Despite a ceasefire plea from Georgia, Russia has escalated the war and continues its brutal military campaign against the tiny nation.
The Sun is reporting that Russia seeks to open a new front in the conflict in Abkhazian and has video of the South Ossetia battle zone.
America has shamefully abandoned our Georgian allies:
International opinion hardened against Russia, which has been roundly accused of a “disproportionate reaction” to Georgia’s move into South Ossetia last week. Jim Jeffrey, the US’s deputy National Security Advisor, told reporters: “We have made it clear to the Russians that if the disproportionate and dangerous escalation on the Russian side continues, that this will have a significant long-term impact on US-Russian relations.”
But American diplomats conceded that the US had few options and ruled out military intervention on behalf of Georgia. “We have no good options,” a US National Security Council official told The Daily Telegraph. “We need Russia’s co-operation over Iran and derailing that over a localised conflict in Georgia makes no sense. We just have to hope that diplomacy prevails. The next necessary step is for Russia to respond positively to Georgia’s ceasefire declaration.”
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov told US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice that Mikheil Saakashvili, the president of Georgia, “must go”. Mr Lavrov said Russia would continue its military action in South Ossetia due to the “continuing direct threat to Russian citizens”.
That’s a nice repayment for being a loyal ally of America. We’re allowing Putin to to basically use Hitler’s Czech invasion excuse on one of our staunchest allies and we are doing nothing. How many countries will ally themselves with us after this display? After we ignore the Georgians’ pleas for help?
Breitbart and The Guardian have more on the conflict. G.S.G.F. has must read commentary on the Russian call for Georgian regime change and their tit-for-tat politics.
The President of Georgia has an op-ed in WSJ that lays out what is at stake for the world:
Ostensibly, this war is about an unresolved separatist conflict. Yet in reality, it is a war about the independence and the future of Georgia. And above all, it is a war over the kind of Europe our children will live in. Let us be frank: This conflict is about the future of freedom in Europe.
No country of the former Soviet Union has made more progress toward consolidating democracy, eradicating corruption and building an independent foreign policy than Georgia. This is precisely what Russia seeks to crush.
This conflict is therefore about our common trans-Atlantic values of liberty and democracy. It is about the right of small nations to live freely and determine their own future. It is about the great power struggles for influence of the 20th century, versus the path of integration and unity defined by the European Union of the 21st. Georgia has made its choice.
When my government was swept into power by a peaceful revolution in 2004, we inherited a dysfunctional state plagued by two unresolved conflicts dating to the early 1990s. I pledged to reunify my country — not by the force of arms, but by making Georgia a pole of attraction. I wanted the people living in the conflict zones to share in the prosperous, democratic country that Georgia could — and has — become.
[…]
Under any circumstances, Russia’s meddling in our domestic affairs would have constituted a gross violation of international norms. But its actions were made more egregious by the fact that Russia, since the 1990s, has been entrusted with the responsibility of peacekeeping and mediating in Abkhazia and South Ossetia. Rather than serve as honest broker, Russia became a direct party to the conflicts, and now an open aggressor.
As Europe expanded its security institutions to the Black Sea, my government appealed to the Western community of nations — particularly European governments and institutions — to play a leading role in resolving our separatist conflicts. The key to any resolution was to replace the outdated peacekeeping and negotiating structures created almost two decades ago, and dominated by Russia, with a genuine international effort.
But Europe kept its distance and, predictably, Russia escalated its provocations. Our friends in Europe counseled restraint, arguing that diplomacy would take its course. We followed their advice and took it one step further, by constantly proposing new ideas to resolve the conflicts. Just this past spring, we offered the separatist leaders sweeping autonomy, international guarantees and broad representation in our government.
Our offers of peace were rejected. Moscow sought war. In April, Russia began treating the Georgian regions of Abkhazia and South Ossetia as Russian provinces. Again, our friends in the West asked us to show restraint, and we did. But under the guise of peacekeeping, Russia sent paratroopers and heavy artillery into Abkhazia. Repeated provocations were designed to bring Georgia to the brink of war.
When this failed, the Kremlin turned its attention to South Ossetia, ordering its proxies there to escalate attacks on Georgian positions. My government answered with a unilateral cease-fire; the separatists began attacking civilians and Russian tanks pierced the Georgian border. We had no choice but to protect our civilians and restore our constitutional order. Moscow then used this as pretext for a full-scale military invasion of Georgia.
He ends with this ominous statement:
If Georgia falls, this will also mean the fall of the West in the entire former Soviet Union and beyond. Leaders in neighboring states — whether in Ukraine, in other Caucasian states or in Central Asia — will have to consider whether the price of freedom and independence is indeed too high.
As high as the cost of freedom must be, the cost of our cowardice in the face of the resurgent red menace will be even higher.
Update: Via Gateway Pundit Putin attacks U.S. and says Russia is the real victim!
Update: Russia has “overrun” Georgia, routing the army and taking what was undisputed Georgian territory. Georgian officials are claiming Russian forces have cut the country in half by taking the main highway and seizing towns and at least one military base deep in western Georgia. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Georgia has a blog up to keep people updated.
Update: Russian hackers run amok, forcing Georgia’s President to move his site to a U.S. hosting company. Bush has given a toothless warning to Putin.
