2 wrongs doesn not one right make.

Pravda, *and* a lot of people on this forum should pause and remember that we do not live in a 2-country world. The US + russia make up less than 5% of the worlds people.

When the US does evil stuff there is no excuse that others did as bad or worse. When russia does evil it can't just point to the US and justify it by saying the US does similar things.

This is akin to claiming that just because bully A beats up people, bully B is justified to beat up some other people.

I say this not only to Pravda, but to a lot of other people that have posted under various Georgia threads on this forum. It is sickening to see what I consider otherwise sensible people go far towards accepting that there should be such a thing as a russian 'sphere of interest', and that we shouldn't object to/resist Russia endulging in war and other crimes in it's own sphere, simply because this is not 'our business', and because the US has done the same other places. You have no right to condemn other peole to forcibly live in a
russian 'sphere of influence' against their democratically expressed will.

It is very neccesary to condemn russia for what it is doing, just as the US should be condemned for a lot of what it is doing. Even if you don't like G.W. Bush and his cronies, it they stand up against russian opression it's a very good thing, they should be acclaimed and suported (and then they can be sent to the Hague for their own crimes later...)

the point is, Bush is in no postion of moral authority and neither are we, having allowed (supported) him to get away with similar acts.

I did inhale.

whatever comes out of Bush's mouth is a joke. He is a complete and utter embarrassment.

_{"While not a Playboy reader, she invites a male acquaintance in for a quiet discussion of Chagall, Nietzsche, jazz, sex." - not a Hugh Hefner quote}

"When russia does evil it can't just point to the US and justify it by saying the US does similar things."

True. But Russia was dealing with a country on its border that was trying to join an alliance that was hostile to it. An alliance that was building bases in countries all around it. An alliance that was planning to construct missile bases in neighboring countries that could be used to give them a first-strike capability in a nuclear exchange.

This is not a matter of Russia trying to dictate who countries in its "sphere of influence" could form alliances with. It is Russia trying to prevent being surrounded by hostile military installations.

Let me be blunt: What Russia has done is excusable. It is not the act of a perfect country but it is excusable. There is no comparison with the US invading countries thousands of miles from its border so that it can control the oil supply. None.

If I were a Russia citizen I might be concerned with recent developments in that country. But I'm not. I'm a US citizen and I'm sickened by what is being done with my tax money. I am especially disgusted with the way my government has deliberately cultivated an antigonistic relationship with Russia over the last 15 years.

incy:

And when were you going to condemn Georgia for what they did?

Were you going to condemn Georgian peacekeepers for firing without warning on Russian, South Ossetian, Abkhazian peace-keeper troops prior to Georgia's invasion after Georgia agreed to a cease fire? Were you going to condemn those murders and the murders of innocent citizens that died in the attack by Georgia?

Were you going to condemn Georgia's predawn attack, even though Saakashvili had only 3 hours before announced a cease fire?

Were you going to condemn Mikheil Saakashvili for not adhering to the advice of his US handlers, which had told him for years not to provoke Russia?

And when were you going to condemn Mikheil Saakashvili for jailing the opposition, ordering snap elections, instituting martial law, shutting down opposition newspapers, radio and TV as well as voter fraud?

Is that democracy for you?

Were you going to condemn that oppression, or are you just conveniently forgetting it happened?