ÿþ<html> <head> <meta http-equiv="content-type" content="text/html;charset=iso-8859-1"> <title>OnlineColumnist&reg;.com: Putin Punishes Georgia</title> <meta name="generator" content="Adobe GoLive 4"> <style type="text/css"> .style2 { font-size: large; font-weight: bold; font-family: Arial; } .style3 { font-size: small; } .style4 { font-size: large; } </style> </head> <body bgcolor="white" vlink="black"> <center> <table cool width="624" height="2719" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" gridx="16" showgridx gridy="16" showgridy> <tr height="79"> <td width="133" height="118" rowspan="2" valign="top" align="left" xpos="0"><a href="aboutdiscobolos.html"><img height="110" width="62" src="images/discobolos.logo.transp.gif" border="0"></a></td> <td width="7" height="118" rowspan="2"></td> <td width="482" height="79" colspan="2" valign="top" align="left" xpos="140"><img height="75" width="450" src="images/banner.GIF"></td> <td width="1" height="118" rowspan="2"></td> <td width="1" height="79"><spacer type="block" width="1" height="79"></td> </tr> <tr height="39"> <td width="182" height="39"></td> <td width="300" height="39" valign="top" align="left" xpos="322"><a href="aboutdiscobolos.html"><img height="14" width="267" src="images/divisionofNEW.GIF" border="0"></a></td> <td width="1" height="39"><spacer type="block" width="1" height="39"></td> </tr> <tr height="24"> <td width="624" height="24" colspan="6" valign="top" align="left" xpos="0"> <table border="0" width="100%" bgcolor="black" cellspacing="0"> <tr> <td> <table border="0" width="100%" bgcolor="#99ffcc" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="4"> <tr> <td align="center"> <div align="left"> <a href="index.html"><font face="Arial,Helvetica,Geneva,Swiss,SunSans-Regular" size="2"><strong>HOME</strong></font></a><font face="Arial,Helvetica,Geneva,Swiss,SunSans-Regular" size="2"><strong> &#149; <a href="articlesindex.html">ARTICLES</a> &#149; <a href="books.html">BOOKS</a> &#149; <a href="teflon.html">THE </a><a href="teflon.html">TEFLON</a><a href="teflon.html"> REPORT</a> &#149; <a href="mailto:letters@onlinecolumnist.com">REACTIONS</a> &#149; <a href="aboutdiscobolos.html">ABOUT DISCOBOLOS</a></strong></font></div> </td> </tr> </table> </td> </tr> </table> </td> </tr> <tr height="2"> <td width="133" height="2">&nbsp;</td> <td width="489" height="2576" colspan="3" rowspan="2" align="left" xpos="133" content valign="top" csheight="2573"> <p class="style2">Russia Calls the Shots</p> <p><b><font face="Arial,Geneva,Helvetica">by John M. Curtis</font></b><font face="Arial,Helvetica,Geneva,Swiss,SunSans-Regular"><b><a href="books.html"><br> </a></b></font><font face="Arial,Helvetica,Geneva,Swiss,SunSans-Regular"><b>(310) 204-8700</b></font></p> <p><font size="2" face="Arial,Helvetica,Geneva,Swiss,SunSans-Regular"><i>Copyright September 7, 2008<br>All Rights Reserved. </i></font>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; </p> <p class="MsoNormal"> &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<span class="style4"> <b>P</b></span><span class="style3">r</span>oving they can still beat the U.S. at international chess, Russia consolidated its gains after their Aug. 8 rescue of Georgia s independent provinces of South Ossetia and Abkhazia.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>When the Red Army moved across the Georgian border Aug. 8, it repelled an attempted takeover by Georgian President Mikhail Saakashvili.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>Saakashvili learned a bitter lesson that, despite his alliance with the U.S. and Israel, Russia still controls its backyard.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>Saakashvili pleas for U.S. help fell on deaf ears, watching his country split in two by the Russian army.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>Russia President Dimitry Medvedev expressed his dissatisfaction with U.S. meddling in Georgia, supplying Georgia with military and humanitarian aid.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>Medvedev also didn t appreciate U.S. officials, including Vice President Dick Cheney and Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, blaming the problem on  Russian aggression  </p> <p class="MsoNormal"> <![if !supportEmptyParas]>&nbsp;<![endif]><span style="mso-tab-count:1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; </span>Georgia has become a dangerous political football in this year s battle for the White House.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>GOP presidential nominee John McCain (R-Ariz.) and his new VP pick Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin also rubber stamped the White House, blasting Russia for violating Georgia s sovereignty.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>Democratic presidential nominee Sen. Barack Obama (D-Il.) and his VP pick Sen. Joe Biden (D-Md.) have been more reticent to condemn Russian actions.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>President George W. Bush s tough talk with Russia has made it virtually impossible to gain leverage in the U.N. Security Council with Iran on halting its nuclear enrichment program.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>Antagonizing the Russians has resulted in a possible permanent occupation of Georgia and expectation that Medvedev and his Prime Minister Vladimir Putin will veto any further U.N. sanctions economic, cultural or military against the Persian nation.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span> </p> <p class="MsoNormal"> <![if !supportEmptyParas]>&nbsp;<![endif]><span style="mso-tab-count:1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; </span>Announcing $1 billion in fresh economic aid to Georgia, Bush pushed the Russian Federation to form a new treaty organization.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>Medvedev signed Sept. 6 a mutual defense agreement called the Collective Security Treaty Organization with the central Asian nations of Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan, setting up, in effect, a new Warsaw pact-type in the Caucasus states.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>Bush s decision to leap ahead with Boeing to install missile defense systems in Poland and the Czech Republic has made virtually impossible any diplomatic resolution of Iran s nuclear enrichment stalemate.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span> Without Russia agreeing on the Security Council to more sanctions, there s no leverage the U.S. has to bring against Tehran.