What is Digg?Warning: The Content in this Article May be Inaccurate
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- vic42482, on 08/13/2008, -27/+216I gotta say. I'm kind of shocked at how American media is portraying Russia as a crazy nation who wants to destroy Georgian democratic government.
I am Ukrainian who can speak Russian and have Russian news TV Channel, and at the beginning of the conflict I was on Georgia's side (before I learned all the facts); because I assumed that their channel is Government run and cannot tell the whole truth, plus Ukraine and Georgia are supposed only democracies in the region; but after watching both Russian and American medias portraying two completely different stories, and doing some research it is clear that Russia's intention is just to protect South Osetia, who got obliterated by Georgian forces.
It's just disappointing when a Kremlin-based Russian station is closer to the truth than supposedly free speech CNN. - inactive, on 08/12/2008, -67/+223I see no reason for Russia to have acted any differently than they did.
- JagPop, on 08/13/2008, -24/+172Ok, the author is the Foreign Minister of Russia, so take it with a grain of salt liberally applied.
Better to read what Cheney had to say and KNOW that the truth resides in the opposite direction. - inactive, on 08/12/2008, -34/+137FTA: "There are no winners from this conflict."
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Russia was clearly provoked. It had no good options. The question remains whether the US gave Georgia the green light for this attack. It is well documented that the US and Israel have been providing arms and training to the Georgian military. - sanman, on 08/12/2008, -37/+132Another Mouse-That-Roared country, trying to poke a larger opponent in the eye, while holding onto America's shirttails.
When Taiwan's Chen was trying to stir up Beijing with various provocative statements and actions, the US quickly advised him to cool it. During the subsequent Taiwan elections, there was an obvious preference in the US for seeing a KMT victory over Chen, in the hopes that this would calm cross-straits tensions.
Yet, in the case of Georgia, the US seems to be doing the exact opposite. It's ridiculous, hypocritical and dangerous.
The United States needs to support an alternative political movement to Saakashvili's corrupt, tottering govt, which only provoked this war to shore up its own faltering popularity. Saakashvili cares more about his own political power than about the future of his country. - DrVonNugent, on 08/13/2008, -15/+103Dugg if for no other reason than to hear the Russian side of the story (albeit that the author is a foreign affairs minister in Russia). Interesting rhetoric.
- tomz17, on 08/13/2008, -5/+81After watching the BS they feed us here on the US news, I felt sorry for the Georgians.... until I did some of my own research.
Here is what I found :
This is a simple story FULL of douchebaggery on all sides...
Background:
- Russia has bad bad bad history with Georgians
- The South Ossetians have wanted to split from Georgia for 10+ years now via several democratic votes, and identify themselves with the Russians (use the same currency, etc.).
- Russia is sympathetic to South Ossetia, and again, HATES GEORGIA.
- Russia has tactical incentive to stop Georgia from joining/bringing NATO into Russia's backyard. They are looking for an excuse to mess Georgia's ***** up, and it's no secret.
- Russia has been flexing its war muscle for the past year or two after having run into some petro dollars.
- Georgia doesn't want to let South Ossetia break away, and there has been sporadic fighting in the region related to this fact.
- AGAIN, Russians hate hate hate the Georgians, and are kind of partial to the South Ossetians.
What happened:
- Georgia KNOWS that Russia is amassing troops on the border (big time), and is just looking for an excuse.
- Georgia KNOWS that Russian peacekeepers are in South Ossetia.
- Georgia is counting on the fact that its western ties will keep Russia out... maybe even hoping that we will intervene on their behalf if they start *****.
- Georgia sucker punches South Ossetia in the middle of the night with heavy weaponry (probably supplied by us or our allies). Kills 1500+ civilians, and about a dozen Russian Peacekeepers. (keep in mind that 1,500 civilians is a significant percentage of all South Ossetians, making this a borderline genocidal act)
- Georgia acts all surprised when Russia completely tank ***** them the next day. They act even more surprised when Russia doesn't stop at repelling their attack on South Ossetia and keeps messing their junk up.
- The USA airlifts Georgian troops from Iraq into the theater of combat to fight AGAINST the Russians (SERIOUSLY! WTF GUYS? Let's mind our own business. If you were a Russian, how would you feel about the USA right now?)
and the media reports "Russia invades Georgia"
*****.
The worst part is that if Georgia had actually made it into NATO, we could have very well gotten ourselves tangled up in WWIII here.
p.S. if you need it in pictures :
here : http://img219.imageshack.us/img219/2236/c852510e1c ... - inactive, on 08/13/2008, -34/+109Why are you digging him up? He's wrong. Same view holds true when believing the American Corporate News over the course of events. Independent journalism is nonexistent in the US, so we have to listen to alternative viewpoints to gain context on these issues.
