Is Washington seeking a substitute for Saakashvili?

PanARMENIAN.Net - It is quite logical that Iran should try to hinder, but Turkey has more trump cards at the moment and, however banal it may sound, the most important of them is the result of «football diplomacy». However, the Turkish Government will always remember the precept of the Turkish Republic Founder Mustafa Kemal Ataturk: "Once Russia will lose control over the nations it keeps under its thumb. The world will enter a new phase. And at that very moment Turkey must determine its position".

Most likely, without the South Ossetian conflict the trilateral meeting of the Armenian, Turkish and Azerbaijani Foreign Ministers would not be organized. On the other hand, the logic of development of the regional relations would sooner or later bring about attempts of normalizing Armenian-Turkish relations and regulating the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict with participation of the Nagorno Karabakh Republic. Only the process grew faster now and neither the OSCE Minsk Group, nor the mediators can be useful at present circumstances. One thing can be said for sure - international conflicts cannot be solved through force and Georgian President has proved it lately.

Saakashvili's hasty decision on "returning South Ossetia and Abkhazia and restoring constitutional order" had a maximum effect on the U.S.-Russian relations. As a matter of fact, with her latest statement US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice declared a diplomatic war to Russia. Taking into consideration the financial and bank crisis in America, arises the parallel between the South Ossetian war, US Presidential Elections and the crisis itself. However, the impulsive and unrestrained Georgian President had overlooked one fact: Americans are more alarmed about bankruptcy of their banks rather than about distant Georgia, which they had initially taken for the US State of Georgia.

In her speech to the transatlantic German Marshall Fund US Secretary of State declared: "Russia's attack on Georgia merely proved what we had already known - that Russia could use its overwhelming military advantage to punish a small neighbor. But Georgia has survived. Its democracy will endure. Its economy will be rebuilt. Its independence will be reinforced. Its military will, in time, be reconstituted. And we look forward to the day when Georgia's territorial integrity will be peacefully restored."

Condoleezza Rice also stated that US will offer financial support to Georgia, which sounds rather odd for a country that is in crisis herself. "We and our European allies will also continue to lead the international effort to help Georgia rebuild - an effort that has already made remarkable headway. The United States has put forward a $1 billion economic support package for Georgia. The EU has pledged 500 million Euros," the US Secretary said.

Meanwhile the RF Foreign Ministry spread a statement blaming the US Secretary of State for lack of knowledge of the conflict history and for being lenient toward Mikhail Saakashvili. "Rice assures that the causes of the Caucasian conflict go back to the fall of the Soviet Union. In fact, professionals know quite well that they go deeper into History, when Abkhazia and Ossetia became part of Russia, independent of Georgia. Speaking about the period of the Soviet Union collapse, it should be mentioned that in 1991 Georgian President Z. Gamsakhurdia announced: "First of all it is required now that all the Ossetians be deported to Russia, the territory of Abkhaz habitation be curtailed and sovereignty of Ajaria be liquidated. The titled nation owns the whole territory and it must live on its native land, where there is no room for autonomy of other nations." However, Gamsakhurdia did not limit himself with the statement and declared war against South Ossetia and Abkhazia, which took lives of numerous people," the RF Foreign Ministry statement says.

By the way, Georgian opposition leaders' visits to the USA have become more frequent recently. Doesn't it mean that Washington is seeking a substitute for Saakashvili, whose actions put the world before the threat of a new confrontation?