McCain shakes up US presidential race

The Republican candidate's choice of a political unknown, Alaska's governor, Sarah Palin, as his running mate provokes shock in the political world while reinforcing McCain's image as a maverick. As Russia and Georgia sever diplomatic ties, South Ossetia sets course to become part of Russia. Top military commander warns any attack on Iran would trigger world war.

"John McCain on Friday announced a running mate whom he met only six months ago and with whom he spoke just once on the phone about the position before offering it in person earlier this week," Jonathan Martin wrote in Politico. "McCain's first encounter with Sarah Palin came at a Washington meeting of the National Governors Association in February, according to a campaign-provided reconstruction of how the little-known Alaska governor was thrust into the national spotlight. The two discussed the position by phone on Sunday before McCain invited Palin and her husband to Arizona to formally make the offer. McCain, joined by his wife, Cindy, did just that Thursday morning at their home near Sedona, Arizona. "By picking somebody he and most Americans barely know - an out-of-the-blue decision that sent shock waves of disbelief through the political world and still has jaws agape - McCain has taken a considerable gamble." For The New York Times, Peter Baker wrote: "Senator John McCain spent the summer arguing that a 40-something candidate with four years in major office and no significant foreign policy experience was not ready to be president. "And then on Friday he picked as his running mate a 40-something candidate with two years in major office and no significant foreign policy experience. "The selection of Gov Sarah Palin of Alaska proved quintessentially McCain - daring, hazardous and defiantly off-message. He demonstrated that he would not get boxed in by convention as he sought to put a woman next in line to the presidency for the first time. Yet in making such an unabashed bid for supporters of Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton, he risked undercutting his central case against Senator Barack Obama." In The Washington Post, Dan Balz wrote: "For all the enthusiasm Palin's selection generated among conservative constituencies, many GOP strategists were privately bewildered by McCain's decision. "One Republican strategist, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to offer a candid view, said in an e-mail, 'I would rather be arguing with conservatives about abortion than with the Democrats about a lack of experience on our own ticket.' " 'She really destroys the 'not ready' mantra,' another strategist noted. "But other Republicans believe Palin could help the ticket in the industrial states of the Midwest if she is seen as they believe she will be: a working mother of strong character and convictions, and a fresh voice from outside Washington calling for an end to business as usual." David Frum, a former speechwriter for President George W Bush, said in National Review: "It's a wild gamble, undertaken by our oldest ever first-time candidate for president in hopes of changing the board of this election campaign. Maybe it will work. But maybe (and at least as likely) it will reinforce a theme that I'd be pounding home if I were the Obama campaign: that it's John McCain for all his white hair who represents the risky choice, while it is Barack Obama who offers cautious, steady, predictable governance. "Here's I fear the worst harm that may be done by this selection. The McCain campaign's slogan is 'country first.' It's a good slogan, and it aptly describes John McCain, one of the most self-sacrificing, gallant, and honourable men ever to seek the presidency. "But question: If it were your decision, and you were putting your country first, would you put an untested small-town mayor a heartbeat away from the presidency?" One immediate effect of Mr McCain's announcement was to swiftly turn the media's attention away from the highlight of the Democratic party's national convention: Barack Obama's nomination acceptance speech at one of America's largest political rallies in living memory. The New York Times said: "In his speech, Mr Obama scored Mr McCain for raising questions about his patriotism, and trying, he said, to turn a big election into a fight on small squabbles. " 'I love this country, and so do you, and so does John McCain,' Mr Obama said, an American flag lapel affixed to his left lapel. 'The men and women who serve in our battlefields may be Democrats and Republicans and Independents, but they have fought together and bled together and some died together under the same proud flag.' " 'So I've got news for you, John McCain: We all put our country first,' he said, prompting the crowd to break into a chant of 'U-S-A, U-S-A.' " Meanwhile, in Kenya, the country of Obama's father, The Nation reported: "As Mr Obama was delivering his speech from about 5.10am East African time, Kenyans in their thousands woke up to watch him live on television. "Tourism minister Najib Balala and his wife and three children were up as early. "By the time the Saturday Nation team arrived at his house at 4.45am, the minister was seated in front of his TV with an 'Obama for President' button pinned on his shirt. " 'In Obama there is a new leadership that gives inspiration and hope not only in America but all over the world,' Mr Balala said. He added: 'Obama's leadership gives a new meaning to democracy in total disregard of whether one is black or white.'

