Russian Farce and U.S. Inaction

C.T.

The urgency with which the United States needs to intervene in the Caucus region is becoming paramount. Russia's actions are definitely earning them a place on the terror list in the GWOT (Global War on Terror).

This does not admonish the Georgians from there impetuous jump at South Ossetia, nor their miscalculation for NATO and U.S. support. But, the core issue is not their grievous errors, no matter what they would have done or how they would have handled it Russia is and was hell bent on destroying the small democracy. The real problem is how Russia engaged the problem of a potential EU, US, and NATO presence in the area and how they are continuing to carry out this policy.

This is more of a war against the West and its perceived interference in the area, another "proxy war" if you want to call it that. Georgia is the victim since it was the player that has opened the door to Amero/Euro influence in the area. The Russians have felt boxed in and I am sure some of our local apologists will blame the big bad imperialists here in the States for attempting to spread organic democracy to a people who welcomed it with open arms. Here is a timeline of the conflict provided by the Georgian Ministry of Foreign Affairs blog, via the Jawa Report. Of course this is slanted towards the Georgians, but it does show, along with other sources, the regime change that Russia seems to be seeking.

Monday, August 11 - 20:20 Tbilisi, Georgia

At this hour, the invading army of the Russian Federation has entered Georgian territory outside the conflict zones of Abkhazia and South Ossetia. The Georgian army is retreating to defend the capital. The Government is urgently seeking international intervention to prevent the fall of Georgia and the further loss of life. "We no longer know the limits of the invading Russian army—Russia seems intent on overthrowing the democratically elected government of Georgia and occupying the country," said Alexander Lomaia, the Secretary of the National Security Council. "As a consequence, the National Security Council has just decided to bring the Georgian army to Tbilisi in order to defend the capital and prevent the fall of Georgia." [1]

Although there was no obvious Russian buildup on the border to think that they were not intent on getting ready to invade if given the chance is naive. Even US defense officials were surprised by the magnitude and speed of the Russian offensive.

"We were tracking it earlier in that week and we knew that things were escalating," said a military official, who asked not to be identified. "I can tell you it moved quicker than we anticipated that first day." [2]

The Russians handled this very cleverly as can be seen by this. Timeline is mid-July.

At around the same time, the Russian military deployed 8,000 troops to the North Caucases for counter-terrorism exercises that Moscow said were unrelated to the tensions with its southern neighbor. [2]

But of course all of this was just the tip of the spear of a peace keeping mission, not full on aggression against Georgia with the intent of destroying the small democracy. Then why this?

The US defense official said about 8,000 to 10,000 Russian troops have moved into South Ossetia. They also have flown SU-25, SU-24, SU-27 and TU-22 fighters and bombers during the campaign. [2]

We are talking about Russian strategic bombers and fighters, 500 tanks and artie pieces, and a division or two of ground troops. I don't every remember a "peace keeping force" needing that kind of fire power.

Tbilisi had realized they had made a strategic error and were not going to win this one, so they did what was asked of them they mediated a cease fire.

Following the weekend hostilities, the Government made a new push for peace in both South Ossetia and Abkhazia regions.“We need direct talks with the separatists to help put an end to this escalation,” said Reintegration Minister Temur Yakobashvili. [1]

and

Even as Saakashvili signed a cease-fire pledge Monday with European mediators, Russia flexed its military muscle and appeared determined to subdue the small U.S. ally, which has been pressing for NATO membership. [3]

Here is the Russian response to the cease-fire initiative.

Russia's massive and multi-pronged offensive has drawn wide criticism from the West, but Russia has rejected calls for a cease-fire and said it was acted to protect its citizens. Most residents of the separatist regions have Russian passports. [3]

The more you explore this the more you realize that Georgia provoked this by allowing themselves to be baited by the Russians, who were preparing for this all along. But the Russian reasons for carrying on this invasion is a complete farce and it does not take a diplomat or a military expert to realize this. No matter what got us here it was inevitable and there must be a massive show of military force by the US. We are partially responsible for this situation by our unapologetic support of Georgia and helped speed up this war. Not that our support of Georgia was wrong. But, if we do not react, this will show the other democracies in the area that ties with the US will not be tolerated and that we have no real commitment to them, just lip service. Also, it will empower the Russians to make more strategic and tactical moves against its neighboors and the West.

It is imperative that we send a military presence to the area under the guise of humanitarian relief. We do not need to engage the Russians, just let them know we are there for Georgia and their incursion and tyranny will not be tolerated. The "Evil Empire" is raising its ugly head once again and it might be time for us to cut it off once and for all.

C.T.

[1] Ministry of Foreign Affairs Georgia
[2] US military surprised by speed, timing of Russia military action
[3] Russia opens new front, drives deeper into Georgia