Oh yeah, Beslan is hard to forget. Both sides have committed heinous atrocities, but I do find much greater fault with the Russians. In the end, clinging to Chechnya is serving precious little purpose and leading to utterly unnecessary and unconscionable bloodshed. I mean, fuck, nothing can justify the way Grozny - not to mention other cities - have been just fucking laid waste.
The short version of the Nagorno-Karabakh dispute is that Nagorno-Karabakh is surrounded entirely by Azerbaijan, but its population is primarily ethnically Armenian. In the 1990s, Armenia invaded Azerbaijan and tried to seize the region by force. There has been an uneasy peace this decade and I think we're a way off a full resolution ...
Groznyy just looks like a pile of crap, unfortunately, poverty -- present and all. Sure Russia has done some forgettable things, but invading Georgia was not one of them, that was warranted in my opinion.
The worst case scenario would be another full on war with American intervention. A similar case of this was South Ossetia and Abkhazia, both formerly located in Georgia but yet ethnically a Russian population.
I tend to be of the opinion that it's near-impossible to justify breaching another country's sovereignty. In the end, the Georgia/Russia squabble seemed to be a hopeless quagmire of accusations and counter-accusations. I couldn't help but feel like Russia was trying to throw its weight around.
That said, I've always advocated Abkhazian independence. I'm not sufficiently familiar with South Ossetia's history to have a strong stance either way. But Georgia clinging to Abkhazia has been like Moldova clinging to Transnistria, Russia clinging to Chechnya, or to go further afield, Somalia clinging to Somaliland - a case of needing to let it go and accept it's gone, because nobody cares how large your country's territorial dick is. As the Simpsons scene goes ...
"It's just a little dirty, it's still good, it's still good! ... It's just a little wet, it's still good, it's still good! ... It's just a little airborne, it's still good, it's still good!"
"Dad, it's gone."
"I know."
That Simpsons' reference was well used.
Though it's essential that a country stands on its own two feet without clinging, in the early days of independence in the 90's, Belarus was very close to Russia, now they're drifting further apart as Belarus is growing well itself. However they still remain loyal allies.
Looks like its time for me to sign out, resume the politics talk tomorrow. G'night.
I've decided I want to make a Best Of Muse tracklist for myself, since I find I'm never able to listen to any of their albums in full. Now it's just a matter of listening to stuff and deciding what makes the cut!
You'd be surprised how often the Simpsons get referenced in Political Science classes.
Heh, I remember when some people suggested Belarus would re-unite with Russia. As if.
Some cursory reading to complement my existing knowledge of South Ossetia indicates to me that the reasons I advance for supporting Abkhazian independence largely hold for South Ossetia too, at the theoretical level. But independence would be awkward, given the Georgian population that naturally opposes independence, and the simple fact that South Ossetia can in no way support itself independently. It's economically a basketcase.
YouTube - Amanda Palmer Guitar Hero Dublin The Academy
This is more convincing than Bono's guitar playing
Re-unite with Russia? That is garbage, if they did I would single handedly start a riot in Minsk.
Not too bad, watching the hockey game and waiting for the setlist party. Nloth return I hope
How are you folks doing?
Haha what the fuck.
Though actually, if you listen to Lovetown bootlegs, you'll catch Bono playing rather decent rhythm on All I Want Is You, and occasionally even soloing at the end (30 December 1989 is a good example).
The idea of Bono playing guitar scares me greatly...
Did you guys see the new article on Songs of Ascent?