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

[Robert Skinner]

Putin plays a good game of chess.
/Robert

Brad Haslett wrote:
> 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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>>     
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