[aaus-list] Daria's politology

[Oleh S. Ilnytzkyj]

A thought about what Daria says.

True, Saakashvili technically started the armed conflict and must bear the
consequences for its disastrous outcome for Georgia, but this hardly
absolves Russia of any blame.
It seems to me that under international law Saakashvili was justified to try
to control Georgian territory. What possible legal standing does Russia have
there? As I see it, none. It could be argued that Georgia needed to make
some gesture to maintain any claim to these territories given that they were
not under her control for so many years.

If Georgia is culpable for ³Hailstorm² attacks, etc. then it should be
answerable before international institutions, not Russian tanks.

Oleh S. Ilnytzkyj


On 8/22/08 12:48 AM, "Daria Fedewytsch-Dickson" <dsfd at unimelb.edu.au> wrote:

>  Vadim poses a very pertinent question.
> 
> My participation in this debate stems from dismay at the number of people who
> are unaware or ignore the fact that open armed conflict began with Georgia's
> military actions. Most became aware and concerned only after Russia moved.The
> flashpoint is not uppermost in their mind. But it should be. In any conflict.
> 
> An argument could even be made that it was Saakashvili who used the cover of
> the Olympics to commence operations precisely at that time.
> 
> So Vadim's questions will not go away. They will surface whenever someone
> tries to get to the bottom of this conflict in a scholarly and dispassionate
> way. Georgi's actions are indeed puzzling; Russia's motives, and MO are
> familiar
> 
> Daria
> 
> 
> -----Original Message-----
> From: aaus-list-bounces at ukrainianstudies.org on behalf of Vadim
> Sent: Fri 22/08/2008 00:53
> To: Rubchak, Bohdan
> Cc: aaus-list at ukrainianstudies.org
> Subject: Re: [aaus-list] Daria's politology
> 
> Bohdan, you seem to be comprehensively informed on the chronology of
> the conflict. Could you please expound on the timing and substance of
> provocations? What exactly prompted the Georgian "Hailstorm" attacks,
> why exactly the use of this weapon of mass destruction (according to
> U.S. DoD) was justified, how exactly were these Russian provocations
> different from anything that happened in this conflict zone in the
> previous 16 years?
> 
> Please share your intimate knowledge and understanding of this
> conflict that makes it so easy and elegant to dismiss other opinions
> as naive.
> 
> Thanks a lot!
> Vadim
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> On Thu, Aug 21, 2008 at 9:30 AM, Rubchak, Bohdan <kalush at uic.edu> wrote:
>> > I love that "nevermind that it fell into a probable provocation trap..."
>> > The provocation was precisely timed (the invasion obviously needed to
>> > coincide with the Olympic Games) and absolutely unavoidable. Daria is very
>> > much under the influence of the Western ultra liberal thought and hence,
>> > forgive me, very naive.
>> >
>> > Bohdan Rubchak
>> >
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