The New York Times Stamps Its Impotent Little Foot
Here’s a hoot of an editorial in the Times Russia Takes Gori:
Europe and the United States must make clear to Mr. Medvedev — and the real power player, Prime Minister Vladimir Putin — that more aggression and lies will not be tolerated. They must make clear that Russia will pay a price, in diplomatic standing and economic relations, if it does not immediately withdraw its troops, agree to international mediation and permit the deployment of truly neutral international peacekeepers to Georgia’s breakaway regions, South Ossetia and Abkhazia.
Where to begin? How about we start with the simple fact that Russia’s the big boy on the block when it comes to energy supplies, especially gas. BBC:
Gazprom controls about a third of the world’s gas reserves and it is responsible for a quarter of Europe’s supplies. Most of Europe’s gas is piped via Ukraine, and when Gazprom shut down the pipeline in 2006, the flow to the rest of Europe fell, in some areas, by 40%.
[snip]
The EU has major concerns about security of supply and is moving ahead with a pipeline plan of its own. Nabucco will bring gas from Central Asia and the Caspian across Turkey into the European Union. But it will have only enough capacity to provide a small proportion, perhaps 5%, of Europe’s needs.So Europe needs Gazprom, and that is why European companies and their governments have actively embraced the two projects. Austria is likely to serve as a hub for both. EU officials say that even during the Cold War the Russian gas supply was stable, so it is better to rely on Gazprom than potentially unstable sources such as Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan.
So if the Times thinks Germany or Britain is going to jeopardize their relationship with Russia for the sake of George “Those Weapons Must Be Somewhere” Bush, then I want some of what the Times is smoking.
The fact is our options are limited. We can’t force the Russians out, because our military’s stuck in Iraq and Afghanistan. We can’t exert moral pressure on the Russians for invading a sovereign nation, for obvious reasons(and Georgia actually DID attack Russia’s interests, unlike Iraq). We have no standing to do anything.
So, like George Bush, the Times stamps its feet impotently and whines.
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October 11th, 2008 at 6:35 am
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