Gorby Is Back!!!

We have not heard from Mikhail Gorbachev for a while. I was not sure that he was even still alive. Or if he was in a villa near the Black Sea under house arrest. I also wondered whether or not that red blotch on his head had grown larger or even morphed into the head of Stalin. Who knows. So, the former Soviet leader who gave us glasnost and the start of the era of oligarchy in Russia decided to weigh in on the whole Russia invasion of Georgia debate.

His op-ed in the Washington Post this past weekend was a bit of a surprise given it's tone of nationalistic propaganda. His point was that Russia had no other choice, but to launch a military offensive against Georgia. He advised that Georgia's provocation and sabre rattling of the Russian bear cage has been a spur in Russia's hide for years. He added that when Georgia attacked the capital city of South Osseita in order to target separatists and Russian "peace-keepers" that the ONLY reasonable response was to launch an invasion deep into Georgian territory, launch air strikes on Georgia's capital, and to start a naval blockade of the country.

Really? No choice?

Mr. Red Blotch Head, there is always a choice. Especially when it comes to military responses. Russia had a number of options available to her besides launching a full blown invasion of a independent sovereign nation. They could have reinforced their peace-keeping forces. They could have pulled out their forces. They could have evacuated people out of the area who wanted to leave. They could have taken a defensive stance against the Georgian military in order to drive the army out and repel the offensive against their own troops. However, what is forgotten in all of this is that South Ossetia is NOT a part of Russia. It is part of Georgia. The Georgians have every right to lay claims to their own territory. They have every right to deal with separatists in the region who were waging war against the government (even though the Georgian government is so corrupt that they deserve to be attacked). Georgia's mistake was that they also attacked Russian military peace-keepers. Bad move. Complete miscalculation. Georgia had to know that if they were silly enough to attack the Russian military that the bear cage would be opened and the result would have been a typical Russian over reaction.

The Russians did have a choice on how to deal with the situation. They had several reasonable responses in order to protect it's people and military. However, they went Mike Tyson (in his prime) on Georgia hitting knock out blow after knock out blow whenever and wherever it was possible. They even bit Georgia's ear (twice). It eventually took the French (of course!) to broker a cease-fire to end the pummeling. The Russian military is deep into Georgian territory beyond the lines of the South Ossetia region. They have assisted another break-away region in Georgia to rebel against the Georgian military. It is this type of response that causes other countries to avoid trusting and working with Russia (except for rogue countries that no one else will play in the sandbox with), which in this flat world economy will prove to be a major disadvantage.

However, this is where Gorbachev was correct in his op-ed piece. The United States has done very little as a major super power to elicit trust and cooperation from the international community by acting in the same manner of overreacting by using it's military to go overboard in protecting it's interest. Gorbachev stated that the US response of condemning Russia was narrow minded. He is correct. The US to react with righteous indignation about this crisis is utterly ridiculous and proves that the current US administration lives in a major double standard. It's OK that we rain on someones parade for no apparent logical reason, but not OK for someone else.

It is Gorbachev, in the end, that also provides the over reaction that is consistent with his home nation's response to everything. So no one should be surprised. Russia did have a choice in how to respond. They chose the most illogical and disproportionate response. Of course, they did what we would do...so who could blame them?