Romney condemns Russia’s ‘willingness to act militarily against a sovereign nation.’
Romney condemns Russia’s ‘willingness to act militarily against a sovereign nation.’
On Hugh Hewitt’s radio show last night, former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney said that “the International Olympic Committee ought to revisit locating” the 2014 Olympics in Russia because of what “they’ve done in Georgia.” Ironically, the reason Romney gave for why the Games should be moved is because the “Russians have shown their willingness to act militarily against a sovereign nation“:
HEWITT: But I do want to ask you about the Olympics and your experience there, in terms of whether or not the Russians ought to get the Olympics in 2014 after what they’ve done in Georgia.
ROMNEY: Well, Hugh, my own view is as the Caucuses are a hot spot, and as Russians have shown their willingness to act militarily against a sovereign nation, that the International Olympic Committee ought to revisit locating the Games elsewhere.
Listen here:
Romney joins the list of conservatives who have criticized Russia’s actions, despite the Bush administration’s belligerent foreign policy. Last week, Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) declared that “in the 21st century, nations don’t invade other nations.” Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said on Monday that military power is “not the way to deal in the 21st century.”
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This is just the usual republican double standard. They obviously don’t consider the invasion (and subsequent occupation) of Iraq as violating the sovereinty of a nation. I guess it depends on how you define ’sovereign’. Romney’s just hoping for a VP pick, but it’s interesting that suddenly a nation’s sovereinty is most important and five years ago it didn’t mean anything.
August 20th, 2008 at 1:29 pmvery interesting!
August 20th, 2008 at 1:29 pmOMFG! Do these people understand how hypocritical they sound? Are they idiots? Did we not invade both Iraq and Afganistan? So it is okay when we do it, but not when Russia does? The nerve of these people!
August 20th, 2008 at 1:31 pmRemember this headline from 2003?
Romney condemns Bush’s ‘willingness to act militarily against a sovereign nation.’
August 20th, 2008 at 1:31 pmExcuse me, but didn’t the invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq occur in the 21st Century?
August 20th, 2008 at 1:32 pmThis is just laughable! These people are just insanely sick.
August 20th, 2008 at 1:33 pmRepublicans- trying to convince the world that their own military aggression, their killing of innocent civilians, their invasion of other countries… just never really happened. They truly think Americans, & the rest of the world, are so stupid as to believe their constant lying. Pathetic.
August 20th, 2008 at 1:33 pmAnd don’t worry about those five aircraft carriers in the Persian Gulf region, or the international flotilla ready to embargo Iran with the intent of regime change.
Cheney-Barak plan on intervening militarily with Iran. I guess that makes them so old century.
Israel wants quiet on as many fronts as possible before their surprise attack. The U.S. & Israel want Russia as occupied as possible with regional threats, thus Georgia & Poland. Condi did her part today, signing the missile defense deal with Poland. How many Russian troops will now move in that direction? Condoleeza likes sports. Head fake, anyone?
August 20th, 2008 at 1:34 pmRomney sounds just like McDepends now; ignore reality and create your own.
Gotta REALLY suck to be a 23%er and have to swallow this load all the time.
August 20th, 2008 at 1:34 pmpot, meet kettle.
what arrogance.
what chutzpah.
what hypocrisy.
what hubris.
what double-standards.
what total BS.
What a PUTZ!
What else is left to say about these asshats?
August 20th, 2008 at 1:34 pmC’mon TP, whats the deal with the servers lately?
August 20th, 2008 at 1:34 pmMy comments, which I failed to copy and thus save, were obliterated by some odd error message:
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Does TP have a telephone number for posters to call into when this happens in future?
Cheers.
August 20th, 2008 at 1:36 pmOnce again the republicans are exploiting an unfortunate situation, this time a very dangerous situation, one they may have helped create for political gain.
Well, after all, the babies have to be saved never mind thousands may lose their life.
August 20th, 2008 at 1:36 pmMax Factor Mitt demonstrates why the Gropin’ Old Perverts are stuck with 5th-choice McSame.
August 20th, 2008 at 1:37 pmLeaving aside the low-hanging fruit of Republican hypocrisy on “invading a sovereign nation”, Romney sounds like he might agree that Jimmy Carter did the right thing in boycotting the Moscow Olympics in 1980 after the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan.
Could that be?
August 20th, 2008 at 1:38 pmWith all these condemnations against military action, why, why, why, why, why is there not even one reporter to ask the obvious follow-up question: and how did you vote for Iraq and Afghanistan ?
