[Peace-discuss] Obama's Cheney

[C. G. Estabrook]

"[As] Biden waxes rhetorical over the prospect of confronting Vladimir Putin, it 
looks like we're going to go head-to-head and nose-to-nose with Russia no matter 
who wins the White House this time around."

	August 29, 2008
	Obama's Cheney
	Is there a curse on the office of the Vice President?
	by Justin Raimondo

The office of the Vice President has surely undergone a transformation in recent 
years: from Dan Quayle to Dick Cheney is a long way to travel. The role of the 
VP, with Cheney acting as the eminence grise of the Bush regime – and, some 
would say, the real President – has been amplified to the nth degree, and it 
looks like the administration of Barack Obama is going to continue this ominous 
tradition.

Joe Biden on the ticket with Obama, as we said on Monday, is a big victory for 
the War Party, which will not, as a result, be shut out of power if the 
Democrats take the White House. Today Biden denounces the Iraq war in passionate 
language, and yet it seems like only yesterday that he bloviated on the need to 
invade with equal if not more passion. Indeed, as chairman of the Senate Foreign 
Relations Committee, Biden prevented any and all antiwar voices from being given 
a podium at the Senate hearings.

Aside from that, however, he was one of the earliest proponents of the 
"revanchist Russia" meme that glides merrily along on the strength of pure 
alliteration, and now has gained a lot of momentum since Georgia's invasion of 
South Ossetia was magically turned into Russia's "invasion" of Georgia. He just 
couldn't help himself, in his speech to the Democratic convention, in bringing 
up the alleged Russian "threat":

"For the last seven years, this administration has failed to face the biggest 
forces shaping this century: the emergence of Russia, China and India as great 
powers; the spread of lethal weapons; the shortage of secure supplies of energy, 
food and water; the challenge of climate change; and the resurgence of 
fundamentalism in Afghanistan and Pakistan, the real central front against 
terrorism.

"In recent days, we've once again seen the consequences of this neglect with 
Russia's challenge to the free and democratic country of Georgia. Barack Obama 
and I will end this neglect. We will hold Russia accountable for its actions, 
and we'll help the people of Georgia rebuild."

Russia must be held "accountable" for defending the militarily helpless statelet 
of South Ossetia under attack from the US-armed –and-trained Georgian military – 
accountable for avenging a merciless assault on the Ossetian capital city of 
Tskinvali. Naturally, the U.S. is never to be held accountable for any of its 
actions anywhere. The U.S. government, you see, is not accountable, not even to 
its own citizens.

Biden sees the Russian "invasion" as a game-changer, a pivotal event that 
perhaps marks the beginning of a new cold war – and a new bout of U.S. meddling 
in the region. Upon his return from a trip to Tbilisi, the Georgian capital, 
Biden averred:

"The war that began in Georgia is no longer about that country alone. It has 
become a question of whether and how the West will stand up for the rights of 
free people throughout the region. The outcome there will determine whether we 
realize the grand ambition of a Europe that is whole, free, and at peace."

The man-who-would-be-Dick-Cheney is not going to allow the conflict to be 
contained: no, it must ripple outward, with a little help from the U.S. 
government and its regional satraps, like a tsunami, flooding the region with 
inter-ethnic strife and violence.

Biden is going to put our money where his mouth is, proposing a $1 billion 
"emergency" aid package for Saakashvili's regime to do with as it pleases. That 
the greater part of this will go to revamping the Georgian military – which has 
already received billions from the U.S. – rather than the long-suffering people 
of, say, Abkhazia (the scene of repeated Georgian invasions), goes without saying.

Obama, say the "national security Democrats" (i.e. warmongers of the "left"), 
has to appear "tough." That's why he chose Biden, and why he's now in a virtual 
competition with John McCain to see who can antagonize the Russians the 
quickest, as this pathetic story in the Los Angeles Times blog makes all too clear:

"When the war between Georgia and Russia first broke out, Democrat Barack Obama 
was in Hawaii, on vacation. He interrupted his holiday to issue a statement of 
support for Georgia. But his words were more measured – and came later – than 
either the White House response or Republican John McCain's."

Measured words – what a sissy! And they came too late: in the rapid-fire world 
of the War Party, the early war-bird gets the worm! Ah, but not to worry, here 
comes Obama making up for lost time:

"This week, Obama beat the White House by more than an hour, and McCain by two. 
Could it be that Senate Foreign Relations Committee Joe Biden, newly added to 
the Obama team as his running mate, has added some muscle?

"The speeded-up Obama response came after Russia recognized two breakaway 
regions – Abkhazia and South Ossetia – as independent countries.

"In his statement, issued around 2 p.m. EDT Tuesday, Obama said the White House 
should call for a U.N. Security Council meeting to condemn Russia's action. 
About 45 minutes later, the White House issued a statement from President Bush, 
vacationing at his ranch in Crawford. He too condemned the Russian ploy, saying, 
‘We expect Russia to live up to its international commitments.'

"McCain weighed in around 4 p.m. EDT, nearly two hours after Obama and more than 
an hour after the White House. In some ways it was the most tempered of the 
three statements, saying Moscow's action ‘deserves condemnation from the entire 
international community.'"

The UN should condemn Abkhazia and South Ossetia because they don't want to live 
under a regime that has bombed them on several occasions, killing thousands? 
Obama, who reportedly is "advised" by over two-hundred foreign policy mavens of 
various stripes, ought to dump that crowd and commune with his own conscience, 
if he has one. [See 
<http://www.cfr.org/publication/16188/foreign_policy_brain_trusts.html>.]

As ships from NATO countries make provocative incursions into the Black Sea – 
right at Russia's doorstep – and Bloviator Biden waxes rhetorical over the 
prospect of confronting Vladimir Putin, it looks like we're going to go 
head-to-head and nose-to-nose with Russia no matter who wins the White House 
this time around.

Why don't the peoples of South Ossetia and Abkhazia have the right to live under 
the government of their own choice? What is it with these exporters of 
"democracy" – why is it we never hear any talk of holding a plebiscite in these 
disputed regions. Oh, wait, they did hold a plebiscite – several, in fact, but 
the West refused to recognize the results.

Think peace is going to break out when the multi-culti messiah puts his feet up 
on the desk in the Oval Office? Well, I hate to disappoint all you loyal 
Democrats – and optimistic sorts – out there, but you had better think again ….

Biden's connections to the region are suspicious, to say the least. When 
lobbyist Stephen Payne was caught on tape saying he could arrange for the 
rehabilitation of a certain Central Asian ex-dictator for a hefty "donation" to 
the Bush library, he also mentioned that Biden could be brought along – 
presumably for a price. Bruce Ettinger, formerly Biden's director of legislative 
affairs, is Payne's business partner...

[Full article with links at <http://www.antiwar.com/justin/?articleid=13378>]