Whatever The Spin, It Is Still A War With Absolutely No Winners
Sydney Morning Herald
Saturday August 16, 2008
Robert Gates, the US Defence Secretary, puts a positive spin on the refusal of the United States to get involved in a military confrontation with Russia. It is, according to him, because the US has spent decades trying to avoid military confrontation with the very unreasonable Russians.
The real reason is obvious. Since World War II the US has invaded, intervened, subverted and overthrown governments in more countries than the rest of the world combined. The outstanding feature of that record is that they were virtually all weakened, poor or apparently defenceless states.Like the schoolyard bully, it has always picked on the small, weak kid in the playground. Like the schoolyard bully, it has sometimes suffered a bloody nose from its weaker opponents.Les MacDonald BalmainWhen the Russians invaded Georgia I wondered how long it would be before the usual claims of moral equivalence with the US and Iraq. The US is one of a few countries that has clearly acted for humanitarian purposes with some consistency since the Cold War. Bosnia, Kosovo, Somalia - all Muslim - come immediately to mind. While Iraq is untidy, at least the US removed Saddam Hussein and Iraqis have some control over their own destiny. At the United Nations, Russia, with China, supports the genocidal Sudanese regime and also Robert Mugabe in Zimbabwe. Russia supported Milosevic and Karadzic to stop minorities seceding.If you think there is a moral equivalence I merely point to the dozens of minorities on Russia's periphery that have lived under its occupation. Martin Gordon Flynn (ACT)South Ossetia and Abkhazia either Russian or Georgian? Maybe neither. Reading between the lines of Mikhail Gorbachev's incisive article ("Military assault not way to deal with old grievances", August 14) suggests the solution may be in reintroducing semi-autonomous regions or city-states, by process of self-determination. This would be far more productive and long-lasting than armed conflict, followed by armed occupation and then, possibly, enforced segregation. Pasquale Vartuli WahroongaNapoleon got it right when he said stupidity is no handicap in politics. The President of Georgia, Mikheil Saakashvili, is a living testament to the validity of the observation when he barked at the shins of the Russian bear. Tiny Georgia, with 19,000 American-trained soldiers, had high hopes taking on more than a million Russians. Brave perhaps. Stupid for sure. Rex Condon Albert Park (Vic)It is fair enough to criticise the US for the whiff of hypocrisy over its complaint on Russian intervention. But the apologists for Russia reside in glass houses. Russia's cynical attempt to portray itself as the defender of the rights of ethnic minorities to self-determination should be seen for what it is. Just ask the Chechens.Darryl Kite Killara
© 2008 Sydney Morning Herald