U.S. Common Sense

In antiquity, an international truce would be in place during the Olympic games. Unfortunately, someone forgot to inform Russia about this. On the eve of the opening ceremonies, Russian forces launched strategic attacks within the borders of Georgia, a former Soviet State that is now a young Western Democracy. Georgia has been petitioning NATO to allow the nation to join with the defense alliance; an action that irritates Russia.

Looking to interrupt the oil economy of Georgia while hoping to splinter small regions into autonomous bodies (South Ossetia and Abkhazia), Russia has started sending in ground forces, taking over military installations and destroying airfields. In the process of the air and ground assaults, over 2000 Georgians have been reported as being killed, along with numerous others being injured. While denying the impressions of the assault, it is viewed by outside parties that Russia intents to siege the Capital of Georgia to topple the government and the pro-Western President Saakashvili.

The international community was quick to condemn the actions of Russia or call for a cessation of aggression. While at the Olympics, President Bush has been in talks with Putin, including a famous scene caught on video during the opening ceremonies where the President pulled Putin aside. The Presidential candidates have also entered the fray, with McCain taking a hard stance against the Russian action, with Obama quickly following his lead after a softer stance over the weekend. The Security Council of the United Nations have been in discussions for the past five days, thought it is unlikely that any action being approved of due to Russia’s permanent veto power.

Where will this lead to in the next week? If the analysts are correct, we can see Russian forces continue to push through Georgia until the government caves in to their demands. It is difficult to see Russia simply pursue this action just to withdraw without any sort of change of status either in Georgia’s government or borders. Hopefully some sort of pressure is applied to Russia short of third-party military engagement in order to protect the sovereignty of Georgia, and Russia is held financially responsible for repairing the damage they have caused.

Related articles:
The Seattle Times - “Inevitable Russia-Georgia war brewed for years”
The Times - “Another battle in the 1,000-year Russia-Georgia grudge match”
The Chicago Tribune - “McCain to voters: Russia-Georgia matters”
Reuters - “Bush: Russian response to Georgia ‘disproportionate’”
Bloomberg - “President Bush Condemns Russian Escalation in Georgia”
Voice of America News - “US Backs EU, OSCE Mediation in Georgia Crisis”
Xinhua News - “McCain takes hard stance towards Russia”
Bloomberg - “Russian Troops Launch Ground Offensive in Georgia”
CNN - “Obama moves closer to McCain on Russia stance”
Tom Rants - “Russia and the lessons of history”
The Spitting Vessel - “The Gaffe in Georgia’s Gamble”
The Law of Politics - “Russia flirting with Cold War 2″
Republican Ranting - “Russia is Overstepping It’s Bounds by Invading Georgia”
MLoger - “Georgia’s Right to Self Determination, What You Really Need to Know”
Kayloo - “My Strategy On Russia”
Globally Rational - “The International Poli(tical)ce Force… are we siding with Georgia or blindly opposing Russia?”
Disillusioned Words - “I’m Sorry to Say that Georgia Has Learned a Tough Lesson.  (It Seems Obama May Have Too)”
The BoBo Files - “From Russia with Love!”