Many Countries Side with Russia on the Issue of South Ossetia

Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico (1964- ), supporter of the Russian position in the Caucasus

Many countries voiced their solidarity with Russia in connection with the situation in South Ossetia. China expressed serious concern about the situation in South Ossetia. Jiang Gan, an official spokesman for the Chinese Foreign Ministry, said at a briefing in Beijing on Wednesday that China’s stance was clear, peace and stability in the region should be reached through talks. Japan also gave support to using negotiations to find a peace settlement in South Ossetia, according to a statement of Japanese Foreign Minister Masahiko Komura circulated on Thursday. During his meeting with Russian President Dmitri Medvedev, Turkish Prime Minister Recep Erdoğan said that he came to Moscow to show Turkey’s solidarity with Russia on the issue of South Ossetia. Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico believes that the war in the Caucasus was provoked by Georgia. Anna Belousova, Vice-speaker of the Slovak Parliament, said that Georgia attempted to launch a policy of genocide. She said that Georgian military units launched aggression against the capital of South Ossetia, Tskhinvali, and the republic as a whole; she emphasised that it was an attempt at genocide on Georgia’s part and an international tribunal should investigate the case.

Prime Minister Vladimir Putin (1952- ) (left) with Chinese President Hu Jintao (1942- )

According to observers in many countries, Tbilisi’s claims at restoring its sovereignty over South Ossetia and Abkhazia are pointless. President Saakashvili’s military adventure deprived Georgia of any prospects for the restoration of its territorial integrity. Mansur Akgun, a writer in the major Turkish newspaper Reference, said that the reckless action of President Saakashvili entailed thousands of deaths, and it shall lead to Georgia’s split and economic collapse. He believes that Mr Saakashvili has no political future no matter what Russia may do. As for the United States, it was checked yet another time in the eight years of George Bush’s presidency, according to Sandro Viola, an Italian journalist, in an article published in the influential newspaper La Repubblica of Rome. In his view, in the past eight years the United States survived one disaster after another and came through a chain of political, military, financial, and economic crises. The major Japanese newspaper Mainiti says that Russia ntervened in the Georgian-South Ossetian conflict under an existing UN mandate with the aim of protecting Russian nationals and peacekeepers in the region.

The list of similar statements and pronouncements could be extended. Yet, the statements cited above appear quite sufficient to prove that the world sides with Russia in the issue of South Ossetia, and it condemns president Saakashvili and his US sponsors for aggression against small South Ossetian nation.

14 August 2008

Albert Papoyan

Voice of Russia World Service

http://www.ruvr.ru/main.php?lng=eng&q=31102&cid=56&p=14.08.2008

Editor’s Note:

Bush and Rice are blathering about “isolating” Russia and their British poodle yipped up as well. Hmm… Germany, France, Italy, Slovakia, Turkey, China, Japan, India, and Iran, amongst others, beg to differ. The US talks big of expelling Russia from international organisations; yet, Russia is not concerned, as they know that their friends in the West shall support them.

Advice to Bush and Rice:

SHUT UP.

All that is happening is that they are making the US look ridiculous and foolhardy. Of course, this is an outcome that Russia is willing to take to the bank. Bush is making one empty threat after another, reducing the credibility of the USA with each one. The next president of the US is going to have a great stench in the barnyard left by King George, Sir Richard, and Lady Condi, and he is going to have to pull on his wellies to muck out the byre to get relations back to normal.

However, there is the usual silver lining in the rain cloud. Saakashvili is going to make ridiculous claims to his supporters, and some of them (if not most of them) are going to see that they are nothing but smoke and mirrors of the worst Clintonesque sort, and he shall suffer the fate of all unsuccessful tinhorn dictators. Remember, Nasser pulled off survival after disasters in ’56 and ’67 due to his immense popularity and charisma. Saakashvili has neither. Do not be fooled by his media image, he simply knows what buttons to push so that the Western chattering classes fawn over him. As for his local popularity, the existence of his CIA-trained secret police is no mystery, neither is their brutality to his opponents. Hmm… they all have relatives… this is the clannish Caucasus… the local deity and his junta just suffered a humiliating defeat… gotta ask Cookie the Bookie what odds he’s giving on Saakashvili… somehow, I don’t think he’s the favourite.

BMD