August 20th, 2008 at 1:39 pmupside99 Says:
Gotta REALLY suck to be a 23%er and have to swallow this load all the time.
That’s bad enough. But they are also required to regurgitate the entire load on command.
August 20th, 2008 at 1:40 pm#15,
No.
August 20th, 2008 at 1:42 pmNo doubt the Russians were afraid that Georgia might be looking to develop WMD, and didn’t want the smoking gun to be a mushroom cloud.
August 20th, 2008 at 1:42 pmShoeless,
Now THAT is a sickening thought!
August 20th, 2008 at 1:44 pmThe hypocrisy of these people knows no bounds. The facts are that Georgia invaded it’s neighbor. Russia did not invade Georgia without provocation. That would be like Mexico invades Arizona and then we go after the people in Mexico that invaded Arizona. Would that make us invaders of Mexico.
Someone really needs to ask those buffoons that question. I would love to hear their answer. Maybe one of our resident trolls can answer that one.
August 20th, 2008 at 1:45 pm.
Mittens says gloves are best!
.
August 20th, 2008 at 1:45 pmHEWITT: But I do want to ask you about the Olympics and your experience there, in terms of whether or not the Russians ought to get the Olympics in 2014 after what they’ve done in Georgia.
ROMNEY: Well, Hugh, my own view is as the Caucuses are a hot spot, and as Russians have shown their willingness to act militarily against a sovereign nation, that the International Olympic Committee ought to revisit locating the Games elsewhere.
Heckle and Jeckle
Should the US then have even been allowed to compete during the present Olympics if you’re judging Russia by what has occurred between them and Georgia ?
August 20th, 2008 at 1:46 pmIt’s indeed a double-standard, and Jon Stewart did a nice satire about it a few days ago.
This is one of the many reasons why the respect for U.S.government and its opinions has hit the bottom long ago.
I am active in online discussions on foreign policy and military topics since years, and the sad and terrible fact is that these forums are entirely dominated by right-wing hawkish Americans if the board language is English.
August 20th, 2008 at 1:46 pmIt’s difficult to believe that not all Americans are braindead warmongers after such experiences – thinkprogress helps me a lot to see that there are others as well.
.
O.K. I was a bit obscure…
Romney says dog carriers are best stowed on the roof…
.
August 20th, 2008 at 1:46 pmPretty funny. As everyone has pointed out, it seems Ok when we do it, but everybody else is bad if they act that way? And Romney wants to be CEO? Call a brain surgeon.
August 20th, 2008 at 1:47 pmWhen these guys make statements like this, they must be thinking that Americans are too damn stupid.
And guess what, they’re right! How else can one explain Americans falling for the “Drill here, drill now” nonsense?!
August 20th, 2008 at 1:47 pm.
My obscurity got lost again…
I mean to say, throwing stones in one’s glass house is NEVER a good idea.
.
August 20th, 2008 at 1:49 pmIf Mittens is interested in the Veep slot, he’ll have to have his devotion tested more than just bashing the Russkies on this.
August 20th, 2008 at 1:50 pmCindy would like to know how much service he’s willing to ‘pony’ up.?
Fool Zero Says:
——————————————————————————–
No doubt the Russians were afraid that Georgia might be looking to develop WMD, and didn’t want the smoking gun to be a mushroom cloud.
Before the invasion, Putin issued this statement:
“The British government has learned that Mikheil Saakashvili recently sought significant quantities of uranium from Africa.”
August 20th, 2008 at 1:50 pm.
Like all Loyal Republicans say,
“Judge not… unless you’re a Republican.”
… eh Daryll?
.
August 20th, 2008 at 1:51 pmWhat are your five sons gonna do about it, hunk?
August 20th, 2008 at 1:52 pmRussians have shown their willingness to act militarily against a sovereign nation
Americans have shown their willingness to act militarily against a sovereign nation
Don’t these freaks have any idea of what they are saying?
August 20th, 2008 at 1:54 pmThey are going to serve their country by campaigning for McCain.
August 20th, 2008 at 1:54 pmParrott! Oblivious to worldly matters. Bring him on mcsane.
August 20th, 2008 at 1:56 pm.
Romney suggests the Olympic Games should come to America, then?
.
