by Matthew Little

Created on: November 16, 2008

Russian Georgian Conflict for South Ossetia,

The Russians sent 20,000 troops into Georgia to fight for South Ossetia. It was a war to defend the rights of South Ossetia and Abkhazia to became independent states in the Caucasus. Saakashvili's regime wants them as part of Georgia and he also wants NATO membership just like Ukraine and Poland. However, the NATO U.S. expansion into the Caucasus has to do with U.S. interest in that part of the world. The Russians claim is it not a war to protect rights of ethnic Russians, as Germany did in 1938 to defend the rights of ethnic Germans in the Sudetenland.

Georgia wants to integrate into the European Economic Community so it can enjoy the benefits of the European Union. Mr. Saakashvili would give autonomy to South Ossetia and Abkhazia as long they stay in, but Georgia launched a military offensive on August 1 at 8:05 am against the South Ossetia separatists in the breakaway republic from Georgia. As Prime Minister Vladimir Putin stated on Saturday, there is no chance of South Ossetia or Abkhazia ever being incorporated into Georgia.

The European Union and U.S. were calling for a ceasefire between Russia and Georgia.The U.S. sent $1 billion in aid to keep Georgia in the U.S. sphere of influence in a region. Russians have influence over the Caucasus because they used to be Soviet republics. The west is keeping Russia out of G-8 and the World Trade Organization because the west wants to prevent Georgia's sovereignty from becoming russified. Mr.Saakashvil occupies two former Soviet republics in the Caucasus, which tried to become independent from the former Soviet Union. The Russians do not want NATO to expand in to the Caucasus and on to Russian territory. It is like Russians going in to Alaska.

Georgia has tried to become independent from Russia three times in it history. Georgia invaded Abkhazia and South Ossetia because Russians say they are independent sovereign states that have their autonomy from Russia and Georgia. With NATO expansion in that region and when the U.S. bombed Serbia in 1999 to give Kosovo it independence, was that the U.S. being hyperactive when it comes its stand on other countries? Can Russia not protect its area of influence, which includes the Caucasus? George W. Bush was the first U.S. president to visit Georgia and they named the Airport after him as George W. Bush Avenue. President Medveder and Nicolas Sarkozy agreed on a six-point-peace-plan for the region, because they want to get back their original borders. The Russians claim what Georgia did was genocide and that the Russians are fighting for their territorial integrity.

References:

Moscow Times

Wikipedia

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