War with Russia: the huge nightmare of my life. From before I was born, the possibility of war with Russia — aka the Soviet Union, but it was always the “Russians” we feared — was the worst thing that could happen. Ok, for some, appeasement with Russia and/or surrender to and invasion by Russia (the latter made inevitable by the former) was worse. But for most Americans, war with Russia meant nuclear war and the end of the world. So while that war’s possibility dominated thought and politics for decades, the impossibility of surviving that war seems to have made the war itself worth avoiding for both sides.

Today, as Russia apparently continues its invasion of Georgia, using “irregular militia” to commit atrocities against the civilian population so it can stay officially above such nastiness, war with Russia — and this time, Russia proper: Mother Russia — is on the minds of the bellicose neocons who will never actually have to right in such a war. Fortunately President Bush, who has looked into the soul of the war’s architect, Vladimir Putin, refuses to take the bait. He does not do so out of principle, of course. He’s actually more like the boyfriend who will be the last to acknowledge his girl is cheating on him.

“President” John McCain has no such illusions. He recognizes Putin for who he is: a former KGB official who wants to extend Russian power, and territory, to its former “greatness.” That much, however, is all he gets right. He harbors the neocon illusion that the United States can, whenever it wishes, inject its god-given power and might into a conflict and, with sufficient will and firepower, crush the forces of evil. Even with the United States’ military forces past their limits in his illegal war in Iraq and needed to stop (again) the Taliban and al Queda in Afghanistan, McCain is making the kind of noises about this war that should wake voters up to the foolishness of putting yet another warmonger in the White House.

There is nothing about what is occurring in Georgia that would encourage progressives to support military conflict. This is a tremendous opportunity for new American leadership. Our nation needs Russia to be an ally, but that’s clearly not possible at the moment. What is needed now is diplomatic and economic measures that will force Russia to realize the futility of conquest in the 21st Century. The United States and its international allies must convince Russia they have more to lose than gain by any course of action that involves invasion, conquest and human rights violations.

That we have no moral or diplomatic standing on either point makes such leadership almost impossible. Putin knows Bush is a non-player. The President’s decision to stay at the Olympics, his Secretary of State’s decision to stay on vacation, and the other neocons’ decision to stay as vocally offensive as possible must give Putin great security. And it’s no accident that he chose this moment to act. In less than three months, with Barack Obama the president-elect, he will no longer be able to act in the absence of American leadership. Obama will have the necessary standing to lead the world against Russia.

Which answers the question: How do progressives respond to war and the possibility of war? We do this by ensuring war is never possible. Not through the insane process of MAD — mutually assured destruction — that bankrupted the Soviets and almost did the same to us. Rather, by elevating leaders like Obama for whom war truly is the last resort. Progressive leaders will find means other than war to settle international disputes, and in so doing, they will have the authority that Bush lacks entirely to lead the pursuit or peaceful resolutions.

And the only way for progressives to bring leaders like Obama into roles where they can effectively serve the causes of peace and justice is to build progressive political networks across the country. In Oregon, since 2003 when Howard Dean (and to a lesser degree, Dennis Kucinich) brought tens of thousands of progressives into a politically active life, we’ve seen our state elect more and more progressives to office at all levels. As this process is matched across the country, from towns to counties to state and Congress, the people who make our political decisions — and ultimately our military and diplomatic decisions — will be progressives themselves. They will value communication, peace, the needs of ordinary people, human rights; they will see war as the enemy of all they are trying to accomplish (as opposed to the neocons, for whom war is the tool of choice).

To prevent situations like what is occurring in Georgia from turning into international military conflicts, destructive of everything ordinary citizens hope a decent life can be, progressives have to build local. We are not in a position to stop the likes of McCain and Putin today, but by electing Obama, and anyone else who understands the values of democracy and progressivism, we can work towards the future, not so far away, when war really is the last resort.