When Russia's Bear Cage Is Rattled...It Gets Opened

I have been asked by a number of people in the last twenty-four hours about my thoughts about the Russian invasion of the country (not the state) of Georgia on Friday. This story was the second or third most read story on most news oriented websites yesterday. The top stories in the U.S. were John Edwards confession of his extramarital affair in 2006 and the Olympic opening ceremony in China. So the timing of a Russian invasion of one of it's former republics was good timing from the Russian PR perspective.

Not that the Russians particularly worry themselves over bad international PR. Matter of fact, they were more than happy to have this PR event as proof that the Russian "super power" is nothing that satellite nations on it's border want to mess with.

The Russians have had heated relations with all of it's former republics since each of them became sovereign after the fall of the USSR. They have taunted them, threatened them, and even punished them at times for their insolence. The Russian FSB poisoned a pro-American presidential candidate in the Ukraine. They cut off gas and oil supplies to that country out of spite. They have been threatening the country of Georgia for years that if they rattled the Russian bear cage hard enough that they would just open the cage.

So none of this is of any surprise to anyone who knows Russian history. Russian history is cluttered with multiple incidents of jumping on top of smaller countries on their border in an effort to expand their territory. They have been doing this for centuries. They have just been looking for an excuse to strike another neighbor and prove to the world that the big Russian bear has now woken up and is ready to eat and destroy everyone in it's wake. They got that excuse with Georgia.

The Georgian republic of South Ossetia has attempted to separate themselves from Georgia for the last decade. The population of the republic (slightly more than the city of Lynchburg, Virginia) are mostly Russian and have thrown their lot with Moscow. The Georgian, pro-US government (mainly because of their corruption which is always a lure to the Bush White House) have attempted to reel them back into the fold ever since. The Georgian separatists have been fighting the Georgian military for a number of years to a virtual stalemate. Russian military peace-keepers (the ultimate of oxymorons) have been in the region in order to keep the peace between the two sides. The Russians have threatened the Georgians that if they made any significant attempt to re-take South Ossetia by force would result in nasty consequences. On Thursday, the Georgian military entered South Ossetia to once and for all to re-take the republic. They launched air strikes and troops directly at the Russian "peace-keeping" troops.

As a result, the bear cage was opened on Friday.

Now, the rational response to the situation would be either to reinforce Russian peace-keeping troops and drive the Georgian forces out (leaving out the question as to whether or not Russian troops should have been in Georgian territory anyways) or pull all of their military and citizens out of the region. However, in the world of the three degrees of President Asterisk (Bush), rational thought is non existent. Russian President Medvedev who is a clone of Prime Minister (and president for life) Valdimir Putin who is a clone of President Asterisk "decided" to hit the nail with a tank instead of a hammer. The Russian military under the guise of protecting it's "peace-keeping" troops and it's citizens launched a full blown invasion of South Ossetia and Georgia. They launched air strikes on both key financial, military, and civilian targets in Georgia. They thrusted 2,500 ground troops and moved their naval fleet to the Georgia coast to the west. Scores of citizens and troops have been killed (some count hundreds and others state something close to 1,500) in the melee.

Georgia has appealed to it's ally the U.S. and to the U.N. for assistance which is akin to asking New York City citizens to rescue someone from a mob of thugs. The response from the US and the UN has been sharp words, but little action. Georgia who has applied to be a member of NATO (another major sore point for Russia) have seen that application go out the window. They are now going to be on their own.

Russia wants to prove a point. The point is that they are again re-emerging as a financial and military power. This is steeped deep in their history. Their history is full of self-imposed and outside influenced paranoia. They fear their own selves and any other country near them for fear that they will be invaded and possibly subjugated (e.g. the Mongols, the Finns, the French, and the Germans). The response of Russia given their paranoia is to always appear to be a significant threat to anyone who messes with them. They rattle their own bear cage to show everyone that it is ready to strike at any given moment. Their message: "Hit the cage with a stick and we'll let the bear out. Period. No mercy will be permitted as a result." This is the classic Russian motto to the world. We have now seen it again.

So now that Russia has proven their point. Yes, they are paranoid. Yes, they have re-emerged as a significant financial force in Europe. Yes, they have the appearance of military might. The only reasonable option. As if the President Asterisk clones in Russia are reasonably rational!! The only reasonable option is shut the operation down. Stabilize South Ossetia to the level where there is peace in the region with negotiations on what is in the best interests of the people of the region. Let the people of South Ossetia decide their fate. With the bear or the poor soul that rattled it's cage.