Well, just as we know there are organized groups exerting pressure in Internet discussion forums, we also learn while kids in school that governments exert propaganda through the media. There is no question that media preparations had been made from georgian, russian and others who were involved.
John McCain got rockets fired after him by the separatist when he visited Georgia in 2006, so I'm sure he is not on friendly terms with the minority groups or at all sympathetic to their cause. Frankly, McCain's rhetoric against Russia is worrysome and reminds of how Bush had bad intentions towards arab nations. Souring direct relations with Russia would be much worse though (for Europe and longer term the US), since Europe is now more invested in it's relationship and co-growth with Russia. There are voices in the US saying they see Russia as getting more and more powerful with it's energy supplies and huge agricultural potential, and presented on news organizations like CNN.
In the aftermath it is all about perceptions to win political capital and support for the respective leadership politics. This again translates into diplomatic leverage and political points for strategies.
The focus is now on the threat that Russia poses. No doubt this was the expected outcome from this conflict, as obvious as it was.
Thankfully, we have something like the Internet where free people can communicate and discuss on a serious level about current affairs. Thus politicians or news organizations do not offer the only input for public opinion. People are smarter nowadays - or we can say that people have more options to form an independent opinion based with a more balanced and broader input about the background and facts about political events.
I dislike the organized efforts by some groups to sabotage this, but I would rather that they exist than not. It is just necessary to create systems so that they are robust against ALL attempts of disinformation or corrupting the access to balanced/objective information, and such persons and organizations are exposed for what they are so we can continue to stay well informed, using critical thinking and being fully aware of what is going on.
John McCain got rockets fired after him by the separatist when he visited Georgia in 2006, so I'm sure he is not on friendly terms with the minority groups or at all sympathetic to their cause. Frankly, McCain's rhetoric against Russia is worrysome and reminds of how Bush had bad intentions towards arab nations. Souring direct relations with Russia would be much worse though (for Europe and longer term the US), since Europe is now more invested in it's relationship and co-growth with Russia. There are voices in the US saying they see Russia as getting more and more powerful with it's energy supplies and huge agricultural potential, and presented on news organizations like CNN.
In the aftermath it is all about perceptions to win political capital and support for the respective leadership politics. This again translates into diplomatic leverage and political points for strategies.
The focus is now on the threat that Russia poses. No doubt this was the expected outcome from this conflict, as obvious as it was.
Thankfully, we have something like the Internet where free people can communicate and discuss on a serious level about current affairs. Thus politicians or news organizations do not offer the only input for public opinion. People are smarter nowadays - or we can say that people have more options to form an independent opinion based with a more balanced and broader input about the background and facts about political events.
I dislike the organized efforts by some groups to sabotage this, but I would rather that they exist than not. It is just necessary to create systems so that they are robust against ALL attempts of disinformation or corrupting the access to balanced/objective information, and such persons and organizations are exposed for what they are so we can continue to stay well informed, using critical thinking and being fully aware of what is going on.