I for one find it rather appalling the way the media has portrayed the recent Russian-Georgian conflict. In almost every news article that can be found on the subject the headlines read "Russia Invades Georgia" or something along those lines. The response by our own government is even more disturbing.
President Bush and many of his key cabinet members have condemned Russia for what they call it's acts of "aggression" against the sovereignty of Georgia. Even presidential hopefuls McCain and Obama have jumped on the anti-Russian band wagon condemning them and calling for their immediate withdrawal from Georgian soil.
Correct me if I’m wrong, but didn’t this all start when the Georgian army invaded South Ossetia and began shelling their cities? Of course the Georgian president, Mikheil Saakashvili, claims that they had every right to do this to restore the illegal breakaway region to the fold.
It was only after this initial aggression by Georgian forces did the Russians respond and drive them out of South Ossetia by force and into the heart of Georgia itself. Admittedly this may have been a bit of an overaction on the part of Russia, but then again the Russians are rather know for this and there somewhat brutish ways of doing things.
Another facet of this whole situation is the fact that Saakashvili had been directly advised by the U.S. State Department not to engage in military actions that might antagonize the Russians which he blatantly ignored. Clearly he chose to ignore this as he knew that in the aftermath The United Sates would back their pro-western ally who is also seeking diligently to gain membership in NATO.
Now Russia is recognizing the independence of South Ossetia and Abkhazia and signing military alliances with them to the dismay and disapproval of the West. Of course there is talk of genocide on both sides of this conflict. Is this whole scenario starting to sound a little familiar?
If it is then that’s because it is familiar in the form of what has been happening in the Balkans for the better part of the last two decades. I personally served with the U.S. Army in Kosovo for 6 months and got see first hand what I’m talking about. My question is what is the difference between what happened in Kosovo and what is going on in the Caucasus? The answer is unequivocally nothing!
Serbia invaded Kosovo which they considered a breakaway region from their country for which we attacked them and ousted them from Kosovo. Sounds to me that Russia did the exact same thing we did with Georgia unless I’m missing something?
I think the problem all boils down to the sad state of politics that our country has degenerated to. When you look at the fact that presidential candidates spend tens of millions of dollars to get a position that only pays $400,000 a year something just isn’t right with that picture. I am only glad that our founding fathers are not alive today to see how politics is conducted today in the America they fought so hard to create.
