Why Georgia Why?

If you read last weeks blog posts you know that I have found myself watching the first presidential debates of 2008. As I watched the debate, of course I found part of the rhetoric interesting, but I thought about one particular issue, one that both candidates agreed on, particularly interesting. The topic I thought interesting was the Georgian conflict. Because both candidates seem to agree on the topic, I thought this would be a perfect topic to try to apply some mental discipline to without taking a “side” on an issue.

Application of Mental Discipline

The challenge of applying discipline to these types of situations, such as conflict in the world, is to try to strip out hopes, fears, and political pandering that often gets applied to information before the public sees a summarized version of events. In this post I will attempt to read between some lines and see if I can come up with the same political reasoning as both candidates.

The Georgian Conflict in Non Us and Them Terms

Georgia represents an area of land about 69,700 km². It has been continuously inhabited since the stone age, although its rule has shifted many times. In 1921, Georgia was invaded by the Russian Red Army, who then made Georgia a part of the Soviet Union. In 1991, shortly before the fall of the USSR, Georgia declared their independence.

What Has Happened Since Georgian Independence?

In 2004, Georgia started to increase its military and economic capabilities, starting to flex its rule in the areas around the country. It took over Ajaria, which had identified itself as a independent republic. Georgia squashed this effort and expanded. Then South Ossetia attempted to go independent from Georgia.

South Ossetia, although claiming their independence in 1991 as the Republic of South Ossetia, was never acknowledged as such by the United States as an independent country. Another region not recognized as an independent republic was Abkhazia. These republics although not recognized by the United States, European Union, NATO, or the United Nations, were recognized by the Russians and Nicaragua. Because of Russian support, the South Ossetia welcomed Russian military bases there.

So outside of Russia, Nicaragua, and South Ossetia, South Ossetia is only recognized as a Russian occupied territory of Georgia.

Once again in 2006, South Ossetia announced their independence (including from Russia). Once again in 2006 the European Union and NATO condemned the referendum. From Wikipedia:

In the 2006 South Ossetian independence referendum, full independence was supported by 99% of voters, although ethnic Georgians living in the region did not participate. Georgia accused Russia of the annexation of its internationally recognized territory and of installing a puppet government led by Eduard Kokoity and several officials who previously served in the Russian FSB and Army.^{[42][43][44][45]} Restoring South Ossetia and Abkhazia (a region with a similar movement) to Georgian control has been a goal of Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili since the Rose Revolution.^{[46] –}

In August 2008, Georgian armed forces moved into South Ossetia to try to “restore constitutional order in the entire region.” Russia was not happy.

What is Ethnic Cleansing?

Ethnic cleansing is a euphemism referring to the persecution through imprisonment, expulsion, or killing of members of an ethnic minority by a majority to achieve ethnic homogeneity in majority-controlled territory.^[1] It is sometimes used interchangeably with the more connotatively severe term genocide. The term entered English and international media in the early 1990s to describe war events in the former Yugoslavia. – from Wikipedia

Ethnic cleansing in the case of the Georgia began occurring in South Ossetia in 1991. The Ossetians are Iranian people who were driven out of their homeland in the 13th century and moved to the South Ossetia region.

Amidst rising ethnic tensions, a quasi-military conflict broke out in January 1991 when Georgian forces entered Tskhinvali; more than 2,000 people are believed to have been killed.^[37][38] The war resulted in South Ossetia, which has a Georgian ethnic minority of around one fifth of the total population (70,000),^[39] breaking away from Georgia and gaining de facto independence. After a cease-fire in 1992, Tskhinvali was isolated from the Georgian territory around it, and accounts of atrocities against Ossetians — rapes and grisly killings — circulated endlessly.^[37] Russian, Georgian and South Ossetian peacekeepers were stationed in South Ossetia under the JCC’s mandate of demilitarization.^[40][41] The 1992 ceasefire also defined both a zone of conflict around the South Ossetian capital of Tskhinvali and a security corridor along the border of South Ossetian territories.

Cut to the chase – Georgians are ethnic cleansers.

August 7th 2008

On August 7th 2008, Georgia launched a military attack against South Ossetia. Russia sent in additional troops and started launching bombing raids into Georgia. After 5 days of fighting, Russians ended up kicking the Georgians ass, and occupied some bordering regions to South Ossetia. A ceasefire was signed on August 12th.

Russia a big bad word?

Is Russia just a big bad word now? Let’s agree, Russia is not one of the best role models for democracies out there. Their elections are not very free or fair, their economy could use some help, but perhaps we need a new list of role models for Democracies. Perhaps in a future post I will come up with a list, none come to mind at the moment.

So what is the difference here between Georgia and Russia?

The difference is, Georgia is considered an ally of the United States.

Am I missing something here?

Why are we inviting a small militant country to NATO and not talking about bringing in Russia?

Why are we choosing sides again? Certainly, it is not around the topic of ethnic cleansing.

Help me out here…

[vodpod id=ExternalVideo.701742&w=425&h=350&fv=%26rel%3D0%26border%3D0%26]

Articles that may interest you:

More Political Ramblings