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Max Boot: Stand up to Russia

Posted 13 Aug 2008 in outrage, war

Max Boot’s op-ed in the LA Times yesterday puts some good historical perspective on the Russian invasion of Georgia.

It took the Red Army — excuse me, the Russian army — only two days to secure Abkhazia and South Ossetia. Now Russia is pressing its attacks into the heart of Georgia, threatening to cut the major east-west highway and vital oil pipeline. Moscow’s ultimate goal remains unclear, but it may well be to topple the democratically elected government of President Mikheil Saakashvili and replace him with a pro-Kremlin stooge. That is what the Russians did in Chechnya in 1999-2000.

The difference is that, while Chechnya had aspirations of nationhood, Georgia has already achieved it. Since the collapse of the Soviet empire in 1991, it has been a fully sovereign country. More recently, as a result of the 2003 Rose Revolution, Georgia has become a democracy — admittedly an imperfect democracy, but with far greater rule of law than Russia. By crossing Georgia’s borders, the Russians have committed their worst violation of international law since the invasion of Afghanistan in 1979.

At a time like this, it is vital for the leaders of the West to stand together and make clear that this aggression will not stand. This is no time for weaselly statements of moral equivalence claiming that Georgia brought this war on itself or that Russia’s response is merely “disproportionate” — as if there were a “proportionate” level of aggression that would be justified. Whatever the details of the clash that began last week between Georgia and the breakaway, pro-Russia province of South Ossetia, there can be no excuse for Russia’s invasion. The presidents of Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia and Poland were on the mark in their demand that “aggression against a small country in Europe … not be passed over in silence or with meaningless statements equating the victims with the victimizers.”

There’s much more, and it’s well worth reading the entire thing.

His follow-up piece today addresses the vicious response from Pravda (Russia’s state-run propaganda machine) and cuts right through the bullshitski.

“There can be little surprise, therefore, that Russia responded to this unprovoked assault on its citizens by launching a military incursion into South Ossetia,” Lavrov continues, as if Russian troops and its Ossetian puppets have not been goading Georgia for years by incursions into its territory (which, by the way, still includes Abkhazia and South Ossetia, not recognized as independent states by any other country). The notion that Russia cares about the fate of ethnic minorities in the Caucasus is particularly rich, given the way Russian troops razed Grozny and killed tens of thousands of people in their vicious campaign to retain control of Chechnya.

Lavrov goes on: “Despite Georgia’s assertion that it had imposed a unilateral ceasefire, Russian peacekeepers and supporting troops remained under continued attack–a fact confirmed by observers and journalists in the region.” Of course, what the bulk of “observers and journalists” say is precisely the opposite–that the Georgians tried to stop fighting but the Russians wouldn’t stop their attacks. Even now that Russia has announced a ceasefire, reports from Georgia indicate that its troops continue attacking.

Posted by FullMetalPatriot
12th gen. American, Constitutionalist, Harley-riding Texan, gun owner & NRA member, blogger, illustrator, Florida Gator alumnus. #TCOT

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