The Last Word on Georgia...

I don't think there's much point in me writing anything more about the crisis in Georgia. You can read more accurate fact and opinion elsewhere. I'd only originally started blogging about it because I was annoyed at certain bloggers delighting in Russia's rampant aggression.

The fact is, what started off as pro-Russian pandering by a few misguided bloggers has now descended to little more than farce. This morning, scrappy journalist Neil Clarke decided to launch the 'Russophobe of the Week award,' attacking journalists who criticized "Russia's perfectly legitimate and proportionate action to stop ethnic cleansing and genocide in South Ossetia."

Honestly - there's no need for me to try and repudiate that rubbish. It's just so utterly blinkered that anybody with an ounce of journalistic integrity is rolling in the aisles after reading it.

Even Mancunian-in-Mexico The Exile, who has been successfully wading through the facts and fiction of this war (and less successfully, trying to put a pro-Russian spin on it) admitted today that "the war over South Ossetia was an old fashioned land grab."

You can interpret the origins of this crisis any way you want - but you can't deny how it's all ended up. Russia is occupying Georgian territory and clearly has no intention of leaving until their aims are accomplished - specifically the absorption of South Ossetia and Abkhazia.

Whatever feeble higher moral ground Russia might have had has been abandoned now they've got their eyes on the prize.

"One can forget about any talk about Georgia's territorial integrity."

Back when James Bond got taken out of retirement in 1996's Goldeneye, he slyly said to his boss, M, that when it came to Russia: 'Governments change. The lies stay the same.'


Yesterday, the Russian government angrily refuted claims that tanks and soldiers were occupying the Georgian city of Gori. This morning, they admitted that the troops were there - and that they were sending even more of them in.

"One can forget about any talk about Georgia's territorial integrity," Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov told the world - Russpeak for 'watch while we annex South Ossetia and Abkhazia like we'd intended to do from the very beginning.'

For years, the Russians have been funnelling funding and weapons to the two disputed provinces to stir up a separatist movement. Russians have handed out Russian passports to 90% of the population, preparing them for the inevitable. South Ossetia and Abkhazia will surrender autonomy for autocracy - and be swallowed up by their neighbour.

Accusations of war crimes and an angry refusal to speak with Georgian president Mikheil Saakashvili were the first steps of Russia's second objective - to topple the democratically elected and pro-western government of Georgia and replace it with one more sympathetic to their former Soviet masters.

Fortunately, America has stepped up to the plate. By sending humanitarian supplies into the Georgian capital of Tbilisi - soon to be joined by US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice - they've given Russia a very clear message that the government's staying exactly as the voters wanted it.

Condoleezza declared: "This is not 1968 and the invasion of Czechoslovakia where Russia can threaten a neighbor, occupy a capital, overthrow a government and get away with it. Things have changed."

But have they really changed that much?

With up to 100,000 Georgians ethnically cleansed from the disputed provinces of South Ossetia and Abkhazia, there's little to stop the Russians redrawing the map and enveloping the two regions into their own country. America and the United Nations certainly aren't in much of a position to stop them.

Nobody's quite sure how this will all end - but one thing is certain. The bleating of the pro-Russian apologists is getting increasingly less convincing as this diplomatic crisis continues.

Ceasefire (the Russian version.)

Russian tanks photographed in Gori this morning. But not 'invading' apparently.

One of the prices of war is an awfully large amount of bullshit.

Yesterday, Russia and Georgia reached a tentative ceasefire in their conflict over the breakaway province of South Ossetia. The pro-Russian bloggers (like charmingly misguided journalist Neil Clarke) celebrated:

"This is a crushing defeat not only for Georgia... ...but for the entire Russophobic movement. The British scribblers who wrote of Russia's invasion of Georgia... ...have got an incredible amount of egg on their face.There was no 'Russian invasion of Georgia'"

Mancunian-in-Mexico The Exile even demanded tribute for his 'accurate' assessment of the conflict:

"On Monday most of the world's media were reporting that Russian troops were flooding out of South Ossetia and into Georgia proper. They claimed that the cities of Gori and Senaki were occupied and went on to make the risible claim that the whole of Georgia had been cut in two... ...There was only one slight problem with that thesis: it was pure bollocks, as readers of this blog knew at the time. Put bluntly, your friendly Exile got the story right, and most of the media just got it wrong. Is my work worth a donation? ...is a fiver too much to ask?"

