Why haven't the Left got Georgia on their minds?

When I found this article I definitely needed to share it with the world. It says everything we in on the right has been crying out about this last week than any other posting I have seen this week.

by Richard Littlejohn

Pity I was away last week. I must have missed the march through London against the Russian invasion of Georgia. What a magnificent sight it must have been - half a million protesters standing firm against tyranny and supporting freedom and democracy.

I'd have loved to have heard Red Ken denouncing the bloodthirsty gangster regime in Moscow, George Galloway comparing Vladimir Putin to Hitler and Tony Benn declaring it was all about oil.

What's that you say? There was no such rally? I suppose they must all have been too busy demonstrating against Chinese oppression in Tibet and demanding a boycott of the Beijing Olympics.

No-shows: Littlejohn wonders where the protesters are for the war in Georgia

Or perhaps not. Funny how the Not In My Name crowd always overlooks aggression by Communist or 'former' Communist regimes.

There's no such reticence when it comes to portraying George W. Bush as the new Hitler or daubing swastikas on the Israeli flag. Look at the protests against the wars in Iraq and Lebanon.

The same people who can't wait to burn the American flag in Trafalgar Square are only too happy to ignore Russian, Chinese and Iraqi genocide.

Where were all the marchers when the Russians were crushing Chechnya? Why so silent on Tibet? They must have been looking the other way when Saddam slaughtered the Kurds.

It hasn't been difficult to find apologists for the invasion of Georgia. We're told that the 'American-educated' Mikhail Saakashvili provoked the Russians beyond all reason. What did we expect encouraging the spread of democracy in former Soviet satellite states?

No wonder Moscow feels threatened when independent countries it once ruled by military might become members of the European Union and apply to join Nato.

Putting a Western missile defence system in Poland is like waving a red rag at a bull, the sophisticates say. Putin has no option but to retaliate.

I don't remember them demanding the withdrawal of Soviet nukes pointing at Western capitals from East Germany. Back then, the Guardianistas were all for one-sided disarmament on our part.

The Left has always been picky about their protests. While they rightly denounce white racism in South Africa, they stay silent on black racism in Zimbabwe.

They bang on about American cultural imperialism, but have nothing to say about Russian or Chinese military imperialism.

America is constantly denounced for its 'yuman rites' abuses, but you never hear a dicky bird about the denial of basic freedoms in China or throughout the Muslim world.

Europe's Leftists define themselves by their hatred of the U.S., yet cheerfully tolerate all kinds of tyranny elsewhere. They're against 'torture' at Guantanamo Bay, but take a relaxed view of Chinese and Russian death squads.

There are still plenty of 'comrades' in the Labour Party and the trades union movement who regret the day the Berlin Wall came tumbling down. They're only too willing to give succour to the enemies of freedom and democracy around the world.

Dominated: A Russian military convoy leaves a Georgian army base last week

So the official line is that the war in Iraq was nothing to do with Saddam boasting that he had weapons of mass destruction and defying a whole slew of United Nations resolutions to which he agreed after the liberation of Kuwait. It was all about oil.

Yet the invasion of Georgia was justified because Russia was 'provoked'. So we can assume that Putin never gave a moment's thought to Georgia's pipeline to the West?

What about the announcement last week by a Russian general that Poland was now a prime target for a nuclear strike because it had the audacity to agree to site a Nato defence shield within its borders?

I must have missed the CND press release on that one.

A new survey says that British attitudes towards the United States are governed by ignorance of the facts.

For instance, most people here and in Europe believe America sold Saddam most of his arsenal. The truth is that just 0.46per cent of Iraq's weapons came from the U.S. Russia supplied 57 per cent, China 12 per cent and the cheese-eating surrender monkeys across the Channel were responsible for 13 per cent.

The U.S. is routinely portrayed as anti-Islamic. But in 11 out of 12 of the most recent conflicts between Muslims and non-Muslims, America has sided with the Muslims.

Other widespread myths such as Americans being denied medical care if they don't have health insurance are simply not true. Filthy, unregulated Russian and Chinese factories and power stations spew out poisonous gases, but America is branded the world's biggest polluter, even though it has done more to cut carbon emissions since the year 2000 than any other country.

