Russia's Georgian Message: 'We're Back'
By Greg Reeson
August 20, 2008
Page 2 of 2
Second, STRATFOR says, the Russians demonstrated that they could defeat a U.S.-trained military force. I would argue that the jury is jury is still out on this one, and the verdict is far from being assured. The United States has been providing military assistance and training to Georgia for years, but that assistance and training has been focused on two tasks: counterterrorism activities and Iraq. Neither of those tasks is suited for the type of war launched by the Russians. Given the immediacy of the terrorist threat in nearby Chechnya and the ongoing conflict in Iraq, U.S. trainers were not preparing Georgian soldiers to conduct traditional force-on-force combat operations against Russian invaders.
Third on STRATFOR's list was that Russia had demonstrated the United States and NATO were in no position to intervene militarily. This comes as a surprise to no one. With U.S. troops committed to two active theaters of combat, Afghanistan and Iraq, there simply are no additional forces available for contingencies that may arise elsewhere in the world. NATO, which has been reluctant to fulfill its promised troop contributions in Afghanistan, could hardly be expected to intervene against the Russians on behalf of a non-NATO member.
About all the United States and Europe can do for Georgia right now is to provide humanitarian assistance and diplomatic rhetoric at the United Nations. Even that is more symbolic than substantive. The Russians control the main east-west road in Georgia and the seaport of Poti, limiting the freedom of maneuver of those providing outside assistance. At the United Nations, Russia holds veto power in the Security Council, making it impossible to even get a U.N. resolution critical of Russia's actions. The real lesson here is that U.S. and European allies are now feeling vulnerable, unsure whether they could rely on outside assistance in the face of aggression from a resurgent Russia.
Russia still has a long way to go in its attempt to reclaim its former superpower status. But its intervention in Georgia has demonstrated that Russia is once again a power to be reckoned with, and that its wishes, often dismissed out of hand in the years following the end of the Cold War, can no longer be ignored. Russia's invasion of Georgia was designed to put the west, and the United States in particular, on notice: Russia is back.
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Note -- The opinions expressed in this column are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the opinions, views, and/or philosophy of GOPUSA. >> Back -- Page 1 2
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