Posted on 08/10/2008 12:18:52 PM PDT by flyfree
The tiny Republic of Georgia, which straddles the land bridge between the world’s largest lake and the largest inland sea, is home to five million people. Both in population and in size, it is smaller than the other Georgia most Americans know. And yet, that miniscule country has provided 2,000 soldiers to assist our mission in Iraq. Why?
The answer to that question is obvious when you look at a list of countries who have forces here. Among the thirty nations are all three Baltic Republics, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Kazakhistan, and the Ukraine–each one a former Soviet Republic–along with several former Soviet Bloc countries including Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, and Romania. These are all countries who knew oppression. They knew fear. And they knew death at the hands of dictators.
They knew one other thing too. They knew the power of America to transform a hopeless situation. They knew that America didn’t abandon them. Sure it took a while, but they knew that America would persevere. And that they would persevere. And that they would win. And they did win.
That’s why, when in the sixth year of this war, when much of the rest of the world has abandoned America, when even many Americans have abandoned America, they who know best the horror of oppression, and the strength of the American spirit, have not abandoned us here in Iraq.
Albania, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Macedonia, Slovenia, and all the rest who have been allowed out out from behind the Iron Curtain are now looking at America to watch what we do for Georgia.
(Excerpt) Read more at bobkrumm.com ...
It would appear we have have abandoned an ally to the Russian Bear, after all its not “our fight.”
Thats the convenient line right now isn’t it.
Poor little Georgia,Taiwan take notes,your next.
After all its not “our fight.”
Now back to the Laffolympics.
We’ve given them a lot already with the Train and Equip program and 5 years of training.
Who really, could blame the rest of the world for thinking that America may or may not support their friends, depending upon which way the wind blows.
susie
>We’ve given them a lot already with the Train and Equip program and 5 years of training.
Most of that was so they could help us in Iraq
That was the primary goal or secondary effect/benefit?
That was the primary goal or secondary effect/benefit?
That was the primary goal or secondary effect/benefit?
Can you repeat that one more time please.....
This is getting old. We'll do something, okay. But facing off against Russia is not the something we will do. I'm sure the Bush administration is working this full time. Get real.
It’s not our fight, but I also think it’s a little more complicated than that. Otherwise, why the silence from the rest of Europe - and from Iran, on whose border this statelet lies?
Supposedly, this breakaway state was attacked by Georgia. Personally, I doubt that it was an actual attack; there seems to have been some shelling going on, but evidently this is nothing unusual in the region. In any case, the Russians, who support the breakaway state and have done so for more than 10 years, came in to support it against Georgia.
I think the reason you’re not hearing anything from either Bush or Putin is that this is, in fact, a very confused situation. My big question is, why now? Why would Ossetia go hot now? Why would Georgia strike it now, when it has ignored these provocations for a long time? The Russians were prepared because they had been doing war games in the area, but why were they even doing that? Who knew - and how - that this might heat up?
Liberal, appeasing, self-disarming, peace-at-any-cost governments allow an aggressive state to mistreat an ally in the hope that this will be the end of the aggression. This same scenario lead to an otherwise unnecessary WWII.
Glenn wrote:
It would appear we have have abandoned an ally to the Russian Bear, after all its not “our fight.”
This is getting old. We’ll do something, okay. But facing off against Russia is not the something we will do. I’m sure the Bush administration is working this full time. Get real.”
I’m sorry I guess your dog-eared Tom Clancy novels have given you a far greater grasp of Realpolitiik than me.
Pffffft. You're being irrational. Nothing I can do to help you with that.
The problem is that Georgia was supposedly “mistreating” the separatist state, Ossetia, first, leading to Russian involvement (since Russia has always supported Ossetia, whose people are not ethnic Georgians).
I think we should be very careful about rushing into what is esentially a centuries-old morass of ethnic rivalries and alliances that we do not understand at all. That’s exactly what led us to take the wrong side in Bosnia.
Did we, as an ally, express our displeasure at this supposed mistreatment? I am sufficiently ignorant of the particulars, as is anyone relying on international news reporting. I sense friction and see historical analogies and similarities...we live in interesting times.
Iraq and Afghanistan were Georgia’s fight?
I guess they committed 10% of their standing army to get brownie points or sumthin’?
Eggzackly, we should be very careful about rushing into what is esentially a centuries-old morass of ethnic rivalries and alliances that we do not understand....that is what led us to take the wrong side in Bosnia & Kosovo.
“Albania, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Macedonia, Slovenia, and all the rest who have been allowed out out from behind the Iron Curtain are now looking at America to watch what we do for Georgia.”
MORE than them - the WHOLE world is watching while bully Putin kicks sand in our faces and Bush is wasting time in Red China.
Sorry kid, no more freebies ;)
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