THE FORCE BE WITH US BUT NOT WITH YOU

When you have "freedom" on your side you can do whatever you wish. The U.S. can use force in Iraq, Afghanistan, Haiti, Panama, Iran, Yugoslavia, etc. because we "value life" while terrorists and Russians don't. Freedom means free to impose capitalist "free market" solutions in order to bring "stability" to the world. Anyone who stands in the way of "freedom" must be destroyed.

Here are a few interesting and contradictory quotes that reveal the U.S. (and its allied lap dogs) hypocrisy and double-standards at work:

• US vice-president Dick Cheney, faithfully echoed by Gordon Brown and David Miliband [in Britain], declared that "Russian aggression must not go unanswered". George Bush denounced Russia for having "invaded a sovereign neighbouring state" and threatening "a democratic government". Such an action, he insisted, "is unacceptable in the 21st century".

• George W Bush, speaking in Washington accused Russian President Dmitry Medvedev of "bullying" his neighbours and said the tactics were working against Russia's interests on the international stage.

• NATO allies on August 19 accused Russia of using "disproportionate" force in its military conflict with Georgia. "We are gravely concerned by the humanitarian situation," a statement issued by the 26 NATO countries said. "We stress the urgency of swift, complete and good faith implementations of the [withdrawal] agreement," the NATO statement said. " . . . Military action must cease definitively and military forces must return to their positions held prior to the outbreak of hostilities."

• "Well, I just know that the Russian president said several days ago Russian military operations would stop. They didn't," Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said on NBC's "Meet the Press." "This time I hope he means it. You know the word of the Russian president needs to be upheld by his forces."

• At an emergency meeting at the NATO headquarters, the allies planned to send a message of support to Georgia. "The first priority is to provide practical and political support to Georgia," British Foreign Secretary David Miliband said on arrival at the NATO foreign ministers meeting. He said the allies must "ensure Russia does not learn the wrong lessons from the events of the last two weeks. Force cannot be the basis for the demarcation of new lines around Russia."

• The Bush White House Press spokesperson, Dana Perino stated, officially, "We believe that missile defense is a substantial contribution to NATO's collective security."

• At the White House, the press secretary, Dana M. Perino, confirmed that senior officials had initialed the [Poland 'missile defense'] agreement. "In no way is the president's plan for missile defense aimed at Russia," she said. "In fact, it's just not even logically possible for it to be aimed at Russia, given how Russia could overwhelm it. The purpose of missile defense is to protect our European allies from any rogue threats, such as a missile from Iran."

• Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk had insisted the United States provide more military cooperation in return for consent to host 10 interceptor rockets at a base in northern Poland. Washington says the interceptors and a radar in the Czech Republic will form part of a global shield protecting the United States and its allies from long-range missiles that could in the future be fired by Iran or groups such as al-Qaeda. "We have crossed the Rubicon," Tusk said just before the deal was signed. "We have finally got understanding of our point of view that Poland, being a crucial partner in NATO and an important friend and ally of the United States, must also be safe."

• However, Polish Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski told the BBC's World Tonight programme that the timing of the deal had nothing to do with the hostilities [between Georgia-Russia]. "We agreed this negotiating phase a week ago, which was... before the events in Georgia, and because of the U.S. calendar there was some urgency," he said. "But, what is crucial, and what decided the success of the talks over the last couple of days, was that the U.S. offered us new proposals."

Welcome to the New World Odor.