[Rhodes22-list] South Ossetia - not sailing but international 'politics' - Art please note politics was at end until I amended subject line for you

[Brad Haslett]

Ed,

Here's an interesting observation from blogger Bob Krum (attached).

Brad

---------------------

August 10, 2008 Georgia on my mind
<http://www.bobkrumm.com/blog/?p=1934> Byline:
bob <http://www.bobkrumm.com/blog/?author=1> | Category: Foreign
Policy<http://www.bobkrumm.com/blog/?cat=23>,
Above the Fold <http://www.bobkrumm.com/blog/?cat=7> | Posted at: 11:55 am

BAGHDAD - Last night in the mess hall two Georgian officers sat down at the
table opposite me.  The one facing me was a bit disheveled; his uniform top
was misbuttoned.  It was the kind of mistake you could make if you were in a
hurry.  Both ate quickly and silently.

I wanted to say something, but what do you say at a time like this?  And I
thought, what did I say to my friends in New York on 9-11?  I rose from my
chair, walked over, and asked if they had spoken with their families.  They
had.  And they were alright.

The tiny Republic of Georgia, which straddles the land bridge between the
world's largest lake and the largest inland sea, is home to five million
people.  Both in population and in size, it is smaller than the other
Georgia most Americans know.  And yet, that miniscule country has provided
2,000 soldiers to assist our mission in Iraq.  Why?

The answer to that question is obvious when you look at a list of countries
who have forces here.  Among the thirty nations are all three Baltic
Republics, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Kazakhistan, and the Ukraine–each one a
former Soviet Republic–along with several former Soviet Bloc
countries including Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, and
Romania.  These are all countries who knew oppression.  They knew fear.  And
they knew death at the hands of dictators.

They knew one other thing too.  They knew the power of America to transform
a hopeless situation.  They knew that America didn't abandon them.  Sure it
took a while, but they knew that America would persevere. And that they
would persevere.  And that they would win.  And they did win.

That's why, when in the sixth year of this war, when much of the rest of the
world has abandoned America, when even many Americans have abandoned
America, they who know best the horror of oppression, and the strength of
the American spirit, have not abandoned us here in Iraq.

Albania, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Macedonia, Slovenia, and all the rest who have
been allowed out  out from behind the Iron Curtain are now looking at
America to watch what we do for Georgia.


On Sun, Aug 10, 2008 at 7:18 AM, Tootle <ekroposki at charter.net> wrote:

>
> Folks,
>
> South Ossetia has made recent headlines.  Why is Russia so interested in
> it?
> The Russians claim most of the citizens of this provence are Russian, but
> is
> that the real reason?
>
> Consider the oil pipeline that runs thru South Ossetia to Europe.  It is
> the
> only other pipeline that connects Europe with Caspian oil fields that does
> not run thru Iran.
>
> Why does Russian support Iran?  Add to their support of Iran and there
> victory in South Ossetia what does that do to European oil supplies?
>
> And there is a large portion of the U. S. and European populations that
> believe negotiations are the answer.  So was appeasement just prior to WW
> II.  Russia is trying to regain its empire.  Are there real options?
>
> The above is presented for educational purposes, no position taken.
>
> Ed K
> Greenville, SC, USA
> Addendum: "Negotiation is also a process in which a successful outcome
> depends on convincing the other side of our tenacity; it's easy to say "I
> can't possibly accept that offer," but it's not so easy to persuade the
> other side you really mean it. So there is a natural tendency to bluff, and
> to seek ways to give credence to our claims. One way of backing up our
> claims is through emotions: an angry outburst or a teary interlude may make
> the other side think: "Wow, s/he really means it, it's coming from inside."
> Fake emotion, like all bluffing techniques, is in need of ethical
> evaluation."   Rabbi Dr. Asher Meir
> --
> View this message in context:
> http://www.nabble.com/South-Ossetia---not-sailing-but-international-%27politics%27---Art-please-note-politics-was-at-end-until-I-amended-subject-line-for-you-tp18912720p18912720.html
> Sent from the Rhodes 22 mailing list archive at Nabble.com.
>
>
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