Breaking: Neocon War in the Caucasus!

I saw it coming.

Once Firedoglake announced the return of the Kaganite-Kristol axis of evil, it was only a matter of time before the Georgian war was uncovered as a neoconservative plot to open the latest neo-imperialist, petroleum-push crank-up for the U.S. armaments industry war-masters.

Think Progress' headline says it all, "Neocons Call For U.S. To Launch War With Russia":

Today the New York Times reports that Russia is escalating its war with Georgia, “moving tanks and troops through the separatist enclave of South Ossetia and advancing toward the city of Gori in central Georgia” and even bombing parts of Tibilisi, the Georgian captial.

Russia’s increasing aggression is putting a spark into American neoconservatives. Today on the Times op-ed page, one of their leaders, William Kristol, claims the U.S. must “defend” Georgia’s sovereignty as a reward for its participation in Iraq, while the conservative Washington Times is calling for “maximum pressure” on Russia....

Writing in the Washington Post today, Robert Kagan goes even further, suggesting that the Georgia-Russia conflict may be the start of World War III....

Like a good neoconservative, Kagan also links the Western response to the conflict and its wider policy towards Russia as “appeasement.”

There's a complete unseriousness in raising the specter of a neocon war against Russia.

It's certainly odd, for example, that Zbigniew Brzezinski, President Jimmy Carter's national security advisor, who has been a consistently harsh critic of the Bush administration's Iraq policy, stated Sunday that:

... what Putin is doing vis-a-vis Georgia to what Stalin did vis-a-vis Finland: subverting by use of force the sovereignty of a small democratic neighbor ...

Barack Obama's first instinct was to recoil at the mere possibility of war, although he soon adopted a more hardline position as the realities of international power politics struck him.

For that, he'll no doubt be pilloried by the left, although neocon demonizations will naturally be reserved for the GOP warmongers.

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UPDATE: Be sure to check out these additional conspiracy theories of "neocon war" over Georgia:

* The Carpetbagger Report, "Neocons Still Love That Cold War Mentality."

* Crooks and Liars, "Russia and Georgia Hostilities Escalate Dramatically."

* Down With Tyrrany, "McCain And His NeoCon Allies On The Warpath... Again."

* Empire Burlesque, "Marching Through Georgia III: Reality's Rout and Cheney's Viagra."

* Shakesville, "Let's Take on Russia Too."

But see the more sober analyses at PoliGazette, "Three Sides on Georgia," and Rightwing Nuthouse, "Georgia on My Mind."