Appeasing Russia

A couple of points:
1 In the international media the background to the Russian-Georgian war is given starting from last week and the bombing of Tshinvali. The military conflict has actually been going on for some years with Russian military planes flying over Georgia and ???unidentified??? bombs and rockets falling into Georgia.
2 The cyberattacks on Georgia started a day before the bombing of Tshinvali.
3 The Russian citizens in South Ossetia to whose aid Russia purportedly rushed were manufactured by Russia in the last few years. Russia simply handed out its passports to anyone who wanted them in South Ossetia.
4 The claim that a war is to defend civilians is ridiculous from a logical standpoint alone. Any peace is better than war for civilians. A country whose primary goal was to protect civilians would not go to war or if it was already in one would withdraw as quickly as possible. That applies to all wars, not just the present one in Georgia.
5 Russia claims that the South Ossetians chose independence from Georgia in a referendum in 2004. A fair referendum in Russian-controlled territory is a contradiction in terms but perhaps South Ossetians really prefer to secede. If Russia wants Ossetians to be independent, it should first grant independence to North Ossetia that is currently part of Russia. That would be a very powerful argument in favour of South Ossetian independence. Russia of course just wants to expand its territory and will incorporate South Ossetia into itself, not give it independence.
6 Russia claims Georgia has perpetrated genocide in South Ossetia. Considering the number of international advisers, consultants, monitors and no doubt spies in Georgia now a genocide would have been noticed very quickly. No other sources besides Russian ones have confirmed the genocide allegations however. A genocide can be carried out relatively unnoticed only in remote and isolated territories where a great power is denying access to the international community. That happened for example in Chechenya where Russia strongly discouraged international observation.
7 There are many similarities between the rhetoric and behaviour of Germany in 1938 and Russia in 2008, for example the defending of one???s citizens abroad argument, accusing a smaller country of attacking a larger one, claiming that the world is biased against them, fostering separatism and ethnic conflict in its neighbours??? territories. Carl Bildt drew some good parallels between Russia and Hitler???s Germany in a recent article.
8 On the internet the Russian viewpoint is more widely represented than the Georgian simply because the number of potential commenters and bloggers in Russia is much larger than in Georgia.

The method Russia seems to be using in gaining its objective of restoring the Soviet Union is to separate a piece from another country and then move in its ???piecekeepers??? to keep that piece for itself.

Could NewsWeek write a similar article about the U.S. invading Iraq in 2003, despite strong European opposition and world condemnation? The author of this article just want to show how arrogant he can be. Where was NewsWeek when Saakashvili sent all his forces to South Ossetia and cleansed all Russophones, just 3 hours after declaring a ceasefire?

Could NewsWeek write a similar article about the United States invading Iraq, despite strong European opposition? The author of this article just want to show how arrogant he is.

Invadind a soveriegn nation is what invasion is about, otherwise it is called internal affair. And it is usually internationally accepted. The recent one was 7 years ago.

Invading a sovereign nation is what invasion is about, otherwise it is called internal affair. And it is usually internationally accepted. The recent one was about 7 years ago.

George Bush also invaded a soveriegn country to grab oil. he also did it in 21st century. I think he has a short memory or he is blind.

Let's not forget that Georgia started the crackdown on Thursday of last week. Although Russia's response was clearly disproportionate, both governments are at fault, and as a result, innocent civilians suffer. And, I do not think that Russia will make the mistake of risking retaliation by invading more former Soviet republics.

Osettia is/was a part of Georgia, just as Georgia was a part of the USSR. Russia was willing for Georgia to go it's own way, but Georgia is not happy with Osettia doing the same. There are factions and ethnicities everywhere, and for them all to have their own country is ridiculous.....you would have many countries too small to support or defend themselves. People have to stop looking at differences and start looking at similarities. This is like Utah saying it wanted to be it's own country, for religous reasons. Nice thought, but the USA is not going to tolerate a small foreign nation within it's own borders. Learn to work together, instead of trying to tear it apart, or you'll be left with nothing but bitterness and tears..

History repeats itself!

I am tired of Gutless people. How soon people forget previous conflicts. Wait for things to work themselves out and you may of waited to long. If America waited any longer the Jews maybe all dead. 6 million people died because of Hitler, did America wait long enough? Russia is coming! Don't be fooled we are at war right now with Russia, financial war and their winning. America is going broke because of the greedy oil companys. America needs to saction Russia to make it difficult for them to make a buck. Believe me they are mad as hell because they lost the Cold War and its revenge time. Why cannot people see that? Wake up America! God Help Us. Vote McCain!!!!

where is the information coming from that Georgia started this conflict? I understand that there is some information that Russia intended this all along. Good timing with the Olympics I'd say...and ofcourse the US dealing with IRAN and IRAQ not to mention that the Russians already met with IRAN and Syria didn't they? What is the plan do you think? This is not just a "Protection: invasion I think we can not expect any help from Russia against IRAN and we better wake up before Russia is in Poland.

Take a closer look at Georgia, Russia, and Osettia, before yelling 'Hitler' in a crowded room.

Do what KHill068?

The West needs to act because of Russia? My question was why didn't the West act against Georgia, since it was the one who started the whole debacle? Hypocrisy at its best. Be bomb the hell out of Serbia and Belgrade for the Serbs doing the same type of things and we expect Russia to sit and do nothing when its citizens are being attacked?