Sunday, March 14, 2010

Georgian Hoax Isn't Funny

From the Georgian Times:
"Imedi Spoof Video on New Russian Attack Shocks Georgia"

This has got to be one of the dumbest hoaxes in the history of hoaxes. It is one thing to describe an alien invasion over the radio (something that has never happened before) and another to use old pictures and describe something that has actually happened in the past.
Georgia has been invaded and occupied many times by the Russians. First it was the Russian Empire then the USSR and then the Russian Federation. It has only been about 18 months since the last Russian-Georgian War (where the Russians made it to 25 miles from the Georgian capital.)The panic that this hoax caused was real because people remember what happened during the real invasions/wars.
The Georgian Government should punish the news channel to the full extent of Georgian law. It is one thing to "stir up debate" about what could happen and something very different when dealing when things that have happened.
Georgia is a small country whereas Russia is very large. The only real way to prevent the threat of more Russian invasions/wars is for Georgia to become a full member of NATO (joining the EU wouldn't hurt either.) Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia were in the same position that Georgia currently is in, but the threat to the Baltic countries being invaded and occupied by the Russians (as happened in 1940 and then again from 1945-1991) ended when all three countries joined both NATO and the EU.


http://www.geotimes.ge/index.php?m=home&newsid=20814

2 comments:

  1. The Invasion of Russian troops into Georgia is silly and will not happen. Russia is not the Soviet Union as we knew it. Such provocation by the Georgian government will only prove why Georgia should NOT be part of NATO nor in the EU. This is the 21st century and we need to move forward and not live in the past. If Europe lives in the past, then we live in fear for Germany which escalated both world wars. I say live for the future of Europe and the World.

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  2. Technically under International Law, Russia has already been invaded and currently still occupies Georgian territory. While I believe South Ossetia and Abkhazia should be allowed to become independent if they so chose it will not fully happen until Russian forces leave and stop giving Russian passports and pensions to the people there. I do not understand how Russia can consider these two places independent and still issue Russian passports and pensions to the citizens (since both benefits are only supposed to be given to nationals/citizens.)As for Russia not being "the Soviet Union as we knew it." You may want to mention that to Putin and others who are doing everything in their power to bring the USSR back (under Putin, Soviet symbols, laws, national anthem - although with new words, etc have been brought back.) You say Europe can not live in the past yet that is exactly what Russia is doing. Their history books teach Russian school children about the "glories" of the USSR, Stalin, etc and do nothing to mention all the suffering, arrests, murder, occupations, etc that happened. To move away from the past you first have to accept the truth of what happened. Germany did that with both World Wars and the Holocaust. They have admitted fully what they started and carried out and have laws to punish anyone who says that what they did never happened or was good. Russia has never fully admitted to what the USSR did (since Russia decided that they are the only successor state to the USSR it is their sole responsibilty to admit all the wrongs of the past so Russia can start moving forward.) Until that day happens nothign will change. The same people who fully supported the USSR (ie Putin, etc) are still in power in both Russia and many places in the CIS. You can not fully move on until these people break from their past and work to bring new, modern ideas - something that has yet to happen 18 years since the USSR collapsed.

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