Palin talks tough on Russia

Fairbanks: Governor Sarah Palin - emerging from media silence for her first serious interview as the Republicans vice presidential pick - said on Friday the United States might have to go to war if Russia were to invade Georgia again.

And on the seventh anniversary of September 11, she appeared entirely unfamiliar with the Bush Doctrine, the central foreign policy tenant of the current administration, which includes the right to wage preventative war strikes in the wake of those terrorist attacks.

Palin's statements came during an interview with ABC World News anchor Charlie Gibson in which she was pressed on her foreign policy credentials and knowledge.

Palin said she favours admitting Georgia and Ukraine to Nato. Asked if the United States would have to go to war if Russian again invaded Georgia, as a Nato member, Palin said, "Perhaps so. I mean, that is the agreement when you are a Nato ally, if another country is attacked, you're going to be expected to be called upon and help."

Keeping an eye

"And we've got to keep an eye on Russia. For Russia to have exerted such pressure in terms of invading a smaller democratic country, unprovoked, is unacceptable," she told Gibson.

Palin said she had insights into US relations with Russia because "they're our next door neighbour and you can actually see Russia from land here in Alaska... from an island in Alaska."

During the interview, which took place in Fairbanks, Palin acknowledged that she had never met a leader of a foreign country, and that she had only visited Canada and Mexico before a trip to Kuwait and Germany to visit US troops last year.

"We've got to remember the desire of the nation at this time. It is for no more politics as usual, and somebody's big fat resume that shows decades and decades in that Washington establishment, where, yes, they've had opportunities to meet heads of state," she said.

But she insisted she was ready to be John McCain's vice president - and, if necessary, president of the United States.

"I answered McCain 'yes' because I have the confidence in that readiness and knowing that you can't blink, you have to be wired in a way of being so committed to the mission, the mission that we're on, reform of this country and victory in the war, you can't blink," she said.

Throughout the interview, Palin appeared prepared, though she stuck to carefully constructed talking points. In one segment, asked to explain what the country should do if Israel strikes Iranian nuclear facilities, she repeated three times that the United States cannot "second guess" what Israel must do to defend itself.

Palin - who has spoken in her church about US troops being "on a task that is from God," was asked if she believed the United States is fighting a "holy war."

She deflected the question and said she was merely quoting Abraham Lincoln, adding, "I would never presume to know God's will."