The Americans Finally Launch ‘Operation Saakashvili’s Salvation’: From Russia’s Novosti
For those interested in some Russian commentary on the Georgia crisis, this article by Andrei Fedyashin of Russia’s Novosti news service will prove suitable.
Fedyashin reflects the Kremlin’s disdain for the Georgia president, and highlights the machinations that Russians believe are behind Georgia’s attempt to regain control of South Ossetia – particularly during the Olympic Games.
“It took the United States exactly a week to understand the damage that Mikheil Saakashvili’s ‘Ossetian blitzkrieg’ has caused him and his ‘Rose Democracy.’ Finally it seems, Washington has launched operation ‘Saakashvili’s Salvation’ in earnest.
“You don’t need to have the keenest insight to understand that the ‘humanitarian bridge’ being erected by the Pentagon has little to do with the humanitarian needs of Georgia. This is the first concrete step taken to support Saakashvili – steps that were not in evidence in the early days of his invasion of South Ossetia. … It’s telling that a week after the event, Washington has only now begun to lash out at the Kremlin.” And then later, “it’s hard to believe that a stateswoman as formidable as ‘Teflon Condi’ was unable to make it clear to Saakashvili what the White House wants or doesn’t want him to do.”
After deriding ‘teflon Condi’ and U.S. diplomacy in general, one-by-one, Fedyashin dismisses all of the likely sanctions that the West may impose on Russia for the way it has behaved.
By Andrei Fedyashin
Translated By Igor Medvedev
August 15, 2008
Russia – Novosti – Original Article (Russia)
MOSCOW: It took the United States exactly a week to understand the damage that Mikheil Saakashvili’s “Ossetian blitzkrieg” has caused him and his “Rose Democracy.” Finally it seems, Washington has launched operation “Saakashvili’s Salvation” in earnest. At the same time, a diplomatic battle is unfolding to untie the “Caucasian knot.” Regrettably, this struggle will be harder for Russia to win than any military clash. On August 14, U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice arrived in Paris to meet with President Nicolas Sarkozy, and then immediately flew to Tbilisi for talks with Saakashvili on August 15. Meanwhile, President George W. Bush authorized the beginning of a humanitarian aid effort for Georgia. The first U.S. Air Force C-17 cargo planes loaded with medicine and food have already arrived. And simultaneously along the Georgian coast, several U.S. naval vessels have arrived from the Persian Gulf to prevent Russia from blocking the “humanitarian aid.”
You don’t need to have the keenest insight to understand that the “humanitarian bridge” being erected by the Pentagon’ has little to do with the humanitarian needs of Georgia. This is the first concrete step taken to support Saakashvili – steps that were not in evidence in the early days of his invasion of South Ossetia. The Georgian leader even began to complain openly that the initial statements of the Bush Administration to address the conflict were too “soft” and that he wasn’t receiving “adequate support.” This was clearly not what he expected from those who pushed him into his “Ossetian raid.”
READ ON AT WORLDMEETS.US, along with continuing translated foreign press coverage of the unfolding crisis in the Caucasus.
3 Responses to “The Americans Finally Launch ‘Operation Saakashvili’s Salvation’: From Russia’s Novosti”
We have no business being in that Hemisphere flexing.
BigOil is the cause of all of it, from suppressed alternative technology at home to lying to Congress about and excuse to invade.
And Russia means to discipline us out of that region, as they should.
We would do the same to them if they invaded Mexico.
At the root of the weed lies BigOil's monopoly and greed. I say, let's pull it out already.
Just say no to BigOil politics. Give Russia the benefit of the doubt folks. Put the shoe on the other foot..
It seems to me that the best way to eliminate “BigOil” from power politics is to render oil as irrelevant as possible. We do not — and never will — have much leverage on the demand side. As T Boone points out, “This is a crisis we can't drill our way out of”. But we can develop significant leverage on the supply side. All we need is the necessary leadership and determination.
I suppose I should also mention I am quite convinced that someday pigs will fly. Lol!
Seriously though, I do think that one lesson we learned from the Cold War (you know, the first one) is that the most effective way to counter a militarily powerful enemy is to bring them to their knees economically. And what else does Russia have besides oil and gas?
Rico, what else does Russia have? Mega natural resources besides oil and gas plus all kinds of neat military stuff like tanks,personnel carriers, airplanes, and personal weapons like the RPG and the AK series of battle rifles-which are the best in the world.
I did find one very major error in the opinion piece from the Russian. He stated that several US Navy ships had left the Gulf region and were, at that time, cruising off the coast of Georgia. One look at a map should be enough to disprove that statement, as Georgia fronts on the Black Sea, so any US ships would have to go thru the Suez canal then would have to get Turkey's permission to enter the Black Sea. This must be for domestic consumption only as any international reporter who is worth his salt-admittedly few and far between-would point out this falsehood and wonder about the rest of the piece. At any rate, Bush only wanted to send the USNS Comfort-a hospital ship-to Georgia, a plan not only nixed by the Pentagon, but also by Turkey, which has refused entry by any US Naval vessels to the Black Sea as an unnecessary provocation and likely to further inflame the Russians-with whom Turkey is a near neighbor.