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May 03, 2009
Read
the article where it was originally published
Unless
European states and America
suddenly adopt a hawkish foreign policy and strengthen their militaries, Europe will become a mere province of the Russian
empire.
And, surprisingly, the fate of
Europe will be decided not in Paris, Berlin, London, or Brussels, but in Georgia, a tiny, seemingly
irrelevant country. The Caucasian republic hosts several strategic oil and
gas pipelines. These pipes are the only fossil fuel corridors leading from
Asia to Europe that are not controlled by the Russian Federation. Whoever
controls Europe's fossil fuel supply rules
the European continent.
If the Russians seize those pipelines, their country will be a monopolist in Europe. The Old Continent will then have no choice
other than to rely on Russia
for the fossil fuel supply. This will mean that Russia will have a de facto veto
right over the decisions of European governments. (Russia
already has this power with regard to French and German governments; Germany obtains 40% of the natural gas it uses
from Russia.)
European countries will thus
cease being independent, and that will imply negative consequences not just
for Europe, but also for the United
States. Europe's policies, leaders,
militaries, and assets affect the US, directly or indirectly. If
Europe becomes a mere protectorate of Russia,
it will be even more anti-American and unwilling to cooperate with the US than it already is, and Russia will seize the large natural resources
of Europe (such as those of Ukraine).
Allowing Russia to conquer Georgia unpunished will also
inevitably lead to further Russian aggression around the world. When the
North Vietnamese Army conquered Saigon in 1975, America did not experience an era
of peace, but an era of war. After 1975, the Soviet Union and its client
states invaded many countries (including Afghanistan) and killed millions
of people.
According to Kim Zigfeld and
Russian military analyst Pavel Felgenhauer, the Russian Armed Forces are currently
deploying troops along the Russo-Georgian border. Russian leaders plan
for this war to be different from the war of August 2008.
The first Georgian war was just
a test of the West, a survey of how would the West react to a Russian
invasion of Georgia.
The results were positive for the Kremlin: Western leaders of the time (most
of whom remain in office, and those who do not have been replaced by
pacifists), and almost all members of Western liberal parties (including the
US Democratic Party), have been proven to be cowardice appeasers.
When the Russians attacked Georgia,
what was the free world's leader doing? Appeasing Vladimir Putin in Beijing. The Russians
have noticed that they could attack any country and not be subjected to any
consequences.
The Kremlin wants the second
war with Georgia to be one
that will lead to the Russian seizure of Georgia and the toppling of
President Saakashvili. If the West allows Russia
to conquer Georgia and
seize the pipelines located in that country, then Europe will be at the mercy
of Moscow, and America would also be negatively
affected by such an invasion, though not as badly as her overseas allies. And
Russian troublemaking will increase, not decrease.
It is therefore imperative that
Europe, the US, Canada,
and NATO make immediate steps to protect Georgia -- and themselves -- from
Russian aggressors. This must include, but not be limited to, accepting Georgia
to NATO immediately.
Some people don't believe that
small countries can play important roles and dismiss Georgia as a little country. But Georgia,
although small and weak, hosts strategically important pipelines. Just like
the weak, tiny Panama,
which hosts the Panama Canal. Small
countries can be strategically important, and Georgia is.
Zbigniew Mazurak is a defense analyst and writes
articles for CWA as well as
other websites.
Page Printed from:
http://www.americanthinker.com/2009/05/the_end_of_europes_independenc_1.html
on May 04, 2009 - 12:04:31 PM EDT
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