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War, War, War See other War, War, War Articles Title: Russia Recognizes Independence of Georgian Areas Russia Recognizes Independence of Georgian Areas By CLIFFORD J. LEVY Published: August 26, 2008 MOSCOW — Russia on Tuesday formally recognized the independence of South Ossetia and Abkhazia, the two enclaves in Georgia whose separatist aspirations stirred the fierce conflict this month. Acting a day after Russia’s Parliament unanimously supported the enclaves’ request to secede, President Dmitri A. Medvedev of Russia announced he had signed decrees recognizing their independence and blamed the Georgian president, Mikheil Saakashvili, for causing the bloodshed and forcing Moscow’s hand. He said it was clear that the warring sides could never again live together, and South Ossetia and Abkhazia had to be independent. “This is not an easy choice, but it is the only way to save the lives of people,” Mr. Medvedev said in a nationally televised address. “It stands quite clear now: a peaceful resolution of the conflict was not part of Tbilisi’s plan,” he said, referring to the capital of Georgia. “The Georgian leadership was methodically preparing for war, while the political and material support provided by their foreign guardians only served to reinforce the perception of their own impunity.” Few countries are likely to join Russia in extending recognition to the two regions. The move is expected to increase strains between Russia and the West. The United States and its allies have called for the preservation of Georgia’s territorial integrity. European reaction was rapid and sharp, with Germany, Britain and France all criticizing the Russian move. “This is in violation of the principle of territorial integrity, which is one of the basic principles of international law and this is therefore absolutely unacceptable, and I think the whole of the European Union will come forward in stating this very clearly,” the German chancellor, Angela Merkel, said during a trip to Estonia. A spokeswoman for the British Foreign Office said, “We reject this categorically and reaffirm Georgia’s sovereignty and territorial integrity.” “It does nothing to improve the prospects for peace in the Caucasus,” the spokeswoman said, according to Reuters. Meanwhile, a French Foreign Ministry spokesman described it as “a regrettable decision,” the news agency said. Russia’s stock market, which had already dropped in response to the conflict in Georgia, fell sharply after Mr. Medvedev’s announcement, with the benchmark RTS Index falling nearly 6 percent. In recognizing the two territories as independent, Russia was making good on warnings it issued after Western countries recognized the independence of Kosovo, where NATO helped an ethnic Albanian population wrest independence from Serbia. Russia has few allies closer than Serbia, and the 78-day American-led bombing campaign in 1999 added to a building sense of Russian humiliation. As president, Vladimir V. Putin — now the Russian prime minister — tried for years to prevent Kosovo from declaring its independence from Serbia. When the Kosovars went ahead, with strong American and European support, last February, Russia seemed ready to respond in kind. Nicholas Kulish contributed reporting from Tallinn, Estonia.
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It's interesting that the NYT allowed this paragraph toward the end of the article. Now, let's see how the would-be presidents are going to react to this. Not that they should but their campaign staff are probably telling them that they must. McCain said that "we're all Georgians now". Well... I'm not a Georgian and never was one but the idiot also believes that Iraq borders Afghanistan so... who knows what he meant to say? Bush blinked almost 8 years ago when a Chinese flying fortress ran into one of ours and then crashed. Bush apologized. Then he engaged himself in the business of bullying and beating on small, defenseless countries, at the cost of trillions. Now... let's see how strong his guts really are.
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