Reading up on the history of the Mexican-American War, I am intrigued by some apparent parallels between the casus belli of that conflict and what seems to have preceded the current situation in the Republic of Georgia. I need to learn more about why there are Russian “separatists” in South Ossetia. How did they get there?
In the 1840s we were able to invade Mexico because they’d been encouraging settlers, most of whom were US citizens, to move to the Texan province. Those settlers declared and won their independence from Mexico, just as the South Ossetians claimed their independence from Georgia in recent years.
After reading an in-depth article in Sunday’s New York Times, I’m more convinced now that this really is waaaaaay inside Russia’s sphere of influence. Russia chose to engage in – in the eyes of the west – the most distasteful conflict possible without forcing her hand, thus creating a bulwark against further western intervention in what Russia views as its backyard. This invasion made too much sense to pass up.
QuantumTom 