Caught the Midnight Tank to Georgia
This was to be written a few days ago but life had a nasty case of interfering, so it's being written now. After days of fierce fighting in South Ossetia in Georgia, Russia invaded Georgia and South Ossetia. That is Georgia the country, not the State in America. Of course, doing a Google search gives the top results about only the state, but more on that later. But, now Russia, pissed about Georgia breaking off in the early 1990s, has invaded Georgia for attacking South Ossetia, because they're pissed about South Ossetia breaking away now. First of all, South Ossetia is part of Georgia and North Ossetia is in Russia, and remember South Ossetia is in northern Georgia. To say this is complicated is to let Russia off the hook for invading a neighbor and former Soviet Republic, but to say it is all so simple is also a disservice for the complicated situation it is. South Ossetia is a place of only about 70,000 people and physically about the size of Rhode Island and not well known, until about a week ago, outside of political science and Georgian circles. And now Georgia and South Ossetia are on the lips of a lot of people. Unless of course you make the mistake of trying to get your news from CNN, MSNBC or Fox News.
Before getting into the atrocious American mainstream coverage of all this, there is a need to dig into the history of all this, or at least trying to explain how things like this happen. Almost nothing in international politics comes out of the blue, and nothing comes out with history. While a lot of the time, we don't see it until the major event has happened, clues are always there. Usually by going back into the history, you find something, and this is no different. Quick note here: HISTORY IS NOT JUSTIFICATION. Georgia has been, in one form or another, a roughly homogeneous independent political entity for about 1000 years, after being conquered by the Romans, Persians, Byzantines and others before they made their own empire. They were taken over briefly by the Mongols, but reasserted their own independence. They were their own country with their own politics and goals. Then, and here we start getting to the parts that matter, Russian Czar (or Tsar if you prefer) Paul I committed some highly questionable legal chicanery to get Georgia as part of the Russian empire, specifically, he claimed it was at the request of then Georgian king. So, in 1801, all Georgian nobility who would swear fealty to the Russian Empire and crown were arrested and Georgia became part of Russia. Georgia tried to break away during the Bolshevik Revolution of 1917, but failed. They got brief protection from the British, but the Soviet Union attacked, and Georgia was part of Russia again. When the Soviet Union broke apart, Georgia was one of the first Republics to declare independence.
So, Georgia is now an independent country wedged between Russia and Turkey, on the coast of the Black Sea. It sits between the Black Sea and the Caspian (technically, Armenia and Azerbijan are between it and the Caspian, but it's a crucial location). South Ossetia borders Russia and tried to break away from Georgia as soon as they broke away from the USSR. They tried, they failed, the majority of the international community didn't recognize them (as in both didn't give credence to their claim of independence nor have the ability to pick them out of a line up) so Georgia kept them and they went on their merry way. Except, in a peace negotiation worked out, Georgia gave South Ossetia some autonomy and Russian and Georgian peacekeepers were assigned to South Ossetia. Of course, in a MidnightRanter insider tip, I know some of the papers signed by all were not the same. Some of the papers referred to the area as South Ossetia and some referred to it as Georgia. Georgia signed the papers that called the area Georgia and South Ossetians signed documents calling it South Ossetia. This, in the international realm, is what we call a problem. Russia, hating Georgia for breaking away and having their own region of Ossetia, has been subtly helping Ossetia, even going to the measure of issuing Russian passports to Ossetians. Which would be akin to Mexico giving Mexican passports to American Indians. So, Russia had been trying to pressure Georgia into being more dependent on Russia, since Georgia made VERY strong overtures to the US and Western Europe (they figured out pretty quick Russia was gonna be a problem as soon as they sorted their own shit out).
