A common theme in Washington and mentioned by the press last month was that big bad Russia started the conflict with Georgia. Some politicians tried to remain calm and review what was going on, but not John McCain. He went after Russia with avengeance and even sent Senators Graham and Lieberman to the area as if he were the President already. "We are all Georgians" had to have been the key line that showed the oil and gas industry that he was on their side no matter where in the world they did or wanted to do business. This past Sunday Colin Powell went on CNN to help set the record straight on the situation and out straight-talked one of the most crooked politicians ever to run for the Presidency.
From Crooks and Liars:
On CNN Sunday, former Secretary of State Colin Powell offered some “straight-talk” on the Georgia/Russia conflict, and not-so-subtly insinuated that McCain’s rather belligerent response was careless and unnecessarily provocative.
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Download | Play (h/t Heather)
POWELL: And I think it was foolhardy on the part of President Saakashvili and the Georgian government to kick over this can, to light a match in a roomful of gas fumes.
SESNO: So you’re saying the Georgians provoked this?
POWELL: They did. I mean, there was a lot of reasons to have provocations in the area, but the match that started the conflagration was from the Georgian side.
AMANPOUR: And yet…
POWELL: And that’s a given.
AMANPOUR: And some debate in the presidential elections has basically been, “We are all Georgians now.” What does that mean? It’s the same as was said after 9/11.
POWELL: One candidate said that, and I’ll let the candidate explain it for himself. […] You have to be very careful in a situation like this not just to leap to one side or the other until you’ve taken a good analysis of the whole situation.
Powell very succinctly shredded McCain for his position on the conflict. He categorized him as any other Republican that takes advantage of 9/11 for a profit and uses the goodwill of Americans for the interests of the gas and oil industry. It is sick and disgusting to say the least, so I'm glad to see Powell continuing his quest to be redeemed for the false testimony he gave the U.N. about Iraq back in 2002. The endorsement will be a nice icing on the cake when it comes to wooing moderate-conservatives to Obama.
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