guardian.co.uk — For many people the sight of Russian tanks streaming across a border in August has uncanny echoes of Prague 1968. That cold war reflex is natural enough, but it is misleading. Not every development in the former Soviet Union is a replay of Soviet history. It is crudely simplistic to cast Russia as the sole villain in the clashes over South Ossetia.
Aug 9, 2008 View in Crawl 4
Closed AccountAug 11, 2008
I just hope we're not witnessing the start of World War 3. God help us!
gardeAug 11, 2008
Saakashvili & BushSaakashvili: Is Georgia a great nation?Bush: Yes!Saakashvili: Do we have a strong army and economy?Bush: Yes! Yes!Saakashvili: We will win Osetia,Abhasia and Russia!!Bush: Yes! Yes! Oh! Yes! Suck, Misha, Suck! Don't stop.
kikimorAug 13, 2008
Yes Chechnya and South Osetia are the same. But it was USA who broke the territorial integrity rule with the Kosovo precedent. Rules work for everyone not just for USA or EU. Moreover Serbia did not attack EU peacekeepers. Georgian's troops (not terrorists of course) were killing our citizens and peacekeepers in South Osetia - almost no difference comparing to the Lebanon incident.
prem444Aug 13, 2008
When the issue had just broken out, every news bulletin I saw on Tv, read online, listened on the radio was pro-Georgia. Add to that the fact that Bush had said Georgia is a friend and a victim and that Russia should think about US-Russia relationship. Then McCain jumps in and says 'We are Gerogians'! (that crazy dumb old f**k!) And add to that some wiki stuff I read about the rose revolution and so on. It just paints a picture that Russia was the aggressor. But once people caught on, more opinions and perceptions came about. Till last morning it was Russia the bad ass. Only today, things are changing.
volandkitAug 22, 2008
OMFG! Did you study Russian history?"There is a reason the Baltic states, the Ukraine, Chechnya, all wanted to leave."Leave what? And go where? Forget about Chechnya, they are not going anywhere, they don't want to."They have had to put up with centuries of cruel Russian tyranny, a mindset left over from the Mongolian Golden Horde leaving their mark on it."Who are you talking about? Aren't you descendant of those who killed Indians? Good, because there are to few of them to complain, isn't it?"Kievan Rus resisted the Mongols and they suffered for it, but the greedy boyars of Novgorod submitted and a new capital in Moscow built on Oriental despotism was born."You just killing me here. Just for information - Novgorod was the first true democracy in the Europe after Greece and Rome (yes, Europe, check the map). And it was fault of Kievan rulers (princes or knyaz) who divided the country which made it easier to win for Mongols. Doesn't look so heroic now, does it?
jphrAug 30, 2008
No Bush is too lazy and disinterested, but the Neocons do hate Putin for calling them what they are in Munich 2007:<a class="user" href="http://www.securityconference.de/konferenzen/rede.php?sprache=en&id=179">http://www.securityconference.de/konferenzen/rede. ...</a>Note that Putin complains of excessive use of military force instead of law and international institutions. The Neocons went balistic, read their blogs, but they intentionally refrained from quoting that speech in full or within the proper context. This speech aligns well with Pat Buchanan:<a class="user" href="http://buchanan.org/blog/2008/08/pjb-blowback-from-bear-baiting/">http://buchanan.org/blog/2008/08/pjb-blowback-from ...</a>
jphrAug 30, 2008
He will probably get an endowment chair at the American Enterprise Institute soon and don't forget he is an American trained lawyer, so speaking the truth is probably not that ingrained.