Here we go again, tumbling down the rabbit hole with
George W.
What a hoot to see the Bush Gang, which can’t
ever seem to shoot straight, railing at Russia’s rough-up of the
Republic of Georgia. Bush, Condi Rice, Robert Gates and others have wagged
their fingers furiously at the Russkies in recent days, scolding them for
invading a “sovereign state.” John McCain also jumped in,
declaring, “In the 21st century, nations don’t invade other
nations.”
All of the scolders had their faces locked in a
scowl, presumably to keep from bursting out in knee-slapping laughter. They
are, after all, the gang that invaded and still occupies Iraq, the gang
that continues to threaten the sovereign nation of Iran with regime change,
the gang that so loudly proclaimed the Bush Doctrine in 2002, asserting the
“right” of the U.S. military to carry out pre-emptive strikes
against any nation or group anywhere without consulting anyone.
Russia’s invasion of Georgia is the Bush
Doctrine turning right around and biting its creators on the butt.
They’ve been tight since 2001, when George first met Vlad at the
presidential ranchette in Texas. Bush said back then that he had looked
into Putin’s eyes and “got a sense of his soul,” which,
he attested, was pure.
What are our interests in Georgia? Oil.
There are vast reserves of oil in Kazakhstan,
Azerbaijan and the Caspian Sea, and such giants as ExxonMobil,
ChevronTexaco, ConocoPhillips and BP hold leases on these riches. But how
to get this black gold to the West?
Voila — Georgia! Under both Bill Clinton and
Bush, the U.S. government aggressively developed ties to the Georgian
government, pushing it to allow passage through the countryside of the
Baku-Thilisi-Ceyhan pipeline (BTC).
That’s why the Bushites are inserting America
into yet another conflict that is rooted in historic ethnic enmities in
another volatile region about which our leaders know squat. It’s not
about standing up for democracy — it’s about oil.
Jim Hightower is a
national radio commentator, columnist, and author.
This article appears in Aug 21-27, 2008.
