Continuing on with our European coverage of the crisis in Georgia, this article by Karl Grobe of the German newspaper Frankfurter Rundschau, written just after the crisis mushroomed last week, contains a number of arresting comments that convey the gravity of the situation.
“This is now more than a limited confrontation within the borders of what maps call Georgia. This is war. … Should this turn into a proxy war between ‘East’ and ‘West,’ it will mean a global confrontation. ”
And what, in Grobe’s opinion can and should be done?:
“Moscow and Washington both have the power to bring the warring parties to heel – but both refuse to give an inch, and by hesitating as well as ramping up the rhetoric, they only fuel the flames.”
By Karl Grobe
Translated By Ulf Behncke
August 9, 2008
Germany – Frankfurter Rundschau – Original Article (German)
There is no Olympic peace to be had, certainly not in the Caucasus. The constantly-increasing gunfire over the past week is about to escalate into an all-out war, and it’s hard to imagine that it will remain limited to the Republic of Georgia and its renegade province of South Ossetia. Georgian troops have advanced into the South Ossetian capital of Tskhinvali. Abkhazia, the other secessionist region, has announced that it will send volunteers to support South Ossetia: which means the threat of a two-front war on Georgian territory looms.
In the Olympic City of Beijing, Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin spoke of forceful countermeasures and President Dmitry Medvedev examined Russia’s options in this, the first crisis of his tenure. Meanwhile, Georgia’s head of state Mikheil Saakashvili mobilized all of his reserve forces. This is now more than a limited confrontation within the borders of what maps call Georgia. This is war.
The Georgian government has international law on its side: the separation of the two regions and their declarations of independence haven’t been recognized by any other nation. From this, President Saakashvili infers that any military action to re-establish national unity is legitimate. So far, so good. But the fact that he was still talking of a ceasefire on Thursday while his military advance toward Tskhinvali was well underway – things like this take planning, they don’t just happen – doesn’t identify him as the most honest politician in the region.
READ ON AT WORLDMEETS.US, along with continuing translated foreign press coverage of the unfolding crisis in the Caucuses.
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