Team Infidel
Forum Spin Doctor
USA Today
August 12, 2008
Pg. 8
Opposing view
Georgia started this conflict; Russia’s sole goal is to enforce peace.
By Alexander Darchiev
We were stunned by the U.S. reaction to Georgia's aggression against South Ossetia. The Bush administration had kept silent while Georgians were razing Tskhinvali (resulting in more than 2,000 civilian deaths and 30,000 refugees, seeking shelter in Russia), but it launched verbal attacks on Moscow the moment we sent reinforcements to our peacekeepers in order to save civilians from being brutally and cold-bloodedly murdered.
The administration is well aware of our position: I have spent the past three days communicating with senior State Department officials, making our point clear — we have no plans to invade Georgia or be pulled into war with Georgia.
As a peacekeeper with an international mandate, Russia's only goal is to enforce peace around South Ossetia. Georgia must unconditionally cease fire, begin a verified withdrawal of its troops and immediately sign a non-use of force agreement with South Ossetian authorities. Afterwards, we will consider further steps to normalize the situation, and the active phase of the peace-enforcement operation will be completed.
The best thing the U.S. administration could do is to tell Georgia's president, Mikhail Saakashvili, unambiguously to stop playing games, stop feeding lies to the international community and mass media, and end the attacks on civilians and peacekeepers (despite his statements of a cease-fire, Georgian troops are still shelling the South Ossetian capital and surrounding villages).
It is noteworthy that U.S. officials at all levels were constantly assuring us that the United States does not support a military solution of regional conflicts in the South Caucasus. The U.S. silence while President Saakashvili started his onslaught raises doubts about the sincerity of those assurances.
Even so, we want to believe that President Saakashvili embarked on this disastrous adventure on his own. And we hope that the Georgian brigade transported by the U.S. military aircraft from Iraq will not turn out in the fighting area. That would cause serious damage to the Russia-U.S. relations.
We stand open to further contacts with the administration on South Ossetia, but these contacts should be truthful, unbiased, respectful and pragmatic. Russia and the U.S. still have a wider global agenda, including arms control, international security, counterterrorism and non-proliferation.
Alexander Darchiev is Russia's deputy chief of mission to the United States.
August 12, 2008
Pg. 8
Opposing view
Georgia started this conflict; Russia’s sole goal is to enforce peace.
By Alexander Darchiev
We were stunned by the U.S. reaction to Georgia's aggression against South Ossetia. The Bush administration had kept silent while Georgians were razing Tskhinvali (resulting in more than 2,000 civilian deaths and 30,000 refugees, seeking shelter in Russia), but it launched verbal attacks on Moscow the moment we sent reinforcements to our peacekeepers in order to save civilians from being brutally and cold-bloodedly murdered.
The administration is well aware of our position: I have spent the past three days communicating with senior State Department officials, making our point clear — we have no plans to invade Georgia or be pulled into war with Georgia.
As a peacekeeper with an international mandate, Russia's only goal is to enforce peace around South Ossetia. Georgia must unconditionally cease fire, begin a verified withdrawal of its troops and immediately sign a non-use of force agreement with South Ossetian authorities. Afterwards, we will consider further steps to normalize the situation, and the active phase of the peace-enforcement operation will be completed.
The best thing the U.S. administration could do is to tell Georgia's president, Mikhail Saakashvili, unambiguously to stop playing games, stop feeding lies to the international community and mass media, and end the attacks on civilians and peacekeepers (despite his statements of a cease-fire, Georgian troops are still shelling the South Ossetian capital and surrounding villages).
It is noteworthy that U.S. officials at all levels were constantly assuring us that the United States does not support a military solution of regional conflicts in the South Caucasus. The U.S. silence while President Saakashvili started his onslaught raises doubts about the sincerity of those assurances.
Even so, we want to believe that President Saakashvili embarked on this disastrous adventure on his own. And we hope that the Georgian brigade transported by the U.S. military aircraft from Iraq will not turn out in the fighting area. That would cause serious damage to the Russia-U.S. relations.
We stand open to further contacts with the administration on South Ossetia, but these contacts should be truthful, unbiased, respectful and pragmatic. Russia and the U.S. still have a wider global agenda, including arms control, international security, counterterrorism and non-proliferation.
Alexander Darchiev is Russia's deputy chief of mission to the United States.