Rattling the Cage: Sympathy for
the aggressor
By LARRY DERFNER
13/08/08 "Jerusalem
Post" -- - Until a week ago, I didn't know
anything at all about Russia's conflict with Georgia, and I'd
never even heard of South Ossetia or Abkhazia. But since there
was a war going on and it was rivaling the Olympics as the big
story, I started following the developments. I Googled a few
articles for background. By now, I'd say I'm fairly up to speed.
I know about as much about the Russian-Georgian war as the
average news consumer.
And the way I see it, the world's reaction has it backward. I
don't see Russia as the bad guy in this fight, but more than
that, I don't see Georgia as the good guy.
I CAME to this issue from about as neutral a position as could
be. I'm suspicious and fearful of Russia, especially with
Vladimir Putin as its leader. But I don't think of Georgia, or
any of those countries in the Caucasus or the Balkans or
anywhere else in Borat-land, as being peace-loving or tolerant
or otherwise essentially different from Russia. Georgia is where
Stalin came from, right? I know I'm exposing my ignorance and
prejudice, but I want to be honest. I had no dog in this fight.
So after the war started, I began reading and watching the news,
and I see the pictures of people dying, wailing in agony,
running for their lives amid the bombs destroying their homes.
It's a humanitarian disaster and everybody's blaming Russia -
the US, the EU and if not the Israeli government, then certainly
the Israeli media.
Why would that be? Well, Russia is clearly the Goliath in this
fight. Russia under Putin is becoming a dictatorship again,
while Georgia is awfully overmatched; Georgia is David, the
underdog. So I can see some basic reasons for the world to have
an emotional affinity for little Georgia against big, bad
Russia.
But now let's find out the facts of this war, such as who
started it. I read The New York Times, AP, Wikipedia and The
Jerusalem Post, I watch BBC and Sky News and everybody is saying
Georgia started it. There had been some shooting and skirmishes
with the locals in South Ossetia, which is an enclave in Georgia
on the border with Russia, and then Georgia shelled Tskhinvali,
the capital of South Ossetia, and sent its troops in to take
over. Anywhere from hundreds to thousands of civilians were
killed, and tens of thousands became refugees. That was the
start of the war. Then Russia retaliated overwhelmingly against
Georgia.
ALL RIGHT, so Georgia started it. But that doesn't necessarily
mean Georgia was wrong; maybe it was a war of self-defense, a
justified war. So let's see - what are the facts about the
territory they were fighting over, South Ossetia? Which side are
the people of South Ossetia on, Georgia's or Russia's? The
70,000 people of South Ossetia, it turns out, are what the media
describe as "pro-Russian." South Ossetia is what the media
describe as a "breakaway province" inside Georgia. Which country
is South Ossetia breaking away from? It's breaking away from
Georgia. It fought a war of secession against Georgia in the
early 1990s. So did Abkhazia, another "pro-Russian, breakaway
province" in Georgia on the Russian border.
The people of South Ossetia and Abkhazia identify with Russia,
not Georgia. Most of them have Russian passports. Over the past
week, the fighters in South Ossetia and Abkhazia fought with
Russian troops against Georgian troops.
And finally, those tens of thousands of war refugees from South
Ossetia - to which country did they flee for safety? To Russia.
And who went to meet them? Putin.
So what we've got here is a bloody war started by Georgia
against a small, pro-Russian province it wants to rule - against
the will of the people who live there. And when Russia
retaliates against Georgia, the people of South Ossetia, along
with the people of Abkhazia - the true victims of this war, the
true underdogs, the true Davids - are grateful to Russia for
saving them.
YET THE world's sympathy goes to Georgia, and its condemnation
goes to Russia. Why?
Because Russia has a bad history, because Russia was the West's
nemesis in the 20th century, because Russia wants to be an
empire again, because Russia is much stronger than Georgia -
while Georgia calls itself a democracy, Georgia is the darling
of the Bush administration, Georgia's president speaks good
English and knows all the buzz words like "values" and "human
rights" that Westerners love to hear, and because Georgia defies
big, bad Russia.
All this is true. But none of it changes the fact that in this
war, Georgia was the aggressor and Russia the defender.
Now that Georgia has lost the war, the world is saying that
President Mikheil Saakashvili made a "miscalculation" by
starting it. Again, the world is wrong. Starting a war of
conquest that kills and maims thousands of people is not a
miscalculation, it's a horrible, detestable crime. The world
should save its sympathy for South Ossetia and Abkhazia. I'm
sorry for my ignorance and prejudice, but these days, when I
think of Georgia, I think of the place Stalin came from.
© 1995 - 2007 The Jerusalem Post. All rights reserved.
Click
on "comments" below to read or post
comments
Comment
Guidelines
Be
succinct, constructive and relevant to the story.
We encourage
engaging, diverse and meaningful commentary. Do
not include personal information such as names,
addresses, phone numbers and emails. Comments
falling outside our guidelines – those
including personal attacks and profanity –
are not permitted.
See our complete Comment
Policy and use
this link to notify us if you have
concerns about a comment. We’ll promptly
review and remove any inappropriate postings.
Send
Page To a Friend
In
accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, this
material is distributed without profit to those
who have expressed a prior interest in receiving
the included information for research and
educational purposes. Information Clearing House
has no affiliation whatsoever with the originator
of this article nor is Information ClearingHouse
endorsed or sponsored by the originator.)
|
