President of Georgia Mikhail Saakashvili met with senior officers of the Defense Ministry and General Staff this Wednesday and told them to be ready for total defense on all of the territory of the country. Some observers decided that Saakashvili’s militarist speech indicated existence of aggressive plans. Indeed, the Georgian delegation refused to sign a peace agreement with representatives of Abkhazia and South Ossetia at the latest round of the security consultations in Geneva, Switzerland.
«Our refusal to sign the agreement has a simple explanation. Signing of agreements with one’s own occupied autonomies is a nonsense. Georgia is prepared to sign such a treaty with Russia but Russia is avoiding the issue,» said a Georgian diplomat.
Saakashvili’s speech before senior officers of the regular army could not help being noticed in Abkhazia and South Ossetia. «We are used to hearing this Georgian propaganda,» said a member of the South Ossetian government. «All I can say is that South Ossetia and Abkhazia nearby are ever ready to repel an attack, however boastful Saakashvili might be of his army and its weapons... We have the Russian army posted here, and the Russian army is guarantor of our peace and stability.»
Saakashvili in the meantime never even mentioned an offensive against Abkhazia or South Ossetia. It was a Russian offensive that he was talking about. «Russia is going out of is way to establish control over Georgia. The enemy tried to install a different political system in Georgia. It planned a complete takeover, at least judging by the information war it launched. The enemy announced in 2008 that establishment of control over Georgia was but a matter of months. I was dubbed „political corpse“ more than once... The Russians took the fiasco as an indicator of their own weakness. They believe that their relations with all post-Soviet countries deteriorate nowadays because they failed to enslave Georgia.»
«Cowards die many times before their death. Nobody is going to do anything to or about Georgia unless its leaders make another mistake like the one made two years ago. I wish the Georgian leadership learned this lesson,» said a spokesman for the Russian Foreign Ministry. The diplomat added what a pity it was that the Western powers had chosen to ignore Russia’s warnings and helped Tbilisi with restoration of its military potential.
Said Saakashvili, «We ought to be prepared to fight defensive action all over Georgia. We will have to slow down the enemy and stop it at first, and deoccupy all our territories later on.» The president recommended betterment of the national system of military education among other things. He said that over 300 teenagers enrolled at the cadet corps reestablished in Kutaisi. The army was said to have ample amount of weapons so that a good deal of the military budget was to be spent on personnel training now. The Georgian leader appraised participation in the NATO operation in Afghanistan as «invaluable experience». «We ought to be talking even broader participation in the operation there. Well, I can tell you that the negotiations with our partners are already under way.»
Georgian political scientist Gija Khukhashvili suggested that there was no use taking Saakashvili’s aggressive rhetorics seriously. «This is how this game is played. Whenever he is speaking to the military, the head of state must be absolutely confident and resolved. His resolution will have an uplifting effect on morale. As for thinking that Georgia might defeat Russia and finally have its revenge... that’s rubbish of course,» said Khukhashvili.
His German colleague Alexander Rahr seconded this opinion. «Another try at a military solution to the problem will result in a catastrophe. International climate is different now. Tbilisi got away with its escapade two years ago thanks to support from the Americans but that’s history. Another attempt such as this will result in international isolation and serious punishment.» Rahr added that even the countries that had backed Georgia in 2008 (Ukraine, Poland, Baltic states) were trying to normalize relations with Russia nowadays. He said that Georgia had better follow in their steps rather than make threats.
