Georgia On My Mind

Sunday, August 17, 2008 at 12:09am
If one is to believe only what one sees on tv and reads in the press, then the current conflict in Georgia is either:
1) A move by Russia to protect its former citizens from atrocities being commited by the Georgian army.
or
2) A resurgent Russia bent on reclaiming former Soviet Bloc countries.

What you won't see in the news is any mention of the BTC pipeline.

The BTC (Baku-Tblisi-Ceyhan) pipeline transports crude oil from what is arguably the largest remaining oil deposit in the world, the Caspian Sea, to the Mediterranean. It was built with the support and financing of numerous Western Governments, much to the chagrin of the regions power brokers, Russia and Iran. Human rights groups have also decried Western involvement in the pipelines, as the money derived from these investments props up often brutal governments.

Previous to the construction of the BTC pipeline, the main pipeline pumping oil
out of the Caspian Sea was the Baku-Novorossiysk Pipeline.
As you may have noticed, both of these pipelines originated in Baku, Azerbaijan. However, in February of this year, Azerbaijan shut down the Baku-Novorossiysk Pipeline, essentially cutting Russia off.

Not so surprising then that we see Russian forces within 30 miles of the pipeline today. Although in 2002 and 2003 the US government sent 200 military advisors and spent hundreds of millions of dollars to train Georgian soldiers to protect the pipeline( http://www.cacianalyst.org/?q=node/351 ) the Bush administration seems concerned enough about recent developments to have directed an entire naval fleet to the Georgian coast. http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/europe/article4524831.ece

In Washington and Moscow, plotters plot. In London and New York financiers finance, and at the pumps we wince and grumble. Meanwhile in Georgia, soldiers and equipment are moving, the press is watching, ships are approaching and people are dying.

It seems to me that the events of the next few months are going to be more important historically than the Cuban Missile Crisis. And I'm going to bike to work more often.

NO GAL MADE HAS GOT A SHADE
ON SWEET GEORGIA BROWN,
TWO LEFT FEET, OH, SO NEAT,
HAS SWEET GEORGIA BROWN!
THEY ALL SIGH, AND WANT TO DIE,
FOR SWEET GEORGIA BROWN!
I'LL TELL YOU JUST WHY,
YOU KNOW I DON'T LIE, NOT MUCH:
IT'S BEEN SAID SHE KNOCKS 'EM DEAD