2 posts tagged “georgia”

Well it appears that Russia is in sighting a new cold war front… Hmmn, as said by our own head prefect of the West, David Milliband… behind so much of the rhetoric of western govts within the last few days, it is clear who is in-sighting a new cold war and that is the west of course… For all of Russia’s (or Putin’s) errors, a cold war is the last thing on their agenda… I am not saying that they are without fault of course.. It is clearly a govt run by gangsters… Although the feigned morality of our own leaders can equally be seen as mafia like in itself, clearly the Russians have less reason to hide it…

Millibands insistence that we be ‘tough’ on Russia is a clear indicator that Britain would indeed like a confrontation with Russia… I doubt very much they have the stomach for a real fight, as nuclear weapons tend to grind those thoughts to pieces… However I can clearly see the West (or elements thereof) that would like to see fractures in the relationship take place… Enemies are great tools for politicians to engender support from the people… They may not like outright war, but a bogeyman is great fodder for terrifying your citizenry with…

I have to repeat that there is little difference betweens Russia’s involvement in South Ossetia than with our involvement in Kosovo… If it were the case that the Georgians were killing innocents in South Ossetia, then the moral distinction was clearly the same as that of our involvement in Kosovo… It would be disingenuous for politicians to say anything other than giving its full support to Russia in quelling the violence taking hold down there….

In all of Russia’s statements regarding Georgia they have not said once that they wanted to continue operations much beyond the boarders of South Ossetia. So clearly they have drawn lines in the sand, again not to dissimilar to that of us in Serbia.

However in all of this, I do not see either Russia or the west having any moral validity. Be that as it may, for the west to up the anti regarding this new cold war front, it is very clear to me who needs this cold war and it's not Russia…

Looking on the latest military conflict to hit the news in South Ossetia, a small region of Georgia on the southern borders of Russia. Yet again we see the gargantuan misuse of a state military, bought and paid for, off the backs of  individual hard labour. One can only imagine the death and carnage that is going on over there. The systematic use of sophisticated modern weaponry still leaves us gaping into a pit of contemporary human barbarity and despair.

Almost predictably, corny expressions of unease regarding this war are emanating from the west. President Bush has demanded that the Russians go no further than South Ossetia in an almost tacit acceptance of the violence inflicted thus far. It’s at these times that governments show their true colours behind their rhetoric. The west of course is only concerned with the oil pipeline that links Azerbaijan to Europe. As a result Russia sees this part of its old territory as an important pawn in its ever growing power regarding the worlds future energy resources. So the west sits on the fence and throws light criticism at the Russians as a means to shrouding their true position on the matter.

Of course the images we see above are far worse than we would ever see in Iraq or Afghanistan and are liberally displayed throughout most western newspapers. This is Russia after all, for whom the western press is free to condemn and criticise at will. The cursed hypocrisy of the west is as virulent to see as at any other time before. They use politics as a means to hoodwinking their relevant populaces into believing their stories through vague gestures and sound bites. Now I also include the Georgians in this duplicity, as they are hardly without blood on their hands. As liberal as the west has been in its coverage of Russian aggression, it has shown scant regard to Georgia’s mister minors.

'LET FREEDOM REIGN'

As a result of all this I was left imagining a world free of conflict and unnecessary violence.  ‘I have a dream’, a phrase that was used by the late Martin Luther King, was steeped in imagery. That imagery was of a future where oppression would no longer be the norm and that freedom would at last reign. Of course, as most modern anarchists, we always have our doubts regarding the eventual shift in the zeitgeist and no more so than when we see these behemoth governments acting in such a wantonly destructive manner, such as we see in this conflict. Our gut tells us, ‘how on earth do we stop these enormous bullies?’ How and when as individuals do we ever see the moment when we can stand up to these tormentors and face them head on in a fair and equal manner?

Stefan Molyneux wrote a wonderful blog  recently regarding the safety of a free state society. It may not answer all the questions regarding personal defence, but it’s by far the broadest and most in depth challenge to the assertion that only a state can protect us militarily. It did of course allow me to dream of a society free of the tyranny of state control and coercion. A place in which voluntaryists would roam with complete protection from any force that felt a need to attack them. A world in which freedom would indeed reign and that culpability would be placed upon the individual or entity that committed any act of violence against them.

An overwhelming sense of sadness fills me now, not just for the poor innocent lives being destroyed through this current conflict. Indeed I feel a sadness that grows from my yearning for such a society, for which I am sure I'm unlikely to experience within my lifetime. However I am quite sure it is a vision of a future, whether near or far, that will at some dawn be seen as the only possible future worth having.