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Fears of a Lithuanian National in the Recent Resurge in Russian Imperialist Actions
Written by Skirmante Gough   
Lithuanian lamentations on Russia's attack on Georgia and French grandstanding

War is over, and no, it isn't Christmas


Yet Nicolas Sarkozy, could be called Santa by a lot of people, but not including the president of Georgia. Since the beginning of this conflict and I have followed it very closely, the only description for the situation I had was:

"It's Georgia's fault that the war broke out, because they walked into the Russian trap with their eyes wide open".

Can you sense the sarcasm in the previous statement? The thing is, Georgia has received a lot of Russian pressure for the last seventeen years, the conflicts in both South Ossetia and Abkhazia more than likely are stimulated by Russian propagandists and the Russian peace keeping troups - whatever they are, because the Russian government does not do charity and does not do peace keeping. It's like rephrasing the Russian occupation of Afghanistan into - Russian intervention in fighting the terrorism.

In fact talking about the Russian government, did we hear anything of their prime minister while Putin was the president? Did anyone even know that such figure as the prime minister of the Russian Federation even existed? It seems like we have a puppet government in one of the superpower states of the world and no one is saying anything, so why should we even worry about one tiny country being occupied, when we have much more serious matters on our hands?

The sad truth is while we sit and regard the world as some play or even a TV show, and the war in Georgia as some silly and uncomfortable incident, people are dying out there. Whether it will be Saakashvili or someone else, if Putin has managed to justify chopping bits off Georgia and attacking the main cities out of the conflict zone, he will do it again and next time he might even dare to go for much bolder strategies. You know this week it was Georgia, next week it may be Ukraine, or Estonia in September... What do we get then? Eventually the Russian government could have all of the old USSR states back with the bonus that the world would just watch it, and maybe even support it!

Considering that the main excuse for this war by Russia was defending their own citizens and Russian nationals, can one imagine what they could they do in Estonia where at least 25% of the population is Russian? It is very clear that there are a lot of Russian nationals across all of the ex-USSR states. Does that mean the Russian Government can decide to defend their rights any time too?

How can anyone have the temerity (apart from Georgia) to stand up to Russia and not be judged, or worse simply bombed out of the surface of the earth. I mean, do you remember those good old cold war nukes? They are still there, might be a bit rusty, but they are waiting for their moment of fame, and as we all know all good things come to those who wait.

So the world leaders are yet again rethinking their actions, because they don't want those missiles at work, someone's comfort is costing lives and maybe a country, but who cares if it's all for the greater good (or is it wealth?) of Russia's pet oligarchies? Unfortunately it is all on display now, but we the citizens of the world no longer see anything, because we're too tired and our favourite TV program was disturbed by this war. A lot of us did not even know that such place as Georgia existed.

So here's an idea, just stop watching the show, because UN, NATO and even EU are simply a waste of money. Build yourself a bomb shelter, but then again that does not even work anymore, unless they would run out of missiles before the world falls into bits. So the best thing to do is to stop being an audience, stop ignoring it, wake up and say something. Please do not come up with statements like: 'it's all Russia's fault' or 'Saakashvili is to blame', as we all heard those ones before, even though now is the time for everyone to have their opinion and express it, even if it is totally irrelevant. That's exactly what I did, and just before you call me anti-Russian, I speak the lingo, and spent first 5 years of my life under their occupation, so I didn't just have a weekend full of UN emergency meetings, I also enjoyed some delicious pieces of Russian propaganda first-hand growing up.

I am sick of seeing people who follow the herd, I really am, this war truly was in vain, and marching in the streets and carrying Georgian flags did not help. That recipe did not work for Tibet, why do you people think it would work, second, third, fourth et cetera times around? So as it stands, it seems like it took one small Frenchman and a promise of an overthrown government to solve this problem, but for how long? And what did it cost? What kind of agreement was signed in Kremlin on the 12th of August 2008 that no normal human politically unaffected eyes will never see? What did Sarkozy promise for a moment of peace? Who represented the side that is more scared than the other? Someone has an energy card up their sleeve, and who can stop them using it?

We all remember what happened when a few world leaders sliced Europe up as a cake in such a manner that it influenced the next half of the century, just to keep some people quiet, don't we? I think if we all said what we think there would be less wars. Honestly can you imagine if Putin and Saakashvili sat down at one table and told each other what they think, how many lives that would have saved? But instead we get a bargain of the century a country or even two in return of a couple fighter jets, sounds like a good deal, a very fine example of Russian business indeed.

Mr. President Sarkozy has clarified that he does not have any vain hopes, but it is very clear that every one knows exactly what they want to do next. It seems like for now the situation is suspended in the air and there is no safety net to fall into. It's open season for the undisciplined Russian army in Georgia.

So the Russian government is insisting Georgians have started it, forcing their hand through genocide and that they care for the poor Ossetians, so how come they are marching round Georgia and slaughtering Georgians? This is defense, and not genocide, right? It seems to me like the term genocide is just used to justify certain actions with no logical consistency to it.

All one could suggest for now, is stopping the oil trade with Russia and cutting them off big time, the UN and G8 membership can be sorted out even though we might need their oil, they need your money more! The war goes on cease fire, truce or not, so it is our turn to show where we stand, so what about a pump strike?

We have tolerated the war in Chechnya and the strange government with the eternal Putin. Still the past few days prove otherwise to the theory that Russian imperialism has ended witht he fall of the Berlin Wall. The Russian military machine might be old, but they have the man-power and the politicians unafriad to play the game of keeping us all in the unknown, along with the ruthlessness to implement whatever strategy they are working from.

You might not like Saakashvili, as he made grave mistakes, but think of Putin as another option? Do we trust the man that worked for and idealised the communist leaders so much, if he keeps us in the unknown what is he is truly up to, then what does he dream of after a long day at work? A Russian hegemony to counterpart American hegemony?

We might not have the military manpower to send our message of distaste for the new Russian imperialism, but certainly have the economic power to make a real statement, here in our hands and everyday patterns of consumption - unless we are looking forward to a possibility of another cold war that this time may turn hot of course...
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