The Kosovo precedent in South Ossetia

I don't know much about the conflict between Russia and Georgia over South Ossetia. However, it seems to me that the hypocricy of recent statements by the Bush administration is interesting, if you compare this all to the situation in Kosovo.

The US attacked and bombed Serbia, including a war crime of targetting Serbian TV stations, and backed the separatism of Kosovo.

 Now that the shoe is on the other foot, and a pro-Russian provence in Georgia wants to go its own way, well, suddenly separatism is a bad thing,

Comments

[Saratov]

Kosovo is similar to Georgia but, North Mitrovica is similar to South Ossetia.
As the United States Institute for Peace says, "No solution for Kosovo can last without a solution for Mitrovica."
http://www.usip.org/pubs/usipeace_briefings/2006/0724_mitrovica.html
Serbs number only 130,000 of Kosovo's nearly two million population. Half of Kosovo's Serbs live in North Mitrovica and its hinterland up to the border of Serbia proper.
http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/library/news/2007/08/mil-070810-voa06.htm

[Cyrus]

I wouldn't hold my breath for a reply!

[George Desnoyers]

Hey Cyrus,

I sent in my questions to the Democratic Party on a website where they promise answers. I am so excited that they are going to answer my questions!! When I get the answers, I will forward them to you since your blog has helped me to put the questions together. This is what I wrote to them:

Dear Democrats,

I have several IMPORTANT questions, on Iraq, Iran, and U.S. foreign policy in general. I will be eagerly awaiting your promised replies!!!

First, on Iraq: Why are you not supporting the COMPLETE AND IMMEDIATE withdrawal of ALL U.S. troops from Iraq? Polls of Iraqis show they want us OUT, COMPLETELY OUT, WITHOUT PRIVATIZATION AND U.S. CONTROL OF THEIR OIL PRODUCTION, AND WITHOUT U.S. MILITARY BASES LEFT BEHIND! If, as McCain keeps saying, the Surge has worked, then he cannot effectively argue that we shouldn't leave NOW. What are you afraid of???

Second, and MORE IMPORTANT, are my questions regarding Iran. Why are you NOT DEMANDING TRUE DIPLOMACY with Iran, WITHOUT ANY PRECONDITIONS? True diplomacy is accomplished via the parties showing respect for each other's sovereignty.

Why are you not insisting that the U.S. government honor its commitment in the Algiers Accords of 1981, by not INTERFERRING in Iran's internal affairs? [By the way, the 1981 Algiers Accords were upheld by the Supreme Court as valid, and the Bush administration supported them before the Supreme Court in the case in which hostages and their families were not allowed to sue the government of Iran for damages because the 1981 Algiers Accords prohibited it.] Why haven't you condemned the Bush administration’s use of Special Forces, the CIA, and hundreds of millions in U.S. money to support terrorism in at least three provinces of Iran?

Why don't the Democrats STAND UP for Iran's right to produce its own nuclear fuel for power plants? If you think it’s all right for the U.S. to aim for energy independence, why isn't it okay for Iran? Didn't you notice what the National Intelligence Estimate (NIE) of December 2007 said about Iran NOT having a nuclear weapons program since at least 2003? Don't you know that Dr. ElBaradei and the IAEA Board of Governors have said repeatedly there has been NO DIVERSION of ANY enriched uranium - either that received from Russia or that produced by Iran - into a weapons program? Don’t you know that Iran has recently passed at least 14 surprise inspections of nuclear facilities, that there is 24-hour camera surveillance over its enrichment (and some related) facilities and operations, that Iran has NOT enriched uranium beyond 5% U-235, and that Iran’s fissionable uranium is under IAEA seals?

Now, on to some other matters.

Why haven’t you condemned the Bush administration for bribing India to vote against Iran at IAEA meetings? [This has effectively been admitted by people on both sides (I could give you the Internet links), and the people of India are damned upset about their government bartering away its independence in nuclear matters!] Why haven’t you condemned Bush’s welcoming India into the “Nuclear Club,” also called the “nuclear haves”? Don’t you know that under the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) aid in nuclear technology is forbidden to countries that refuse to sign the Treaty or secretly develop nuclear weapons? Don’t you know India is guilty of both??? Why are you silent about Bush’s nuclear deal with India??? Just imagine, for a moment, how ridiculous it is for India, a country that refuses to sign the NPT and has secretly developed nuclear weapons to be voting against Iran at IAEA meetings!!! Iran: (1) has renounced nuclear weapons hundreds of times, (2) has signed and lived up to ALL its obligations under the NPT, (3) has thoroughly cooperated with the IAEA, and (4) hasn’t started an aggressive war against any country in almost 200 years. India, on the other hand: (1) has secretly developed nuclear weapons, (2) has refused to sign on to the NPT, and (3) has in recent years started four wars against Pakistan and Kashmir to prevent the Muslims of Kashmir from either joining predominantly-Muslim Pakistan or becoming independent!!! Don’t you know that about 50 years ago the people of Kashmir were promised that they would have the opportunity to determine their own destiny, but that they have never been given the chance to hold such an election???

Why are the Democrats sounding just like the Republicans who have brought the reputation of the U.S. government (and, in some cases, the U.S.) down to the lowest level it’s ever been??? How do you expect to get votes from people who are disgusted with U.S. imperialism? Haven’t any of you read the PNAC’s “Rebuilding America’s Defenses,” the Neocon’s “Mein Kampf”? Do you really think that the entire rest of the world is going to stand by and let the twenty-first century be just another “New American Century” in which the U.S. is dominant in EVERY REGION of the world, as well as in space, with NO serious competition even from a regional power within its own region??? Where is your head???

Now, about this Russia-Georgia thing. Why haven't you criticized the hypocrisy of the U.S. government for bombing Serbia (about 5000 miles away) the way it did, and engineering the secession of Kosovo, and then, almost unbelievably, expressing surprise, shock, and dismay over Russia's intervention in Georgia (its former Republic and next-door neighbor) to support self-determination for the people of South Ossetia who, everyone agrees, want to secede from Georgia because of their close ties to Russia? How come secession was okay for Kosovo but suddenly not okay for South Ossetia?

And why haven’t you impeached Bush, the “Terror President”? He should be impeached, arrested (God bless the people of Brattleboro, VT who voted so in a referendum) and handed over to a jurisdiction with the ability to prosecute him for war crimes, crimes against humanity, and crimes against peace.

I will be eagerly waiting for your promised replies!

I know Obama is going to absolutely crush that complete asshole McCain in the upcoming debates, and I will be watching it just for the shear joy!

However, I am an issue-oriented person, and unless I get satisfactory answers on the above questions, you can be sure I shall be voting for someone other than Obama (I will probably vote the Green Party for president, and support Cindy Sheehan for Congress), and doing all I can to defeat the Democrats even though I am presently registered as one. I am sick and tired of being betrayed by gutless politicians! We sent you a message in 2006!!!; why didn’t you get it???

And you can tell my congressman, John Olver, that I approved this message, every word of it!!!

George Desnoyers
Pittsfield, Massachusetts
cagean@berkshire.rr.com