An interesting theory

For the second time in a couple of weeks, I’ve seen stories that have linked the war in Georgia (the country, not the state) with attempts to influence the outcome of the Presidential Election.

Now normally, I would not buy into something that Vladimir Putin is pushing. Clearly, he wants to control the news cycle and spin within his sphere of influence. Second, I would like to believe that the US public is smarter than that, too. However, there was an article in The Nation that really started me thinking. While I’m not sure the US Government orchestrated the conflict in Georgia, I do think that members of a US Presidential campaign are involved.

I’ll just take a quick moment to recap events. On August 8^th, the Georgian government tries to re-establish authority over South Ossetia using its military. This provided Russia with the excuse it needed to go in and re-establish primacy in South Ossetia. The Georgian Army was simply overmatched.

Why would the President of Georgia do this? The conflict over South Ossetia was hardly new. South Ossetia was an autonomous region of Georgia prior to independence. He had to know that the Russian military would respond, given they had troops in the region as “peacekeepers.” My guess is that President Saakashvili assumed that “the West” would step in and help or it would help change world conditions in such as way to help his cause down the road.

Here are some interesting facts. President Saakashvili is good friends with a guy by the name of Randy Scheunemann, who, until March served as a lobbyist for the Georgian Government for four years. When Scheunemann left the service of the Georgian Government, he went to work as the Sr. Foreign Policy Adviser to the Sen. John McCain campaign. He also served in a similar capacity on John McCain’s 2000 campaign. In 2005, Scheunemann and McCain worked together on legislation pushing for Georgia’s entry into NATO and in 2006, accompanied McCain on a trip to Georgia where McCain re-iterated his support for Georgia’s policies.

It would make sense that by trying to re-establish control in South Ossetia, the Georgian government is doing what it can to act in their longer term interests. Influence the outcome of the US Presidential Election by changing the focus from problems at home to issues of foreign policy. And in making Vladimir Putin the second coming of Josef Stalin, they are creating a new bogeyman which Americans should be afraid.

Here's to hoping that Americans can see past the charade and focus on issues of real importance.