Russia Invades Georgia

http://www.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/europe/08/08/georgia.ossetia/index.html

I heard this earlier and thought I should post.

Whenever Russia gets involved in a war, it always seems to be particularly brutal. Not saying that Russians are a more brutal people, but their wars always seem to be.

This looks like an ugly conflict. I hope it can be resolved, though it does not look easily resolvable. One of my good friends is Russian, and has recently joined the military (Australian) as a combat engineer. If he was still in Russia, he may have ended up fighting in this conflict himself.

Yeah, Russia is sore after losing all those countries after the fall of the Soviet Union. There has been lots of violence ever since over them trying to hold/get land. This is the first time I remember all-out war though.

I saw this first on CNN, there seems to be more details here

Apparently, Russia accused Georgia of harassing Russian nationals living in the region and they reacted by declaring war. This seems to remind me very much of the Nazi occupation of Czechoslovokia

Thoughts?

Uh, Call of Duty 4 / Red Alert 2 might happen soon?

Russia found the perfect time to do this, because they know damn well that the US can't do a thing about it. Between our current election, involvement in Iraq, and our involvement in the olympics, we're too busy to care about what happens in Georgia. Not implying that it's our duty do so, I'm just saying that even if the US did want to get involved, we couldn't.

You totally didn't make it sound like the USA are the protectors of the world or anything.

Psycho Siggi said:

You totally didn't make it sound like the USA are the protectors of the world or anything.

IMO the USA has no need or obligation to get involved with other country's affairs. * cough * Iraq * cough *

Psycho Siggi said:

You totally didn't make it sound like the USA are the protectors of the world or anything.

Didn't the U.S. add "Protecters of the World" to its own job description? =/

Oh fuck.

Well I agree with Patrick that the US should not get involved with this, rather focus on itself before helping others at this point.

I just read through the detailed wiki report posted by Patrick Pineda above. It reads exactly like the spiraling breakdown that led to WW1. Or the German invasion of Czechoslovakia. Or their invasion of Poland for that matter, or their forced reunification with Austria.

In short, it sounds like a really ugly situation. Especially considering that other independent Russian states in the area (eg Chechnya, Dagestan, Azerbaijan) may feel threatened and begin to prepare for war themselves.

But I don't think that it will spiral into something other than a really nasty regional war. The world is immeasurably different now. I'm sure I will get trolled for saying this, but I think that the world in general handles conflict better than it ever has. Yeah Yeah Yeah, I know, there are more regional wars being fought now than possibly ever before. But the fact that none of them have spiraled into something far worse and far more global says we must be doing something right.

Say what you will about America and its invasion of Iraq and Afghanistan. Ok its not been perfect. But given the pressure that terrorism has put on the globe as a whole, I think that a lot of countries would have reacted far worse and far more aggressively than America has since Sept 11. Consider what would have happened if the twin towers attack had taken place in Moscow. Or in Beijing.

Yeah this situation in Russia is ugly. But certainly no worse than what has been happening all over the world for the last 50 years.

Aggressive countries suck.

US supports Georgia, and Israeli Military advisors are aiding the Georgian army. It's gonna get real ugly. Vladmir Putin doesn't fuck around.

as some political analysts have said, Russia is more and more like a fascist government than even the Nazis. Technically, the Nazis were not fascist, so I guess that's a bad way of putting it. Regardless, Russia still scares me more then any towelhead will.

Its true that Russia, even without the territories that have seceded in the last 20 years, is still a formidably powerful country. The Arab nations will never become a global power, on account of they are too busy squabbling among themselves and plotting to destroy Israel. But Russia has shown itself perfectly capable of being a global power.

While it is true that Vladimir Putin is not above taking harsh measures, he is not a dictator in the sense of Hitler or Stalin. there have been no mass killings etc. But as Potgiesser has pointed out, he doesn't fuck around. He is a very practical leader in a very tough situation. If you read about him, he is nowhere near as hardline as some other Russian politicians and generals, and he has managed, against the odds, to improve the Russian economy and bring it slowly out of its post coldwar slump, has maintained a reasonably strong military without bankrupting the country, and maintain power against the hardliners on the one hand and the Russian oligarchs (Russian business barons)on the other.

