worriedRussia Expands Bombing Blitz in Georgia
David Nowak reports for The Associated Press from Tbilisi, Georgia: "Russia expanded its bombing blitz Sunday against neighboring U.S.-allied Georgia, targeting the country's capital for the first time while Georgian troops pulled out of the breakaway province of South Ossetia, as Russia has demanded. Georgia's Security Council chief Alexander Lomaia says that Georgian troops have relocated to new positions outside South Ossetia."
Russia Pushes Deeper Into Georgia, Rejects Ceasefire
Tom Lasseter and Jonathan S. Landay report for McClatchy Newspapers:
"Russia pressed its invasion of Georgia by land, sea and air for a third day Sunday, striking far beyond contested South Ossetia as the Kremlin brushed aside a cease-fire offer and disputed Georgia's claim to have pulled its forces out of the rebel enclave. Russian jets bombed near Tbilisi, the Georgian capital, including civilian housing, military bases, factories and the international airport, according to Georgian officials. Russian warships deployed off the Black Sea coast sank a Georgian missile boat that approached them, state-run Russian news media said."
This bothers me for a lot of reasons. I'm not even sure what I could do to help, because...
1) The American government is incompetent. I feel that, if I were ask them to do something, the chance it would make things worse is substantially greater than the chance it would make things better. First, do no harm --> Do not ask US.gov for help.
2) I note that, although Georgia is allied with America, the government has not yet done anything more than idle grumbling -- probably because Georgia does not have any oil or other vital resources desired by Americans. This is not surprising, but it's a disgusting confirmation of the real reasons behind America's constant meddling in the Middle East.
3) One key way that mass wars get started is that two nations begin a fight, then all their friends start taking sides. The little central European countries have a bad habit of doing this, because the maps there have been redrawn so many times that every patch of land is believed to be the territory of several different bunches of people, who usually hate each other.
4) Another key way that mass wars get started is that one nation starts overrunning its neighbors, and nobody else steps in to stop them. Russia is one of the countries known for having the bad habit of hostile occupation.
It's bad enough when I look at some godforsaken mess, and see a solution but nobody will listen to me about it. It's worse when I look at a mess, and I'm not sure how I'd try to resolve it even if I had large amounts of money and power. What I'd like to do is lock the idiot politicians in charge of both countries into a retreat center full of Quakers, polyamorists, and communitarians, and not let them out until they'd learned enough people skills to behave like sane adults. Unfortunately that's not a practical option.
