"The year is 2008, and the world teeters on the brink of war. Radical ultranationalists have seized power in Moscow – their goal, the reestablishment of the old Soviet empire. Ukraine, Belarus and Kazakhstan – one by one the nearby independent republics slip back into the Russian orbit. Russian tanks sit in the Caucasus Mountains and the Baltic forests, poised to strike to the south and east. The world hold its breath, and waits.
...[T]here are no reports of U.S. involvement in the conflict nor of a major political upheaval in Moscow..."For one small group of elite soldiers, the war has already begun: U.S. Special Forces Group 5, First Battalion, D Company. Deployed on peacekeeping duty to the Republic of Georgia in the Caucasus, this handful of Green Berets represents the very tip of the spear – the first line of defense. They call themselves 'The Ghosts.' "
The above is not news – it is from the intro movie to "Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon," a tactical shooter video game released in 2001. This morning CNN reported that Russia has bombed targets and sent 150 tanks into Georgia (which used to be part of the Soviet Union). It is also reported that Georgia has shot down 20 Russian planes and shelled Russian positions. I was immediately reminded of fighting in the streets of Tbilisi and blowing up Russian tanks in the Caucasus mountains when I bought and played the game in 2001. To be sure, there are no reports of U.S. involvement in the conflict nor of a major political upheaval in Moscow, although some of Russia's shenanigans seem to echo from another era.
Georgia is a close ally of the United States and is trying to reclaim the separatist region of South Ossetia. Pravda reports that the plan being used by the Georgian army to reclaim South Ossetia was originally developed at the Pentagon and tested in Serbia in the early 1990s. Today it is clear that Russia's support for South Ossetian rebels and opposition to Georgian independence is real. [CNN,Guardian, IHT, Pravda, Youtube]
Brian Williams, a TheSequitur.com senior editor and systems director, studies sociology at Morehead State University.
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