The former civilian leader of the Air Force, Michael Wynne, says the U.S. should have gone to war with Russia over Georgia. David Axe at Wired.com quotes the former Air Force Secretary: Had we found out the Russians were determined to invade, Wynne opined, "we could have strengthened air defenses of key Georgian positions, provided fighter re-enforcements, and placed Special Forces or Marines on the ground in the national capital."

To which Axe replied: "Holy pointless apocalypse, Batman!" 

The actual point of Wynne's article, as I see it, is that the U.S. and Europe need to clearly indicate to potential aggressor nations like Russia that invasions of other nations will not be tolerated. "Peace is a product of clarity, and strength," Wynne writes. "For decades, there has been clarity across the North Korean border; and it has meant strong economic growth for our ally in the south. For decades there was clarity across the German and Czech border and there was no doubt it mattered. Now there is doubt; and within limits, some clarity must be restored and effective tools generated and deployed to shape Western credibility."

To that we might ask, at what cost? Is it the responsibility, under the Constitution, of the U.S. government to exercise military force abroad? Clearly, the Constitution does not authorize the government to repel a Russian invasion of Georgia (unless it be our Georgia) by force.

The purpose of the U.S. military is to defend the citizens and property of the United States — not to defend the citizens and property of other nations. Should we throw the Constitution in the trash, put American citizens at risk, and overtly embrace empire in order to thwart Russia? (If one is an ardent internationalist at the Council on Foreign Relations, Trilateral Commission, and so on, the reflexive response is: "sure, why not?")

Quoting again from Wired's David Axe: "Say what you will about the justice of Georgia's initial attack on Ossetian separatists or Russia's supposedly 'disproportionate' response -- does anyone beside Wynne really think Georgia is worth risking Armageddon?"

Of course, we should be careful in framing the discussion of war and Armageddon in terms of constitutionality and in defense of property rights. After all, considering the tortured application of so-called political wisdom in Washington D.C. these days, Russia's calls for banning the satirical and irreverent show "South Park" might give Wynne and his comrades' a pretext for "protecting" America's property rights and market presence abroad.

Then again, if Americans want to rule the world, without running up such an expensive tab, maybe we should invest in craftier ways of getting Russians to watch endless reruns of American television.

On the whole, as Americans we have been turned into apathetic couch potatoes amenable to the regime. That same strategy will likely work in Russia, too.

TrackBack URI for this entry

Comments (0)

Subscribe to this comment's feed

Show/Hide comments