SSR Forever

Friday August 8th 2008 – Although I would profoundly enjoy writing about the Beijing Olympics, and its politisation, Vladimir Putin has decided to deny me this happiness by invading the former soviet socialist republic of Georgia. I am well aware that Dimitri Medvedev is the current president of Russia yet somehow Putin is the one speaking to the media and attending the opening ceremonies of the Beijing Olympiads (on the very same hour that 150 soviet, sorry I mean, Russian tanks crossed the Russian border into Georgia). Since the invasion, thousands are dead in what few have correctly dubbed ‘’all-out war’’. Pointing fingers has begun therefore I though I would help you point your own instead of letting fox news do it for you.

One could say this began with the dismemberment of the Soviet Union and the creation of Georgia in the early 1990s. Being a small republic in the Caucasus Mountains, Georgia has limited resources to affirm its independence and autonomy from its massive Russian neighbour/former overlord. Furthermore, just as Russia has to contend with the separatist peoples of Chechnya, Dagestan and Ingushetia (among many others), Georgia has two secessionist provinces: Abkhazia and South Ossetia. Both these regions are populated by a majority of ethnic Russians yet are internationally recognized as belonging to the Georgian central gouvernment within the established borders of its country. South Ossetia went on the offensive following the end of the cold war and declared itself an independent state in 1992, thus deepening the internal rift severely. To this day, none of the 195 countries of the planet (ironically including Russia) have recognized the legitimacy of this separation although Russia has granted them citizenship in 2007.

Now that the table has been set, we are ready for a point-counterpoint of the soviet…I mean Russian invasion in South Ossetia this Friday.

At first, Georgian president Mikhail Saakashvili was sending armed forces to the separatist-held region for a week before the incident. The details and objectives of this operation remain vague yet there were no reports of violence or casualties by international observers. Saakashvili relates that he was simply trying to keep peace in the region and thus maintain the internal stability of his country (who is trying to join NATO). Suddenly, President Medvedev of Russia decided to send over 150 Soviet tanks into Georgia to help the peacekeeping effort (presumably after being told to do so by Putin). Two things strike me as strange with this occurrence: a) my father was a United Nations Peacekeeper for decades yet has never promoted peace by entering a region with 150 tanks b) What right does Russia have to enter another country and help when no one asked them? Medvedev evokes the right to protect all Russian citizens yet I fail to believe 150 tanks would be sent to Little Russia in New York if they were being turbulent.

The situation rapidly degenerated as Russia accused Georgia of ethnically cleansing the Russians of South Ossetia (1 day AFTER they invaded) to justify their actions and Georgia accused the Russian tanks and fighter jets of attacking civilian targets. They both deny any wrongdoing and listening to their official statements, you would think they are calmly having tea and biscuits in South Ossetia right now. Fortunately, international media are reporting the thousands of dead civilians and soldiers and heavily armed clashes in progress. We are told and vividly shown that the capital of the region, Tskhinval has been obliterated. Furthermore, Russia has invaded the other breakaway region of Abkhazia and is air bombing the Georgian capital, Tbilissi. Something must be done and everyone has an opinion about how and why.

The politicians of the world have a clear enounced goal: the immediate cessation of hostilities in Georgia. Most of them then suggest that Russia remove its tanks, apologize, promise they won’t do it again and go to bed without dessert. John McCain (Republican candidate for the United States presidency) even accused Moscow of attacking Georgia to undermine the Georgian adoption of western values such as freedom and democracy. Apparently everything east of Germany is a military dictatorship or communist wasteland; clearly McCain suffers from PTSD (Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder) from his Vietnam days (vote Obama). Unfortunately, it is not so clear, as I have elaborated. Georgia is possibly oppressing and even murdering the Ossetians who are ethnically and linguistically Russian. Furthermore, Georgia was a province of the Soviet Empire for half a century and therefore still has close economic, political and emotional ties to the motherland. Isn’t Russia correct in wanting to defend its people, even if it means shattering its own international relations, invading another country and possibly going to war? With the lack of transparency that has characterized the Russian government since the early XXth century and the suspiciously talkative President Saakashvili on the opposing side, we are heavily saturated with either our own wild guesses or abundant misinformation. I am absolutely sure it is in everyone’s best interest to stop the armed conflict and discuss a compromise (so that Russia doesn’t lose face and Georgia isn’t bombed off the world map). If we absolutely must assign blame, I leave you with an eerily similar parallel in history from 70 years ago.

The Sudetenland is a German name given to the western portion of the Czech Republic (formerly Czechoslovakia). In 1938 a man named Konrad Henlein led a separatist party in the Czech capital of Prague. He and 3 million of his fellow Sudeten-Germans had a historic attachment to the Fatherland and thus wanted to rejoin Deutschland. The 1930s had seen skirmish after skirmish erupt within the Czech region between the two ethnic groups without a proper diplomatic outcome foreseeable. Finally, seeing the plight of a German-speaking, German-cultured peoples of the Sudetenland, Germany sent tanks to invade and annex the region into their Kingdom. International outrage followed as Germany easily silenced the Czech guns, yet nothing concrete was done to punish the outrageous violation of the Czech nation. British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain even went to Munich to meet with the Germans and signed a treaty (The Munich Accords) that formally agreed with the German imperative to protect their people in the Sudetenland as long as they no longer threatened any existing border in Europe. The Germans happily agreed; “Peace in our time” yelled Chamberlain as he exited the plane in London. They would not have to go to war with the Germans because their leader, chancellor Adolf Hitler had noble motives for taking a chunk of Czechoslovakia. The epilogue of this historical excerpt includes the annexation of Czechoslovakia as a whole, as well as most of Europe and over 50 million dead but that story is for another day.

(Pictured: British PM Chamberlain, French President Daladier, German Chancellor Hitler and Italian leader Mussolini signing the Munich accords - The Russian tanks of aid, justice and peace enter Georgia - Georgian shooter Nino Salukvadze and Russian shooter Natalia Paderina embrace as they receive olympic bronze and gold medals respectively this weekend)

End.