Given the number of recently independent states that surround Russia and who really dont like Russia all that much, if Putin wanted war as much as some say, he has had no shortage of opportunities. Georgia has spent a long time re arming, with US and UN support, and now I think it is Georgia more than Russia that is pushing the issue, that is acting out of fear of this massively powerful country to its north.

We are right to be nervous about the Russian situation. But as Abraham Lincoln once said, "Do I not destroy my enemies when I make them my friends?"

It's only a matter of time until they get to Atlanta.

Patrick Pineda said:

as some political analysts have said, Russia is more and more like a fascist government than even the Nazis.

To curb immigration, they let white supremest groups run around and shit kick everybody that isn't Caucasian in appearance. Disagree with Putin, and you will wind up dead. But that goes without saying.

Patrick Pineda said:

Technically, the Nazis were not fascist, so I guess that's a bad way of putting it.

Nazism was really a grandiose perversion of Religion transcending both politics and science. Madame Blavatsky was a mystic and professed physic. In her book "The Secret Doctrine" she writes of a Trip to Tibet. There she discovers the myth of the Aryan People. They were the people of the sun, and were symbolized by the swastika. From there it spread and by WWI German soldiers were adorning themselves with Swastika Talismans. The war ends, Hitler ends up in the Thule Society, and we all know what happens after that.

Patrick Pineda said:
Technically, the Nazis were not fascist,

Nazism is fascist, it's just not Fascist. The term originated with the Italian movement, but fascists are nationalists that hate liberalism, are belligerent, and potentially racist. Nazism is a particularly racist form of fascism.

POTGIESSER said: To curb immigration, they let white supremest groups run around and shit kick everybody that isn't Caucasian in appearance. Disagree with Putin, and you will wind up dead. But that goes without saying.

I hadn't read that. Not saying that it's not true mind you. Ouch.

<-- is not taking a trip to Russia anytime soon.

Kyka said:

I hadn't read that. Not saying that it's not true mind you. Ouch.

<-- is not taking a trip to Russia anytime soon.

I had a class with a Russian fellow and talked with him a fair bit, and he also said the same thing. Foreigners shouldn't walk the streets of Moscow at night.

According to this news site http://www.infowars.com/ other counties are reporting that Georgia attacked Russia first. the military industrial complex is owned my foreign banks. And they instigate wars to line their pockets just like Hitler was funded by banks in New York.

I first heard this on Alex Jones radio talk show and he is also saying both European and Russian stations are reporting that is a huge event and Georgia struck first. Apparently the streets has run red with blood.

Of course take Alex Jones with a shaker of salt. He's advertising this as the next World War.

Yeah, Georgia struck first, but they struck the rebelling provinces of South Ossetia (which is a part of Georgia), that were continuously dropping shells and slugs on the rest Georgian territories. Saakashvili got pissed, and decided to bring order in South Ossetia - when he did so, the rebels "asked Russia for help".

Sucks to be so close to the Russian Empire.

I'm listening to some translated newscasts and allot of innocent people were mowed down in the process.

I'm worried about the fact that the U.S. has troops stationed in Georgia and is the one training the Georgians against the Russians. I find this all too similar to Korea and hope the U.S. doesn't get mixed up in combat with Russia.


On the plus side, we could finally settle the great AK vs. AR15 debate.

One particularly interesting comment I've heard on CNN that got completely ignored in later newscasts: after the apparently unsuccessful bombardment of an oil pipeline some analyst said that while this war is no surprise after the 10+ year long conflict he found it odd that the situation got heated up just as high oil prices that greatly aided the Russian economy were beginning to lower, not to mention the importance of Georgia as a transit country that would take Russia out of the loop to some degree if the planned pipelines were ever completed.

Mmm oil... sounds familiar.

The U.S. and Russia both have enough nukes to destroy the rest of the world by themselves. I don't want there to be any chance to them mixing it up. I haven't lived long enough yet. :'(

Is this really necessary :(

Bank said:

It's only a matter of time until they get to Atlanta.

Okay so I'm not the only one who conjured up mental images of Sherman's march to the sea.