August 20th, 2008 at 1:57 pmralph the wonder llama Says:
——————————————————————————–
Leaving aside the low-hanging fruit of Republican hypocrisy on “invading a sovereign nation”, Romney sounds like he might agree that Jimmy Carter did the right thing in boycotting the Moscow Olympics in 1980 after the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan.
Could that be?
Stop it Ralph,
August 20th, 2008 at 1:58 pmYou’re going to make a lot of neocon heads explode trying to talk their way around that one.
Republicans don’t do irony, apparently.
August 20th, 2008 at 2:00 pmNo, it seems that if you don’t understand irony, you are doomed to a life of it.
August 20th, 2008 at 2:02 pmBilbo Hussein Baggins Says:
The hypocrisy of these people knows no bounds. The facts are that Georgia invaded it’s neighbor. Russia did not invade Georgia without provocation. That would be like Mexico invades Arizona and then we go after the people in Mexico that invaded Arizona. Would that make us invaders of Mexico.
Bilbo, you do know that South Ossetia is a part of Georgia, not a “neighbor” right? Georgia invaded it the same way W.T. Sherman invaded…er…the other Georgia.
Don’t get me wrong, it was a very stupid move by Georgia to brutalize Russian ethnic groups in its own territory – I am not sure what they thought Vlad-buddy was going to do about it, but his response seems pretty predictable.
August 20th, 2008 at 2:03 pmIgnoranceIsNotBliss Says:
——————————————————————————–
I’ve often wondered if these people were to ever shut up long enough to listen to the crap that comes out of their mouths if they would be able to hear just how hypocritical they all sound.
I spoke to soon when I said this in the previous thread. Sigh, I should have known better.
August 20th, 2008 at 2:04 pmPeople like Willard either think we are ignorant, go along, get along mush brains or they have no cop on at all.
August 20th, 2008 at 2:04 pmMittens must have his magical underware on too tight…how’s those “golden plates” doing Mittens?
I really have to question the sanity of anyone who would believe the Mormon story, I mean, come on, it is so obviously made up by a lunatic…golden plates my butt.
August 20th, 2008 at 2:05 pmRemember your convictions Willard when the US and/or Israel militarily attacks the sovereign nation of Iran.
August 20th, 2008 at 2:13 pmrepugs will continue their bs that Russia just up and invaded georgia for no reason.
That’s right repugs make up shit to start another bs war.
August 20th, 2008 at 2:26 pmTell you what Mitt. Why don’t you get your five boys to join up, go and get “bad guys”, and send them to your “double Guantanamo”? That should make the world safe.
August 20th, 2008 at 2:44 pmCan you imagine growing up with Stepford dad?
August 20th, 2008 at 2:48 pmWhy do we continue to get these weird archaic LaRouche references? So I am quessing that Grenada shit was unacceptable what with the lack of any coalition of the coerced and all.
August 20th, 2008 at 2:49 pmSome disconnected bidet calling itself “Nettles” Says: So Iraq was a sovereign nation pre-US invasion? Afghanistan sovereign? Sovereign means free. Look it up in the dictionary. Neither the people of Iraq or Afghanistan enjoyed the slightest hint of sovereignty in their respective oppressive regimes.
Not to overly belabor the obvious, but “sovereign” does NOT mean “free”, dickweed. It means self-governing, as applied to states. Via Wiki:
August 20th, 2008 at 2:51 pm
Great, now we got a troll arguing that it was okay for us to invade Iraq because it wasn’t “sovereign”.
Sheesh.
August 20th, 2008 at 2:53 pmThanks, tokin. You took the effort to educate the troll. I admire that.
I just figured anyone that stupid was either willfullly stupid, or beyond help. Kudos to you for your generous spirit.
August 20th, 2008 at 2:55 pmtokin librul Says:
with the understanding that the Sovereign is “a collective being” (Book II, Chapter I) resulting from “the general will” of the people, and that “what any man, whoever he may be, orders on his own, is not a law”
Whatever else he may have been, Saddam hardly constituted “the general will” of the Iraqi people. While it oversimplifies to say Sovereign means “free”, the Sovereignty of the Junta in Burma is at least open to debate when they deliberately kill their own people and kill still more when they forbid outside help to citizens in need.
Not all Sovereignty is created equal, IMHO. Georgia is a democracy where the collective will of the people is represented. That is very different from Saddam’s Iraq.