- Madrigalian, on 08/12/2008, -200/+272"The writer is minister of foreign affairs of the Russian Federation - Sergei Lavrov "
...and totally full of *****. - inactive, on 08/13/2008, -32/+82Ok.........The South Ossetians want to break away from Georgia and become "independent." The rebels fire upon Georgian troops, Georgia defends itself and miraculously a Russian battalion is waiting on the border! Georgia was pushed into this by Moscow.
All I have to say is if Russia is so quick to support those who yearn for independence.......explain Chechnya.
Next up.............Crimean Pennisula of Ukraine. - BohicaTwentyTwo, on 08/13/2008, -15/+54Since this was written by the minister of foreign affairs of the Russian Federation, its only fair that I link this counter point from the president of Georgia:
http://digg.com/2008_us_elections/War_in_Georgia_I ...
"Ostensibly, this war is about an unresolved separatist conflict. Yet in reality, it is a war about the independence and the future of Georgia." - mcla007, on 08/13/2008, -16/+53Yeah. You seem to think one war-crime justifies another.
- arma, on 08/13/2008, -8/+41I hope CNN burns in hell with all the other liars
- norman619, on 08/13/2008, -5/+38Try ignorant journalism. to understand what is going on you MUST know the history of the region. Something no media outlet has given us to help us understand what is actually going on. they just shoot for sensationalism. anything that boosts ratings and sells papers.
- schapman43, on 08/13/2008, -6/+38In Soviet Russia the war comes to you.
- BowieX, on 08/13/2008, -8/+39Erm, I think JagPop meant that since Cheney's views are the opposite of the Russian Minister's, it therefore confirms that the Russian Minister is definitely correct.
And that's certainly irrefutable logic. - Vazelos, on 08/13/2008, -3/+32The response may be right, targeting and killing civilians is never right.
- atdigg, on 08/13/2008, -27/+55Chechnya wanted independence -- Russia crushed it (and remember Chechnya had 2 million people) bombed the capital into the ground, killed hundred of thousands of people.
A ***** region of Georgia called South Ossetia (70,000 people) wants independence -- Georgia wants to crush it -- Russia invades sovereign country Georgia.
Russia killed more people in Chechnya than the total population of South Ossetia
Do you see what's wrong here? - JagPop, on 08/13/2008, -2/+28Cheney has the "Minus" touch.
- diggduggDOOM, on 08/13/2008, -1/+27NPR had a great analysis, including a brief history of the region. From their coverage it seems like both sides went too far.
- N0_SkillZ, on 08/13/2008, -34/+59Why are you digging him down? He's right. Same view holds true when believing the Georgian President over the course of events. Independent journalism is really the only neutral authority on these issues.
- Darksider, on 08/13/2008, -4/+27Both countries have state run news agencies. Both say the other is the aggressor. I don't live in Georgia. How can I make judgments with all the spin going on? I can only go by what these countries have done in the past.Unfortunately, Russia seems the bigger bad guy but without all the facts its just speculation.
- SmartfulDodger, on 08/13/2008, -2/+24To be fair, Russia did go to the UN first. If they would have waited any longer, the situation could have become much worse.
- ImperialRome, on 08/13/2008, -23/+43South Ossetia is not Russia, and for the Russians to claim that they were "protecting" their citizens is bogus.
It would be akin to Mexico invading Texas to "protect its citizens" from Texas law enforcement authorities or the US Border patrol.
South Ossetia is part of Georgia, and there are Georgians in SO who don't want to be part of Russia. Should they seceded from SO and call their new country South South Ossetia? North Georgia? Where does it become a state sponsored insurrection instead of a bunch of freedom fighters? If you actually use some logic, and think it through to its conclusion, you wont like the outcome.
As a second issue, Georgian authorities have made several arrests in the last two years of Russians attempting to sell weapons grade uranium 235. Thats what they have caught. Who knows what they havent caught, and surprise surprise, that U235 came through South Ossetia, from smugglers who used their "Russian" citizenship to slip through Russian borders and carry the material from Siberian facilities to border nations like Georgia. The implications of having the russian smuggling pipeline even closer to islamic terrorist states are grave. - BohicaTwentyTwo, on 08/13/2008, -6/+24The Ukraine knows this. That's why Yushchenko traveled to Tbilisi along with the leaders of four other former Soviet satellites to show their support. Remember, Yushchenko was poisioned by former KGB agents back in 2004.
- insomniac8400, on 08/13/2008, -10/+28So because of Russia's underlying motives, you think it was wrong to stop an occupying force that slaughtered 1,600 people?
- CptBuck, on 08/13/2008, -5/+23Don't stop at Chechnya, explain their stance on Zimbabwe, Burma, and Darfur. The Russians have dragged their feet all over humanitarian crises on the grounds of sovereignty issues and yet here Georgian sovereignty doesn't matter. That's hypocrisy.
- honthraj, on 08/13/2008, -1/+18Whether he's totally full of ***** is one thing but he definitely failing to mention that the Georgian IT infrastructure has been slammed in the last two weeks PRIOR to the attack with Denial of Service attacks - according to a security watchgroup, they amounted to the millions.
