Georgia, the Olympics, the US armada and Iran

[smithy]

Many here don't like to think that the US plays any geopolitical games to control access to and control over commodities. Would those people feel that the accusation would carry weightif Russia was doing it?

Meanwhile the US has flown 800 Georgians back home from Iraq and are sending weapons too!

That weapons report hasn't appeared anywhere else. As the Russians have been attacking journalists, the fog of war is thicker than usual. The Georgia PR machine seems to be doing a rather better job than the Russians.

I think the US response has been extremely muted. They've even said that Russia shouldn't be attacking Georgia-proper, implying that the Russian action in South Ossetia and Abkhazia is ok.

Georgia voluntarily pulled its troops out of South Ossetia, seemingly because of pressure from the Americans.

There is the entirely token UN vote which the US has initiated, which will be vetoed by Russia and China, that will do nothing but provide more evidence of the pointlessness of the UN.

It'll be interesting to see what will happen with the Georgian-proper territory that the Russians have (apparently) occupied. If Russia gets away with this, and I think they will, the next place on their shopping list will be Ukraine. Most countries in Europe should be extremely alarmed.

 

[smithy]

Many here don't like to think that the US plays any geopolitical games to control access to and control over commodities. Would those people feel that the accusation would carry weightif Russia was doing it?

Meanwhile the US has flown 800 Georgians back home from Iraq and are sending weapons too!

That weapons report hasn't appeared anywhere else. As the Russians have been attacking journalists, the fog of war is thicker than usual. The Georgia PR machine seems to be doing a rather better job than the Russians.

I think the US response has been extremely muted. They've even said that Russia shouldn't be attacking Georgia-proper, implying that the Russian action in South Ossetia and Abkhazia is ok.

Georgia voluntarily pulled its troops out of South Ossetia, seemingly because of pressure from the Americans.

There is the entirely token UN vote which the US has initiated, which will be vetoed by Russia and China, that will do nothing but provide more evidence of the pointlessness of the UN.

It'll be interesting to see what will happen with the Georgian-proper territory that the Russians have (apparently) occupied. If Russia gets away with this, and I think they will, the next place on their shopping list will be Ukraine. Most countries in Europe should be extremely alarmed.

 

[smithy]

It'll be interesting to see if the US decided to draw a line in the sand here, or will Georgia be sacrificed to the Russians?

- Mike

I'm not sure how you mean. There will probably still be a Georgia but the question is will it be a US puppet state or a Russian puppet state. It was Russian until 1991 so it wouldn't be so much a sacrifice as a back slide.

It was undoubtedly Russian until 1991, but from then until the Rose revolution in 2003, it was still very much a Russian-supporting Soviet republic. So I'd argue that it really was a Russian puppet state until 2003.

Since 2003, it still cannot be described as an American puppet. This period is not eqivalent to the Russian puppet period. Yes, since 2003 they've turned westward, but the corruption, election-rigging and other autocratic tendencies that are typical of a soviet republic (as Moldova or Belarus could be described today) has been stamped out, or at least making efforts in that direction.

The minor "backslide" you describe doesn't seem to be so trivial to protestors in Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania who don't want their country to suffer a similar small "backslide". Similar demonstrations by Georgians around the world suggest they don't want to see "backslide" either.

 

[smithy]

It'll be interesting to see if the US decided to draw a line in the sand here, or will Georgia be sacrificed to the Russians?

- Mike

I'm not sure how you mean. There will probably still be a Georgia but the question is will it be a US puppet state or a Russian puppet state. It was Russian until 1991 so it wouldn't be so much a sacrifice as a back slide.

It was undoubtedly Russian until 1991, but from then until the Rose revolution in 2003, it was still very much a Russian-supporting Soviet republic. So I'd argue that it really was a Russian puppet state until 2003.

Since 2003, it still cannot be described as an American puppet. This period is not eqivalent to the Russian puppet period. Yes, since 2003 they've turned westward, but the corruption, election-rigging and other autocratic tendencies that are typical of a soviet republic (as Moldova or Belarus could be described today) has been stamped out, or at least making efforts in that direction.

