Yesterday, as most people in America (and around the world) were fixated on the political drama surrounding Hillary Clinton’s speech at the Democratic National Convention, Russian President Dmitry Medvedev was delivering a speech that portends far more dire consequences.
Because Medvedev launched the most devastating salvos to date in the new Cold War brewing between Russia and the United States (and Europe) by unilaterally declaring the disputed Georgian territories of Abkhazia and South Ossetia independent.
Perhaps you recall that French President Nicolas Sarkozy brokered an agreement with Medvedev a couple weeks ago, which purportedly guaranteed the territorial integrity of Georgia. Clearly, this declaration makes a mockery of that agreement.
This decision…is inconsistent with the French-brokered six-point ceasefire agreement which President Medvedev signed on August 12, 2008. The territorial integrity and borders of Georgia must be respected…. Abkhazia and South Ossetia are within the internationally recognized borders of Georgia, and they must remain so.
[US President George W. Bush]
But nobody with an informed understanding of the conflict in Georgia could have been surprised by Medvedev’s declaration. After all, here’s what I wrote about the geopolitical chess game being played between erstwhile superpowers (Russia and the US) where these disputed territories are concerned:
To be fair to Putin, however, he has just as much moral authority (and military power) to do what he’s doing in Georgia as President Bush had to do what he did in Kosovo; i.e., to use force to facilitate independence for a province of an independent state.
[Tensions simmering between Mother Russia and her former dependent territory, Georgia, The iPINIONS Journal, June 6, 2008]
Moreover, just as I admonished the Serbs to reconcile their national identity with the loss of Kosovo (because Russia was not going to lift a finger to prevent the US and EU from recognizing Kosovo as an independent state), I now admonish the Georgians to do the same where Abkhazia and South Ossetia are concerned (because the US and EU are not going to lift a finger to prevent Russia from declaring them independent territories).
As indicated above, however, this is just the latest skirmish in the new Cold War that has been escalating for some time now:
If the putinization of Russia were not sufficient to convince Bush that Putin’s hell-bent on reclaiming Russia’s superpower status, then Putin’s efforts to re-establish Cold-War ties with African leaders should be dispositive in this respect.
[Cold War II: from the African front, The iPINIONS Journal, July 17, 2007]
And if the West had any illusions about Putin’s intentions, here’s how Medvedev preempted any criticism of Russia’s reclamation of a sphere of influence over these Georgian territories:
We’re not afraid of anything (including) the prospect of a Cold War. Of course we don’t need that … Everything depends on the stance of our partners and the world community and our partners in the West.
Your move US (and EU); i.e., put up or shut up!
Related Articles:
Tensions simmering between Russia…and Georgia
Recognizing (or lamenting) Kosovo independence
Cold War II
Georgia: the Russians are coming, the Russians are coming
Scott says
Russia is a Superpower again as the United States, CNN (as stated here on CNN August 1, 2008) and other news media’s have admitted http://www.kommersant.com/page.asp?id=768929 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g8dNr2GH08I, this is an NATO expansion war. US former president Ronald Reagan promise Russia there would be no NATO expansion into post Soviet Union countries back 1989 which has clearly been violated. NATO is the new cold war, they are expanding and we cannot trust NATO. NATO is evil and Russia is the ally here. People need to Google the truth about what NATO means and what relation is NATO, EU & Bilderberg together. I support Russia and I am against NATO, NATO is the enemy here. NATO wants to expand membership and spread every they can into more countries. NATO is about building a military block and when countries apply for NATO membership, they wave their rights to protect themselves or governored themselves but are under the rules of NATO. It is a communist movement on a private sector by NATO and this is wrong. Russia & China has been dead set against NATO and this is why. I want Russia to make its stance and stand against NATO, this evil lying agency that has no business taking countries rights away.
Who start this conflick? Georgia, NATO & the US, read link by Pat Buchanan : http://www.lewrockwell.com/buchanan/buchanan94.html and this video link here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UBRl-BvKJII
And read what Ron Paul has said about NATO pushing into Russia: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zyJiWYmXGLY
Here is a couple of Americans living in Georgia admitting Georgia & the US started the conflicts with Russia and that Georgia was indeed killing Russian people inside of Georgia. Something the US bilderberg media is not going to air on US television news channels.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S4DdRmALFYg
We have to understand that Russia is protecting itself from NATO.
NATO is an organization whose purpose ended with the end of its Warsaw Pact adversary. When NATO struggled to define its future after the Cold War, it settled on attacking a sovereign state, Yugoslavia, which had neither invaded nor threatened any NATO member state.
This current round of NATO expansion is a political reward to governments in Georgia and Ukraine that came to power as a result of US-supported revolutions, the so-called Orange Revolution and Rose Revolution. The governments that arose from these street protests were eager to please their US sponsor and the US, in turn, turned a blind eye to the numerous political and human rights abuses that took place under the new regimes. Thus the US policy of “exporting democracy” has only succeeding in exporting more misery to the countries it has targeted.
NATO expansion only benefits the US military industrial complex, which stands to profit from expanded arms sales to new NATO members. The “modernization” of former Soviet militaries in Ukraine and Georgia will mean tens of millions in sales to US and European military contractors. The US taxpayer will be left holding the bill, as the US government will subsidize most of the transactions. Providing US military guarantees to Ukraine and Georgia can only further strain our military. This NATO expansion may well involve the US military in conflicts as unrelated to our national interest as the breakaway regions of South Ossetia and Abkhazia in Georgia. The idea that American troops might be forced to fight and die to prevent a small section of Georgia from seceding is absurd and disturbing.
By Congressman Ron Paul: http://www.antiwar.com/blog/2008/04/01/ron-paul-disband-nato/