The 'liberal' media has a vested interest in perpetuating such lies. The Left seems to be gripped with some kind of political penis envy of America, which can be assuaged only by sucking up to tyrants and dictators.

If we are entering a new Cold War, you can guarantee that the Left will once again be on the wrong side.

There's nothing new in this. Forty years ago this summer, the big demonstrations in London were against America's war against communist North Vietnam, not the Russian invasion of Czechoslovakia.

So no change there, then.

From Monkey in the Middle:

Where have all the protesters gone? I guess since Georgia isn't being attacked by either the US or Israel, all the protesters have decided that this isn't an issue to protest. Maybe next time Georgia can get either of the 2 nations mentioned to attack them. Then the protesters will come out in force.

Russia to U.S.: Choose us or Georgia

And the choice is Georgia!

Now why would the United States choose Georgia, a free and democratic nation over Russia, a nation ruled by a former KGB agent who thinks he's a Czar?

Russia pressed the United States on Wednesday to choose between "a real partnership" with Moscow or an "illusory" relationship with U.S. ally Georgia.

Washington said it's sticking with Georgia.

"As to choosing, the United States has made very clear that it is standing by the democratically elected government of Georgia," Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said Wednesday.

She spelled out the Bush administration's stance after Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov called Georgia's government "a special project for the United States."

"And we are aware that the U.S. is uptight about this project," Lavrov said in remarks broadcast on Russian television. "But a choice will have to be made someday between considerations of prestige related to an illusory project and a real partnership in matters which indeed require collective efforts."

Rice, amid reports that Russian troops remained on the move Wednesday, pushed Russia to abide by a cease-fire signed Tuesday by the Russian and Georgian presidents.

Full Story

Finally some backbone from Condi Rice. It only took a weekend and a half a dozen phone calls to get her to stand up to the bully Russia.

Rice said Moscow already faced "quite significant" diplomatic consequences over its conflict with Georgia before Tuesday's cease-fire agreement.

Any violations of the cease-fire would call into question Russia's "suitability" as an international partner, Rice told reporters before leaving on a diplomatic trip to Europe.

Bush administration officials told CNN the United States and its European allies were considering kicking Russia out of the G-8, the group of the world's largest industrial economies, and other international organizations as punishment for its actions in Georgia.

Rice discounted concerns that Moscow would no longer assist Washington on thorny diplomatic issues such as efforts to halt nuclear programs in Iran and North Korea, saying it had its own interests at stake.

"Let's be very clear whose interests are being served by the partnership that Russia and the United States have engaged in on Iran or North Korea," she said. "Again, it's not a favor to the United States."

Georgia has been a close U.S. ally, contributing troops to the war in Iraq and seeking to join NATO with Washington's support. In a CNN interview Wednesday, Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili criticized the United States for not doing more to help his nation.

"America is losing the whole region, and this is the region of eastern and central Europe," said Saakashvili, who called for the United States and European powers to send peacekeepers to the region. "This is much bigger than any other place where there is American influence, and this is the most natural allies of America."

I wonder what the late President Ronald Reagan would have done in this situation. He probably would have taken the military to DEFCOM 2, then told the Russians that he would go to DEFCOM 1 if they didn't back down. Raising and lowering the DEFCOM was one way the US got the attention of the Soviets back during the Cold War. And no matter what Putin thinks, Russia isn't the Soviet Union and he isn't the President of a superpower any more. Russia is a second rate nation with nuclear weapons. That is all. And he better start thinking in those lines.

Fighting in Georgia. Why Russia Wants Control.

When you think of Georgia most American think of that lovely Southern State. But Europeans and Asians think of that lovely nation that was a former Soviet State. A nation that has been continuously inhabited since the Stone Age, Georgia has been known to Europe for millennium. The city of Colchis was the site of the Golden Fleece in which Jason sought. Christianity was declared the state religion as early as AD 337 proving a great stimulus to literature, arts and the unification of the country. As a crossroad between Christian and Islamic traditions, Georgia experienced the dynamic exchange between these two worlds which culminated in a true renaissance around 12-13th centuries AD. Georgia was annexed into the Soviet Union in 1924 after a brutal revolt against them. On April 9, 1991, shortly before the collapse of the USSR, Georgia declared independence. It was a long struggle for them that year, but in the end they achieved their independence from Russia. For in the years since, Russia has been trying to gain control of Georgia first with the Rose Revolution of 2000, and now with the South Ossetian War. But why?

