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As Georgia signed a cease-fire agreement today, Pres. George W. Bush decried Russia’s “bullying and intimidation” as unacceptable ways “to conduct foreign policy in the 21st century.” Russia earlier declared that the United States must choose either”a real partnership” with Moscow or an “illusory” affiliation with Georgia. Does the United States even have the right or responsibility to choose a side in this conflict?
U.S. Secretary of State, Condoleezza Rice thinks it does. Reiterating a statement from a speech given just over a month ago in Georgia, Rice firmly declared Wednesday that Unites States’ support would continue to remain with Georgia’s democratically elected government. In last month’s dialogue with Georgian president, Mikheil Saakashvili, Rice said,“I want to again affirm that the United States remains committed to the territorial integrity of Georgia, to its democratic development.”
She restated the importance of a peaceful resolution between Georgia and South Ossetia and warned that neither party should carry out violence. She said the United States would “do everything that we can to help resolve conflicts” through the Friends process.
Now the United States is pressured to live up to its promises of continued commitment to “democratic development.” Aligning itself with Georgia, the United States announced Wednesday that it will begin to send humanitarian aid to victims of the fighting in South Ossetia and Georgia. However, President Saakashvili implied America should do even more, stating, “America is losing the whole region, and this is the region of eastern and central Europe, this is much bigger than any other place where there is American influence.” He called this region the “most natural” of American allies.
But as one senior French official pointed out, Georgia was “mad” to bomb South Ossetia. Georgia aims to once again control the region of South Ossetia after 16 years of self-proclaimed independence, leading to questions of whether alignment with Georgia in the name of “democratic development” is almost a double standard.
According to BBC, some feel Saakashvili’s goal for Georgia to be granted NATO membership may have shaped his actions. Aligning with NATO in a conflict against Moscow would create a formal alliance, but creating new tensions with a Cold War adversary is far from NATO’s best interest.
For now, the United States is firmly backing Georgia. In a speech on Friday, United States’ President George Bush said,“The people of Georgia have cast their lot with the free world… unfortunately, Russia has tended to view the expansion of freedom and democracy as a threat to its interests.”
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Messiah complex
Don’t you wish we had some ethical authority!
P.S. Projected U.S. spending in Iraq would could have paid for all of the GLOBAL green energy investments needed till 2030!
This is how very big problems start. Well, maybe we don’t have enough very big problems in the world today, so let’s go for it.
America is so weak, it won’t do anything but sit by and say, ‘pretty please stop your genocide,’ as all of the nations surrounding Russia are destroyed. Soon China will no doubt bomb my friends in Taiwan.
It makes me so very sad. All we can do is to pray for the people of Georgia. I ask all the Christians reading this to stop and pray especially for the children of Georgia. Also pray for their protection from rape.
gogmagoggogmagoggogmagoggogmagog
Listen to the Fox News wanker … um, anchor … start to audibly fidget when the girl and her aunt blame Saakashvili for starting the war and dropping the bombs on their town, and how quickly he breaks away (twice) to interrupt them.
All followed by his closing comment about there being “gray areas in wars.” Classic!
America has a major interest in promoting democracy in all of the countries surrounding Russia including Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia, Finland, the Ukraine, Arminia, Azerjaiban, and Georgia. If we don’t stand up for Georgia, both Russia and these democratic states will get the message that America and the West is unwilling to protect its vital interests in this region.
A key part of the West’s interest is a pipeline that transports Caspian Sea oil to Europe that gives Russian pipelines competition. The largest interest, however, is standing up for democratic nations.
Those American pacifists and isolationists who wish to hunker behind our ocean moats don’t realize that we have serious responsibilities in the world as the world’s most powerful democratic and commercial nation. nation.
Forget the carefully orchestrated response by Russia to Georgia’s offensive against Ossetian separatists who had engaged them previously, a marvelous logistics exercise that found Russian Naval, Air Force and Army units suddenly in exactly the right place to mount and support an invasion. Never mind that Russia, while brutally suppressing their own breakaway province of Chechnya, grants Russian passports to Ossetians and then sends “peacemakers” to protect their “Russian citizens”. Pay no attention to the explicit threats Putin and company have made against the Georgian and Ukrainian nations as they have become more Westernized and Democratic.