The minor "backslide" you describe doesn't seem to be so trivial to protestors in Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania who don't want their country to suffer a similar small "backslide". Similar demonstrations by Georgians around the world suggest they don't want to see "backslide" either.

 

[smithy]

It'll be interesting to see if the US decided to draw a line in the sand here, or will Georgia be sacrificed to the Russians?

- Mike

I'm not sure how you mean. There will probably still be a Georgia but the question is will it be a US puppet state or a Russian puppet state. It was Russian until 1991 so it wouldn't be so much a sacrifice as a back slide.

It was undoubtedly Russian until 1991, but from then until the Rose revolution in 2003, it was still very much a Russian-supporting Soviet republic. So I'd argue that it really was a Russian puppet state until 2003.

Since 2003, it still cannot be described as an American puppet. This period is not eqivalent to the Russian puppet period. Yes, since 2003 they've turned westward, but the corruption, election-rigging and other autocratic tendencies that are typical of a soviet republic (as Moldova or Belarus could be described today) has been stamped out, or at least making efforts in that direction.

The minor "backslide" you describe doesn't seem to be so trivial to protestors in Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania who don't want their country to suffer a similar small "backslide". Similar demonstrations by Georgians around the world suggest they don't want to see "backslide" either.

 

[smithy]

It'll be interesting to see if the US decided to draw a line in the sand here, or will Georgia be sacrificed to the Russians?

- Mike

I'm not sure how you mean. There will probably still be a Georgia but the question is will it be a US puppet state or a Russian puppet state. It was Russian until 1991 so it wouldn't be so much a sacrifice as a back slide.

It was undoubtedly Russian until 1991, but from then until the Rose revolution in 2003, it was still very much a Russian-supporting Soviet republic. So I'd argue that it really was a Russian puppet state until 2003.

Since 2003, it still cannot be described as an American puppet. This period is not eqivalent to the Russian puppet period. Yes, since 2003 they've turned westward, but the corruption, election-rigging and other autocratic tendencies that are typical of a soviet republic (as Moldova or Belarus could be described today) has been stamped out, or at least making efforts in that direction.

The minor "backslide" you describe doesn't seem to be so trivial to protestors in Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania who don't want their country to suffer a similar small "backslide". Similar demonstrations by Georgians around the world suggest they don't want to see "backslide" either.

 

[smithy]

It'll be interesting to see if the US decided to draw a line in the sand here, or will Georgia be sacrificed to the Russians?

- Mike

I'm not sure how you mean. There will probably still be a Georgia but the question is will it be a US puppet state or a Russian puppet state. It was Russian until 1991 so it wouldn't be so much a sacrifice as a back slide.

It was undoubtedly Russian until 1991, but from then until the Rose revolution in 2003, it was still very much a Russian-supporting Soviet republic. So I'd argue that it really was a Russian puppet state until 2003.

Since 2003, it still cannot be described as an American puppet. This period is not eqivalent to the Russian puppet period. Yes, since 2003 they've turned westward, but the corruption, election-rigging and other autocratic tendencies that are typical of a soviet republic (as Moldova or Belarus could be described today) has been stamped out, or at least making efforts in that direction.

The minor "backslide" you describe doesn't seem to be so trivial to protestors in Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania who don't want their country to suffer a similar small "backslide". Similar demonstrations by Georgians around the world suggest they don't want to see "backslide" either.

 

[smithy]

It'll be interesting to see if the US decided to draw a line in the sand here, or will Georgia be sacrificed to the Russians?

- Mike

I'm not sure how you mean. There will probably still be a Georgia but the question is will it be a US puppet state or a Russian puppet state. It was Russian until 1991 so it wouldn't be so much a sacrifice as a back slide.

It was undoubtedly Russian until 1991, but from then until the Rose revolution in 2003, it was still very much a Russian-supporting Soviet republic. So I'd argue that it really was a Russian puppet state until 2003.

Since 2003, it still cannot be described as an American puppet. This period is not eqivalent to the Russian puppet period. Yes, since 2003 they've turned westward, but the corruption, election-rigging and other autocratic tendencies that are typical of a soviet republic (as Moldova or Belarus could be described today) has been stamped out, or at least making efforts in that direction.

