Dishonest Broker

Georgia claims that three Russian helicopters attacked villages in the Kodori Gorge, the only part of Abkhazia controlled by Tbilisi. A UN observer mission is investigating the incident.

Georgian officials claimed on Monday that Mi-24 attack helicopters from Russia had flown sorties over the border during the previous night and had struck government buildings and houses in the towns of Azhara, Chkhalta and Gentsvishi.

Only experienced and well-trained pilots could have made some of the shots, they said, as the approach to the targets required flying in darkness with night-vision goggles through a narrow and often fog-bound gorge.

There was evidence suggesting that artillery or ground-to-ground rockets might have been fired at the villages as well. Investigators were still examining the shrapnel, however, and the question of whether ground-to-ground ordnance had also been used was not clear, a military officer involved in the United Nations’ investigation said.

Regardless of whether or not Russia is to blame for the incident, this situation underlines just how inappropriate it is for Russia to be involved in peacekeeping operations for the conflicts between Georgia and its separatist regions. I have heard more than a few Russians give voice to their bleeding hearts and proclaim their government merely desires to protect the poor people of Abkhazia and South Ossetia from the predations of the wicked Georgians. It is so painfully obvious that it is a shame to have to repeat that their assertion is bunk. Russia is as much a party to these conflicts as are Georgia and the separatist governments. And it has taken steps to ensure that it is even more heavily involved by, for example, extending citizenship to the populations of both regions. It has not shown the slightest inclination toward being an honest broker.

Georgia has proven itself quite capable of irresponsibly stirring up conflict; it is no innocent itself. But the continued presence of Russian troops only gives Saakashvili’s government reason to occasionally raise tensions. Georgia’s government wants Russian troops gone, and so long as they are there and supporting the separatist governments, Georgia can credibly claim to be resisting a much larger aggressor. And about the only way it has been able to get the West to pay attention is to send bullets and shrapnel flying.

Especially for Europe, Georgia is strategically important to the West given its location and its participation in strategies to export Central Asian and Caspian energy supplies bypassing Russia. Its separatist conflicts absolutely should get more international attention than they do. Solutions are far from easy to come up with, and Russia should not just leave without some third party taking its place. Who would be appropriate though? Mongolian troops? KAZBAT?

UPDATE: Or, hey, maybe getting Russian troops out won’t help at all. They could always just attack from Russian territory.

Photo from Flickr user and part-time resident of Georgia drivercore. Visit his photostream for more great pictures of Georgia.