None of that matters. Frank in Phoenix has it on the authority of a 12 year old girl that Georgia started this war. That settles it!
Politics and international events frequently have more than one level or type of interpretation. On the diplomatic/national level, the following is pretty much the narrative — Georgia declared its independence in 1991, South Ossetia and Abkhazia attempted to separate in 1992-93, a truce recognized by the EU,NATO etc allowed Russia, Georgia and Ossetia to have troops in South Ossetia to monitor and uphold law and order, in the mid 90s Georgia fought its own civil war and war lords in the south distracted the central gov’t, South Ossetia gained autonomy while Georgia was distracted, in the last decade Russia poured money and passports into the region, in the last few years Georgia has turned to the west, they have received aid, arms and training from the west, and for some reason choose to make a full incursion into Ossetia in the beginning of August, Russian drove the Georgians out and then continued far into Georgia threatening the capital, main highway and pipeline.
Now various pundits will spin the above one way or the other — its a return to the Cold War, Russia is sending a message, the US gave false signals to Georgia, Kosovo gives Russia a precedent etc.
Yet there is a different take one can make and its to look at the main actors in the conflict and what motivates and influences them.
The new president of Russia is the former chairman of Gazprom the one of the largest oil/gas conglomerate in the world and one that supplies the majority of the natural gas to Europe through pipelines they control. Georgia had just established an alternate pipeline for the natural gas of the Caspian Sea to make its way to Europe.
Bush-Baker-Cheney and oil friends are well represented in the Azerbaijan-US Chamber of Commerce and companies involved in the pipelines.
The Georgian PM, despite western admiration, is not a great democrat, has become increasing unpopular and has been criticized for violating the civil rights of his opponents.
The current foreign policy adviser of McCain is a paid lobbyist for the Georgian gov’t and along with other Republicans has the ear of the Georgain PM. Given the attack occurred while the Russians were playing war games just across the border it seems quite stupid of the PM to attack at this time and yet he did, later complaining of faulty US intelligence. Now some have accused the Georgina PM of thinking he had bribed the Republicans but one could also accuse the Republicans of using the Georgians. Currently, McCain has used the invasion to play president - appointing his own fact-finding team and pronouncing judgments and polices as if he was already president. The US appears to have two administrative teams. Undoubtedly some on the left who wear tin foil will point to this as proof that McCain knows the election is rigged and he’s just taking over the presidency earlier.
An interesting side note has the ex-German challechor Schroeder taking the Russian side of the dispute. However, he is the head of a consortium building a gas pipeline from Russian to Germany appointed there by Putin.
My own take: Georgia, with covert US permission, attempted to retake the breakaway region quickly. However, Russian with troops in place (and the US should have known this and shared with Georgia) easily routed the Georgians thereby destroying millions of equipment the Americans had just sold them.(war is good for business)
US/Euro interest in the region surrounds the pipeline from Azerbaijan to Turkey. The US administration has personal and corporate interest in the project.
Russian interest in the region is partly defensive — ie their version of the Monroe Doctrine of the near-abroad — but is also motivated by control of the Caspian sea resources which their gov’t has individual and corporate interests in.
The Georgian PM faced with flagging popularity thought a little nationalism might raise his popularity and make people forget the crackdown on human rights.
Projected U.S. spending in Iraq would could have paid for all of the GLOBAL green energy investments needed till 2030!
And why in the world do you think we need to invest in GLOBAL green energy?!!
Peter Leavitt
You are really over blowing this a bit. Finland is an EU member same for most of the balts. It’s one thing for Russia to go after Georgia, quite another to target EU member states. Folks really need to maintain their calm and understand that this is Russia acting out.
Ken
Georgia is not blameless in this either. Saakshavili has been erratic and impulsive and truly unwise. (Note that Georgia is not blameless does not mean I think Russia is in the right here, or somehow justified in its grossly disproportionate use of force.)
