| Is Russia Trying to Annex Abkhazia or Just Destabilize Georgia? [boodskap #113624] |
Do, 29 Maart 2007 15:11 |
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Dit laat my dink aan iets wat die siener gesê het oor 'n burgeroorlog
in Rusland en dan ..........
Filed under: Asia
Do you dare to imagine Russia's reaction if a wolfpack of NATO
helicopters plunged into Chechnya by night, violating Russian air
space to do so, in order to attack Russia-friendly forces seeking to
subjugate the Chechen rebels? Can you imagine how Russia would wail to
high heaven about "provocation" and the "territorial integrity" of
Russia?
Other countries, it seems, are not entitled to any such attitudes.
Especially not Georgia.
Russia's Ministry of Foreign Affairs is not denying that, as the
Jamestown Foundation reports: "an air attack on Georgia's upper Kodori
Valley during the night of March 11-12 was carried out by Russian
helicopters." JF describes the carnage:
Two or three helicopters violated Georgia's internationally recognized
air space over the upper Kodori Valley that night, flying in from
Russia's Karachaevo-Cherkessia region. The helicopters, apparently of
the Mi-24 type, fired at least 20 guided projectiles, damaging the
local government headquarters, a school, and some other civilian
administration buildings in several villages. The damaged building in
the village of Chkhalta is shared by the government office and a
school. This attack is at least the fifth Russian violation of
Georgian air space in the upper Kodori Valley in the last six months.
It is, however, the first incident when weapons were fired. Georgian
radar recorded all of those incidents, but Georgian police stationed
in the area have long been instructed not to fire.
The Kodori Valley, see map above, borders Abkhazia, a region of
Georgia agitating for independence in exactly the same way Chechnya
has been doing against Russia for years now. Yet while Russia insists
no foreign nation can dare to "interfere" in Chechnya, Russia
apparently has no problem making military incursions against pro-
Georgian forces in Abkhazia. The JF reports:
According to the ministry's chief spokesman, Mikhail Kamynin, the
incident is a "logical result" of Georgia's July 2006 decision to re-
establish control over this part of Abkhazia and install authorities
loyal to Tbilisi there. Even more explicitly, Deputy Minister of
Foreign Affairs Grigory Karasin describes the air incident as part of
an "action-reaction" process, triggered by Tbilisi's "destabilizing"
decision last year, with consequences now and perhaps down the road.
He warns, "This incident sends a strong message to those who are
attempting to destabilize" the situation." By this logic, the re-
establishment of Georgia's legitimate authority in the anarchic no-
man's land that used to be upper Kodori is destabilizing,
notwithstanding the actual stabilization and rapid economic
development of the area in the secure environment that exists since
July 2006. Further, by Moscow's official logic, the air attack on
Kodori should serve as proof that Georgia is destabilizing the area.
It reflects Moscow's traditional belief that Georgia's stability and
prosperity are incompatible with Russian interests.
The JF notes: "An investigative report is due for release in the next
few days under a United Nations imprint. The political issue at hand
is whether the UN would, as usual, seek to obscure Russia's
responsibility." It's more than obvious that if the UN is prepared to
accept the conclusion that "Georgia's stability and prosperity are
incompatible with Russian interests" and therefore sweep this incident
under the carpet, it may have outlived its usefulness. Whether Russia
is seeking to actually annex the territory of Abkhazia by attacking
the chokepoint border area time after time, or just to destabilize the
anti-Russian government in Tbilisi (against which it has already tried
to foment a coup d'etat), the world must send a clear message to
Russia that its actions are intolerable
http://publiuspundit.com/2007/03/is_russia_trying_to_annex_a bkh.php
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