On Mon, Aug 11, 2008 at 4:15 PM, <dredmond at efn.org> wrote:
> On Mon, August 11, 2008 8:00 am, Doug Henwood wrote:
>
> > <http://www.spiked-online.com/index.php?/site/article/5568/>
> > Georgia: the messy truth behind the morality tale
> > [by Brendan O'Neill]
> >
> > Not surprisingly, Russia has exploited the affair to re-assert its
> > punctured and waning authority in its neighbouring state. Its terrible
> > assaults on Georgian territory and military buildings are an attempt not
> > only to weaken Georgia but also to send a message to the other former
> > Soviet republics and to Washington itself.
>
> I don't know about terrible - it looks like Russia is trying to limit
> civilian casualties, by targeting the barracks, artillery units, and
> aircraft Georgia was using to blast Ossetia to smithereens. Maybe
> Saakashvili thought he was taking on the Russia of 1995 -- enfeebled,
> chaotic, ridden with oligarchic parasites. He probably figured, even if I
> get bogged down, the Russians will overreact and bomb the hell out of
> Tbilisi, forcing the West to intervene.
>
> Instead, Medvedev sent in the Spetsnaz (who kicked the $%^@ out of
> Georgia's NATO-trained forces) and ordered the prosecutors to gather
> evidence of Georgian war crimes for a future international tribunal. From
> all accounts, the Russian armed forces have performed with
> professionalism, efficiency and rigorous fire control. Russia has clearly
> arrived as a geopolitical powerhouse.
>
> -- DRR
>
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