So, South Ossetia tried to play Russia against Georgia. Georgia, in addition to its problems in Ossetia has problems with another break away province called Abkhazia, which represents a large chunk of the shoreline on the Black Sea. Georgia, trying to secure its future, got cozy with the West and made big overtures to NATO. Some have said NATO, especially the US, has been provocative to Russia by making such open invitations to the former Soviet Republics to join NATO and by playing Georgia against Russia. Except, of course, what people are forgetting is that in this fight, Ossetians used Russia as shield to be more aggressive over the past week, then the Russians came into Georgian airspace and the Georgians shot down the Russian aircraft. Now, whether it was a KOrean Air Lines 007 kind of situation or a response to an air incursion is unknown, but given that the Russian response was to roll in two brigades of troops and tanks, one can safely assume the latter. And now, the fighting has claimed about 1000 lives, but reports are unclear. And the response from just about every other country has been pretty mild, most asking for both sides to simmer down. Georgia had offered a cease-fire but the Ossetians kept firing, then the Russians came in, so they gave up on that. Georgia has declared a state of war, the first declared war in Europe since the Balkans. And the world had other things on its mind.
Yes, indeed, the so-called "peace of the Olympics" is broken yet again, but this time no one gives a damn. CNN, MSNBC, Fox all covered the Olympics heavily and barely broke for war being declared. On their website, CNN had the Olympics as the top story, followed by the news of John Edwards having an affair. BBC, RTE and al-Jazeera all had it as a top story, while other covered the games in Beijing. People had pictures of Putin, Russian Prime Minister, and President Bush sitting together talking about something. Of course, the fact that the Russian President is Dimitry Medvedev hasn't stopped people from blaming Putin for this, and rightfully so. Years of trying to strongarm the former Republics, like poisoning the president of the Ukraine or cutting off gas to the Ukraine, had led to Georgia seeking help from Western Europe. So, Putin and Bush are together at the Olympics, and Bush offered only a tepid statement about wanting peace. He didn't come back to Washington to manage the response.
What's going is the political equivalent of Kitty Genovese. There is no clear cut way to get help to the victim, but the world is standing around and doing nothing. Odds are, little will be done. The Russians have bombed large portions of Georgia and have all but leveled large portions of key towns in Georgia. Luckily, Russia hasn't bombed T'blisi (the Georgian capital) but who knows if that's coming on the horizon. Russia, going back to Ivan the Terrible, to Tsarina Yekatarina (that's Catherine the Great, to you) to Stalin (himself born a Georgian), Russians have been fixated on territorial expansion and autocracy. Putin is little different, and Medvedev is one of his disciples. So, we have Russia pushing their borders as far as possible now that they have most of their internal problems. Georgia was a vulnerable republic because it had two areas that are looking to break away, and the only real help they have is Russia, who is more than happy to help.
And to think we were all missing the 80's.
So it is written, so do I see it.
Before getting into the atrocious American mainstream coverage of all this, there is a need to dig into the history of all this, or at least trying to explain how things like this happen. Almost nothing in international politics comes out of the blue, and nothing comes out with history. While a lot of the time, we don't see it until the major event has happened, clues are always there. Usually by going back into the history, you find something, and this is no different. Quick note here: HISTORY IS NOT JUSTIFICATION. Georgia has been, in one form or another, a roughly homogeneous independent political entity for about 1000 years, after being conquered by the Romans, Persians, Byzantines and others before they made their own empire. They were taken over briefly by the Mongols, but reasserted their own independence. They were their own country with their own politics and goals. Then, and here we start getting to the parts that matter, Russian Czar (or Tsar if you prefer) Paul I committed some highly questionable legal chicanery to get Georgia as part of the Russian empire, specifically, he claimed it was at the request of then Georgian king. So, in 1801, all Georgian nobility who would swear fealty to the Russian Empire and crown were arrested and Georgia became part of Russia. Georgia tried to break away during the Bolshevik Revolution of 1917, but failed. They got brief protection from the British, but the Soviet Union attacked, and Georgia was part of Russia again. When the Soviet Union broke apart, Georgia was one of the first Republics to declare independence.
