Thursday, August 14, 2008

Georgia: It's all about oil—and the "Make Peace Not War" crowd could care less

Let's see here ... Russia storms into Georgia, an independent country it never had any claim to—Russia annexed it in 1801—and lays waste to entire communities of innocent civilians.
If this was all about South Ossetia, then what the hell was the bombing of Gori and Tbilisi all about? Why bomb apartment buildings? And why, pray tell, did Russia decide to stir the pot in the autonomous province of Abkhazia? (Though, having said that, I would support Abkhazia's independence from either Georgia or Russia, in line with my beliefs.)
Did Georgia really deserve this kind of stomping to the curb just because she decided to flex her muscles a bit in South Ossetia? Russia has long bullied Georgia; why should the Russians stop doing so now?
Russia claims that Georgians were trying to "ethnically cleanse" Russians from South Ossetia. A load of bull. I don't believe one word of it. Look at any good map of that region. Does South Ossetia fit more cleanly into Russia, or Georgia?
Besides Russia playing the part of imperialist bully only too well, it's clear why they took the opportunity handed to them to beat Georgia to a bleeding pulp.
The oil pipeline. It's clear what Russia wanted. To control the pipeline, tell British Petroleum (BP) who owns it to screw off, and dictate their own terms with Europe regarding the oil.
Now, lastly, remember all the protests against the Iraq war? Millions taking to the streets in major cities, demanding that America (and Britain) back off? That it was an imperialist war, that it was all about oil?
How many anti-war marches were held in honor of the raped country of Georgia? How many people took to Western streets on her behalf? How many speeches did Stop The War deliver demanding that Russia back off, to stop being greedy for oil?
NONE.
I think this only too aptly demonstrates the fickleness and hypocrisy of the anti-war movement. They're only interested in bashing America, Britain and Israel. Russia, of course, gets a free pass.

1 comment:

Mrs Andy said...

Thank you for writing this, I have felt so alone in my disgust for Russia and the US response to this whole crisis. And then again, my heart breaks for Georgia too. There is also another aspect to consider, of course Russia wants to crush the freedom loving Georigians, if the other proviences in the Caucuses get wind of this, they will want the same, and we can't have Mother Russia loosing her hold on those people, who would she oppress then? Oh wait, she oppresses everyone, because Putin is doing it old school, KGB style.....ahk!

And yes where are all the anti-war protesters? I've not seen them on the streets of uber-liberal, we hate all war, Santa Fe recently.