While most of the world expresses concern about security at the Winter Olympics, NATO is reacting angrily to Russia’s security buffer around Sochi, claiming it is in violation of international law.
Russia has set up a temporary buffer of checkpoints for the games, and they cross the border into the neighboring Republic of Abkhazia. Though the Abkhaz government is totally fine with this and is cooperating, NATO ally Georgia is mad.
That’s because Georgia claims Abkhazia doesn’t exist and is actually a breakaway part of their territory. NATO won’t recognize Abkhazia either, and termed the move a “violation of Georgian sovereignty.”
NATO Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen objected to security checkpoints, saying “the 21st century is for bridge-building, not fence-building.”
That may well be a clever slogan, but with terrorist groups openly threatening the Olympic Games Russia seems more interested in security.
As a practical matter, Abkhazia has vied for independence since the dissolution of the Soviet Union. Georgia has insisted that Abkhazia belongs to them, but as a practical matter has not been able to quell secessionist efforts there, and after the brief 2008 Russo-Georgia War both they and South Ossetia have had some international recognition as independent republics.
STFU, NATO.
NATO has not a shred of credibility left after Rasmussen used the Libyan No Fly Zone to bomb the bejesus out of unarmed Libyans. Who died and gave NATO rights to interfere in Russia's back yard? The Cuban missile crisis was because Castro forged alliance with Russia in what US perceives as it's backyard.
In 2008 when the Israeli mercenaries inveigled Saakashvilli to invade South Ossettia neither NATO nor the US came dashing in on white chargers to save him. The Israeli mercenaries took flight and bolted home leaving the poor fool Saakashvilli eating his tie to face Putin's wrath on his own. Putin ever one step ahead had sent in his Army and threatened to hang Saakashvilli by his ba**s.
Rasmussen can object all he wants but he should learn that there is never a good time to pick a fight with Putin.
I do not like to use the term NATO. It has had nothing to due with the North Atlantic. I like the more accurate old colonial powers. The old colonial power meet during bush the inferiors administration and they were upset that the United Nations was just too difficult to start wars of choice The old colonial countries realized without war of choice they might face a revolt by their people because of the huge taxes to support major war corporations The old colonial powers are probably upset because they painted the markers on their jets and they were going to pull a USS LIberty even on
sochi but now they have to fly into the Russian Air Force who would love to prove the
s300 antiaircraft rockets so they can jack up the price.
Foggy Ratmussen and his pact of aggressors,occupiers and self proclaimed "peace keepers" under US flag, are still reeling after the loss of face and a very bloody noose Russia gave them in Georgia 2008. The similarities in what the US are trying now are striking: The US/€U & Soros organised unrest and coup attempt in Ukraine.Apart from a dark-brown history between Polish and German fascists and those Nazis and various western Ukrainian bandits and thugs they are rallying like a plague of locusts in Kiev now, there are no natural bonds, cultural economical or whatever that connect the EU and Ukraine and they have no bail-out money or even soup kitchens to offer the country either but they are hell-bent on tearing the country away from the Russian sphere of influence into the dysfunctional, Titanic-full speed ahead-steaming, Borg-collective of EU. They have taken the cold-war hawk Brzezinski´s word for it, that without Ukraine, Russia will never emerge a super power. Although the color-coded revolution attempt initially was intended for the election next year, they are haplessly late anyway, Russia IS a super power despite the hostile western puppet Yushchenko´s & Tymoshenko´s previous regime and Yanukovic slightly less so. Ukraine has never been "independent" as such (from Russia proper) and if they where for a brief period of time, they broke up, so what NATO and the US is trying, is to push/threaten/bribe (words & vague promises, no hard cash) Ukraine intact into the fold, but if pushed too hard there will be a civil war and the prosperous Donbass,Odessa and Crimea which feeds the rest of the country, will secede (they have also made clear the intention to do so if a Kiev mob-rule is imposed upon them) and without Donbass as a boost to €U´s economy and the northern Black Sea coast-line NATO/US needs to turn that sea into a NATO-lake, there´s not much point in this western regime change effort anyway. The western mob-ruled part is of as much interest as a albatross around their neck . BUT, to get back to the subject, just in time for Sochi they are heating things up there and Yanukovic has not given any the mob or their western sponsors any excuse for the usual imperial methods of intervention so "something must happen" and just like Georgia, the Olympic´s and a Russian one at that, might provide a good shadow for a decisive action and pay-back for Georgia & Syria. Simultaneously, to keep the Russians busy elsewhere, "something is about to happen" in Sochi too. The US has hinted as much (and prepared for it). Their ambassador, the infamous, Mcfaul suspiciously resigned yesterday and their Saudi pal Bandar bin wookie has threatened Putin as well and not without Washington's consent. If they manage to smuggle in some of their Chechen Wahhabi terror-cells (from, say, Georgia where they are trained and nurtured by the usual suspects and against whom this buffer zone is intended) we might be looking at another Beslan or Moscow theatre scene. Let´s hope that the Russians are well prepared and that this yet another "Drang nach osten" fails, just like those before.
Russia is in fact shooting itself in the foot, which confirms my view that Putin is starting to lose his touch and make panicky mistakes. He's now 60 and has been in power continuously since 1999, so it's not really surprising that he's going a bit stale. Sochi seems to be turning into a nightmare for him. As regards Abkhazia, the Russian Federation is in fact the last of the European empires. The last place where white people rule over people of colour. In this post-colonial world, and the century of Asia to boot, it's hard to imagine that all the non-Russian peoples of the federation will accept that situation indefinitely. By encouraging Abkhazia, which is essentially Russia's Kosovo, Russia is actually encouraging its own ethnic minorities to take the same route. The problem is that practically all the oil, gas minerals etc. that are sold as "Russian" actually come from the territories of the other ethnic groups. Added to that, the Russian "colonists" are slowly but surely leaving those areas. As soon as they finish school, most of the young people flee westward to Moscow, St. Petersburg, the EU and the US, leaving the native peoples ever more in possession of their territories and natural resources. Some day, decolonisation of the Caucasus and Siberia will seem as natural as was the decolonisation of Africa 50 years ago.
@kenny
As the article clearly says, most of Ukraine will remain in the Russian fold.
It is clear as well that that it is indeed the US that has been shooting itself in both feet for the past 25 years. Their abject, ridiculous wars, the mayhem and countless murders, rapes they have sown around the world, have dishonored their name, destroyed their constitution and their democratic system. It is now an old decaying USSR.
The NATO bombing of Serbia for 78 days was a violation of international law.
"NATO Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen objected to security checkpoints, saying 'the 21st century is for bridge-building, not fence-building.'"
Here inside America, there are militarized immigration agent checkpoints on American roads up to 300 miles from any border, said to be for similar "security" reasons. American citizens, even ambulances carrying the dying, have to wait in line between American towns linked by a single rural road, with the effect much like the New Jersey bridge exit closures that cut off Fort Lee NJ for political retribution. I know of a woman who had a heart attack who was delayed getting to hospital where we worked. Somehow, this doesn't sound much like bridge-building.
On the other hand, maybe an attack would be in our militarists' interests, as they could hope it would excuse their exposed secret mass surveillance operation turned inwards against the American people.
NATO SHUT UP..You have NOT one shred of business in this area..GET OUT NOW AND STAY OUT..
That NATO didn't dissolve by 1994 sez war is fraud.
That's rich for Rasmussen the serial war criminal to mention international law. How about Iraq a totally illegal war invasion and occupation and Libya where among many war crimes commuted by forces under his control deliberately bombed a Ghadafi home killing one of his children and a grandchild that is flat out a war crime this man should be on trial not on TV.