So, Georgia is now an independent country wedged between Russia and Turkey, on the coast of the Black Sea. It sits between the Black Sea and the Caspian (technically, Armenia and Azerbijan are between it and the Caspian, but it's a crucial location). South Ossetia borders Russia and tried to break away from Georgia as soon as they broke away from the USSR. They tried, they failed, the majority of the international community didn't recognize them (as in both didn't give credence to their claim of independence nor have the ability to pick them out of a line up) so Georgia kept them and they went on their merry way. Except, in a peace negotiation worked out, Georgia gave South Ossetia some autonomy and Russian and Georgian peacekeepers were assigned to South Ossetia. Of course, in a MidnightRanter insider tip, I know some of the papers signed by all were not the same. Some of the papers referred to the area as South Ossetia and some referred to it as Georgia. Georgia signed the papers that called the area Georgia and South Ossetians signed documents calling it South Ossetia. This, in the international realm, is what we call a problem. Russia, hating Georgia for breaking away and having their own region of Ossetia, has been subtly helping Ossetia, even going to the measure of issuing Russian passports to Ossetians. Which would be akin to Mexico giving Mexican passports to American Indians. So, Russia had been trying to pressure Georgia into being more dependent on Russia, since Georgia made VERY strong overtures to the US and Western Europe (they figured out pretty quick Russia was gonna be a problem as soon as they sorted their own shit out).
So, South Ossetia tried to play Russia against Georgia. Georgia, in addition to its problems in Ossetia has problems with another break away province called Abkhazia, which represents a large chunk of the shoreline on the Black Sea. Georgia, trying to secure its future, got cozy with the West and made big overtures to NATO. Some have said NATO, especially the US, has been provocative to Russia by making such open invitations to the former Soviet Republics to join NATO and by playing Georgia against Russia. Except, of course, what people are forgetting is that in this fight, Ossetians used Russia as shield to be more aggressive over the past week, then the Russians came into Georgian airspace and the Georgians shot down the Russian aircraft. Now, whether it was a KOrean Air Lines 007 kind of situation or a response to an air incursion is unknown, but given that the Russian response was to roll in two brigades of troops and tanks, one can safely assume the latter. And now, the fighting has claimed about 1000 lives, but reports are unclear. And the response from just about every other country has been pretty mild, most asking for both sides to simmer down. Georgia had offered a cease-fire but the Ossetians kept firing, then the Russians came in, so they gave up on that. Georgia has declared a state of war, the first declared war in Europe since the Balkans. And the world had other things on its mind.
Yes, indeed, the so-called "peace of the Olympics" is broken yet again, but this time no one gives a damn. CNN, MSNBC, Fox all covered the Olympics heavily and barely broke for war being declared. On their website, CNN had the Olympics as the top story, followed by the news of John Edwards having an affair. BBC, RTE and al-Jazeera all had it as a top story, while other covered the games in Beijing. People had pictures of Putin, Russian Prime Minister, and President Bush sitting together talking about something. Of course, the fact that the Russian President is Dimitry Medvedev hasn't stopped people from blaming Putin for this, and rightfully so. Years of trying to strongarm the former Republics, like poisoning the president of the Ukraine or cutting off gas to the Ukraine, had led to Georgia seeking help from Western Europe. So, Putin and Bush are together at the Olympics, and Bush offered only a tepid statement about wanting peace. He didn't come back to Washington to manage the response.
What's going is the political equivalent of Kitty Genovese. There is no clear cut way to get help to the victim, but the world is standing around and doing nothing. Odds are, little will be done. The Russians have bombed large portions of Georgia and have all but leveled large portions of key towns in Georgia. Luckily, Russia hasn't bombed T'blisi (the Georgian capital) but who knows if that's coming on the horizon. Russia, going back to Ivan the Terrible, to Tsarina Yekatarina (that's Catherine the Great, to you) to Stalin (himself born a Georgian), Russians have been fixated on territorial expansion and autocracy. Putin is little different, and Medvedev is one of his disciples. So, we have Russia pushing their borders as far as possible now that they have most of their internal problems. Georgia was a vulnerable republic because it had two areas that are looking to break away, and the only real help they have is Russia, who is more than happy to help.
And to think we were all missing the 80's.
So it is written, so do I see it.