On the eve of the Beijing Olympics last Friday, August 8, 2008, Russian missiles and bombs have destroyed significant parts of the Republic of Georgia’s infrastructure. Russia essentially has the country cut off and controls the borders as well as the airways and harbors. Though the United States is an ally of the Republic of Georgia, it seems that Georgia was making military attacks within its own territory, in the provinces of South Ossetia and Abkhazia. The military incursions placed Russian peacekeepers or troops in the-line-of-fire, so in response the Russians used that action as an excuse to retaliate inside the Republic of Georgia. It is interesting to hear the rhetoric coming from Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and Secretary of Defense Robert Gates.
What kind of pressure can the United States realistically exert on Russia, who is enjoying a somewhat reviving economy based upon earning nearly 600 billion dollars from oil revenues; of which undoubtedly a great portion of it will be used on updating its military arsenal? Also, not only that, but Russia is still a major nuclear power and the United States still needs Russia as a major player on the world stage to use its leverage or influence in the Middle East; most notably in negotiations with Iran. Telling Russia that there will be serious consequences or threatening to exclude it from the G-8 Summit or from an organization like the WTO might not be enough to dissuade the emerging spectre of a possible resurrected ‘Soviet Union.’
President George Bush said that “Bullying in the twenty-first century is unacceptable,” and Republican Senator John McCain said that “In the twenty first century nations do not invade other nations.” Isn’t that a little disingenuous to the Russians because the United States invaded Iraq without support from the United Nations, as well as over the protestations from Russia, North Korea, and China; among others. But then of course, America was justified because of September 11th, and this is an entirely different situation. Do we really know all the facts about this conflict and what kind of government does the President of Georgia Mikhail Saakashvili impose over the people? Although the Republic of Georgia is reportedly Democratic, is there ‘freedom of the press’ without censorship, and how are political rivals treated, and what is the role of the military in the lives of ordinary citizens? Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice stated “this is not 1968,” meaning that this is not the ‘COLD WAR,’ which is true, but if we are not careful it just might turn into something that we as a country just might not be ready to deal with at this time.
Robert Randle
776 Commerce St. #B-11
Tacoma, WA 98402
August 13, 2008
pbks@hotmail.com
