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Georgia-Russia Conflict

Kay, this has been really pissing me off the last few days so I've decided to rant about it.

As many of you probably know, for one week now there has been a state of conflict between Russia and Georgia. However, the version of events you were likely fed by propagandistic Western media is full of outrageous lies and distorted facts. They report that the conflict started when Russia sent large amounts of troops, tanks, and artillery into South Ossetia, a separatist region in Goergia's north, and then continued further into Georgia with the intent of taking over the land, killing civilians and overthrowing the government.

What actually happened was quite different from what the US government and media would like you to think. But first, it is necessary to understand the history of the region. South Ossetia is a small piece of land in the north of Georgia, which was historically connected with North Ossetia, which is now part of Russia. When the Soviet Union split up they became separated. The results of a referendum in South Ossetia showed that 99% of the people who voted were in favour of independence from Georgia; the voter turnout was close to 95%. In the early 1990s South Ossetia declared independence from Georgia, however it was neither recognized internationally nor by Georgia. To present day it has remained a self-governing region with its own president and government, but appearing on world maps as part of Georgia.

Prior to the conflict of last week the population of South Ossetia was in the range of 60 to 70 thousand people. Of these, more than half hold Russian passports and are thus legally citizens of Russia. Additionally, since its declaration of independence in the 90s and the violence which followed, there have been a number of Russian peacekeepers stationed in South Ossetia.

Georgia in recent years has seen overwhelming support from the US government, and has done everything it can to suck up to the West. Saakashvili - the president - knows that his country has no chance against Russia on its own, and wants to join NATO, seeking security. The US itself also has many reasons to uphold good ties with Georgia. Through the country passes the only oil pipeline to Europe which bypasses Russia - and it isn't news to anybody that US-Russian relations aren't exactly stable, thus the US and Western countries don't want to rely on Russia for oil security. Another reason for the United States' support for Georgia is their desire to weaken Russia's sphere of influence over the region, including many former Soviet countries. In recent years the US has provided Georgia with weapons and military training, in response to Georgia sending 2000 troops to Iraq.

On Friday, August 8th, Georgia launched a military offensive against South Ossetia in an attempt to regain the territory and crush separatists. Reports state that hundreds of civilians were killed in the Georgians' brutal artillery barrages on the capital, Tskhinvali. Many more were killed as Georgian forces continued into South Ossetia, burning villages to the ground. By the end of the Georgian offensive, 1600 South Ossetian civilians were killed, and close to 30,000 refugees fled to North Ossetia in Russia. Furthermore, 12 Russian peacekeepers were killed and upwards of 100 injured in the attacks. The Russian government had no choice but to respond to the agression against its citizens and peacekeepers, and so the Russian Army was sent into the zone of conflict. Within a few days, the Russian military had regained control of Tskhinvali and driven the Georgian forces out of South Ossetia. However, the Georgians continued their assault from across the South Ossetian border, striking the region with artillery fire. Russia saw that the only way to stop attacks on South Ossetian civilians was to disable the Georgian military, as Saakashvili (the Georgian president) didn't force his troops to surrender once they were driven out of South Ossetia by the Russians. The Russian Army then continued into Georgia, destroying military bases with the intent of demilitarizing the region. At no point did Russian forces bomb civilian targets or purposely fire at civilians - all of their efforts were concentrated on disabling the Georgian army.

Saakashvili - the Georgian President - obviously made a huge miscalculation when planning the assault on South Ossetia.  He had assumed that Russia would not deploy its military, but rather respond diplomatically. If Russia had only responded diplomatically then it would not have succeeded in anything, as Georgia has the support of Western countries such as the United States, who want the country to join the NATO military alliance. However, once he saw how quickly his forces were defeated by the Russian Army in South Ossetia, what was stopping him from agreeing to a ceasefire and stopping all military activity? I think it isn't unlikely that Saakashvili was expecting military assistance from the United States. However, Bush isn't stupid enough to go to war with Russia - that wouldn't end well for anybody.

Seeing that he wasn't going to get any military help from the US, Saakashvili decided to do what he's best at - pointing fingers and making false accusations. He blamed Russia for invading his country, and the US for not helping him fight against Russia. He accused Russia of "ethnic cleansing", which in fact was what his army was doing in South Ossetia. Basically, Saakashvili made himself and his country look like the victim in a conflict that he himself started. Western media was quick to side with Saakashvili, repeatedly using phrases like "the Russian invasion of Georgia", and "Russian agression", when, in fact, this was all far from the truth.

One excellent example of propagandist media is CNN. Watch this video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NVNblG9PJMk. Basically what happened was a Russian reported filmed the destruction caused by Georgian forces in Tskhinvali, the capital of South Ossetia. CNN later showed the same footage and said it was footage of Gori, a city in Georgia, after it was taken over by the Russians. If you don't believe what the Russian reporter said, then take a look here - see image #3 (BBC). As the title - "In pictures: Tskhinvali in ruins" - suggests, this is a tank on the streets of Tskhinvali, not Gori as the CNN reporter had suggested. Look at another video here. Notice how the reporter repeatedly cuts the woman off when she tries to state that the conflict is Saakashvili's fault. Is this what Americans call "democracy"?

Russia did what any other country would have done, and nothing that was against international law. Article 51 of the Charter of the United Nations talks about the "inherent right of individual or collective self-defence if an armed attack occurs against a Member of the United Nations". And that is exactly what Russia was doing - defending its citizens from attack by the Georgian Army. Imagine if Mexico launched an attack on an American enclave, killing American civilians. Do you think that the US would let something like that happen so close to their own territory, against their own citizens? No, of course not. In fact, I'm sure that what the US would do in that case would make Russia's actions in Georgia seem meaningless. However, it is in the US's interests to distort the facts in a way to make Russia seem like the "bad guy".

So, whose fault was this? Was it Saakashvili's fault for attacking South Ossetia? Or was it Russia's fault for responding "disproportionately" to the Georgian offensive? I myself blame Bush and his administration. It was the United States who supplied Georgia with weapons; it was the United States who trained Georgia's army; it was the United States who made Saakashvili confident about going into South Ossetia. In fact, if the US had succeeded this year in allowing Georgia into NATO as they were intent on doing, we would be facing World War III right now.