A request for evidence is always a reasonable idea at any part in a discussion. Unless of course the goal is just to let off steam or run off at the mouth.

I've made my views on the war in Georgia pretty clear--that Saakashvili always planned to drag South Ossetia and Abkhazia back into the fold against their wills--that was virtually a campaign promise -- and that US politicians who are trying to act tough by condemning Russia's opposition to this are pathetic individuals--and basically the anti-TR---since there's virtually nothing the US can do to stop Russia from supporting South Ossetia and Abkhazia. Also that said US politicians are just pandering to the rather large number of Americans who like to shake their fists at foreigners.

I also hold no brief for McCain. He's been dead wrong on Iraq from the start--the problems in Iraq are still there and at some point it is still likely to break up. Also he is using his tough-guy image to appeal to the same jingoists mentioned above.

None of this excuses those of us on the other side from actually thinking and insisting on evidence, rather than excusing a temporary setback for us by a conspiracy theory which so far appears to be the imaginative meanderings of a columnist.