In the Russia-Georgia conflict what side do you think is right and what side do you think is wrong ?

Question

I am just trying to make a short opinion poll on here. You do not need to support your views with arguments. Although, if you do it will help me to select the best answer (no copy & paste please). Please answer only if you are not Russian, Georgian or someone from the former Soviet Union.

Answer 1

They're both wrong. Goodies and baddies don't exist in the real world.

Georgia was wrong to bomb South Ossetia, killing thousands of innocent people.

Russia was wrong to bomb civilian areas in Georgia in retaliation.

Answer 2

US Needs Georgia Pipeline

Answer 3

Russia is wrong. Georgia is an independent state and America should support the removal of Russian troops.

Answer 4

There are so many victims, it makes it difficult to decide which victim to support.

Firstly there are the Abkhaz and South Ossetians. They are two ethnic groups quite distinct from the Georgians, and histories which trace them back to Roman times. Abkhazia, at least, has been independent off and on since the year 700.

Then we have the Georgian population of the two regions. After these regions seceded they were ethnically cleansed by the Russian backed forces. 250,000+ Georgian refugees are still displaced, more than the entire current population left in Abkhazia and South Ossetia.

Finally, there is the motivation of Russia itself. Its purpose was not to "protect" these minorities. The Russians were happy to slaughter 30,000 Chechens in their bid to prevent one of their own Caucasus regions from seceding, and yet they claim to have invaded Georgia to protect 40,000 South Ossetians.

The populations of both regions are also too small to function as independent states. In size they are comparable to European micro-states like Leichtenstein and Andorra, but without the tourism that supports those two. In effect, Russia is annexing these regions from Georgia. The Russian leadership of South Ossetia has also declared they wish to merge with North Ossetia and Russia.

If you want to go on to argue about the right of these regions, ethnically cleansed of their majority Georgian populations to secede, then perhaps we should also ask about the neighbouring ones in Russia : Chechnya, Ingushetia, North Ossetia, Dagestan, Kabardino-Balkaria -- all of which have fostering independence movements of their own.

Chechnya at least was a viable state, with a population of more than 1million.

The Georgians themselves are also to blame for the conflict. They should have negotiated some sort of autonomy package with these regions rather than trying to take them by force.

So no, neither Georgian, nor Russian, nor Abkhaz, nor Ossetian has a clean hand in the dispute.

Answer 5

Neither:

"War is a continuation of policy by another means" when Carl Von Clausewitz said that he was correct, all sides need to change policy, but dozens of ethnic groups each with different agenda and motivation makes any policy changes hard. The best we can hope is for the US to stay out of it. Russia and Georgia have a long history and they will solve the issue best without outside interference

Answer 6

georgia were wrong to begin with slaughtering thousands of civilians. now russia are just as much in the wrong by pretty much refusing to leave despite agreeing to the ceasefire. and theyve also been very stupid in recognising the two rebel regions