OIL

Although Georgia does have oil and natural gas which accounts for 10% of their exports and 18% of GDP, it will be sharing a part of the new Azeri oil pipeline. A pipeline that will not be going through Russia or Iran.

Analysis of the war in Georgia points to a fight over a major oil route as the main reason for hostilities, but also to an Israeli connection.

Channel 2's expert on the Muslim world, Ehud Ya'ari, told viewers of the central evening newscast that Russia and neighboring countries were vying for control of a strategic oil pipeline from the Caspian Sea to the Mediterranean. This relatively new pipeline passes through Azerbaijan and Georgia to Turkey and is the only pipeline between Asia and Europe that does not pass through Russia or Iran. Israel is expecting to receive oil and gas through the pipeline.

By using the ethnic Russian population in South Ossetia to destabilize Georgia, Russia was making a play for the pipeline, he said.

Any wonder why Russia would do this? Russia is furious that the Azeri pipeline was routed through Georgia and not Russia. So Russia has to find a way to control it. Thus the attacks on Georgia.

The Georgian move against South Ossetia was motivated by political considerations having to do with Israel and Iran, according to Nfc. Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili decided to assert control over the breakaway region in order to force Israel to reconsider its decision to cut back its support for Georgia's military.

Russian and Georgian media reported several days ago that Israel decided to stop its support of Georgia after Moscow made it clear to Jerusalem and Washington that Russia would respond to continued aid for Georgia by selling advanced anti-aircraft systems to Syria and Iran.

Hundreds of Israeli defense experts are reportedly in Georgia and Israel's military industries have been upgrading Georgia's air force, training its infantry and selling the country unmanned aerial vehicles and advanced artillery systems.

Former minister Ronny Milo was reportedly among the leading Israeli middlemen in the arms deals with Georgia and Brig.-Gen. Gal Hirsch has been training army units through a company he owns.

Russia bombed a Georgian military plant in which Israeli experts are upgrading jet fighters for the Georgian military. According to Nfc, the bombing was a "sharp message" to Israel.

A Russian fighter jet bombed runways inside the plant, located near Tbilisi, where Israeli security firm Elbit is in charge of upgrading Georgian SU-25 jets.

I knew that somehow the Russians would blame Israel for this mess that they started. According to the United Nations, Israel is the blame for all the ills in the world. So it is natural that Russia would blame Israel for this aggression on their part.

Georgia has ordered its forces to cease fire, and offered to start talks with Russia over an end to hostilities in South Ossetia, Georgian officials said Sunday. However, Russia has reportedly rejected the offer. Earlier in the day, Georgia said its troops had pulled out of the breakaway region and that Russian forces were in control of its capital, Tskhinvali. Georgian President Saakashvili said Sunday that his country's sovereignty is in danger.

After conducting consultations regarding events in Georgia, Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni said Sunday that Israel "recognizes Georgia's territorial integrity." Israel also called for a peaceful resolution of the conflict between Russia and Georgia.

I doubt that Russia will sit down to any table with Georgia until Russia controls most of the territory that it wants.

Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Gregory Karasin said Sunday that international and western press coverage of events in Georgia were biased in favor of the Georgians.

"The West behaved strangely in the first hours of the attack on South Ossetia," Karasin said, and added that "the U.S.A.'s negative attitude" would be "taken into consideration in the future in contacts about other global questions." The US says it will ask the United Nations to condemn Russia's actions in Georgia.

Russia has a long history of aggression against Georgia going back to the beginnings of the Soviet Union and has continued this until today. The UN will not be condemning Russia any time soon. First of all, Russia has a veto on the Security Council, and second Russia is not Israel. And unless it is supposed aggression by Israel, the UN will never condemn a nation for doing what they want to.