Russian Invasion of Georgia and Deja Vu
We are at war with an enemy who attacked us by surprise killing thousands of Americans. In another theater, a completely different ethnic country than our first enemy invades a sovereign country (that they once ruled over) on the pretext of protecting citizens who speak the same language as the invaders. Americans do not want us to be at war with either country. Sound familiar? The final touch is added when a ceasefire is negotiated by French President Nicholas Sarkozy - I was not surprised to come across the phrase Peace in Our Time in news articles again.
Even though I did not personally experience the prelude to and the beginning of World War Two, may I still feel deja vu over the events in Georgia?
Just as Russia was emboldened to invade Afghanistan because Jimmy Carter showed himself to be a pussy in regard to the hostage crisis in Iran, so too Russia was emboldened to invade Georgia because our Congress has shown itself to be pussies in regard to our war in Iraq.
I blame the Russian invasion on Liberal idiots who have so demoralized this country that Russia now thinks it can do anything it wants because we have no stomach to defend our allies. Half of our country, to our everlasting shame, now supports a peace-at-any-price candidate like Barack Obama who would never ever say anything like this: Let every nation know, whether it wishes us well or ill, that we shall pay any price, bear any burden, meet any hardship, support any friend, oppose any foe, in order to assure the survival and the success of liberty.
I have no doubt that many Georgians have read that last line and actually believed that this country would defend that sentiment and are now asking, "Where the f*#@ is America?"
Where are we indeed?
Related:
Takepart Blog, Peace in Our Time: Russia's Cyberwar
War, it's not just in real time anymore. The recent, brutal conflict between Russia and the Republic of Georgia has provided the world a glimpse into the future battleground previously confined to the realm of science fiction: computer warfare.
Weeks before the current armed engagement in the Caucasus began, computer security firms in the United States started noticing a massive streams of data directed toward websites run by the government of Georgia, intended to overload the system's servers, shuttin the system down in a technique known as Distributed Denial of Service, or D.D.O.S. attacks.
The assault on the Georgian computer systems were a warm up for an all out cyber war against the information infrastructure of Georgia once open hostilities began. Upon the incursion into South Ossetia by Georgian forces, an all out attack on virtually every government controlled website in Georgia as well as private websites bearing the.ge domain native to Georgia began raging.
The Heritage Foundation, U.S. Should Ensure That Georgia’s Sovereignty and Territorial Integrity Are Not Undermined by the United Nations
The Ceasefire Agreement: Part of the Problem, Not the Solution
During an August trip to Tbilisi and Moscow, Sarkozy negotiated a ceasefire agreement in which Russia agreed to withdraw its troops from Georgia by August 18. Having missed two deadlines for withdrawal and destroying Georgian infrastructure in the interim, Russia now appears to be pulling back. However, under the vague terms of the ceasefire, Russia has announced that it intends to keep 2,500 heavily armed soldiers on sovereign Georgian territory beyond the administrative borders of South Ossetia and Abkhazia for an unspecified amount of time. It has also constructed checkpoints inside Georgia as part of the additional security measures it deems appropriate under the terms of the ceasefire agreement. Furthermore, Russia is now effectively blocking and restricting Georgia's key transportation routes.
By permitting these actions, the ceasefire - rather than helping resolve the crisis in Georgia - has unintentionally contributed to the problem. Tbilisi signed the ceasefire agreement under international pressure and assurances by Sarkozy that an eventual peace agreement would ensure a Russian retreat to at least its pre-war position. However, Moscow has applied its own interpretation of the ceasefire agreement and continues to argue in the UNSC that the terms of the agreement grants it authority to maintain a permanent military presence in Georgia.
Michelle Malkin, Is Georgia in 2008 like Hungary in 1956?
If it is condemnation of Russian aggression that may make a difference, we’ll have plenty of that. Russia is, as Saakashvili notes, at war with Georgia, and their war has spread far beyond South Ossetia and into the rest of the country. Putin’s transparent rationalizations hide an avaricious agenda of conquest, and he must be opposed. We see the true face of Putin at last, and he’s every bit as ugly as the totalitarian Evil Empire which proceeded him (to which he bears an unmistakable family resemblance.)
Israel Matzav, US's wrong moves on Israel, Iran, Russia and Georgia
So let's recap. Russia has invaded Georgia on pretext, but at least in part to see how the US will react to a military action against a small but staunch ally. Russia has been shielding Iran from sanctions and has been supplying it with key components for its nuclear program, which the US and its European allies have been totally inept at inhibiting. The US should be standing up much more strongly for Georgia, helping Israel to position itself to do something about Iran before it is too late - and preparing to deal with Iran itself. Instead, the US is allowing Russia to run roughshod over Georgia, preventing Israel from positioning itself to strike Iran and continuing the same weak policies on Iran that have put us where we are today. Something is really messed up in Washington.