No one is blameless in any matter, CB. It’s called “original sin.” But that doesn’t mean that neither side is to blame.
CoyoteBlue, given the history of Russian expansion during the periods of the tsars and the Soviet Union the Baltic states, Eastern Europe, the Ukraine and the Caucusus states have rather good cause to be fearful of Russia’s present expansionist mood. Your feckless United Nations could do nothing to deter a resolute and expansionist Russian state.
I have to give the best post to Ken so far. Everything he says is accurate. Watching Rick Warren interview McCain tonight, the issue of Georgia was brought up.
McCain pointed out that Russia has been trying to control as much of the worlds fossil fuel supply as they can and that they used Georgian aggression as an excuse to try and take control of a competing pipeline from the Caspian Sea.
Our mainstream media loves to put the voices on our airwaves that point fingers at America and say “it’s all about the oil” when we have gotten involved in foreign affairs, but why should we think any other nation, particularly Russia, which has been brought back to life by the increased market price they receive for their domestic oil, is any more sincere.
The leaders of Ukraine, Poland, Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania all met in Tbilisi in support of Georgia. They know what’s at stake in their countries if Russia is given a free pass by the world to do as they will.
Bush accusing someone else of “bullying and intimidation”?
Bush was all bluster in going after Iran and Iraq.
He was contemptibly timid in standing up to Russia.
When characters like Bush start wars they have no moral authority to criticize others for doing the same.
Outkast
I suppose one can blame absolutely every conflict on original sin, but that isn’t very illuminating when searching for a solution, is it?
Peter Leavitt
Indeed and that’s my point — that we should not automatically fall into cold war rhetoric when addressing this issue. And who raised the UN? You did. Why? It’s a distraction in your reply and serves no useful purpose other than as chum to your uber conservative buddies and cheer leaders on this board.
#1 Luke,
I thought we were all going to be dead by then from the horrible effects of global warming by 2030 - I was looking forward to it since the failed Socialists insane ideas of Social Security and Medicare will be bankrupt by then anyway.
OOOPPSSSS…. Sorry. I guess we would have been dead from Islamic Fascist effects of them cutting off all our heads by 2020 if we wouldn’t have spent all that money defending ourselves when they attacked us on 911. Are you old enough to remember Pearl Harbor or did you possibly stay awake in HS Civics class to know about it?
Now Ossama is spelunking in Pakistani caves for the rest of his life, you have your head and we will all still die from global warming by 2030. I just love it when nothing changes. All that wishing and hoping for change and better future, instead of doing the things it takes to get there, can just kill you.
No good deed goes unpunished.
No one thought it was odd when the US NAVY had still has a carrier stike force in the Taiwan Straights while the Olympics was on and President Bush was in Commie Central.
China could have attacked Taiwan during Olympics and said ‘we will give you back your Prisident if give us back Taiwan. Since they did not do this, tt proves 1.3 billion sober Chinese Commies are not as stupid as a few drunk ex KGB Commie Russians.
We can thank the MSM for confusing the Chinese too. They read the NY TImes and they figured that half of America wouldnt want Bush back anyway. They lost their chance to invade Taiwan when Russia invaded Georgia but the US Navy was between the Mainland and Taiwan too.
On a side note, my husband has trained and served with Russian soldiers and Georgian soldiers. When he first saw that Russia had moved into Georgia, he said, “uh-oh”. I asked, “why uh-oh?”. He stated, “Well, the soldiers in Georgia are basically good guys. They are eager to learn and train, are very respectable and polite. Everyone got along well - they’re good guys.” “What about the Russian soldiers?” “They’re nice if you drink vodka with them - a LOT of vodka. But they’re pretty….mean. They do some nasty stuff. And they fight dirty. Let’s just say I’d never want to be a POW on a Russian post.” I realized that he said “uh-oh” because he’s worried about the friends he made in the Georgian army, about how they’re being treated. My husband also says that you can tell a lot about a country’s leaders by the type of people willing to serve under them.
Wasn’t Stalin from Georgia?
Yes, Stalin was from Georgia.
So is Spike Lee and Ludacris….okay, the OTHER Georgia.