International Incident Watch

It's upsetting to see the glee with which John McCain has taken to this crisis in Georgia, the thrill in his eyes as he attempts to re-fight the Cold War while claiming the opposite, and with all the honor and moral authority that goes with it. Only he's leaving some things out:

In the 21st century, nations don’t invade other nations.

You hear that, George Bush? McCain's coming for you! Nations don't inv- what, he supported the surge?

Hey, every rule has its exception, right?

McCain also is sending envoys (his Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, Graham and Lieberman) to the region, and consulting with the Georgians daily - you know, like a real live President. How presumptuous! Do you think all this back-channel meddling is kind of hurting efforts to bring peace to a still-fragile situation?

Consider, then, the other loose cannon in all of this, Georgian President Saakashvili:

President Saakashvili today told Georgians that the US military was moving in to take over control of the country's air and seaports -- which would be a pretty big deal since much of the country still appears to be an active war zone.

And about five minutes later the Pentagon said he didn't know what he was talking about.

"We are not looking to, nor do we need to, take control of any air or seaports to conduct this mission," said Geoff Morrell, Pentagon press secretary. "The role of the U.S. military is strictly to facilitate the delivery of humanitarian assistance to the victims of this conflict."

When McCain promises air cover for the next strike against Russian forces, is he going to fly to the region himself and apologize to all those Georgian mothers for the deaths of their sons?

What a nightmare.

UPDATE: See too this backgrounder from Scarecrow. I know Obama's on vacation and all, but he needs to push back on this. McCain is being reckless and needlessly belligerent.