[Peace-discuss] Caucasian Confusion ---ltr to Gazzoo

[Paul Mueth]

thnaks to mort and david for helping with this

I don't think Cheney will be delayed by a hurricane from his trip to Tiblisi.

 OpEditor Kacich said it should be in next week .. 

those of you who heard Cockburn with McChesney today might still be digesting the fact that Bank of nNew York who the Russians are sueing for $26 billion for pillaging during the clinton-yeltsin period owns a 50% share in the Bank of Georgia. . too much

early version

	An irony of the much cited territorial integrity of the so-called breakaway regions is that their inclusion into Georgia dates to the Russian revolution. Ossetia was given over in 1917, apparently, at the behest of that georgian national, Stalin.
 Abkhazia with its great harbor on the Black sea, was included in 1931 with Stalin directly in power.
	Dick Cheney, making  belligerent statements about inviolability of sovereign nations, is even more ludicrous when one knows the origins of these borders. Our VP is off to the region undoubtedly calling for restoration of the boundaries, inclusion of Georgia (and Ukraine) in NATO and perhaps a personal share in any number of pipelines. This last  is a bit of joke, but why should James Baker have the Caspian basin action and Cheney not?
	Both McCain and Biden strenuously advocated for the expansion of NATO during the Senate debates during Clinton's second term, when it indeed passed through Congress
	This debate brought George Kennan, one of the architects of cold war ideology out into the public sphere when he was in his late 90's; he feared that "expanding NATO would be the most fateful error of American policy in the entire post-Cold War era." He argued that expanding NATO to  the Russian near abroad "... may be expected ... to have an adverse effect on the development of Russian democracy ... and to impel Russian foreign policy in directions decidedly not to our liking."
	Promises had been made by then Sec'y of State James Baker during G.H.W. Bush presidency at the time of the unification of Germany that NATO expansion would not be pursued. The reversal of this pledge has had the results that Kennan predicted.
	The US and the world do not need the military standoff that is implicit in the NATO structure. If it is not phased out and built down, we will have condemned the world to a new cold war.
	In any event, it should be frankly renamed the North Atlantic, Mediterranean, Baltic, Black, Caspian Seas Treaty Organization 

reduced to 250 words  DG

An irony of the political status of the Caucasus breakaway regions is that inclusion into Georgia dates only to the Russian revolution. Ossetia was incorporated in 1917 at the behest of Stalin, a Georgian. Abkhazia was similarly annexed in 1931.
                This history makes Dick Cheney’s bellicosity about sovereign nations ludicrous as well as hypocritical. But he is off to the region to advocate restoration of boundaries, inclusion in  NATO, and perhaps a personal share in the pipelines.
                Both McCain and Biden advocated for the expansion of NATO in Senate debates during Clinton's second term, subsequently passed by Congress. But this debate also brought George Kennan, the architect of Cold War “containment,” to warn that "expanding NATO would be the most fateful error of American policy in the entire post-Cold War era." He concluded that such action would “impel Russian foreign policy in directions decidedly not to our liking."
                Indeed, during the  presidency of George H.W. Bush and after the unification of Germany, Secretary of State James Baker promised that NATO expansion would not be pursued. The reversal of this pledge has had the results that Kennan predicted.
                The U.S. and the world are now less secure with the confrontational mentality that is implicit in the NATO structure. The current course condemns us to a new Cold War with Russia. In this case, NATO should be more accurately named the North Atlantic and Mediterranean, Baltic, Black, and Caspian Seas Treaty Organization. Let’s be honest about where the oil is.

version sent to News Gazzoo

Caucasian Confusion

An irony of the political status of the Caucasus breakaway regions is that their inclusion into Georgia dates only to the Russian revolution. Ossetia was incorporated in first days at the behest of Stalin, a Georgian. Abkhazia was annexed some time later whilst Stalin ruled directly.
  This history makes Dick Cheney's bellicosity about sovereign nations ludicrous as well as hypocritical. But he is off to the region to advocate restoration of boundaries, inclusion in NATO, and perhaps a personal share in the pipelines.
 Both McCain and Biden advocated for the expansion of NATO in Senate debates during Clinton's second term, subsequently passed by Congress. But this debate also brought George Kennan, the architect of Cold War "containment" to warn that "expanding NATO would be the most fateful error of American policy in the entire post-Cold War era." He concluded that such action would "impel Russian foreign policy in directions decidedly not to our liking."
  Indeed, during the presidency of George H.W. Bush and after the unification of Germany, Secretary of State  James Baker promised that NATO expansion would not be pursued. The reversal of this pledge has had the results that Kennan predicted.
 The U.S. and the world are now less secure with the confrontational mentality that is implicit in the NATO structure. The current course condemns us to a new Cold War with Russia. NATO should be more accurately named the North Atlantic and Mediterranean, Baltic, Black, and Caspian Seas Treaty Organization. With NATO troops in Afghanistan, it is clear that US neo-imperialists regard the entire earth as their sphere of influence.