The minor "backslide" you describe doesn't seem to be so trivial to protestors in Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania who don't want their country to suffer a similar small "backslide". Similar demonstrations by Georgians around the world suggest they don't want to see "backslide" either.

 

[smithy]

Many here don't like to think that the US plays any geopolitical games to control access to and control over commodities. Would those people feel that the accusation would carry weightif Russia was doing it?

And from the opposite of the fence, Where are the marchers for peace?.

 

[smithy]

Many here don't like to think that the US plays any geopolitical games to control access to and control over commodities. Would those people feel that the accusation would carry weightif Russia was doing it?

And from the opposite of the fence, Where are the marchers for peace?.

 

[smithy]

Many here don't like to think that the US plays any geopolitical games to control access to and control over commodities. Would those people feel that the accusation would carry weightif Russia was doing it?

And from the opposite of the fence, Where are the marchers for peace?.

 

[smithy]

Many here don't like to think that the US plays any geopolitical games to control access to and control over commodities. Would those people feel that the accusation would carry weightif Russia was doing it?

And from the opposite of the fence, Where are the marchers for peace?.

 

[smithy]

Many here don't like to think that the US plays any geopolitical games to control access to and control over commodities. Would those people feel that the accusation would carry weightif Russia was doing it?

And from the opposite of the fence, Where are the marchers for peace?.

 

[smithy]

Many here don't like to think that the US plays any geopolitical games to control access to and control over commodities. Would those people feel that the accusation would carry weightif Russia was doing it?

And from the opposite of the fence, Where are the marchers for peace?.

 

[FluffyMcDeath]

Many here don't like to think that the US plays any geopolitical games to control access to and control over commodities. Would those people feel that the accusation would carry weightif Russia was doing it?

And from the opposite of the fence, Where are the marchers for peace?.

Beaten long ago. We haven't seen any big marches since they failed to stop the invasion of Iraq. It's been shown to be monumentally pointless. Gone is the pretense that leaders listen to the people.

 

[FluffyMcDeath]

Many here don't like to think that the US plays any geopolitical games to control access to and control over commodities. Would those people feel that the accusation would carry weightif Russia was doing it?

And from the opposite of the fence, Where are the marchers for peace?.

Beaten long ago. We haven't seen any big marches since they failed to stop the invasion of Iraq. It's been shown to be monumentally pointless. Gone is the pretense that leaders listen to the people.

 

[FluffyMcDeath]

Many here don't like to think that the US plays any geopolitical games to control access to and control over commodities. Would those people feel that the accusation would carry weightif Russia was doing it?

And from the opposite of the fence, Where are the marchers for peace?.

Beaten long ago. We haven't seen any big marches since they failed to stop the invasion of Iraq. It's been shown to be monumentally pointless. Gone is the pretense that leaders listen to the people.

 

[FluffyMcDeath]

Many here don't like to think that the US plays any geopolitical games to control access to and control over commodities. Would those people feel that the accusation would carry weightif Russia was doing it?

And from the opposite of the fence, Where are the marchers for peace?.

Beaten long ago. We haven't seen any big marches since they failed to stop the invasion of Iraq. It's been shown to be monumentally pointless. Gone is the pretense that leaders listen to the people.

 

[FluffyMcDeath]

Many here don't like to think that the US plays any geopolitical games to control access to and control over commodities. Would those people feel that the accusation would carry weightif Russia was doing it?

And from the opposite of the fence, Where are the marchers for peace?.

Beaten long ago. We haven't seen any big marches since they failed to stop the invasion of Iraq. It's been shown to be monumentally pointless. Gone is the pretense that leaders listen to the people.

 

[FluffyMcDeath]

Many here don't like to think that the US plays any geopolitical games to control access to and control over commodities. Would those people feel that the accusation would carry weightif Russia was doing it?

And from the opposite of the fence, Where are the marchers for peace?.

Beaten long ago. We haven't seen any big marches since they failed to stop the invasion of Iraq. It's been shown to be monumentally pointless. Gone is the pretense that leaders listen to the people.