European Observers, The Strategy, and The Media

The Observers

Just as was expected, European observers are coming to South Ossetia. One may wonder, why no pictures of casualties and civlians Ossetians dead have not been released. Well, this is because all of that is being saved for the European observers. The politicians in Kremlin know that they have all the trumps. They have the facts of ethnic cleansing, civilians targets bombed, infrastructre destroyed, and direct violation by Georgia of the agreementes in place to keep peace in the region.

Russia had no choice but to step in. Georgia knew this. Now it is a game of who can prove who wrong. Who can paint themselves as the noble hero? Well, Georgia does not really have much chance of proveing themselves such. Their only card is to keep accusing Russia of violating its borders and showing the pictures of the few injured when the bomb intended for a Georgian military base missed its target and hit a building.

Currently, the western media seems to have forgotten, that Georgia was the one that started this by moving in with the army into South Ossetia. Next, the Georgians leveled a city, killing some 2000 civilians. In addition to this they attack peacekeepers. The icing on the cake is the claimed ethnic cleansing (which is a trump for Russia if can be proven). CNN, The Guarding, BBC are all concentrating on a few Georgian civilians being injured and some killed in the airstrike and are completely neglecting that Georgia, every few hours, sends clouds of “Grad” missiles at Tskhinvali, where Ossetian civlians are trapped in basements, awaiting evacuation.

Isn’t it obvious, that Saakashvili does not care for Ossetians? He does not need the territory either. Russia cares about the people, but really could care less about the territory. It is a question of quelling the resistence of the current U.S.-backed regime and putting themselves on the map for Georgia.  For Russia the stakes are higher. If they come out the victor, they are able to show once again that they are not the disstressed, faltering Russia of the 1990’s.

Know Your Limits

It is extremely important for Russia to simply keep the Georgian Army out South Ossetia, and nothing more. The airstrikes carried out inside Georgia are justified as they are intended for the military targets. The fact that Saakashvili put military camps in the midst of populated towns allows him to say that the airstrikes are intended for the civilian population.  Just look at the facts. They show masses of Georgian troops in the towns which were bombed, and yet they say that the bombs are intended for the civilian population. Somehow, it does not make sense.

Both sides, Russia and Georgia, need to know their limits. Georgia needs to realize that there is no way that South Ossetia is going to integrated into the Georgian Republic. Russia needs to only go as far as the border between South Ossetia and Georgia, and enforce it until South Ossetia is recognized as an independant Republic.

The Media

Isn’t it fantastic that Georgia has closed off all access by all of Georgian computers to any website with the “.ru” address. In addition, no Russian channels are aired in Georgia since August 8th. Western Media is only showing the Georgians being attacked and portraying the conflict in a way that Georgia is a small nation being bullied by the big Russian Bear. However, the “small nation” is backed by the U.S. and E.U., armed to the teeth with U.S. weapons and equipment. Amidst all of this, the core of the matter is being pushed to the back pages- South Ossetians want independance.  They were recklessly attacked by Georgia, suffered the most casualties, especially amongst civilians, and are now being portrayed as rogues and separatists in the Western Media.

The Conclusion

Just as suspected, Russia has called in all sorts of observers to come an see what Georgia is doing. Pictures will be taken, videos made, and “sensational” stories about Georgian army committing atrocities. No civilized nation will bring itself to kill so much of the civilian population in the first 48 hours, and in general delibarately target the civlians. The Georgians simply want Russia to get fed up and angry, and do even worse to them, so the world will have to rally behind Georgia. Nevertheless, the guys in Kremlin today are not the idiots from the 1990′. They know the Georgian strategy and most definitely have FSB sources in Georgia forwarding intel. Russia will be the one with the cooler head. In turn, Georgian President Saakashvili will simply get ticked off and finally lose it, forcing the U.S. to condemn the current Georgian regime.