The odious Juan Gelman has really excelled himself in this stomach churning article about the war between Georgia and Russia. He describes South Ossetia as,
…a territory which once formed part of Georgia and became an autonomous republic when the Soviet Union collapsed in 1991.
It did nothing of the start. South Ossetia is part of Georgia occupied by Russia in 1991. It’s about as much an autonomous republic as Chechnia is, that is to say, not at all. Not one one country recognises South Ossetia as being anything other than a part of Georgia.
He then goes on to mention the,
…more than a thousand South Ossetians killed.
It’s good that he mentions them. Pity he says nothing about the uncounted thousands of Georgians since killed by the Russians both in South Ossetia and in those parts of Georgia which even he recognises as its sovereign territory.
He then goes onto compare the military tactics used by Georgia with those used by Nazi Germany and offer a nearly complete defence of Russia’s behaviour; all of a part with his worldview which sees Washington as the Berlin of a new Reich.
Quite the most remarkable part is Gelman’s defence of Russia is the double standard it obliges him to adopt. Here and in numeous other articles, he has condemned Kosovan independence and had no hesitation in describing its leaders and government in terms bordering on the racist. So, when the United States gives aid to a national minority in a foreign country and, in concert with other nations, helps it breakaway from the country of which it previously formed part and become independent, that’s a massive crime of imperialism but when Russia exploits racial tension in a neighbouring country, not to help that territory achieve independence but to incorporate into its own national territory, that’s fine and dandy, all part of the noble fight against imperialism.