Lavrov is not being fully honest. - caveman84, on 08/13/2008, -6/+23Isreal went into Lebanon because of two captured soldiers and it was ok they bombed all the ***** out of Beirut. Russia responded after Georgia killed 1500 people overnight, so this hypocrasi needs to stop. Israel gets away with everything they do. Now i would never defend Russia on anything and trust i got reasons for that, im from Chechnya and i would the last person on earth to defend Russia, but this is redicilous, Saakashvili is all over the place, in all news and i think the guy is an American spy, i mean he lived and was educated in the states in Columbia university to be exact. Eversince he took over as president he has been Fu8king with Russia, and i hope that guy gets killed or something
- markp93, on 08/13/2008, -3/+19"Trusting the BBC is a trendy American thing to do."
and watching Top Gear... - CptBuck, on 08/13/2008, -11/+27All of which is why I trust in the BBC, from whom I have still drawn the same conclusion that Madrigalian is correct.
- PeanutCheeseBar, on 08/13/2008, -14/+29In (Soviet) Russia, ***** is full of you!
- elebrio, on 08/12/2008, -49/+64Ya, had to chime in and call complete and utter ***** on this as well. If they hadn't targeted the oil pipeline maybe they could claim the moral high ground, but this is a war to maintain Russia's pipeline to the west monopoly.
- identifiedlogo, on 08/13/2008, -23/+38That idiot killed 2000 people in their sleep, Russia Did the Right thing.
- suckanucka, on 08/13/2008, -10/+25Trusting the BBC is a trendy American thing to do.
- TheImaginator, on 08/13/2008, -4/+18It's not just the Russian minister talking there, there was a link or two to other writers.
In the first link, it shows an article posted by FT which depicts Georgia attacking South Ossetia first.
If indeed that did happen, and they were attempting to war with rebel factions there as depicted, and if they then got a bit bold...
Well then you have a completely different story.
Remember, they might also have been goaded on a bit by Bush, and there was a US military training exercise alleged to be taking place there. - inactive, on 08/13/2008, -1/+14Yet, the explanation offered here from the Russian Federation's Minister of Foreign Affairs is "fair and balanced"?
- AndreiOttawa, on 08/13/2008, -9/+22You don't defend yourself from a few rebels by destroying an entire city and killing over a thousand people... in one day.
- SethEllis, on 08/13/2008, -4/+16I really like your analogy. The article purposely neglects to mention the fact that South Ossetia is Georgian territory. The UN and almost every country in the world recognizes Georgia's ownership of the territory. The article is purposely trying to hide this fact when it states:
"the region of South Ossetia, which has enjoyed de facto independence for more than 16 years"
There may be Russian citizens in the area, but they are living in Georgian territory and are hence subject to Georgian law. Separatists in the area were causing trouble, and so Georgia launched a military strike to stop the rebellion. Georgia is completely within it's legal rights to do this. - SmartfulDodger, on 08/13/2008, -7/+19The author did say that Georgian forces were attacking Russian citizens.... don't people still count more than country borders?
- angeland8, on 08/13/2008, -3/+15Russian troops are allowed to be there with peacekeeping mission. And attacking peacemakers and civilians is a kind of provocation, yeah.
- 30thElement, on 08/13/2008, -3/+15They aren't really Russian citizens. Russia offered them passports after they broke away from South Ossetia, and about 90% accepted the passports, but Russia is pretty much the only country that acknowledges South Ossetia's independence.
- NoCt1, on 08/13/2008, -7/+18Once again half of digg comments are people who do not know anything.
- insomniac8400, on 08/13/2008, -7/+18Please go back to wikipedia and read about South Ossetia. They are an independent country and due to international agreements Russia had peace keeping forces in their country. Georgia attacked an independent country full of Russian peace keepers. I don't think Russia hating Georgia justifies Georgia invading South Ossetia and killing 1,600 people. Do you?
- username17, on 08/13/2008, -5/+16I trust the BBC.
- CCunitz, on 08/13/2008, -2/+13Violence might not be right, but it is damn well necessary, sir.
- zhulik83, on 08/13/2008, -2/+13I love the picture. Tells the whole story.
- Demener, on 08/13/2008, -2/+13It doesn't help to pull back to S. Ossetia while Georgia rains artillery shells down upon you from their nearby bases.
That's the main objective the Russians have been working on, eliminated military bases. Yes, there will be civilian casualties, its war. - justjoehere, on 08/13/2008, -6/+17South Ossetia is not internationally recognised as a country. It is in fact recoginised as a part of Georgia. Those "Russian" peacekeepers are not in fact Russians. Russia gave them intra-country passports to say they were citizens. When in fact, they cannot travel abroad with their "Russian" passports. Georgia's crack-down in South Ossetia is its right as a country; furthermore, it was the result of separatists in South Ossetia firing mortars and rockets into other areas of Georgia.
- newwildlife, on 08/13/2008, -3/+13Who's ***** are we to beleive? Georgia's or Russia's?
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