"Those who do not learn from the past are doomed to repeat it."

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Kane Oster

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So everyone I am sure is aware of the conflict right now between Georgia and Russia and being a history minor myself (maybe major later on) I am starting to see some eerie similarities to events in the past and this article agrees with me I think...



Any Thoughts from my fellow ST owners?
 
I agree with you. This is a horrible situation for Georgia. Just an FYI, Russia was the one that attacked. Georgia was not planning and not even thinking to attack or provoke.It only makes that Russia attacked. I know that Georgians entered South Ossetia, without attacking or any violence on their mind, when Russians heard of this, they entered and wiped out the town. I know it may be confusing since Russia is blaming Georgia and Georgia is blaming Russia. Russia is just trying to get revenge and trying to get a control of Georgia.

Sorry for changing the topic, but that was on my mind
 
Russia is revived now that it isn't broke. The Reagan era saw the Russians getting hurt by lagging world economy, draught, failing communist system and uncontrolled spending to keep up with USA in the superpower race. That led to their collapse in 1989. Our tax and spend politicos would do well to learn from that mistake before they kill the goose that's been laying all the golden eggs with burdensome taxation and now fees.



Russia has plenty of petroleum reserves and are leveraging that to become an economic powerhouse. Do some searching for the gov't backed company Gasprom. You'll be amazed at what they are doing and positioning themselves to control.



IMHO, the next superpower race is not going to be primarily military like the cold war. It's going to be economic superpowers who control the world and because they have the gold, they will have the military forces to protect and project their ideals.



Because we are shipping too many skilled jobs overseas, the USA is going to be at a disadvantage if we don't turn that around.



 
Kane,



My degree back in the 1980s was Russian Area Studies (language, history, culture, etc.) I also know the history of this region to include Germany. I have heard first accounts of what the Russians and Germans did to the population of Poland as well.



This article is exactly right. I was saying almost the same in the other Russia thread. Ukraine and Estonia are the next prime targets if we don't nip this in the bud. They all have significant "Russian" populations.



If Russia isn't held accountable for Georgia, then Ukraine will probably be next. Estonia is part of NATO, but if we did nothing in Georgia or Ukraine, then Estonia would be a good test bed to see how NATO would react. These countries have essentially been thumbing their noses at Russia, because they were sure their "Big Brother" was covering their backs.



In my opinion, I don't think this will just blow over, as everyone is hoping. I think Russia is now going to make these counties pay for their insolence.
 
Iran, would love to see us tied up in a 3rd country. Listening to talk radio today. Military papers smuggled from Iran, spoke of EM pulse bombs over the USA. Stated that they have the delivery method and capability now.They will use a short range missles, even a scud. Hidden away in a freighter. All they need is a nuke. They have been practicing in the persian gulf.

After the end of the cold war, during the clinton years, we stoped reqiuring the special shielding for our secure electronic systems. It came in front of bush also. He also did nothing. Supposedly these papers spoke of this is their plan for us and a few other countries. A couple of EM's from short range could grind the American machine to the dark ages. We would not have time to react.

Sorry about stealing the thread. Just found it intresting.
 
My heritage is Polish. I had an uncle-in-law who was Ukraine. My parents, their parents, my uncle, always said "Don't trust the Russians!". They knew it then, we are seeing it now.
 
This paragraph says volumes... about how diplomacy will not work with a determined foe.



"Just as their forebears in the 1930s sought refuge in the League of Nations, the United States and Europe duly take the Georgian crisis to the United Nations. But the U.N. is, by definition, as impotent now as the League of Nations was then. Russia can, and clearly will, veto any resolution of significance. And what power, other than words, could the United Nations deploy anyway? Sanctions? Against Russia, which supplies Europe with most of its energy, just as winter approaches?"



Now, let's look at how the post Cold War "Peace Dividend" was sqaundered...



"So what can the West do? The Europeans are unlikely to do anything beyond hand-wringing. The first responses in the comment columns of Britain's leftish newspaper The Guardian show its readers closing ranks around the comforting but irrelevant thought that this is all somehow George W. Bush's fault. Besides, with post-cold-war defense budgets now barely visible to the naked eye, the Europeans lack the capacity to intervene."



And then, the world is again looking to the USA to play policeman...



"The United States, on the other hand, does have the capability to actually do something. Not to expel Russian forces from South Ossetia—that ethnic tangle is best left to negotiation—but to guarantee Georgia's sovereignty and independence. Georgia's right to self-defense is unquestionable: it needs no U.N. resolution to say that. Washington has every right to send "peace-keeping" troops into Georgia if Saakashvili requests it."























 
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Just a comment: Its interesting that people who don't think the USA should be meddling in other peoples affairs, ala Iraq, Pakistan, et al, think that we should do something about Georgia and Russia. Whats the rationale?
 
As I already said in the other thread the bottom line is, Georgia's leader over-estimated his importance to the US, ruined any chance of Georgia or Ukraine to get into NATO (for better or worse) any time soon, and allowed Russia execute its long prepared plan to take control over oil pipeline on Caucasus...



This whole war, almost looks staged, if you ask me. And US is actually reaping rewords from this too. Now when time comes to pressure Iran -<a href=http://www.metimes.com/International/2008/08/11/special_report_kuwait_readying_for_war_in_gulf/7724>http://www.metimes.com/International/2008/08/11/special_report_kuwait_readying_for_war_in_gulf/7724</a>

, Russia will be shut silent for what they did to Georgia. I don't think it’s all black and white, like everything in big politics. So no, Ukraine, Georgia or Poland shouldn't trust anyone. Because as usual small countries will be used as change like many times befor in the past by "superpowers".



Here's a link to a good analysis of this war: <a href=http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/aug/12/georgia1>http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/aug/12/georgia1</a>
 
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