Daschle says Georgia crisis was avoidable

WASHINGTON, Aug. 17 (UPI) -- Former Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle said Sunday the Russia-Georgia crisis could have been averted.

"If we would have preemptively worked with Russia, with Georgia, making sure that NATO had the kind of ability and the presence and the engagement, we could have perhaps avoided this," the South Dakota Democrat said in an appearance on ABC's "This Week" program.

Daschle, a surrogate for Democratic presidential hopeful Barack Obama, said the United States needs to engage countries around the world.

"What we've done is focused so much on Iraq that a lot of these other issues have slipped. They've not had the priority they deserve. They've not had the kind of attention that an Obama administration would provide," he said.

Russian troops, he added, need to leave Georgia immediately.

"They've got to withdraw their troops," he said. "They've got to show that they can be responsible citizens again."