As John Noonan notes below, Fred Kaplan criticizes "the Bush people" and the "neocons" for supporting Georgia's bid for NATO membership:
Bush pressed the other NATO powers to place Georgia's application for membership on the fast track. The Europeans rejected the idea, understanding the geo-strategic implications of pushing NATO's boundaries right up to Russia's border. If the Europeans had let Bush have his way, we would now be obligated by treaty to send troops in Georgia's defense. That is to say, we would now be in a shooting war with the Russians. [...]
if an independent Georgia is worth saving, the Russians need some assurances-for instance, a pledge that Georgia won't be admitted into NATO or the European Union-in exchange for keeping the country and its elected government intact.
On April 28 of this year, the U.S. Senate passed by unanimous consent a resolution expressing "the strong support of the Senate for the declaration of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization at the Bucharest Summit that Ukraine and Georgia will become members of the alliance." Barack Obama, John McCain, and Hillary Clinton were among the bill's eight cosponsors.
Yesterday McCain and Obama reaffirmed their commitment to NATO membership for Georgia.
Committing U.S. troops to defend Georgia against future attacks is a serious matter. Since Obama, McCain, and nearly every member of the House and Senate have recently supported this measure, hopefully the debate can proceed without the Bush-hatred that has come to cloud the vision of so many.
