EDITORIAL
Russia Breaks its Word
The ink was not even dry on Russia’s France-brokered cease fire promise, so-called “president” Dmitri Medvedev having declared mission accomplished, and Russia was already violating it by sending yet another full-scale invasion into the defenseless city of Gori. It was reported that another column was headed for the Georgian capital of Tbilisi. Even if Russia does not intend to try to conquer all of Georgia, it looks for all the world like it intends to annex Gori, a city far outside Ossetia and part of Georgia proper.
Nobody can be surprised by this action. The Russian government itself is an utter charade, nothing more than a gang of KGB spies and friendly oligarchs who are running the country in the same way the mafia is run.
The nations of NATO have given Russia a final opportunity to resolve this crisis by negotiation and avoid confrontation. Russia has spit in NATO’s eye and proceeded in a the reckless manner of the USSR. Russia has totally humiliated the President of France, who personally brokered the cease fire, and thus polarized all of Europe against it. Russia has made it crystal clear that its word means nothing, that our words mean nothing, that it intends to recreate the Soviet empire by any means possible, as quickly as possible, come Hell or high water.
Now it is time for NATO to abandon negotiation and take resolute action to protect the flame of democracy in Georgia and prevent this neo-Soviet scourge from spreading. It must admit Ukraine as a member immediately, and provide it with all the weapons necessary to defend itself from the neo-Soviet threat. It must expel Russia from the G-8 immediately, and send a clear message to the people of Russia that their government’s actions are intolerable and that they stand utterly alone in the world.
Russia has crossed the Rubicon. NATO must issue the call to arms.
George Bush has taken the first step. Humanitarian aid is being rushed to Georgia aboard powerful U.S. Navy warships. Bush has issued a statement strongly condemning Russia’s duplicity. Now the president must gather the NATO allies and formulate an immediate coordinated response that will at minimum guarantee the integrity of Ukraine’s borders and hopefully force the Russians to back off their imperial conquest of Georgia, suffering dire international consequences if they do not.
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