War!

Georgia and Russia are kicking off the Olympic Games with a shooting war over South Ossetia.

The president of Georgia, Mikhail Saakashvili, in a televised address, accused Russia of sending fighter jets to bomb Georgian towns to help the breakaway territory of South Ossetia, where a large number of Russian citizens live.

Russian officials in turn said that the Georgian military had attacked Russian peacekeepers stationed in the area. The Russian Defense Ministry announced late Friday afternoon that it was sending reinforcements to South Ossetia, a move that followed Russian President Dmitry Medvedev telling an emergency meeting of his security council that "we will not allow the deaths of our compatriots to go unpunished."

In a phone interview with McClatchy, Georgian Foreign Minister Eka Tkeshelashvili confirmed that Russian units had passed through the Roki tunnel connecting the two countries. She said she worried that war with Russia was increasingly possible.

Georgia is not a NATO member, but you can bet that under a McCain Presidency, he'd be sending forces or at list logistical personnel over to help them fight the Russians. After all, Randy Scheunemann, a top foreign policy advisor to McCain, has been a paid lobbyist for Georgia.

I know that military tensions are supposed to automatically argue for the Republican, but in this case I really think it's the opposite. In a dangerous world, we can't dedicate all this time and effort to keeping the lid on Iraq.

UPDATE: Obama's statement:

I strongly condemn the outbreak of violence in Georgia, and urge an immediate end to armed conflict. Now is the time for Georgia and Russia to show restraint, and to avoid an escalation to full scale war. Georgia’s territorial integrity must be respected. All sides should enter into direct talks on behalf of stability in Georgia, and the United States, the United Nations Security Council, and the international community should fully support a peaceful resolution to this crisis.