Why does Russian arrogance towards Georgia get a pass?

For a completely negligent account of the upheaval in Georgia, you need only look at Al Jazeera. That website offers a narrative similar to that being told by some American media. Al Jazeera quotes Mikhail Gorbachev, former leader of what was the Soviet Union, in an excerpt from his opinion piece in The Washington Post on Tuesday, "By declaring the Caucasus, a region that is thousands of miles from the American continent, a sphere of its 'national interest,' the United States made a serious blunder."
Gorbachev and much of Western media suffer from elective amnesia.

A scant 4 years ago, The L.A. Times, certainly no bastion of conservatism, ran a story about Georgia with the following headline, “Putin Backs U.S. Involvement in Georgia.” (March 2, 2002) Putin’s exact words were that the involvement was “no tragedy.”

Coming within months of the September 11 attack on the U.S., the decision to train and equip a Georgian anti-terrorist force seemed sound. The Times reported that a senior U.S. diplomat in Tbilisi said that “[s]everal dozen Afghan fighters had fled to the Caucasus, many of them to the Pankisi Gorge, and that the fighters included members of the Al Qaeda terrorist network.” There were quibbles over the exact number of terrorists, but at that time, any number was worrisome. Russia also had its own fears then, over Islamic organizations including al Qaeda that historically supported Chechen rebels.

Georgia has, since declaring independence in 1991, struggled to establish its economy and stability. President Mikheil Saakashvili took office in 2003. Most would agree stability in a volatile region where ethnic factions not to mention an eternally touchy attitude on the part of Russia don’t create conditions favorable to a quick fix. In 2006, The San Francisco Chronicle interviewed Georgian political analyst Alexander Rondeli who said, "The Russians cannot accept that Georgia is independent and will follow its own path."

It should be pointed out too that Georgia’s energy problems are tied to Russia. Oxford Analytica reported in 2003, “US company AES announced on August 1 that it had sold its 75% stake in the Tbilisi electricity distributor to Russian energy monopoly Unified Energy.” AES states on its website the company has a presence in 29 countries on 5 continents. It’s easy to see how energy can be politicized, a reminder to the U.S. we too are vulnerable. What did AES have at stake—or stand to gain—that  it was willing to serve up Tbilisi’s electricity to a country that would like nothing more than to return Georgia to Russian control? Who, exactly, is AES, with $13.6 billion in annual revenues and 28,000 employees? Did media miss this key sale?

In 2003, CNN hit on the heart of the matter with an observation still applicable today: “Western states see Georgia as a key transit country for a planned pipeline to bring Caspian oil to the Mediterranean and are watching events there closely, mindful of a chaotic civil war that gripped the country in the 1990s. “ So why are there no cries from media over Russia’s oil and energy grab? Is that criticism confined strictly to the U.S.?

President Bush announced Wednesday he was sending US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice to deal with the Russia-Georgia conflict. Bush said Rice would first travel to France, where she will confer with President Sarkozy. and “[s]he will then travel to Tbilisi, where she will personally convey America's unwavering support for Georgia's democratic government.”

Georgia’s problems are complex, admittedly, far more complex than space permits here. But Russia’s attempt to point yet another accusatory finger at the U.S. is standard procedure. Russia’s history is bloodier, far less merciful, far longer, and far less forgiving than that of the U.S. on our worst day. It would be more productive for Gorbachev to aid in seeking a solution than to blame another country for a situation that simmered long before the U.S. even thought about assisting Georgia in any way.

Al Jazeera’s myopic view towards all things Western is no surprise. 

Western media’s continual whitewashing of infractions by other countries, especially Russia, is an eye popper. I’d suggest journalists working for mainstream media read some recent history, some of which was written by the same mainstream media, and perhaps if someone like Gorbachev is pretending to analyze what’s going on in a former Soviet property, a media outlet might in the interest of common sense offer ink and pixels to someone with an opposing view. Sen. John McCain comes to mind.

And perhaps most intriguing of all: why did the global energy company AES appear to cooperate with Russia in sabotaging a key energy source for Georgia?

[Text by Kay B.Day; photo of Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice courtesy of White House. Ed. Note: The following source can only be accessed with a paid subscription: "Putin Backs U.S. Involvement in Georgia"; Robyn Dixon, The LA Times- March 2, 2002.]

Update on Tuesday, August 26, 2008 at 7:10PM by Kay B. Day, Editor

For a detailed authentic article about Russia's designs on Georgia, read Michael J. Totten's The Truth about Russia in Georgia. It's really astounding that mainstream media hasn't righted the wrong they dealt Georgia.