Georgia -what's it all about really?
I don't know.
I read a lot of reports so that I could attempt some level of informed opinion.
I read that the 2 secessionist regions are areas of land which have been Georgian since Georgia began. That the population there are mainly Russian passport holders who don't want to abide by Georgian democracy. That these people are Muslim.
It made me think of the possible future English scenario, once we have been firmly put into our separate EU Regions for, say, Lancashire and Yorkshire to want to secede from England and set up their own mini-states. The similarities to the Georgian issue would be very close - those counties are English since England began, and, if it ever came to pass, it would be because of Muslim Pakistani passport holders demanding secession. If the Pakistani government or even the EU sent in tanks to help the secessionists then I suspect there would be an armed struggle.
I thought, right on Georgians, don't let them get away with it. If these Russians don't like being governed by Georgians whilst living in Georgia then they can simply walk across the border to Russia. Let them go, or let them abide by the democratic decision making process. Staying in Georgia and then trying to take Georgian land from the Georgian people isn't on.
Okay, Go Georgians!
Then I read more.
I read about the USA wanting to put nuclear weapons and Early Warning systems in their bases in the Ukraine until Russia said that such an action would be taken as a declaration of war. Then I read about Georgia knocking at NATOs door for admittance and thought about how then Georgia's armed forces, bases, airfields etc would also be Nato bases, airfields and armed forces.
I imagined how we Brits would feel if Russia, China, or anyone else were to take over Eire's military installations and put troops, tanks and nuclear facilities so close to the British mainland. How would we feel if some ancient enemy tried to surround us with military forces? We wouldn't be happy bunnies. We might send troops right on back into the Republic in an attempt to take the whole of Ireland into British control again.
Unless of course all this was being done by the French in which case I'd get my little dog to yap at them and send them scurrying back to France.
Hmmm, so now I don't quite blame the Russians either.
Then I thought about the sheer aggression of the Russian attacks on Georgia and remembered that when the same thing happened in the Kosovo region of Serbia with (Albanian) Muslims wanting secession the Russians supported the Serbs. So, the Russian military action isn't one of principle.
Putin is an old Cold War warrior with old Cold War ways of thinking.
Bush is in the thrall of US armaments manufacturers and fancies himself as an armchair warlord.
An oil pipeline goes through Georgia. Hmmm.
I have ended up little wiser after spending quite some time reading and thinking about all this.
My sole secure conclusion is that I think the Gordian Knot is mispelled.