August 20th, 2008 at 3:19 pmRomney joins the list of conservatives who have criticized Russia’s actions, despite the Bush administration’s belligerent foreign policy. Last week, Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) declared that “in the 21st century, nations don’t invade other nations.” Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said on Monday that military power is “not the way to deal in the 21st century.”
One has to wonder if these morons actually listen to what they’re saying. How hypocritical to condemn Russia for invading a sovereign nation while in the midst of actively supporting our own invasion of a sovereign nation.
http://progressiveworldreview.com
August 20th, 2008 at 3:29 pmGawd. He’s such a blithering idiot.
August 20th, 2008 at 3:30 pmNo, Keltoi, it does not “oversimplify” it to say that “sovereign means free”. It misinterprets it.
As does your implication that “sovereignty” requires “the general will of the people”. In an ideal sense that’s true, but in a practical sense it ignores the wide range of political structures and authorities across the globe.
Iraq had a functioning state apparatus and was recognized by the nations of the world as a nation.
You can try to justify the invasion of Iraq on many grounds (and the Right certainly done that) but absence of sovereignty is not one of them.
August 20th, 2008 at 3:33 pmLet me clarify:
when I said, “You can try to justify the invasion of Iraq on many grounds (and the Right certainly done that) but absence of sovereignty is not one of them” I should have written, “absence of sovereignty is one of the less realistic”.
Because evidence is abundant that justifications every bit as outlandish as “absence of sovereignty” have been offered over the past five years. There seems to be no limit of outlandishness on that front.
August 20th, 2008 at 3:36 pmsovereign = white
August 20th, 2008 at 3:38 pmKeltoi – I expect stupid, irrelevant and factually incorrect arguments from trolls.
I don’t expect that sort of ridiculous hair-splitting from you.
Both Afghanistan AND Iraq were SOVEREIGN NATIONS when we invaded and occupied them – no matter what lies were used as justification for our invasion and occupation of either country.
Period. End of story.
August 20th, 2008 at 3:38 pmRussia had more justification with Georgia than the U.S. had with Iraq. At least the Russians reacted to an action.
There was another action that the Russians can us as justification to invade Poland. The threat to there national security posed by the U.S. missile system to be placed in Poland. Plus to stick it to US they will most likely stop the flow of oil through Georgia.
This is an overseas example of the Republicans using fear to steer Poland into a mistake.
August 20th, 2008 at 3:52 pmLeftside Annie Says:
Keltoi – I expect stupid, irrelevant and factually incorrect arguments from trolls.
I don’t expect that sort of ridiculous hair-splitting from you.
Both Afghanistan AND Iraq were SOVEREIGN NATIONS when we invaded and occupied them – no matter what lies were used as justification for our invasion and occupation of either country.
Period. End of story.
In Rebuke, Afghanistan was a tribal society, not a nation when W entered the fray. There was no central government. The Taliban were actively reducing national treasure to rubble or trash. Local chieftains controlled every facet of life within their own tiny domains. Afghanistan was equal to what existed in Europe during the time of the Roman Empire. The problem is that once W had secured the basics, he went after his macho agenda of toppling Saddam. In the meantime, the situation in Afghanistan deteriorated to the point that our nation is at worst risk then it was on 9/10/01 and is bankrupt to boot.
August 20th, 2008 at 4:04 pmIs that the new low bar? That only pro-West Democracies are Truly Sovereign(TM)? Only pro-West Democracies are protected by international law? Even when they violate international law?
I don’t think that would fly in an ethics course.
August 20th, 2008 at 4:06 pmLeftside Annie Says:
Both Afghanistan AND Iraq were SOVEREIGN NATIONS when we invaded and occupied them – no matter what lies were used as justification for our invasion and occupation of either country.
Period. End of story.
In the case of Afghanistan, the UN approved that action, thus making the invasion “legal”. Although, giving the UN the power to determine who is sovereign and who is not is a bit scary.
And Ralph, I was just reacting to Tokin’s use of Rousseau’s words regarding Sovereignty. Rousseau – again, IMHO – would not have thought of Saddam as fulfilling the Social Contract and would therefore not have regarded his regime as “Sovereign”.
August 20th, 2008 at 4:08 pmThis is ridiculous. Such “logic” is nothing short of declaring open season on every oppressed person on Earth. Not to mention “victims” of socialism, communism, military rule, and any other form of government one would care to imagine. And such “logic” would DEMAND the invasion of Saudi Arabia and many other U.S. allies. It’s hard to imagine any sane person subscribing to such a notion.
