Poll: Result of the Russia Georgia Conflict?

[e__]

For those of you who don't know, Georgia invaded South Ossetia recently, a breakaway region between Russia and Georgia. Russia responded by air strikes and attacking Georgia.

Russia has around 3 times the forces of Georgia, and if the war doesn't stop soon it's apparent that Russia will demolish Georgia.

The entire world except for Russia seems to want a ceasefire, including Georgia.

Personally I'm still confused as to why Russia felt the need to invade :/

South Ossetia is seen as a part of Georgia; it is not internationally recognized as a country, and it is seen as part of Georgia.

 

[L__]

Wait, if you're confused about why they felt the need, I'm assuming you don't know...

http://www.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/europe/08/08/georgia.reax/index.html
http://www.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/europe/08/09/georgia.ossetia/index.html

HMMMmm...

[XD he has the same format of name as me X])

 

[e__]

Hm, I guess Russia is protecting South Ossetia? Playing good guys in the conflict? I understand that they're legally justified, but a full scale war doesn't seem appropriate. Could someone link me to something that proves they attempted a negotiation before the military got involved?

And wtf, you/i stole my/your name!

 

[Crimson King]

Vladimir Putin is a former KGB officer and still has a great deal of power and influence in Russia despite no longer being president. He's the type that would turn Russia into a war power without a moment's hesitation. Russia wants power and land, THAT is why they are attacking Georgia.

The US better **** well invade Russia soon or Iraq will look like a hoax. Our guise for going into Iraq (and Korea and Vietnam) was that people were oppressed by a stronger power. Happening in front of everyone's eyes now, but the US isn't doing ****. Hmm...

 

[e__]

A war with Russia is the last thing we want right now; it would be devastating. I agree that measures need to be taken, but I think that serious negotiations need to take place before we invade Russia.

 

[L__]

This is all true, but we better finish off the war in Iraq or else.... >.<;

And by finish, I mean not leaving; actually doing what we promised to do.

 

[Deleted member]

When the Soviet Union fell, the satellites of the former union had de facto autonomy. They agreed that while they would be their own "country", they would still use Russian currency and associate with Russia, much like Quebec does with Canada, even though they don't see themselves as Canadian per se.

The Georgia vs South Ossetia battle is much like Israel vs Palestine.

Georgia invades South Ossetia, so Russia plays the good guys and says **** that ****. Why would the US invade? Be happy that Russia is handling it and not the West.

It's like two sons: the older brother picking on the younger, and the dad steps in and sends the older kid to his room. Totally justified.

 

[L__]

"Why would the US invade?"

>_> They better not find something that they could abuse...

 

[Deleted member]

If you guys know anything about the Cuban Missile Crisis, Russia is the last country the US wants to **** with.

 

[SkylerOcon]

Yes. Messing with Russia is a bad idea. That could cause a potential (though very, very, unlikely) nuclear war, and right now I think Russia has more nukes than we do. To add we can't afford another war right now. Right now we're nine trillion dollars in debt.

Ignoring the US though, I think it's obvious that Russia doing this to protect South Ossetia isn't true. Pretty much every country in the world wants a ceasefire, except for Russia. The Georgian president has already signed one, but I think Russia refuted it. Correct me if I'm wrong, though.

 

[The Executive]

Yes. Messing with Russia is a bad idea. That could cause a potential (though very, very, unlikely) nuclear war, and right now I think Russia has more nukes than we do. To add we can't afford another war right now. Right now we're nine trillion dollars in debt.

Ignoring the US though, I think it's obvious that Russia doing this to protect South Ossetia isn't true. Pretty much every country in the world wants a ceasefire, except for Russia. The Georgian president has already signed one, but I think Russia refuted it. Correct me if I'm wrong, though.

Again, Russia wants land and power. It would not surprise me at all if Vladimir Putin did not have a long-term plan for reestablishing his country as a world power (unlikely albeit).

 

[manhunter098]

Georgia is tiny though. And Im while given its location I would say it has decent natural resources for its size, the most Russia could do is put up a puppet government if they wanted to have control of it. In this day and age a "civilized" country would find it difficult to get away with actually taking over one of its neighbors. Granted nobody is going to try to stop them, but they will definitely get economic sanctions, and while Russia definitely has a thriving oil industry if Im correct, they will find it difficult to buy things from other countries.


Basically to actually take over Georgia just isnt a bright idea for Russia, I would say that this is more of a show of strength and willpower. Russia basically just showed the world that if you piss them off, they will bomb your ***. Which is probably a good thing since they can pretty much just apologize for the whole mess and well they will be let off the hook and every country will look at Russia as a stronger country from now on.


This whole entire conflict, aside from Georgia not wanting to have two regions secede seems a little bit WTF why is this even happening to me though.

 

[cman]

Imo, you guys are vastly oversimplifying the issue.

Russia's motivation isn't solely after land and power. That may be part of it, but assuming that it entirely explains their view put us in this ****ty situation in the first place.

Let us consider Russia's viewpoint. They lost the cold war, and all their territories. What were the significance of the territories before the end of the war? They were a bit of a safety bubble around Russia to protect it from any threat.

So they lose their protection. "What's the problem? We aren't going to invade them or anything" you say... Well, yes, that's true. But it certainly doesn't appear that way. NATO (the cold war anti-russian military alliance) has been constantly expanding closer to Russia. Soon, Georgia would have been admitted through the constant pushing of the US, with Ukraine probably soon to follow.

So now the military alliance has terriories on the borders of Russia. Not only that, we were training and supplying the Georgian military. AND THEN THE GEORGIAN MILITARY INVADES! The Russians are thinking maybe this is a test run for a incoming invasion of Russia. Now Russia is thinking "**** ****" just like we were during the cuban missile crisis. But there are no missiles right? Well actually we (the US) are about to put a missile base in Poland. We say it is for defense against Iran, but then we are trying to push the deal through Congress claiming it is for defense against the Russians. This contradiction, as well as a few others, makes our motives for all of our recent actions seem very questionable. Questionable motives combined with military build-up makes for a very scary situation.

So now the Russians are scared ****less, and decide that having a country right next to them allied with NATO is not a good idea. Therefore, to show all the soviet satellites, they invade Georgia to tell Georgia and the other satellites not to ally with NATO. Plus, Georgia gave Russia a great excuse to invade by invading South Ossetia, and the US (with a still far superior military) is tied up in the Middle East and unable to react.

So what should this tell us? Our politicians are ****ing idiots. We need to stop threatening Russia. However, there are very few decent options right now. We have no way to back any threats with substantial action. Probably the only course of action that might work is to allow Russia to apply to NATO. This would lend credibilty to the fact that we aren't intending to threaten it, and will quell the Russian need for expansion. Probably. (Edited for a bit more explanation)

Here is some supplemental reading since i don't really feel like typing more. Feel free to ignore it, but it is an interesting and insightful read. http://www.twq.com/02winter/baker.pdf (Written in 2003.)

 

[M@v]

"lets invade russia!!"HHHMMM thats a real bright idea. about 18 years ago they were the powerful soviet union with many many nukes. Those nukes didnt get up and walk away.
So yeah if you want nuclear explosions popping up all over the place, be my guest and invade russia.