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Monday 11 August 2008

Georgia on my Mind

From Lawyers, Guns and Money :

We're likely to here quite a lot from the right about Russian perfidy in the next couple of days, but the situation is, of course, a lot more complicated than all that. Both the Abkhazians and the South Ossetians would, apparently, rather not be part of Georgia. The Georgians are, I think, correct to suggest that this isn't the full story; ethnic cleansing of Georgians has taken place in both locales, both are pretty much run by gangsters, and the Russians have been playing non-stop shenanigans. Principles also clash; countries shouldn't be able to just set up private fiefdoms in neighboring countries, but people shouldn't be forced to live in countries where they don't want to live.


Information from MSM is sparse and contradictory. One of the best summaries is at the blog mentioned above, in the section Confrontation in the Caucasus.

So far we have the Georgians claiming to have essentially surrendered over Ossetia, but the Russians keeping on going into Georgia and attacking the city of Gori despite this, with paratroops and forces entering Abkharzia too; A naval blockade, with the Georgian Navy coming off second best against overwhelming enemy forces near the port of Poti; And Abkharzian forces making hay while the sun shines, with 1000 troops set to attack (with Russian aid?) the strategic Kodori gorge.

We don't know enough though, the information is too poor at this stage to say exactly what is happening. Or more importantly, why.

Update: Also worth a look is Our Man in Tblisi.

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2 comments:

  1. Rob KTuesday, August 12, 2008 7:39:00 am

    Georgia's oil pipeline threatens Russia's position as energy supplier to Europe. If not for that, I imagine Russia would have ignored the Ossetians.

    ReplyDelete
  2. RickahyattSunday, October 12, 2008 2:28:00 pm

    This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

    ReplyDelete

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