August 20th, 2008 at 4:17 pmPerhaps you should have noted this limitation on your implication when you typed your comment. Nowhere in your post do you mention Rousseau. You appear to be criticizing tokin librul’s understanding of “sovereignty” as it applies to Iraq by invoking a specific phrase, rather than by considering the contemporary understanding of the term.
Hence, Annie’s well-observed criticism of you and your “ridiculous hair splitting”.
But how about we settle this by using the President’s definition of “sovereignty”, shall we?
“Tribal sovereignty means just that; it’s sovereign. You’re a — you’ve been given sovereignty, and you’re viewed as a sovereign entity.”
There! That clears it up, don’t it?
August 20th, 2008 at 4:22 pmFor that matter. If the will of the governed is prerequisite to being a “sovereign nation”? The U.S, in light of the longstanding opposition to Bushco’s foreign policy, is no longer a sovereign nation. And we won’t be one again until our troops are coming home.
August 20th, 2008 at 4:23 pmGeorgia’s government, backed with US’s financial and military support, was the agressor in this story. The rest is a LIE like WMD was!
August 20th, 2008 at 4:23 pmGuys guys guys…your obviously not understanding the republican understanding of reality..they do not use words in thier ordinary definitions..Dictionaries are SO pre/9-11.
Republicans speak using the Hipoctionary’s definition: i.e “sovereign” = “governments we like”.
Noam Chomsky. Pick up a book by him. The man breaks it down clearly, plainly, and very objectively.
Remember, we have to define words ourselves or the
August 20th, 2008 at 4:37 pmWebsterrorists and thier fancy 5 dollar words will win, and then we wont have those 5 dollars to buy 10 rugs in Iraq. Hopefuly, since we’ve been bribing them with billions of dollars not to kill our soldiers anymore, we will get a discount and will hopefully get at least 20 rugs for 5 bucks.
Keltoi at Night Says:
Whatever else he may have been, Saddam hardly constituted “the general will” of the Iraqi people. While it oversimplifies to say Sovereign means “free”, the Sovereignty of the Junta in Burma is at least open to debate when they deliberately kill their own people and kill still more when they forbid outside help to citizens in need.
August 20th, 2008 at 3:19 pm
______
George W. Bush was elected by a little over 50 million American voters, out of a population of 300 million. Does 1/6th of the population constitute a “general will” sufficient for sovereignty?
August 20th, 2008 at 5:04 pmUhhhhh…Obama, Biden, and the Democrats are going along with this monstrous lie also. It is a re-enactment of the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis. Then, and I remember it well, the USA set up ICBM Jupiter missiles in Turkey, armed with Nukes, aimed at Russia. Russia in turn set up missiles in Cuba, aimed at the USA. The US media, Democrats and Republicans were chanting the same “Evil Russia” tune. Same today. Georgia attacks South Ossetia, kills civilians and Russians, then Russia fights back. The US and Israel want Russia to be tied up while it considers a strike on Iran, as well as the Neocons of both the Left and the Right want a Cold War military budget. The difference between 1962 and now is we have an internet that can speed up data much faster than mimeographed books back then.
I will repeat what was said earlier, with the addition of Israel:
sacopenapa Says:
Georgia’s government, backed with US’s financial and military support, was the aggressor in this story. The rest is a LIE like WMD was!
August 20th, 2008 at 5:58 pmDon’t thank me, Nettles, thank your president.
By the way, isn’t time for another oh-so-current “Lyndon Larouchebags” quip? I do so enjoy topical humor.
August 20th, 2008 at 6:04 pmnice one ralph!! – posting that definition from bush clears things up 100%!! – i wonder if mitt,rice or in fact any right winger could explain what a sovereign nation is or what sovereignty means if asked the question – or, at least, give a more convincing performance that bush.
August 20th, 2008 at 8:04 pmand someone should put hewitt’s mind at rest that russia will definately not host the olympics in 2014 mainly because the games are scheduled for 2016.
This article in Counterpunch sums up the situation clearly, with the exception that Democrats are going along with this Massive Lie, just as they did with 9/11 and WMDs:
http://www.counterpunch.org/roberts08132008.html
August 20th, 2008 at 9:21 pmYo Mitt -
Russia is protecting its pipelines.
We have been targeting the oil in that region of the world for quite some time.
I think Russia wants our hands out of their s-oil.
Truly,
August 21st, 2008 at 3:50 pmLeslie, WaterMan