Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin cranked up the rhetoric again today by accusing the United States of orchestrating the Georgian conflict in order to benefit a presidential candidate. While I do no believe this claim I wondered what, exactly, are the facts surrounding the conflict. Is Russia the “bad guy” in the story, is Russia trying to bring together the old communist union or is this country simply defending their rights as an independent nation.
Who attacked who?
The tension between Russia and Georgia has existed since 1991, if not longer. In this conflict, Georgia attacked the Russian backed Ossetian militia on or about August 7th. Russia responded by sending tanks in to support the militia. (source)
What has the rest of the world done in response?
The United States and NATO called on Russia to suspend it’s military operations. Furthermore, the US has sent two shipments of aid to Georgia.
Will the U.S. join in this conflict?
While I do not have a crystal ball, I do know that Georgia is not a member of NATO. My guess would be no.
My take on the situation is this: you have years of emotion and national pride on both sides. It looks like Georgia attacked Ossetia first, but not Russian territory and, as a results, both sides are pointing fingers attempting to lay the blame on the other party.
Did the U.S. orchestrate this attack? No. Did the U.S. do anything to stop this attack? No. Why? I think it is safe to say simply because the U.S. has no control over the Georgian government, they can choose their own path as an independent country.
With the cold war talk flying around between Russia and the US, I can see how tension between our two countries has grown. Russia has quickly turned from poor communist country into a wealthy power to be reckoned with due to their abundance of natural resources and it seems that as their wealth has grown, so has their desire to set the political tone in Eastern Europe. In this case, however, I believe the national pride on both sides (Russia and Georgia) are to blame.
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