Russians are blasting the crap out of Georgia

[Asmodean]

"The vice president told President Saakashvili that Russian aggression must not go unanswered, and that its continuation would have serious consequences for its relations with the United States,

OOH! I can almost see Mr. Medvedev quaking in his boots... NOT!  

[Moses]

I notice on the news that there is not alot of detail given as to the Georgian military operation that provoked the Russians. The Georgians say that the paramilitary forces inside South Ossetia were shelling Georgian towns on the outskirts of the province. Since the shelling was coming from the interior of the province the Georgian military moved in to suppress the shelling and restore order.

I might be wrong but I dont think this is a lie on Georgia's part. Why would they ever want to start a war with a global power even if they did have United States support? Russia is at their border and would respond far quicker than the United States would.

Also if you look at the history of South Ossetia they have had a lot of sham elections and a local government with some close ties to five local mafia families. On top of that both pro Moscow provinces are nearly completely run by Russian state owned companies and the FSB (formerly KGB).

I think this whole debacle shows how the United States is a jerk that promises things it cannot deliver. For a tiny country to offer so much military support to the United States in Kosovo and Iraq and then be showed the cold shoulder is awful. They committed two thousand troops to Iraq! For a country the size of Georgia that number makes a difference.

I think if it was not for the whole dumbass Iraq war this situation either would have never arisen or at least be very different from what it is now.

Does any of this sound similar to the Hungarian uprising of 1956?

[Asmodean]

I think this whole debacle shows how the United States is a jerk that promises things it cannot deliver. For a tiny country to offer so much military support to the United States in Kosovo and Iraq and then be showed the cold shoulder is awful. They committed two thousand troops to Iraq! For a country the size of Georgia that number makes a difference.

Indeed. If some poor, tiny-little country with a crappy military force attacked Georgia, I suppose the States would be there in days. But when the big fish in the pond decides to bite, the States sit on their asses and throw practically empty threats around without actually helping.

I think if it was not for the whole dumbass Iraq war this situation either would have never arisen or at least be very different from what it is now.

If you are refering to the situation in Georgia, 2000 more troops there would probably make no difference against Russian war machine.

[Moses]

Those 2,000 Georgian troops are now back home and it is not doing them any good so they definitely are no match to the Russian military so you are certainly right.

I refered to Iraq more as an issue that has bogged down the United States military and destroyed any unified consensus amongst the western countries. So in a situation like that Russia is thinking "heck the U.S is overstretched and Europe is fractured. Why not invade Georgia?!!"

[Asmodean]

I refered to Iraq more as an issue that has bogged down the United States military and destroyed any unified consensus amongst the western countries. So in a situation like that Russia is thinking "heck the U.S is overstretched and Europe is fractured. Why not invade Georgia?!!"

As far as Europeans go, they (or, in my case, we) do not seem fractured on the Georgia issue, but they are fractured in their view of the US foreign affairs management.

Still, in this here case, as long as Europe wants that Russian oil and gas, Russia sits with the high card.

[Moses]

I stand corrected on the European countries reasons. I thought there was a disagreement over who was to blame for the instigation of hostilities.  

As far as Russian Oil doesn't this pipe line that Russia now partially controls mean even more leverage power for Russia over the rest of Europe? I don't think I like how that sounds.

What do you think needs to be done and how do you think we can achieve it? I have called my federal representative and my two senators about my thoughts but I feel like I need to offer some comprehensive policy to persuade them when I talk to their offices tomorrow.

[Asmodean]

I stand corrected on the European countries reasons. I thought there was a disagreement over who was to blame for the instigation of hostilities.  

I think we have a cautious semi-consensus that no one party is to be solely blamed for this conflict at this point - we are more interested in having it resolved right now.

As far as Russian Oil doesn't this pipe line that Russia now partially controls mean even more leverage power for Russia over the rest of Europe? I don't think I like how that sounds.

The pipe is still in the Georgian-controlled territories, although if Russia was really determined to mess with everybody, they could piss so namy artillery shells on it that you would find parts of it in Australia. I don't think there is a great risk of that though. The governemnt of russian Federation seems to have gotten its megalomania stroked - for now.

What do you think needs to be done and how do you think we can achieve it?

I will not try to make international relations policy here as I am completely incompetent to do so, but what I'm sure does not help, is threats and expensive words directed at Russian government as they are quite capable of shruging most of them off with a laugh. On the other hand, if Russia decides to threaten somebody or to demonstrate its power and its willingness to use it, they'll just turn the velves and we'll have another Ukraine on our hands, or roll in a column of tanks and we'll have another Georgia.

I have called my federal representative and my two senators about my thoughts but I feel like I need to offer some comprehensive policy to persuade them when I talk to their offices tomorrow.

The best policy is to tread carefully. Especially with a government that proves not to suffer word-slinging for long.

[Moses]

When I talked to my Senators and Representatives offices I asked that they work on a streamlined refugee process (the present on is ridiculous and filled with red tape) that would include Darfur as well. I would like to include other countries in the process but I figured asking for a world wide refugee system that is streamlined instead of a two countries specific program would be less likely to go forth in Congress at this time, though I have demanded it in the past and will continue in the future.

Here is a report on the bureaucratic mess that is the United States refugee process:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/co ... 01698.html

Nothing like waiting for safety for ten months as you and your family are getting killed.

I did not ask for sanctions however since I feel that would really make Russia feel under attack since it would be in the same situation as Iran or Iraq was. Also they might impose sanctions of there own on Western and Eastern Europe.