I don’t have a lot to say about this other than it is a terrible thing. Georgia is an Ally of the United States and a country that has applied for membership in the NATO Alliance.
“At their Summit in Bucharest in April 2008, NATO leaders agreed that Georgia would become a member of the Alliance, and launched a period of intensive engagement with Georgia to address questions still outstanding pertaining to Georgia’s Membership Action Plan (MAP) application. (http://www.nato.int/issues/nato-georgia/index.html)”
This conflict may have been averted had NATO granted membership to the former Soviet Union State. The fact that they do not have member status has emboldened Russia (Putin) which has mettled in the affairs of Georgia, and Ukraine (among others) for years. Some believe Russia has aspirations of reclaiming these Regions. Russia is also not pleased with further encroachment of NATO states along its borders. Below is the news link:
http://www.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/europe/08/08/georgia.ossetia/index.html
The latest update is that Russian forces have taken the town of Gori after a cease fire had been signed by the President of Georgia. At the moment Russian forces are within 50 miles of the Nations Capitol. The fear is that Russia will use this as an excuse to force regime change and install a puppet Government in this pro-West regime and fledgling Democracy.
Interestingly, Russia won the Bid to host the 2014 Winter Olympics in the Southern City of Sochi. Sochi, is a fifteen minute drive to the Georgian border in yet another disputed region of Abkhazia. Map below:
http://www.reisenett.no/map_collection/commonwealth/Georgia_pol99.jpg
I wonder if there is any relationship to the Olympics that would influence Russia having such a heavy hand in this situation. Who knows? But, we will have to wait and see how this disaster plays out.
For info on the Sochi Olympics this Blog is of interest:
http://www.russiablog.org/2007/07/sochi_2014_the_complete_story.php
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