Firstly, I don't want to be seen as someone who is on any country's side or a "cheerleader" of some sort. I am just interested in clearing out misconceptions and what I see as one-sided views of this issue.
Ever since the war broke out between Georgia and the Russian Federation in August 2008, many were quick to jump out and point fingers at Georgia for many things from forcefully holding on to South Ossetia to being a NATO/Western/Zionist "puppet" or "proxy."
Firstly, I want to discuss the issue of Ossetia and Abkhazia.
As some people might not know, the Russian Federation faces various separatist movements within it's borders, most particularly in Chechnya.
For the Russian government to act as a 'protector' of Ossetian and Abkhazian peoples rights to separate from Georgia is hypocrisy given that it has denied the same rights to separatists within it's own borders.
For any country to promote separatism in another country while denying it's own separatist issue is hypocrisy.
For people to condemn another country for denying the demands of it's separatists should ask if they would do the same for separatists in their own country.
Would Britain suddenly allow Northern Ireland to break away or France and Spain allow the Basque to break away? Simply no.
Additionally, for a small country like Georgia to loose any territory is something simply unaffordable. Georgia is doing what any other country would do when responding to separatists within their own borders and their supporters abroad.
On the part on accusing Georgia of being a NATO/American/Zionist "proxy," I now want to cover.
Going all the way back to the years of the cold war, countries that were allies of the USSR and now the Russian Federation were always seen as "strategic allies."
Weather these countries were India, Iran or Cuba, they were all "strategic allies" of the USSR. But any country like Georgia or Pakistan or any other American ally has been labeled a "puppet" or a "proxy."
Why was Cuba not labeled a Soviet "puppet" or "proxy?"
Most ignorant people saw it as a country "protecting itself from American imperialism."
Why did these same ignorant people not see the same in the case of Georgia?
Alot of small former Soviet republics see the Russian Federation as a hegemonic power in their neighborhood, threatening their sovereignty.
This is why Georgia turned to the United States and Israel as allies to counter what it felt as Russian threats to it's sovereignty.
Indeed Georgia is very much like Cuba, except that it is committing a 'crime' by allying itself with the west and Israel; thus being labeled a "proxy" whereas any pro-Soviet (now Russian) ally is simply a "strategic ally."
This kind of thought is hypocrisy by all means. Sometimes there are no "good guys" or "bad guys" in modern geopolitics. Everyone looks out for their interests, sometimes at the expense of others if that's what they are forced to do.
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