the former USSR and the installation of a new network of military bases in order to surround and weaken Russia.

The workers in our country should not have any illusions about the role of today’s Russia as it has a distinctly different class and social content from the USSR. Today’s capitalist Russia, as well as the EU, can neither become a “counterweight” to the USA nor a factor of international balance and security as they are both made of the same “material”, the “material” of the harsh class exploitation and injustice, of the dominance of capital and of the oppression of workers. The ruling class of Russia collides with the US and EU imperialists only in order to defend the interests of its own monopolies. At the same time is willing to accommodate with the USA and the EU for the further exploitation of the workers, the deprivation of their gains and the restriction of their social and political rights.

http://inter.kke.gr/News/2008news/2008-08-caucase/

[IndianaGreen]

1. Newsweek: McCain's ties to Georgia

Mikheil Saakashvili, his eyes bloodshot from sleeplessness and his face caked with television makeup, summoned his closest advisers into his office above Tbilisi's Old City. It was 2 a.m. on Aug. 12, and columns of Russian tanks were rolling down the highway toward the Georgian capital. "I am never going to flee," the president told his team. "I will not live my life regretting that I abandoned my own country at war." Then he sent them home to change out of their suits and ties so they could fight the invaders. Swigging a can of Red Bull, Saakashvili grabbed a phone and called the trusted friend and mentor he had turned to every night since Aug. 8, when the war began: John McCain. A source close to the Republican standard-bearer, asking not to be named discussing a private conversation, says McCain voiced support for diplomatic and political pressure against Moscow. "Hang in there," the senator said, according to a Saakashvili aide on condition of anonymity. "We are not going to let this happen … We are doing everything we can to stop this aggression."

It's not surprising that Saakashvili, 41, known to Georgians by the nickname Misha, would turn to McCain at a moment of crisis: their decade-long friendship is among the closest McCain has with any foreign leader. Sen. Richard Burr, a Republican from North Carolina, traveled to Georgia in 2006 with a delegation led by McCain. He says Saakashvili saw the Republican nominee "as a man of greatness … on a different level" from the other legislators. And it's clear why McCain would admire the Georgian president. In many ways he's McCain's McCain—a passionate and unorthodox reformer, and a stalwart freedom fighter ranged against the Russian bear. Saakashvili's stint as Georgia's justice minister ended abruptly at a cabinet meeting in 2001 when he brandished a dossier of photos showing top ministers' lavish country homes, slapped it on the table and demanded that his colleagues be prosecuted immediately. "We are similar in many ways," Saakashvili says. "We agree that you can't compromise your beliefs."

That's exactly what worries some of McCain's many foreign-policy consultants. As the two presidential candidates prepare to debate foreign affairs and national security this Friday night, the Republican nominee is widely assumed to have an edge: polls consistently show that voters think he's better prepared than Sen. Barack Obama to be commander in chief. His relationships with leaders like Saakashvili contribute to that reputation. Yet McCain's affection for Misha runs counter to the instincts of many Republican foreign-policy "realists." (GOP moderates use the term to distinguish themselves from the party's neoconservative wing. McCain's chief foreign-policy adviser, Randy Scheunemann, a former Saakashvili lobbyist, is identified with the neocons.) The candidate likes Saakashvili's sense of moral absolutes, says Dimitri Simes, founding president of the realists' home think tank, the Nixon Center: "I understand how someone who takes this posture would appeal to Senator McCain, who also does not tend to see international relations in shades of gray."

http://www.newsweek.com/id/160069