War In Georgia

Having made a statement with his disproportionate use of brute force, Russian President Dmitri Medvedev halted his nation’s military invasion of Georgia, Tuesday.

The invasion allegedly was in retaliation for Georgian attacks on separatists in South Ossetia and Abkhazia. There is some truth to that. Ethnic minorities who have been trying to break free from Georgia have been under seige. When Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili sent troops into South Ossetia in an attempt to quash separatist elements, he created an incident which Medvedev and Prime Minister Vladimir Putin exploited.

Russian troops that were poised on the border attacked Georgian troops, destroyed towns and cities and killed thousands of Georgians.

That Russia claims to have been supporting separatists against Georgia is pure folly, of course. Russia’s own bloody war with Chechens who have sought independence mocks those intentions. This was never about supporting separatists. This was about Russia asserting its might as it did during the Cold War in a cold, brutal and purposeful manner.

It attacked Georgia, a democracy and U.S. ally, as a way to intimidate other former Russian states that in recent years have reached out to the West.

The Bush administration had been seeking NATO membership for Georgia and Ukraine. Now the West is left to wonder if democracy can thrive in a climate in which the Russian bear is poised to use brute force to dissuade former Soviet republics from wandering too far down the path toward freedom.

There is not much the United States can do. But President Bush can use his bully pulpit to strongly denounce Russia’s actions. Thus far he has not done so. During a meeting with the Intelligencer Journal’s editorial board Tuesday, veteran Sen. Arlen Specter was critical of Bush for not issuing a strong denunciation of Russia’s actions. Specter also said the United States should mobilize world opinion against Russia, and suggested booting Russia from the G8 – an international forum of nations in which global issues are discussed. Specter argues the G8 confers upon Russia a level of respect and prestige. To vote to remove Russia from the forum, he said, would amount to a significant sanction.

Russia’s timing also is suspicious. It attacked Georgia at a time when the United States has a lame-duck president, and neither party’s presidential candidate has the power to do more than issue statements condemning Russia’s actions.

By invading Georgia, Specter said, Russia has injected itself into the American presidential race.

Russia today finds itself awash in oil and gas revenue. It has threatened to cut oil and gas deliveries to European nations as a way to quiet critics in the West.

That’s unacceptable. The West needs Russia as a partner. But there can be no partnership with a nation that uses force to intimidate tiny democracies.

(c) 2008 Intelligencer Journal. Provided by ProQuest LLC. All rights Reserved.