The only problem - this morning, the Russian's give both our erstwhile bloggers the middle finger, doing exactly what Neil and The Exile promised they wouldn't. The Russians continued their advance into Georgian territory. About 50 Russian tanks rolled through the city of Gori today - one Russian soldier proudly boasting to an Associated Press reporter: "Come with us! We're going to Tbilisi!" [That's the Georgian capital - Editorial Bear]

So, Exile - I'm afraid you'll have to wait a while on that five quid from me. Your 'right' version of the story appears to be getting more and more 'wrong' by the minute.

Russia shows her true colours...

Since I've written extensively about Kosovo in previous posts, I guess it would be remiss if I didn't throw in my opinion about the chaos that's overtaken Georgia at the moment (that's the former Soviet Georgia, not the one the Duke boys live in.)


The Conflict in Georgia

Georgia used to be part of the Soviet Union. In 1991, as the Iron Curtain fell, the region declared independence. However, two regions of the new Republic of Georgia, Abkhazia and South Ossetia, contained a strong separatist movement that refused to accept being part of the new Republic of Georgia. They almost immediately declared themselves independent of the Georgian government and, in 1995, 'ethnically cleansed' the two provinces of over a quarter of a million Georgian citizens.

Since that date, Abkhazia and South Ossetia have both effectively been independent provinces, despite angry noises from the Georgian government. Georgia has attempted to regain control, but the separatists have led a fierce resistance against them.

A few days ago, the tentative ceasefire broke down when the Georgian government accused the separatists of bombing villages in Georgia. The Georgians entered separatist territory to 'defend themselves' and reclaim their turf. However, the Georgian push was met with a frightening response.

The old bear, Mother Russia herself, sent troops and airplanes into separatist and Georgian territory - reacting with brutal military might to 'protect the independence' of the two breakaway provinces.

What we're left with is a de facto invasion by Russian forces into a neighbouring country.

Hypocrisy

The Russians may want people to believe that they're 'lending military support' to the separatist movement in Abkhazia and South Ossetia - and both breakaway governments have actively asked for their support in defending themselves from the Georgians.

However, their real intentions are utterly transparent.

Given their angry response to Kosovo's independence - Russia's never been too fond of breakaway republics ever since they got a bloody nose in Chechnya - it seems astonishing that they'd suddenly support the fight for independence in Georgia.

The truth is, Russia's not interested in independence for Abkhazia and South Ossetia at all. They're looking to absorb both provinces into Russia itself. Once the Georgian military is silenced, both provinces will be occupied by the might of the Russian army for a long, long time to come.

NOTES:

Following some emails, I'd just like to clarify the following:

1: No, I'm not 'on the Georgian's side.' Shooting at women and children, burning down villages and generally being brutal towards civilians in disputed territory is unacceptable. It was certainly unacceptable when it was Serbs doing it is Kosovo, so I don't see why it should be any different here.

2: 90% of the population of South Ossetia have Russian passports. Some emailers have argued that this means that the breakaway province might as well be part of Russia. Funnily enough, some of these emailers are the same people who argued the complete opposite when I pointed out that 90% of Kosovo's population was ethnic Albanian, so why should the province become part of Serbia?

3: I don't see how Russia's invasion of Abkhazia, South Ossetia and Georgia can be called a 'liberation' by the same people who said the UN's arrival in Kosovo to stop the bloodshed was an 'unwarranted, illegal occupation.' I don't see how they can justify Russia killing thousands of civilians in bombing raids as 'within their rights' and yet criticise Bill Clinton for bombing Belgrade during the Bosnian crisis. Are these people really so blind as to not see the similarities?