From Bob Krumm:
The tiny Republic of Georgia, which straddles the land bridge between the world’s largest lake and the largest inland sea, is home to five million people. Both in population and in size, it is smaller than the other Georgia most Americans know. And yet, that miniscule country has provided 2,000 soldiers to assist our mission in Iraq. Why?
The answer to that question is obvious when you look at a list of countries who have forces here. Among the thirty nations are all three Baltic Republics, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Kazakhistan, and the Ukraine–each one a former Soviet Republic–along with several former Soviet Bloc countries including Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, and Romania. These are all countries who knew oppression. They knew fear. And they knew death at the hands of dictators.
They knew one other thing too. They knew the power of America to transform a hopeless situation. They knew that America didn’t abandon them. Sure it took a while, but they knew that America would persevere. And that they would persevere. And that they would win. And they did win.
That’s why, when in the sixth year of this war, when much of the rest of the world has abandoned America, when even many Americans have abandoned America, they who know best the horror of oppression, and the strength of the American spirit, have not abandoned us here in Iraq.
Albania, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Macedonia, Slovenia, and all the rest who have been allowed out out from behind the Iron Curtain are now looking at America to watch what we do for Georgia.
Roger Kimball:
There is a contemporary lesson in that widely shared feeling of gratitude, a lesson about leadership. Observers differ widely on the international significance of Russia’s latest imperialist adventure. I regard it as a dangerous–well, “precedent†isn’t quite right, since we have been down this road before with the Soviet Union and Georgia. I find the fact that the chief Russian spokesman (not to say master choreographer) has been former President Vladimir Putin, not his hand-picked successor Dimtry Medvedev, almost as disturbing as the brutal military incursion that has left (so far) hundreds of civilians dead. Other observers seem to believe that the crisis is overstated. Time will tell. But think back to the reaction to 9/11 and then contemplate how the two major candidates for the U.S. Presidency have so far reacted to the situation in Georgia.
Gateway Pundit:
Nowhere in Obama’s original statement did he exclusively condemn Russia but rather took the citizen of the world approach and left America’s ally Georgia to fend for itself.
Here is that statement:“I strongly condemn the outbreak of violence in Georgia, and urge an immediate end to armed conflict. Now is the time for Georgia and Russia to show restraint, and to avoid an escalation to full scale war. Georgia’s territorial integrity must be respected. All sides should enter into direct talks on behalf of stability in Georgia, and the United States, the United Nations Security Council, and the international community should fully support a peaceful resolution to this crisis.”
Russian planes bombed the town of Gori yesterday. A Russian warplane dropped a bomb on an apartment block in the Georgian town and killed at least five people. (Spiegel)But, that was yesterday.
Now Politico is reporting that Barack Obama has released a fresh new statement and has decided to choose sides:“I condemn Russia’s aggressive actions and reiterate my call for an immediate ceasefire… Russia must stop its bombing campaign, cease flights of Russian aircraft in Georgian airspace, and withdraw its ground forces from Georgia.”
Suddenly, Barack is sounding McCainish.
Naturally, it’s the Americans’ fault. Well, read the whole round-up of reactions at Fistful of Euros. [all via Insty]
Comment by Sdferr on 8/10 @ 8:31 pm #
Here’s the Lavian’s take, via Gateway:
“This morning Latvian Transatlantic Organisation received a cry for help from the Senior Adviser of the Analytical Group under the Administration of the President of the Republic of Georgia, Mr. Giorgi Kandelaki. According to Mr. Kandelaki, Georgians fear not being able to withstand Russia’s increased military pressure and anticipate the destruction of sovereign Georgian state. Georgia needs our assistance with human resources, with armaments, humanitarian help, and volunteers. Please do not remain indifferent, the Georgian nation is in despair and needs your help immediately. What is happening now to Georgia can happen to Baltic States or in fact any other country. Russia has no limits; they have clearly shown that by intensely massacring Georgian civilians from their warplanes for several days now and remaining unpunished.”
Comment by B Moe on 8/10 @ 8:31 pm #
Good synopsis here,
http://www.strategypage.com/qnd/russia/articles/20080810.aspx
that, and this from a link at Registan,
http://oilandglory.com/2008/08/huffing-and-puffing-in-georgia.html
make a fair case for restraint and patience at this point, I think.
Comment by Salt Lick on 8/10 @ 8:32 pm #
Regarding the photo above, a “citizen of the world” might consider the differing attitudes of America and Russia toward collateral damage.
During the 2002 Moscow theater hostage crisis, a colleague of mine, a Kazakhstan-born refugee from the old USSR, predicted that a sizable number of hostages would die when a “rescue” effort was launched against the Chechan terrorists. He noted the priority in such situations was to show “criminals” the power of the state, with innocent life coming a distant second.
Sure enough, Russian rescuers killed 39 terrorists and 129 hostages.
Comment by Sdferr on 8/10 @ 8:42 pm #
Here’s Herschel Smith at The Captains Journal, who refers in turn to Ralph Peters below.
Here’s
Ralph Peter’s take.
Comment by Big Bang Hunter (pumping you up) on 8/10 @ 11:01 pm #
- If you think you’ll get anything other than a Jhimmi Carter type of foreign relations under an Obama administration, you probably also believe we can gain complete independence from foreign oil by inflating our plastic swimming pools.
Comment by Sdferr on 8/10 @ 11:26 pm #
Georgian deaths in Iraq, 5 total, 3 in 2008, 2 in 2007. Source is iCausalties.org.
Here are details of these deaths from The Georgian Times:
“Georgian Soldier Killed in Iraq
A Georgian soldier was killed on a combat mission in Iraq on June 4, the Georgian Ministry of Defense said on Thursday.
Squad commander Irakli Kordzaia, 28, was killed when a checkpoint in the province of Diyala came under repeat fire, Giga Tatishvili, deputy chief of staff of the Georgian army, said.
This is the third combat fatality among Georgian servicemen in Iraq. Two Georgian servicemen were killed in May when their vehicle hit a road-side bomb in the Diyala province.
According to the Georgian Ministry of Defense one Georgian serviceman died in a car accident in Al Kut in December 2007. Another serviceman, according to the MoD, committed suicide last October.
At least 19 Georgian servicemen have been injured in Iraq since the first deployment in August 2003. “
Comment by Sdferr on 8/10 @ 11:36 pm #
The Estonian foreign minister weighs in:
“Estonian Foreign Minister, Urmas Paet, said states not directly involved in the South Ossetian and Abkhazian conflicts should take up peacekeeping mission in those regions.
“Peacekeeping in those regions would be an appropriate task for the European Union,†the Estonian Foreign Minister said in a statement on August 4. “We need international efforts to resolve the situation.â€Â
Paet said he had discussed the issue with his Finnish and Swedish counterparts.”
Comment by happyfeet on 8/10 @ 11:45 pm #
Where’s thor? He would have a perspective.
Comment by Sdferr on 8/10 @ 11:51 pm #
Got me ‘feet, maybe he’s off doing a weekend thing or maybe he’s devoted to the Olympics. I’m pretty sure he’ll have something to say about it all.
Comment by lee on 8/11 @ 4:03 am #
Thor, like Nostradamus gazing into his crystal ball, is probably preforming an Obama salute goatse on his favorite Russian to determine the outcome of this shit.
Comment by lee on 8/11 @ 4:06 am #
Humm, trying again…Obama salute goatse