Reading the Western press one can easily get the impression that the war in Georgia is over and that we only have to wait if and when the Russians will leave. Only the Russian accusation that the US ships bring not only humanitarian aid but also weapons suggest that some trouble may still be brewing.
A New York Times article "Georgia Eager to Rebuild Its Defeated Armed Forces" mentions that the US probably has not yet decided whether to support rebuilding Georgia's army, but that the (non)performance of the Georgian army in the war is a strong argument against rearming and NATO membership. But such a rebuilding is for the long term.
More troubling fro the short term is what I read read on Exercises in Translation, a website that translates articles from the Russian and Georgian press. Some quotes:
Georgia continues to carry out provocations in South Ossetia. According to the president of the republic Eduard Kokoity, a Georgian special forces team was recently disarmed by divisions of the Ministry of Defense. "They were going to carry out a diversionary strike in the village of Аrtseu [Арцеу] under the guise of being Georgian policemen," stated Kokoity.
[...] He noted that activity had been observed among the Georgian forces and that the command of the Georgian Armed Forces continues to restore the fighting capacity of its divisions.
Based on reports from troops on the ground, Nesterenko spoke of an incident last night that took place not far from a peacekeeping post in the Karaleti region. As Nesterenko explained, Georgian forces carried out provocative actions directed against the Russian peacekeepers. He assumed that the incident was specially organized. The representative believes that such actions do not help to stabilize the situation in the region.
It looks like Georgia doesn't want to resign to the present situation.
5 comments:
Georgia has already announced that it will:
1. Rebuild its military.
2. Want a larger military this time than it had before.
3. Take back Abkhazia and South Ossetia.
This week the Pentagon is sending U.S. military officials on a mission to Georgia to determine what they need to rebuild their military. On Sept 9 the United States publicly announced that it would provide fresh money and weapons to Georgia.
The ceasefire stipulates the non-use of force. It also stipulates measures to protect the security of Abkhazia and South Ossetia.
Under the circumstances Russia would be justified to keep 15,000 troops in each of the two new republics. This is similar to the number of U.S.-led NATO troops which are currently stationed in Kosovo.
"Under the circumstances Russia would be justified to keep 15,000 troops in each of the two new republics"
Not really. They should go home to Russia. There is no justification at all for their presence in Georgia against Georgia's will. But barring that, Estonia, Georgia, Ukraine, and other nations threatened by Russian imperialism should be all made into full NATO members as soon as possible. This should have been done with Georgia long ago... it might have discouraged the neo-Soviet aggression against Georgia.
A NATO wall around Russia ensuring that Russia no longer forces its will against non-Russian territories would be a very good idea. Russia has no legitimate reason to object. After all, it has a big history of aggression against these nations. But you find no instances of Georgia, Ukraine, Chechnya, Estonia, and other victim-states of ever invading Russia.
There is a new Iron Curtain in eastern Europe. Putin has thrown it up. Everyone would be well served if it does not expand past Russian borders again. The deaths and suffering of the Georgians and Chechens who were slaughtered and raped by Putin's armies would not be in vain.
The other nations feel threatened by Russia because of the American lies about who started the war. If they had known from the beginning that Georgia started the war and that Russia did not provoke they would not feel threatened.
NATO is a defensive alliance. It is not supposed to help countries who want to annoy or attack other countries. So it is not a place for Estonia or Georgia.
"NATO is not supposed to help countries who want to annoy or attack other countries"
Then Georgia should be a good member. It did not start the war. It did not attack other countries. Not even Russia claimed that South Ossetia was part of Russia (that is, until Russia initiated aggression and invaded it and found itself with control of non-Russian land due to its overwhelming force).
Please cite for me one instance of Georgia "annoying or attacking" any other country, and name the country.
Get real! Even Condaleeza Rice nowadays admits that the Georgians started the war (although she still maintains the lie that the Russians provoked it).
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