The whole situation between Georgia and Russia scares the hell out of me. Not because I am afraid of another cold war. That just seems ridiculous (despite how the cable news channels played that up during the hostilities). Instead, it is the slow access to good information.
This New York Times article provides some evidence that it was Georgia who launched an unprovoked, or at least disproportionate, shelling on villages in South Ossetia. It was that attack - after a cease fire - that provoked Russia's response. This isn't the first article to show Georgia as the aggressor, but it provides more evidence than others I have seen.
Even now though, there isn't complete evidence to say this conclusively. And that is what scares me. In this situation, with little evidence, where both sides have a history of deception and exaggeration, the only option seems to be to trust your ally. That is a significant problem when your ally is just as untrustworthy as your enemy (if you can really call Russia an enemy - our foreign policy still operates that way, but I am not so sure if we should).
What is even worse is that I don't get the impression that the American public is interested in considering the nuance in this situation nor is it patient enough to wait for good information to come out. This pushes our foreign policy in a distinct direction. The job of the president therefore is to be more calm than the people, wait for good information if possible, but always understand that your allies won't always tell you the truth or make good decisions.
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