(Adds more McCain remarks) By Alister Bull WEST BLOOMFIELD, Mich., Aug 14 (Reuters) - John McCain warned on Wednesday Russia's invasion of Georgia was a stark reminder the world is a dangerous place and demands experience in the White House lacked by his opponent, Barack Obama. McCain, 71, has seized on Moscow's attack to emphasize his foreign policy credentials and make his seniority over his much younger Democratic rival a selling point with voters rather than a handicap as portrayed by critics. "I think the events of the last few days show that there are many places in the world where we don't necessarily anticipate this kind of conflict breaking out," the Republican senator told a fund-raiser in this battleground state. "It does require a steady hand on the tiller and an experienced one," he said, drawing the silent comparison between his years of foreign policy experience and the comparative youth of his 47-year-old Democratic challenger. U.S. voters will pick the next president on Nov. 4, but he will not take office until Jan. 20, 2009. With the U.S. involved in wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, national security is an important issue in the presidential campaign. The remarks follow more aggressive comments by one of his high-profile supporters, Sen. Joe Lieberman of Connecticut, a former Democratic vice presidential candidate. "We've got a real clear choice to make. And I say it respectfully to Sen. Obama because he's a gifted young man. But he's not ready to be president," Lieberman said in New Jersey. McCain distanced himself somewhat from Lieberman's remarks and sought to play down claims that he was using the conflict to gain advantage over Obama. "This isn't a time for partisanship and sniping between campaigns," McCain told a press conference later on Wednesday. "Whatever we think at the moment ... we can all reserve that for a future time." HUMANITARIAN AID TO GEORGIA McCain's campaign comments came as Washington and Moscow traded barbs over the crisis in Georgia. President George W. Bush announced he was dispatching the U.S. military to deliver humanitarian aid to Georgia and Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice to Tbilisi to show "unwavering" support for the former Soviet republic. "We insist that the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Georgia be respected," Bush said. In Russia, Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Washington was playing "a dangerous game" in the Caucasus by backing Georgia and the United States will have to choose between its relationship with Moscow and the Georgian leadership, which he described as a "virtual project." McCain, calling Moscow's action part of "the centuries' old ambitions of the Russians to establish the Russian empire," also said he didn't envisage a return to the U.S.-Soviet hostility of the past. "I don't think it means we're going to reignite the Cold War," McCain said. "But I do believe that we need to stand as courageously as we can on behalf of this little country." He also said the United States should "do what we can to reassure other nations in the region that we will try to assist them in maintaining their independence," but flatly ruled out providing any direct U.S. military assistance. "I want to have dialogue with the Russians. I want them to get out of Georgian territory as quickly as possible, and I am interested in good relations between the United States and Russia," he told the press conference. In an interview with CNN, Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili said both McCain and Obama were supportive of his country, but he praised the Arizona Republican in particular. "I've been talking to Senator McCain several times a day," Saakashvili said. "McCain has been fighting for freedom in Georgia for many, many years." Amid McCain's outspokenness on Georgia this week, there have been newspaper reports, including one in The Washington Post, that a foreign policy adviser to the candidate has lobbying ties to the Georgian government. (Reporting by Alister Bull, editing by Todd Eastham)
Abkhazian rebel forces drive towards Sukhumi returning from the Kodori Gorge at the border between their breakaway region and Georgia proper August 13, 2008. Jubilant rebel troops proclaimed the "liberation" of ...
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