United States, Poland sign missile defense deal

The United States and Poland signed a deal to deploy missiles as part of a U.S. defense shield in the ex-Communist-bloc country amid a military crisis in Georgia.

The preliminary agreement to place 10 interceptor missiles signed by Polish Deputy Foreign Minister Andrzej Kremer and U.S. chief negotiator John Rood late on Thursday is likely to fuel tensions between the West and Russia already strained over Russia’s military response to a Georgian offensive in the breakaway region of South Ossetia.

Polish officials said the agreement would strengthen the mutual commitment of the United States to defend Poland, and vice versa. “Poland and the Poles do not want to be in alliances in which assistance comes at some point later — it is no good when assistance comes to dead people,” the Polish prime minister, Donald Tusk, said on Polish television. “Poland wants to be in alliances where assistance comes in the very first hours of — knock on wood — any possible conflict.”

Russia is strongly opposed to the plan, which it considers as a threat to its national security. Washington says the European shield planned for deployment in Poland and the Czech Republic is designed to counter possible attacks from “rogue states.”

The agreement was reached after Washington agreed to reinforce Poland’s air defenses. It is still to be approved by the two countries’ governments and Poland’s parliament.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov is reported to have cancelled a scheduled visit to Poland shortly after the deal was announced. Russia lawmakers said the deal will trigger a new arms race and confrontation in Europe. Moscow has repeatedly warned it will be forced to respond.

The agreement coincides with a public holiday in Poland on August 15, the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary, which is also celebrated as the Day of the Polish Army, commemorating Polish victory against the Soviet Army at the 1920 Battle of Warsaw in the Polish-Soviet War.

Sources: RIA Novosti, The New York Times, BBC News

Russia launches genocide probe over South Ossetia events

Top Russian investigators have opened a criminal case on charges of genocide in connection with recent events in South Ossetia, a General Prosecutor’s Office spokesman said on Thursday.

The Investigation Committee at the General Prosecutor’s Office “initiated a genocide probe based on reports of actions committed by Georgian troops aimed at murdering Russian citizens – ethnic Ossetians – living in South Ossetia,” said Igor Komissarov, deputy chairman of the Investigation Committee.

Russia has accused Georgia of committing “genocide” by launching an offensive last Friday to regain control of the separatist province of South Ossetia. Russia is calling for an international war crimes trial for the Georgian leadership, which Moscow says is responsible for massive loss of life in South Ossetia.

Russian president Dmitry Medvedev ordered prosecutors on August 10 to gather evidence to support Russian allegations of the Georgian genocide of South Ossetians. The vast majority of South Ossetians hold Russian passports.

Russia has said that 1,600 civilians died in the Georgian attack on Tskhinvali, the capital of the breakaway republic of South Ossetia.

Georgia has also filed a lawsuit against Russia at the International Court of Justice on Tuesday over alleged ethnic cleansing.

“The suit contains material showing that Russia has committed ethnic cleansing against Georgia [during three interventions in South Ossetia and Abkhazia] from 1993 to 2008,” Georgian National Security Council Secretary Alexander Lomaya said.

Speaking on South Ossetia’s events earlier this week, Russian prime minister Vladimir Putin accused the West of double standards.

“They [the United States] of course had to hang Saddam Hussein for destroying several Shiite villages,” the prime minister said.

“But the current Georgian rulers, who in one hour simply wiped ten Ossetian villages from the face of the earth, who used tanks to knock down children and the elderly, and who burnt civilians alive – they (Georgian leaders) are players who of course have to be protected.”

Source: RIA Novosti

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Although Russia may have had the upper hand in the South Ossetian conflict, most experts agree that the country lost the war on the informational front. As the Russian parliamentary commission reported the number of civilian casualties in Tskhinvali at 1,600, this figure was disputed by Human Rights Watch, which claimed that only 44 corpses were brought to Tskhinvali’s clinics. Overall, it appears that Western organizations tend to underestimate the scale of destruction brought on by the Georgian attack.
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The South Ossetian War Turns a New Page in post-Soviet History

In the wake of the compelling events in the South Ossetian War, advocates of both sides of the conflict have been eager to label each other with accusations largely based on well-worn truisms. Such a heated display of political convictions requires a revised observation of the Caucasus question, by taking into account the circumstances in the Caucasus’ recent historical past. What emerges is the understanding that the August conflict has created a new standard in post-Soviet hostilities, where old saws have lost their value.
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