I agree with a lot of that article.
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Adler I suppose you can read German so here is some good analysis from an independend source:
Osteuropa-Experte Segbers zum Georgien-Krieg: "Saakaschwili hat sich verkalkuliert" - Politik - SPIEGEL ONLINE - Nachrichten
Yea Tim - I think there more BS there as well - "Moscow's own treatment of separatism — killing tens of thousands of Chechens over the past decade — says volumes about its claims that it is just trying to protect a minority population." Is nothing being said about Chechen rebels and their ties to Islamic terrorism?
First of all, WS Journal is not known as a magazine friendly towards Russia but whatsoever..To throw another log on the fire, here is the Op Ed from the Wall Street Journal.
I do believe it makes a difference who fired the first shot. And it looks like the Georgian goverment is still there on its place , not been overtrown.The farther Russia's tanks roll into Georgia, the more the world is beginning to see the reality of Vladimir Putin's Napoleonic ambitions. Having consolidated his authoritarian transition as Prime Minister with a figurehead President, Mr. Putin is now pushing to reassert Russian dominance in Eurasia. Ukraine is in his sights, and even the Baltic states could be threatened if he's allowed to get away with it. The West needs to draw a line at Georgia.
No matter who fired the first shot last week in the breakaway Georgian region of South Ossetia, Moscow is using the separatist issue as an excuse to demolish Georgia's military and, if possible, depose its democratically elected government.
as I've said, its not true. They hadn't captured that city.Russian forces moved ever deeper into Georgia proper Monday. They launched a second front in the west from another breakaway province
, Abkhazia, and took the central city of Gori, which lies 40 miles from the Georgian capital of Tbilisi.
Timshatz all articles you've put here for discussion are based on unconfirmed claims which were partially demented by Georgians themself. Moscow had not isolated any of Georgian port, while some installements there were in fact been bombed.These moves slice the country in half and isolate its ports, most of which Russia has bombed or blockaded. Moscow dismissed a cease-fire drawn up by European nations and signed by Georgia.
No comments here. I suppose some 1500 of Ossetians were shelled and killed by Marsians.Russian claims of Georgian ethnic cleansing now look like well-rehearsed propaganda lines to justify a well-prepared invasion.
the autor may be unaware of the fact that only the President of Russian Federation can give such orders.Thousands of soldiers and hundreds of tanks, ships and warplanes were waiting for Mr. Putin's command.
keep going.While the rape of Chechnya was brutal, this is the most brazen act of Mr. Putin's reign, the first military offensive outside Russia's borders since Soviet rule ended. Yet it also fits a pattern of other threats and affronts to Russia's neighbors: turning off the oil or natural-gas taps to Ukraine, Belarus, Georgia, and even to NATO-member Lithuania; launching a cyberassault on Estonia; opposing two antimissile sites in NATO members in Eastern Europe that couldn't begin to neutralize Russia's offensive capabilities.
Well that's a well known truth that Russia doesn't want Georgia to be in NATO, so what? What particulary role that played in Georgia's wish to attack the Ossetians?Our emphasis on NATO here is no coincidence. The Georgia invasion is a direct slap at the Western alliance. Tbilisi, like Kiev, has been pushing for NATO membership. Mr. Putin decided to act while some alliance members, led by Germany, dallied over their applications. Georgia was first.
40 percent of the Ukraine are ethnic Russians. The war between Russia and Ukraine is something what would never come to mind to any person who's familiar with a history of two countries.Ukraine, which has been pushing Russia to move its Black Sea fleet's headquarters out of the Crimea, could be next.
I believe Georgia can say farewell to its NATO integration plans after this conflict. Germany and France are against it more than ever. Nobody needs an unpredictably acting member which actions could cause a WW3. As for Ukraine, the majority of its population is against an Ukrainan NATO membership.The alliance needs to respond forcefully, and it can start today. NATO officials have granted Russia a special meeting before deciding what to do about Georgia -- though we don't recall Russia briefing NATO about its plans in the Caucasus. The meeting is an opportunity to relay to Moscow that Georgian and Ukrainian membership is back on the table and that the alliance is considering all options for Georgia, from a humanitarian airlift to military aid, if Russia doesn't withdraw immediately.
I would not be that sure on this one .Of course Russia cooperates a lot with Western companies in that issue but I believe it is far more critical to the West to have Russia as a reliable gas&oil supplier.Russia also needs the West's capital and especially its expertise in developing its oil and gas fields at least as much as the West needs Russian energy supplies.
