Russia: Land of Bestial Hypocrisy
Filed under: Georgia ~ Russia
Once again, Russia has launched a barbaric and unprovoked military assault on Georgian territory, shooting down an unarmed surveillance drone in Georgian airspace. Like the cowards they are, Russians have brazenly denied the action even though Georgia has it recorded on video.
It's genuinely difficult to capture in words the full scope of Russia's hypocrisy where NATO expansion into Georgia is concerned. It operates on three entirely independent levels.
First, there's Russia's actions towards Georgia. Russians tried to claim they won some sort of victory when NATO didn't grant MAP status to Georgia at its recent summit in Romania. As Edward Lucas points out, Russians had claimed that if Georgia made any real progress towards membership, this would be "provocation" and Russia would respond in kind -- yet, although they claimed this didn't occur, Russians still moved aggressively to split off Georgia's breakaway regions of Abkhazia and South Ossetia. Vladimir Putin announced new ties with those regions which were to include trade, agriculture, education, diplomacy and social support. Military assistance was on the table as well. "Support for the Abkhaz military in the form of logistics or ammunition, this is possible," said Putin. Both the former and current prime ministers of Estonia denounced the action. So which is it, Russians? Did you win in Romania, in which case your actions in Ossetia are an outrage, or did you lose and lie about it to everybody? Either way, it's manifest that Russia simply can't be trusted. Either way, its barbarism.
And then there's Russia's attitude towards Chechnya. By setting a precedent for intervention in Ossetia, how can Russia possibly complain if NATO decides to start supporting rebels in Russia's breakaway provinces in the same way? It's not a moot question. Reuters reports that Chechen rebel leader "Sulim Yamadayev, in an interview with Echo Moskvy radio station, said on Saturday amnestied rebels recruited by Chechnya's pro-Kremlin leader Ramzan Kadyrov were engaged in violence and stood ready for another war with Russia." Yamadayev declared: "You think there is order here? This amnestied army goes around with weapons. They do not have to hide and run... They have everything. They are just waiting!" Defense analyst Pavel Felgengauer said of the interview: "This is a very embarrassing statement and a very embarrassing situation for the Kremlin."
And third, there's Russia's proclaimed attitude towards unilateralism and the use of force. How often have we heard Putin screeching about the impropriety of America resorting to force and acting without consultation, only to turn around and do exactly the same thing whenever he chooses? As Streetwise Professor points out: "Putin and Lavrov, so sensitive to Russian territorial integrity, have more than once made irredentist threats against Ukraine, most notably making aggressive noises about eastern Ukraine and the Crimea. Important Duma members have mooted the possibility of renouncing the 1997 Russia-Ukraine interstate treaty guaranteeing the inviolability of Ukraine's borders. On cue, Chief of the General Staff of Russian Armed Forces, General Yuriy Baluyevsky, threatened military actions. With respect to Georgia, Putin and Russia have made it very clear of their intention to exacerbate tensions in Abkhazia and South Ossetia."
Russia refuses to respect the rights of Ukraine and Georgia, yet it expects NATO to respect Russia's rights in Chechnya. Russia claims it desperately wants Georgia to stay out of NATO, yet again and again it launches military attacks that leave Georgia with no other choice and belie Russian claims of benign intentions. This is hypocrisy and duplicity that is truly Soviet in scale and quality. If Russia is not careful, its disappearance from the globe may be just as Soviet.
NOTE: To comment on this post for publication, write to: kimzigfeld@gmail.com
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