GEORGIA USES OLYMPIC GAMES AS COVER TO ATTACK SOUTH OSSETIA
By Appo Jabarian

USA ARMENIAN LIFE
19.08.2008

During numerous previous decades, at a time when Olympic Games were
in progress, many warring nations voluntarily abstained from any
military activity. No country staged a military aggression against
another country.

Recently the former Soviet Republic of Georgia broke that
tradition. Using the 2008 Beijing Olympics as a distracting cover,
Georgia initiated a military aggression against the tiny breakaway
state of South Ossetia.

Apparently Georgia’s President Mikheil Saakashvili hoped that the
international community would be preoccupied by the Olympics, and
his troops would stage a Nazi-style blitzkrieg attack against the
Ossetians.

But the Saakashvili plan backfired. Russia rushed to the rescue of the
Ossetians. Russia, determined not to squander away any opportunity
to punish Georgia for its NATO ambitions, counter-attacked with its
military might and literally subjected Saakashvili’s country to a
5-day military siege.

On Tuesday August 12, just before USA Armenian Life Magazine went to
press, the world media reported that Georgia unconditionally pulled its
occupation armies out of South Ossetia’s regional capital Tskhinvali
and signed a peace accord negotiated by President Nicholas Sarkozy
of France.

South Ossetia and Abkhazia have run their own affairs without
international recognition since fighting to split from Georgia in
the early 1990s. Both separatist provinces are backed by Russia.

On August 12, the Russian ambassador to the United Nations, Vitaly
Churkin told CNN that "We do not want to believe that the United States
has given a green light to this adventurous act, But our American
colleagues are telling us that they’re investigating now what may
have happened in the channels of communication for Mr. Saakashvili
to have behaved in such a reckless manner."

Harut Sassounian, the Publisher of The California Courier, wrote in
his column: "In my judgment, Pres. Saakashvili, expecting political,
if not military, support from the West, miscalculated badly Russia’s
devastating reaction when he initiated last week’s surprise attack
on South Ossetia.

This breakaway region not only borders Russia, but its inhabitants
are citizens of Russia, giving the Kremlin ample reason to intervene
and carry out Russian President Dmitry Medvedev’s declared intent
‘to punish’ Georgia’s President."

One hopes that Azerbaijan’s President Ilham Aliyev, Armenia’s and
Nagorno Karabagh Republic/Artsakh’s neighbor to the East learns from
his Georgian colleague Saakashvili’s dire experience of political and
military miscalculations. Back in March, Azerbaijan had organized a
military incursion against Armenia and paid dearly for its testing
of the Armenians’ determination to fight back.

As for the Armenians of Javakhk, the Armenian region in Georgia,
Saakashvili’s oppressive regime has been systematically impoverishing
them so that either they leave or assimilate. Below is an urgent
appeal for help released on July 24 by Javakhk Armenians:

"JAVAKHK NEEDS HELP OF THE WHOLE WORLD. Dear compatriots, the
democratic alliance ‘United Javakhk,’ a grassroots NGO, striving
to defend the human rights of Javakhk’s Armenians, was attacked and
crushed without any solid legal ground by Georgian Special Operations
Unit in the city of Akhalkalak."

The appeal continued: "At the current moment: 1) Over 500 Georgian
special police officers are stationed in Javakhk region of Georgia
(this is in addition to the regular police force); 2) Over 20 members
of ‘United Javakhk’ were thrown in jail without due course/legal
procedures; 3) The Georgian operatives too control over local
internet provider and independent radio station. A number of other
local media outlets are shut down, which effectively limits freedom
of the media and access of the general public to information for
the local population; 4) The office of "United Javakhk" had been
illegally searched and weapons were ‘found’ (allegedly all planted
by the Georgian police units); 5) The population of Akhalkalak and
the entire region is under the constant threat of illegal arrests,
beatings and other mass violations of human rights; and 6) Armenian and
Georgian media and state authorities do not comment on the situation."

Not long ago, Kosovo, another breakaway region-turned an
internationally recognized sovereign state, gained its independence
from the Republic of Serbia. Rightfully, the international community
rushed to recognize its independence.

But the international community’s duty should not have stopped there.

Setting the double standard aside, the world community should have
recognized South Ossetia’s and Abkhazia’s independence from Georgia,
and that of Nagorno Karabagh/Artsakh from Azerbaijan.

Having failed to complete its obligations, the international community
now shoulders the responsibility of the loss of thousands of innocent
lives in the Russia-Georgia-Ossetia war.

Future deadly aggression by the oppressive regimes of Azerbaijan and
Georgia will further saddle the community with more responsibility
for further human losses.