As for the U.S., this is perhaps the last chance for President Bush to salvage any kind of positive legacy toward Russia, amid what is a useful record elsewhere in Eurasia. While Mr. Bush has championed the region's fledgling democracies, he and Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice badly misjudged Mr. Putin. Now would be a good moment for Mr. Bush to publicly acknowledge his misjudgment and rally the West's response.
well THAT's a kind of politics why USA "lost" Russia in recent years. Clinton administraton was much wiser.John McCain had the Russian leader pegged better, which speaks well of his foreign-policy instincts. The Republican Presidential candidate has long said that Russia should be booted from the G-8 and yesterday he outlined a forceful Western strategy on Russia that stops short of military action. Barack Obama has in the past indicated support for the Georgia and Ukraine NATO bids, but the Democratic candidate has yet to explain in any detail how he would respond to the current conflict.
I highly doubt the US economics is in a condition do to that.There's one other way the U.S. could hit Russia where it hurts: by strengthening the dollar.
Just reminding you that there are always two sides to the coin.
I believe Georgia can say farewell to its NATO integration plans after this conflict. Germany and France are against it more than ever. Nobody needs an unpredictably acting member which actions could cause a WW3.
Another opinion piece from a Paper I am not a big fan of (actually strongly dislike it, but hey, it has a good reputation), this one is from the New York Times. While there are disparities in all the opinions posted, you will see they all seem to agree on the details of this thing.
I should also note that I am not, personally, committed to either side of this thing. But I have a hard time believing Georgia attacked Russia (S.O. in this case) as a matter of aggression or territorial ambition.
My apologies in advance to the Russian readers on this board for this and the last two op-eds I posted as they are not complimentary of the Russian position.
I believe Putin is hated even more among them.Anyway, here's the view from the American Lefties....
Ramirezz, it would be good if you posted a couple of them. It is better to get a third side opinion on this thing. Just a couple, no need to go to ten, of reputable Op-Eds showing the Russian point of view.
I've never heard anyone call the Wall Street Journel radical. That's a first.
article on bbc website i found interesting.
BBC NEWS | World | Europe | Early lessons from S Ossetia conflict
quite frankly I must admit this belief is a wide spread opinion among Russian people and mass media mostly shares this point of view as well. But look , what should we expect from an average Russian? As the Berlin Wall came down and USSR ceased to exist we rightfully expected NATO to being disbanded as there wasn't any plausible reason to continue with its existence. Instead of that in 1997 we became some new NATO member states close to our borders. Then Baltic states joined this organisaton as well. So there were and are serious concerns in the Russian administration and among people , why West actually still needs to expand their military presence up to the Russian borders.Then came this missile shield issue and the tensions began to rise real quick. No one in the country believes these missiles were installed to counter the Iran threat.does russia trust in west, or the russians think they are surrounding by enemies triyng to desintegrate their country and make that weakest as possible ?
Judging by a poor reaction by western nations and by USA in which Georgia really had its trust, I would say that Russians are far superior. If they are not, why didn't NATO and USA react a bit more than just condemning the whole conflict?
Judging by a poor reaction by western nations and by USA in which Georgia really had its trust, I would say that Russians are far superior. If they are not, why didn't NATO and USA react a bit more than just condemning the whole conflict?
lol Adler you are a natural born peacekeeper!I guess next time Serbia and Kosovo start shooting at each other we should just nuke the place and then never have to worry about it again.
And let me ask you one thing, just to see your opinion. USA considers South Ossetia and Abkhazia as parts of Georgia's sovereign territory. Kosovo is not considered as a part of territory of Serbia. If Kosovo never was ours, as many polticians claim, although history books disagree, how come there are churches and monasteries which stood there long before USA existed even as an idea? How come my family has medieval roots down there. There was never a kingdom of Kosovo, but there was Serbia.
Milos said:Russians did exactly what NATO and USA did to us, and they said that. NATO bombed the entire Serbia because of Kosovo, so did the Russians bomb the entire Georgia because of the South Ossetia.
lol Adler you are a natural born peacekeeper!
here are some articles written in English, I could provide you with even more written in German and Spanish:
Editorial: South Ossetia - Prisoner of the Caucasus | Comment is free | The Guardian
Has Georgia Overreached in Ossetia? - TIME
Georgia President Mikheil Saakashvili's 'calculated gamble' - Los Angeles Times
well I mean radical towards Russia