Georgian politicians reacted angrily, saying Mr. Medvedev’s visit had been planned to embarrass Mr. Obama — or as a response to a Monday ceremony initiating Nabucco, a planned natural gas pipeline that would run through Georgia to Europe, circumventing Russian control. Georgia’s president, Mikheil Saakashvili, who was in Ankara for the signing of a intergovernmental agreement for the pipeline, called the visit a “shameful and immoral precedent” for Russian diplomacy.
“When the leader of small Georgia left the country to settle very important issues, the president of big Russia silently stole into one of the smallest regions, and personally met with an unwashed, corrupt criminal and killer of humans,” he said, referring to Mr. Eduard Kokoity of South Ossetia.
As I’ve said before (see here), Sakaashvili is a shameless character assassin; but the above comment has got to be a new low.
I do, however, have to admit that Misha sure does know how to employ colorful—and dare I say, humorous—language. “Killer of humans” is a particularly nice flourish. But “unwashed?” Yikes. What is that about?
What it’s about, alas, is the Georgian chauvinism that underpins Saakashvili’s rather virulent form of nationalism that he and his government promote. It is this chauvinistic ethnic nationalism that, in large part, provides fuel for his aggressive stance (read: invasion last summer) towards restive ethnic minority provinces. South Ossetians, like most all people who live in the Caucuses, are what one might call (and I mean this in a non-derogatory way) simple folk. They live very different lifestyles than the relatively more cosmopolitan ethnic Georgian elite who reside in and around Tbilisi. Saakashvili is one of these ethnic Georgian elites—he was actually educated at Columbia University. His “unwashed” comment should be seen in the same light as we would see a similar comment made by, say, John Kerry about an imaginary Senator from West Virginia who grew up in coal country.
And just to dissect Saakashvili’s remark a little more, he is absolutely wrong about Georgia being the “little guy” in this equation. While Georgia is small when compared to Russia, the proper comparison would be matching Georgia against South Ossetia (as the protagonists in the territorial fight), and then matching Russia with the United States (as sponsors of the protagonists). In that equation, Georgia-America is the clear Goliath, with the South Ossetia-Russia alliance clearly the weaker of the two.
One last note: Saakashvili faces increasing pressure from the disparate political opposition groups who are finally beginning to coalesce into a more unified force. Protests against him and his government continue in the streets. He’ll hang on for a while longer, but as I said before, his days as Georgian president are numbered.
Meanwhile, someone please tell me why the United States continues to support this guy.
2 comments:
Just to mention a few facts to go along with this post:
1) South Ossetia is legally a part of Georgia. It's independence has been recognized by only Russia and Nicaragua. (Obviously the U.S. has used it's demonic power over staunch allies like China, North Korea, Cuba and Uzbekistan to rig the recognition process.)
2) Edouard Kokoity spent 9 years in Moscow as a successful businessman. Before that he was First Secretary of the Young Communists League in South Ossetia. He has been accused of personally torturing a Georgian soldier. He has claimed - and then retracted the claim - that South Ossetia will become a part of Russia. He is also accused of rigging an election in 2006 that kept him in power in South Ossetia, and of mismanaging Russian aid funds, leading to a "social catastrophe" in the region. All of these accusations, by the way, come not from the U.S. but from former members of his administration or the Russians themselves. Whatever he is, he is not simple.
I get that you don't like Mikhail Saakhashvili. But this is a very complicated situation, with a lot of insincere, self-motivated, and outright corrupt people on both sides (to go along with some selfless, community-minded people of good heart - also on both sides).
I think it is appropriate to ask for a little balance.
Nate,
I agree totally: balance is called for when it comes to Georgia. And that is why I come down so hard on Saakashvili--because the balance of opinion in this country is so firmly in his favor, and it should not be. The number of free passes he gets from the western press and from western political leaders (not just for saying absurd things like "unwashed", but for suppressing democratic freedoms, putting down protests, etc.). are countless. I'm simply trying to give a different perspective.
For the record: I do not support Russia in its unilateral proclamation of South Ossetian independence. The question of S. Ossetia's national status is thorny and I don't think there is an easy answer. I also do not intend to imply any support for Kokoity as a politician or person. I have no doubt he is not a nice character.
That said, my criticism of Saakashvili in this post--that he is a Georgian chauvinist--still stands.
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