South Ossetia set to become part of Russia

"The Kremlin moved swiftly to tighten its grip on Georgiaís breakaway regions yesterday as South Ossetia announced that it would soon become part of Russia, which will open military bases in the province under an agreement to be signed on Tuesday," The Times reported. "Tarzan Kokoity, the province's Deputy Speaker of parliament, announced that South Ossetia would be absorbed into Russia soon so that its people could live in 'one united Russian state' with their ethnic kin in North Ossetia. "The declaration came only three days after Russia defied international criticism and recognised South Ossetia and Georgia's other separatist region of Abkhazia as independent states. Eduard Kokoity, South Ossetia's leader, agreed that it would form part of Russia within 'several years' during talks with Dmitri Medvedev, the Russian President, in Moscow." The New York Times reported: "The Georgian government broke off diplomatic relations with Russia on Friday and Russia responded by doing the same. "While the move was expected in the wake of the war this month, it was a significant political ripple in post-Soviet politics. Never before has Russia severed formal diplomatic ties with any of the other 14 republics that became independent states in 1991 after the collapse of the Soviet Union." AFP said: "Russia called Saturday for more international observers to be sent to Georgia, two days before a European Union summit that Tbilisi hopes will punish Moscow with sanctions. "The appeal for stronger European monitoring in Georgia came as Prime Minister Vladimir Putin urged EU leaders to show 'common sense' at the summit on Monday and ignore calls for sanctions. "Leaders of the 27-nation EU are seeking to agree on a response to Russia's military surge into Georgia and the decision to recognise the independence of South Ossetia and Abkhazia." Meanwhile, McClatchy Newspapers said: "During Russian bombing raids on Georgia's troops and villages earlier this month, Kremlin officials seemed to have another target in their sights: Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili, a man they openly despise. "But the fighting, subsequent occupation and this week's de facto annexation of two large chunks of Georgian territory into Russian control have so far only strengthened Saakashvili's domestic political support. Some analysts, though, see a long struggle ahead between Russia and the US-backed government in Georgia. "For now, even among political foes of Saakashvili there is broad solidarity with their president in the face of what they see as a Russian aggression that threatens to topple his administration."

Iran warns of world war

"A senior military commander warned on Saturday that any attack on Iran would start a new world war, as Tehran pressed on with its controversial nuclear drive despite the risk of further UN sanctions," AFP reported. " 'Any aggression against Iran will start a world war,' deputy chief of staff for defence publicity, Brigadier General Masoud Jazayeri, said in a statement carried by the state news agency IRNA. In The Forward, Yossi Alpher wrote: "Barring a doomsday scenario, Israel may be forced to concede to Washington at least some of its freedom to make independent decisions aimed at militarily neutralising or even delaying the Iranian nuclear threat. In the near future, Israel is far less likely to receive American backing and support for an attack on Iran, as it might have just a few months ago. "In short, Israel and the United States may be falling out of sync regarding Iran. "In recent days we were informed that the United States had agreed to deploy an American-manned, high-power early-warning system in the Negev. By linking up to a sophisticated American radar and satellite system, Israel would increase its early-warning time against missiles launched from Iran by crucial minutes and could intercept them at a greater distance from home. The catch is that an American green light is now required before Israel can launch a preemptive attack against Iran." Congressional Quarterly said: "A pro-Israel organisation argued Wednesday that a majority of Americans would support military action against Iran under certain circumstances, in a rare concurrence of message between some Democrats and Republicans at the Democratic National Convention. "Democratic pollster Stan Greenberg and Republican pollster Frank Luntz joined under the banner of the Israel Project to release data from a poll of voters in the United States, Great Britain, and Germany. They aimed to make the case that a US consensus exists on Iran's regime and the need for tough measures to combat it. "The Israel Project officials say the group is pushing for a diplomatic approach to dealing with Iran. But they prominently presented data portraying that a majority of Americans could eventually get behind an Israeli or US strike on Iranian nuclear facilities."