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It would be unnatural if the War in the Caucasus didn’t dominate all the news in Europe. We are, after all, a lot closer to there, than the US. Moreover, the imperialism of Putin’s Russia are alarming many of us.
A short summary of the situation, as I read it up and/or recall it: Georgia is one of the few democratic states of the former Soviet Union countries. Far from perfect, Sakashvili’s rule is less authoritarian than Putin’s or his successor/handpuppet Medvedew’s. Russia doesn’t like to have autonomous regions, most certainly not, where important oil pipelines are situated. So they busily destabilized the country by supporting the Abkhazian and South Ossetian breakaway provinces. The situation was more or less a draw, until the Georgian President Saakashvili misunderstood the support from the west, most prominently from the US as a kind of protection. So he proceeded to crack down on South Ossetian separatists, hoping the inevitable response by the Russians would catapult Georgia into the NATO. He was wrong.
The situation could be a forgotten war, like the one in Chechnya (an oil pipeline runs close to Grozny the capital), where unspeakable Russian atrocities have gone almost unnoticed by the world. But there are Georgian troops in Iraq and Georgia’s support for the US after 9/11. The US are now flying back much needed Georgian troops into the country and we should all take a minute to pray, that there won’t be any unpleasant incidents involving American and Russian troops.
Another story is developing around Pakistan’s President Pervez Musharraf. Pakistan seems to have been actively involved in transferring nuclear technology to North Korea, among others. And nuclear scientist Abdul Qadir Khan the alleged head of an international smuggling ring for nuclear materials was acting on the Musharraf government’s order. Musharraf, by the way, is going to be impeached for ruining his country. Well..
As I am not blogging on the Olympics, there is not much more to tell from here. The Caucasus crisis is deteriorating as I am writing this, so, back I’m going to watch this and let’s hope nothing even worse comes of it.
2 Comments
August 11, 2008 at 11:17 am
EV,
The Bush/Cheney cartel has depleted the US’s ability to offer a tactical option to the crisis in Georgia. The only option left is strategic. What is unfortunate is that Russia still has the most powerful strategic force on Earth. All US ground forces are committed to Iraq, Afghanistan, training and keeping former enemies at bay. It’s one Hell of a way to run a super power!
August 11, 2008 at 4:08 pm
This is certainly a war that the US cannot afford to enter. We don’t have the troops and we don’t have the money. The Russians have nukes and long range missiles.