I agree that regular people suffer the most when stuff like this happens. Yet I refuse to believe that Russia is looking out for the interests of those people. As you said, they are just using that as a pretext for their own agenda.

Who on earth would provoke a major power by attacking in the way that Georgia did? Someone who is not serious about the national security of his country.

South Ossetia is a very poor region that relies on smuggling to a large degree. “The main reasons for smuggling in these regions are institutional weakness and corruption in law enforcement bodies, and the absence of initiative among previous leaders of the supreme executive branch of the Government of Georgia.” South Ossetia – Recent Developments (www.globalsecurity.org). The article goes on to point out there there are those in South Ossetia, Georgia, and Russia who benefit from these activities.

Nevertheless, that’s no excuse to attack their capitol and kill and injure many, as the Georgian leader commanded. The Georgian people aren’t “crazy,” their leader is rash and out of control.

Your statement about the entire South Ossetia government being from somewhere else is not accurate. Some are, maybe to take advantage of the smuggling rake off, but not all.

The situation was languishing, somehow a major conflict had been avoided, then there was the totally amazing and outrageous attack by a nation of 4.5 million against one of 170 million.

As for selfish interests, there are plenty to go around. It’s the people negotiating the hazards of everyday life who suffer, in this episode, the citizens of South Ossetia.

Most former Soviet Republics (including my native Lithuania) fear Russia and hate it with passion. They’ll do anything to get away from Russian bullying. And yes, that might lead them into the open arms of US, which has its own selfish motives. Such is life, huh?

As for the sequence of independence declarations, Georgia was one of the first. They followed the Baltic states and preceded the rest (13 or so).

Russian Republics

For example, billions have been spent on this EU-US oil pipeline with Georgia as a key link in a pipeline. Then the guy Bush-Cheney puts in charge in Georgia goes off and attacks Russian personnel, giving them an excuse do as they chose, at least for a while. Now the energy analysts are saying the US-European backed pipeline is a loser. All because they couldn’t control their hand picked president.

Georgian Conflict Obliges Export Route Reality Check
21 Aug 2008 12:32 PM

Excerpt from Caspian Investor by Dr. Kent Moors, Contributing Editor
http://tinyurl.com/5drpde

“Within days of military action commencing, all oil pipelines and seaport terminal export facilities closed in Georgia. The separatist regions of South Ossetia and Abkhazia remain resolved to leave Georgia guaranteeing ongoing domestic unrest. That means threats of pipeline and port closures will continue, substantially increasing the risk equation in moving hydrocarbons out of the Caspian basin. The vulnerability of the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan (BTC), Baku-Supsa and Baku-Tbilisi-Erzurum pipelines, as well as the ports of Batumi, Poti and Kulevi, will certainly prompt a serious reappraisal of export security. Snip

“BTC had been the one major accomplishment of Washington and Brussels, a primary export venue from the rapidly developing Caspian basin beyond the touch of Moscow. Apparently, that is not the case any longer. The argument that Moscow’s intent all along was to put pressure on the BTC through this military exercise has nothing substantive behind it. In the end, however, that makes little difference. The military rationale for the incursion is not the issue here. Events have accomplished Moscow’s “energy full court press,” as one observer put it to us.”

bozhidar, I agree with you. The response here should have been to raise holy Hell with the international organizations. The Russian case was very strong, truly. But they couldn’t resist the impulse to do what they do. Now the entire human rights issue is clouded and big power politics take over. Once again, the people and their lives are discarded.

I agree it is refreshing to read the truth for a change.

Bush and “sack of free money”, the president of Georgia, are one in the same. They sacrifice human life for their personal gains. Innocent life, all of which had a brother, mother, father,son or daughter who grieves their death and will for evermore hate the United States–and dare I say it who can blame them?

Both Bush/Cheney and the Georgian president should face war crimes trial.

Here’s a perfect comment from a reply to this same article at OpEdNews

“We were in Spain when the news broke – on CNN Europe – that S. Ossetia had been attacked by Georgia, which the separtist area had ticked off by leaning toward an alliance with Russia. It surprised no one that Russia had sent troops to protect its friends and teach the bellicose Georgia president and his big money friends in the White House to back off.

So you can imagine our surprise when we arrived back in the U.S. and learned from CNN-U.S. that Russia had been the aggressor! Its no wonder that Vladimir Putin treats the U.S. with such disdain. Its an attitude that he’s been perfecting for some time.

Arriving back in the U.S. and hearing the media’s, and therefore Washington’s, spin on events in Georgia was like walking through the Looking Glass.”

There’s the news and the “News” – we get the latter here.

saakashvili and cheney have tried to rewrite history right in front of our eyes.

both are pathological liars and psychopaths and they must be called out on this.

David, thanks. Isn’t it odd that we’re about the only place on earth that thinks that Russia started the military conflict. I’m sure there are historical debates that would consume endless space on what the “real” cause of all this is. But in terms of what sparked the Russian response, it’s clear. The grandiose pronouncements of Saakashvili about restoring “constitutional order” were quickly followed up with ‘I surrender.’ Of course, once in, Russia did as they chose. Dividing the country was one way of sending a message.

It’s disappointing that there is all this nonsense going on between the United States and Russia. Why the rush to hostility on our part?

The idea that this nation with a president like this could be a NATO member is also unsettling. It’s simply unacceptable to have Georgia in a position to engage us in a military conflict with the Soviet Union. But in a political system in which Sarah Palin can get the #2 spot on the Republican ticket, who knows what will happen.

Hearing bullshit like “We are all Georgians” is painful, but the news of our gift of a billion dollars is exasperating.

Thanks for the good article.

A point on electoral fraud. Georgia is one of the 43 member states of the Council of Europe, the “club” of European democracies, which was the body that blew the whistle on the rendition flights. If there has been electoral fraud, that will be contrary to the European Convention of Human Rights and will find itself in due course before the European Court of Human Rights. The fear of being condemned in Strasbourg might well ultimately push Saakashvili to resign.