The Gazprom Prize goes to... Seamus Martin
Seamus Martin, a retired Moscow correspondent of the Irish Times, treats readers of The Sunday Business Post to "the background to the conflict between Russia and Georgia" in a bizarre piece titled "Georgian leader chose his moment". Says Martin, "The volatile Caucasus region is strategically important as a transit route for oil from the east. Georgian president Mikheil Saakashvili is, without question, the region's most volatile leader." Two "volatiles" don't make a solid case, however, because the region's most volatile leader is surely the man who challenged a settlement in Kosovo. What were Moscow's interests there? And why can't we call the man who wants to prevent Georgia and Ukraine from joining NATO the region's most volatile leader?
But let's parse some of Martin's prose to see why he is the winner of the Gazprom Prize.
"In a technical sense, Russia can be seen as invading Georgian territory..." But those bombs dropping on Gori weren't "technical" were they?
"Although technically part of Georgia, the two regions, with Russian help, gained de facto independence." What a weasel word "technically" is? The two regions are, in fact, part of Georgia.
"Russia's new president, Dmitry Medvedev, had little option but to send in the tanks." Alas poor Medvedev, but Martin is less understanding when it comes to the actions of the Georgian president...
"His continuous and sometimes baseless allegations of Russian aggression have not helped relations with Moscow..." What should Saakashvili do? Let Putin's fake "peacekeepers" destabilize the region? Russia has been trying to provoke this war for years.
Finally, Martin scrapes the bottom of the barrel with this classic: "the US-educated Saakashvili..." Surely there can be no greater stigma than a US education. Saakashvili has supped with the Great Satan and must be punished.
NOTE: The Gazprom Prize is awarded to journalists who show extraordinary understanding for the sensitivity of a nation with a million soldiers, thousands of nuclear warheads and the world's third-largest military budget.
Comments
Before the break-up of the Soviet Union, did anyone say these regions were only "technically" part of Georgia?
And why does no one say "the US-educated Noam Chomsky"?
Posted by: Dom | August 12, 2008 4:55 PM
Interesting, isn't it, that Europe sat on its hands until that awful US told the Russians to "back off" the invasion of Georgia.
Posted by: Larry May | August 13, 2008 4:04 AM
How can Europe do anything but sit on its hands until it has a powerful army that totalitarian regimes would have to take seriously.
Posted by: johnl | August 13, 2008 11:40 AM