August 13, 2008
Posted: 02:41 PM ET
From CNN Political Producer Peter Hamby
McCain said the United States should stand 'courageously' with Georgia.
BIRMINGHAM, Michigan (CNN) – John McCain came out in support of President Bush’s decision Wednesday to dispatch U.S. aircraft with humanitarian aid to Georgia and to send Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice there to demonstrate America’s “unwavering support” for the country. And despite some recent tough talk towards Russia that has drawn criticism from Barack Obama's campaign, McCain also said he did not think the Russia-Georgia conflict would “re-ignite the Cold War." "I don't think it means we're going to reignite the Cold War, and I don't think that we're going to have kind of situation," he said at a fundraiser in Michigan, “but I do believe that we need to stand as courageously as we can on behalf of this little country.” Bush said in a Rose Garden statement that Russia must halt all military operations in Georgia and withdraw troops from the country, while allowing international aid into the region. McCain said he “strongly” supports Bush’s position. During the fundraiser, McCain continued his expressions of solidarity with Georgia, at one point citing reports of possible human rights violations by the Russian military.
“I hope they are not true,” McCain said. I'm afraid that some of them are, but we'll find out in the upcoming hours and days." The presumptive GOP nominee repeated his recent assertion that Moscow’s aggression indicates the country wants to create a modern-day version of the Russian empire. “I also believe that we have to understand, in the larger context of what this is all about, and it's all got to do with the centuries old ambitions of the Russians to establish the Russian empire,” he said. Filed under: John McCain
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