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.
