Originally posted by: BMW540I6speed
Originally posted by: thepd7
Originally posted by: BMW540I6speed
It was our friend Mr. Saakashvili who decided this week to recapture the South Ossetia territory which has indeed been de facto independent for 16 years now. It was the Georgian invasion and shelling of the capital of S.Ossetia that caused the large number of civilian casualties. It was the Russian forces who entered from the north to resist the Georgian aggression yesterday.
Reports vary but some late ones now say the Georgians are withdrawing from South Ossetian territory; if they actually do so, the Russians will have far less of an ethical case for continuing either military action or extended occupation.
It's true that in this story there are no heroes, and all too many villains; ethnic Georgians who live in South Ossetia are anxious to be reunited with their brothers in the rest of the country, just as Ossetians wish to join with theirs to the north. Abhkazia has a case as well; it was that old Georgian Joseph Stalin who decided to join that territory to Georgia in the 1930's. The Russians have their nose out of joint because of our paddling our fingers in the Caucauses, and can hardly be seen as having only pure motives in all of this.
Our policy in these matters is simply incoherent. Kosovo is now a free and independent little ministate, though it had been part of the Serbian homeland for a thousand years and more. We promoted that against Serbian claims of territorial integrity and Russian objections. That event last spring helped push Putin into a more confrontational mood; Russians know all about the saying "what's good for the goose is good for the gander."
Rather, if Saakashvili wasn't a two-bit nationalist dictator, he could have undercut Russia's rationale for the conflict by granting South Ossetia independence, or at least not escalating the conflict by bringing in tanks. But instead he's counting on us to help him maintain control of a region that wants nothing to do with him, and idiots like McCain are playing right into his hands.
Your post was pretty informative until the last few sentences. How exactly is McCain playing into his hands? Please link direct quotes/other evidence that is causing you to make statements like this.
I don't know one way or the other, and I will continue to not know unless you actually provide some evidence to back up your claim.
Because McCain sure does seem to short on understanding how to best defuse situations and quick with pouring gasoline around open flames. Statements issued by democratically elected world leaders, including President Bush, first calling on both sides to negotiate, and there's McCain hotdogging it out in left field.
I know Joe American sure does like his leaders standing tall in the saddle. Even though every one knows that standing tall only makes you more likely to be shot.
In short, Russia won. Negotiations, such as they will be, will be a means for South Ossetia to become more clearly part of the Russian sphere with Georgia duly chastened. I find it unlikely that Russia will pursue Georgia further unilaterally. They'll lob a few more for good measure and bet that the West has gotten the point: stay out of our back yard unless you want to take us on.
What happens next is a critical branch point for the West. It will signal to Russia whether or not they can slowly but surely rebuild empire and expand their grip upon the regions natural resources and their transport. The West as a group needs to decide, and needs to decide now, exactly where it will build its fence and then make it clear that the fence is secure. It cannot just put tentative stakes in the ground over where it may build the fence in the future and then be shocked when Russia rips those stakes out and growls.
Fast tracking Georgia into NATO is making a committment and a scary one at that. Anything short of fast tracking Georgia into NATO right now however will give Russia a clear message that Europe will do nothing to stop Russia from virtually anything she wants to do, whether it be by power soft or hard.
These are complex times and the players are repositioning themselves rapidly.
Much better, thank you. It does seem like McCain is not objectively looking at the situation.
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