10.08.2008
August 08, 2008 (the date of publication in Russian)
Alexander Rublev
A NEW EUROPEAN WAR FOR US DOMESTIC PURPOSES
The assault on South Ossetia is supposed to favor McCain's campaign
The massive attack of US-trained air forces of the Republic of Georgia on Tskhinvali, the center of the breakaway Republic of South Ossetia was not surprising for any competent political or military analyst. Tensions in the region had been increasing during the last two months, causing anxiety on top levels of the European community, and naturally, in Russia – regarding, particularly, the fact that the majority of South Ossetians, preferring unification with Russia's Republic of North Ossetia to subordination to Tbilisi, had chosen Russian citizenship. Major European papers covered the situation in details, and renowned experts repeatedly warned the Georgian side that a military assault on the breakaway republic is hazardous for Georgia’s own crucial political interests.
For the vast majority of Americans, the situation in the Transcaucasia is not very familiar. On the background of deepening social problems ensuing from the mortgage crash and astronomic rise of gasoline prices, an ordinary American is much more focused on the domestic situation than on foreign policy issues. Domestic economic problems therefore dominate in the election campaign, in which Barack Obama's opportunities are visibly increasing due to his ability to address the immediate needs of the population.
The only way to instrumentalize a break in this tendency and to convince the US majority to choose Republican candidate John McCain was to create a new image of threat to vital US interests from outside. Though the military assault on South Ossetia lasted for fourteen hours before Russia's military forces intervened, the fault for the warfare is laid upon the "imperialist" Russia. The fact that this interpretation is shared by the official White House, is the best proof of the domestic policy destination of Tbilisi's adventurist action.
It is similarly unsurprising that the air attack that completely ruined the living quarters and the social infrastructure of Tskhinvali, injuring and killing mostly civil population, was launched on the first day of the Olympic Games in Beijing. The Americans are thus supposed to get convinced that their nation is still controlling the world, and is able to "snub" two crucial geopolitical rivals – Russia and China – with one blow. The fact that Saakashvili, educated in Washington and enjoying exceptional favor and military support from the United States, delivered his militant speeches during the assault under the banners of Georgia and the European Union, contains one more message, this time addressed to Brussels and Berlin. Whether Europe likes it or not, it is supposed to share the risks of the United States, whatever bloody actions their stooges are going to undertake. In brief, the essence of the message is "who is not with us is against us" – the slogan traditionally attributed to Soviet Bolsheviks.
Actually, the aggressive act of Tbilisi represents an open challenge to anybody who would doubt the geopolitical and military superiority of Washington. South Ossetia was obviously seen by the US neocons, in their struggle for political survival at the domestic policy front, as the most convenient playground on the global chessboard. This is as clear and obvious as the message of the challenge addressed not only to rivals but to the whole humanity. Leaders of nations, expressing their view on the brutality, undertaken by the best friends of America in the Caucasus, are thus faced with the most articulated dilemma – to justify the means used by Washington to demonstrate its strength, to comply with pressure imposed on allies – or not. The choice of response is thus a measure of personal dignity of heads of states and politicians, whether they would like or dislike telling the truth to their peoples and themselves.
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