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>Taking sides in Georgia has also made U.S.-Russian relations more complicated, where Medvedev sees the U.S. as meddling in Russian foreign affairs.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"> <![if !supportEmptyParas]>&nbsp;<![endif]><span style="mso-tab-count:1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; </span>Bush always boasted of his  close personal relationship with Putin, who, during the last eight years, dismantled Russia s free press, persecuted political dissidents, reversed hard-fought free-market reforms won under former Soviet premiers Mikhail Gorbachev and Boris Yeltsin and expropriated private enterprise.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>U.S. support for Georgia hinges on the continuation of a major oil and natural gas pipeline run from the Caspian sea, through Georgia to supply energy to Europe, in direct competition with Yukos and Gazprom, Russia;s nationalized oil and natural gas monopolies.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>Saakashvili s gross miscalculation now brings Russia and the U.S. the closest since the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis to a military confrontation.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>Had he gotten his way, he would have had U.S. troops defend Georgia against the Russian army.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>All the White House and McCain campaign gunboat diplomacy makes matters worse.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"> <![if !supportEmptyParas]>&nbsp;<![endif]><span style="mso-tab-count:1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; </span>Forming a new alliance, Medvedev hopes to discourage other former Soviet republics from depending on U.S. support.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>Pushing Georgia or other former Soviet states into the North Atlantic Treaty Organization won t add to their security.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>Cheney visited this week Azerbaijan, Georgia and Belarus, further antagonizing Moscow.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>Stationing the flagship of the U.S. Mediterranean off a Georgian port and delivering humanitarian aid also doesn t encourage Moscow to cooperate.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span> We don t want Georgia, which acted as the aggressor, to continue to arm herself in an uncontrolled way and with unknown aims and completely unclear consequences, said Medvedev, putting the White House on notice that supplying more aid to Georgia makes diplomatic relations worse.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>Given the circumstances with Georgia, NATO won t be too encouraged to go to war to protect a U.S.-backed pipeline.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"> <span style="mso-tab-count:1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; </span>White House officials can t decide which has bigger priority:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>Protecting Georgia s oil pipeline or containing Iran s growing nuclear threat.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>Antagonizing Russia by blaming the Georgian situation on  Russian aggression and installing missile defense in Poland and the Czeh Republican doesn t promote the kind of cooperation on the U.N. Security Council needed to stop Iran from enriching uranium.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>Rescuing Saakashvili at the expense of military confrontation with Russia makes no sense for either the U.S. or NATO.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>Saakashvili must stop whining about  Russian aggression, take responsibility for his political blunder and allow his diplomats to get along with his neighbor.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>Manipulating the U.S or NATO into fighting his battle doesn t advance U.S. national security.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>McCain and Palin s recent remarks that  we re all Georgians set<span style="mso-spacerun: yes">&nbsp; </span>a very dangerous precedent.</p> <p><b><u>About the Author</u></b><br> </p> <p><b>John M. Curtis </b>writes politically neutral commentary analyzing spin in national and global news. He&#x2019;s editor of OnlineColumnist.com and author of <a href="books.html">Dodging The Bullet</a> and <a href="books.html">Operation Charisma</a>.<br> </p> <p></p> </td> <td width="1" height="2576" rowspan="2"></td> <td width="1" height="2"><spacer type="block" width="1" height="2"></td> </tr> <tr height="2574"> <td width="133" height="2574" valign="top" align="left" xpos="0"><img height="172" width="111" src="images/johninframe3.jpg"></td> <td width="1" height="2574"><spacer type="block" width="1" height="2574"></td> </tr> <tr height="1" cntrlrow> <td width="133" height="1"><spacer type="block" width="133" height="1"></td> <td width="7" height="1"><spacer type="block" width="7" height="1"></td> <td width="182" height="1"><spacer type="block" width="182" height="1"></td> <td width="300" height="1"><spacer type="block" width="300" height="1"></td> <td width="1" height="1"><spacer type="block" width="1" height="1"></td> <td width="1" height="1"></td> </tr> </table> <table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="2" width="597"> <tr> <td><font size="1" face="Arial,Geneva,Helvetica"> <hr noshade size="1"> </font><a href="index.html"><font face="Arial,Helvetica,Geneva,Swiss,SunSans-Regular" size="2"><strong>Home</strong></font></a><font face="Arial,Helvetica,Geneva,Swiss,SunSans-Regular" size="2"><strong> || <a href="articlesindex.html">Articles</a> || <a href="books.html">Books</a> || <a href="teflon.html">The Teflon Report</a> || <a href="mailto:letters@onlinecolumnist.com">Reactions</a> || <a href="aboutdiscobolos.html">About Discobolos</a></strong></font> <div align="left"> <p><font size="1" face="Arial,Helvetica,Geneva,Swiss,SunSans-Regular">This site designed, developed and hosted by the experts at</font><font size="2" face="Arial,Helvetica,Geneva,Swiss,SunSans-Regular"> <a href="http://www.cmeonline.net" target="_blank"><img height="30" width="138" src="images/cmelogoANIM.gif" border="0" align="absmiddle"></a></font></p> </div> <p><font size="2" face="Arial,Helvetica,Geneva,Swiss,SunSans-Regular">&copy;1999-2005 <a href="aboutdiscobolos.html">Discobolos Consulting Services, Inc.</a><br> (310) 204-8300<br> All Rights Reserved. </font></td> </tr> </table> </center> </body> </html>