The bloody conflict between Georgia and Russia, according to the New York Times, is “nearing all-out war.” Whatever it’s called, the situation is an unacceptable, although not unexpected, turn of events that has ballooned out of proportion to its cause. It’s past time to ring the bell and get the opponents back in their corners—at a negotiating table.
The last thing Georgia needs right now is American troops battling Russians in the Caucasus. Tensions between the neighboring nations have simmered for centuries. Cast in that light, today’s conflict cannot be solved by petty finger pointing. Indeed, both belligerents share culpability for today’s tragic state of affairs: regional instability, thousands left homeless and inexcusable civilian deaths. Simply put, Georgia’s military action in South Ossetia was provocative and irresponsible; Russia’s response to it has been unnecessary and disproportionate.
While the world focused on the much-anticipated Olympics in China, the face-off east of the Black Sea spiraled down rapidly. According to BBC and New York Times reporting:
- Georgia, a former Soviet republic now a candidate for both NATO and EU membership, agreed to Russian-mediated talks with separatists in the Georgian region of South Ossetia. The separatists have for years sought independence from Georgia and had been quasi-independent since a civil war that ended with a truce in 1992. Russia is hardly a neutral arbiter—its republic of North Ossetia seeks unification with the quasi-independent South Ossetia.
- Georgia launched a surprise attack against the Russia-backed separatists in South Ossetia.
- Russia responded by sending troops and armor into South Ossetia, occupying the territory and launching bombing raids deep in undisputed Georgian territory. Civilians fled South Ossetia by the thousands.
- Georgia’s parliament declared a state of war existed as the country’s president pleaded for Western intervention.
- Russian troops now are closing on the undisputed Georgian city of Gori even as Georgia claims to have ceased fire. Georgian pleas for negotiation have been ignored by the Kremiln, which has landed troops in another contested Georgian region, Abakhazia. Those troops as well as separatists in Abakhazia are massing on the disputed territory’s border with Georgia.
- The heavy-handed Russian response has fueled speculation as to whether it intends a “full-scale invasion” of Georgia. There seems little doubt of that now, however. In recognition of the overwhelming odds against defeating a Russian invasion, Georgia has threatened to fight any Russian occupation with “guerilla warfare all over the country.”
Both Georgia and Russia have framed their conflict in hyperbolic terms. Russia says Georgia is engaged in “genocide” and “ethnic cleansing,” the New York Times reports. Georgia likewise alleges ethnic cleansing and adds that if the West fails to intervene “then Russian tanks and Russian paratroopers can appear in every European capital.” On the contrary, both sides have seemingly been looking for an excuse to duke it out for years and have finally gotten what they asked for. Why Georgia would purposefully ask for a fight with Russia—justified or not—is beyond us.
In fact, Georgia appears to have gambled that United States and European nations were prepared to drop everything and come to its aid, even militarily, should any conflict with neighboring Russia ever erupt. How Georgian policymakers could have come to such a conclusion also is beyond us—and the U.S. State Department. Georgia’s Western tendencies and sacrifices in Iraq do not justify the escalation of this skirmish to include more major powers a la World War I.
Despite America’s general support of Georgia, with hands full in Iraq and Afghanistan already, and Russia being, well, Russia, a U.S. military response to the present situation is not an option. The last thing Georgia needs right now is American troops battling Russians in the Caucasus.
[NYTimes No. 1, NYTimes No. 2, NYTimes No. 3, NYTimes No. 4, BBC, RIAN, Daily Mail, IHT]
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