South Ossetians celebrate Independence

Despite the lunatic behaviour of Georgia's Saakashvili (eg. chewing his own tie on TV) the servile MSM of the West is obliged to keep up the pretence that this nutcase rules over a democratic country. Well, it must be democratic because the US, Britain and NATO supports it, mustn't it? Here's another revealing essay on the subject by Peter Lavelle of Russia Today:

Where is the media now?
September 10, 2008

Have you noticed or not noticed something about Western media coverage of Russia since the Medvedev-Sarkozy deal? Well I have – there hasn’t been much. And at a time in which seeing the peace process move forward is of up-most importance. It would appear the “commentariat” (which means most of Western mainstream TV and print media) much prefers stories that show Russia in the worst possible light. When Russia constructively works to establish peace and security in its own backyard, in tandem with the EU, the commentariat loses interest.

Why does this happen? The reasons seem obvious to me.

As far as the commentariat is concerned, if Russia gets something positive out of negotiations settling the South Caucasian crisis something is wrong. The conclusion drawn is either the EU, for example, screwed up or Russia is up to no good. It is part of the commentariat’s gospel of faith that Russia should not be allowed to have ANY national security interests. And if Russia disagrees with the West, it is because Russia is against “democracy,” “liberal values,” and other ideological principles the West hides behind to promote its geopolitical interests at the expense others. Russia is no longer the Soviet Union, but West’s media is becoming more Soviet with every passing day.

When Russia claims it is protecting its national security interests, the commentariat automatically translate anything Moscow does into “hostility,” “aggression,” and bullying.” What was Russia supposed to do when Saakashvili embarked upon his genocidal campaign against South Ossetia? Was it supposed to stand on the sidelines and telephone the UN for a Security Council meeting? Well, that’s what the commentariat was probably hoping – hoping that Russia would cave into Western sponsored aggression. The storyline the commentariat wanted to write was “Russian occupiers rightly pushed out of Georgian territory.” They same copy probably would have never mentioned ethnic cleansing committed against the South Ossetian people. Well, Russian peacekeepers and military DID step in and foiled a humanitarian catastrophe – and the commentariat has demonized Russia every since. The commentariat is on the wrong side of morality and common decency – not to mention the obligations of responsible media.

Then there is the issue of the main villain in this plot – Mikhail Saakashvili. It is appalling how the commentariat protects him. The US State Department is on the defensive recalling its close ties with him and Georgia’s crippled political opposition (because of Saakashvili authoritarian tendencies) now openly demands to know why Georgia’s sovereignty and territorial integrity have been compromised. The commentariat doesn’t have the moral fortitude to even make a pretense toward serving the public good by really questioning why the West continues to support “the beacon of democracy in the Caucuses.”

All of this strikes me as quite strange and an obvious double-standard. Slobodan Milosevic and Radovan Karadzic proved to be quite popular for the commentariat to demonize (and maybe for good reason). However, Saakashvili strikes me as part of that crowd who should be subject to intense scrutiny as well. But the commentariat will never admit this or do what is right. Milosevic and Karadzic were not puppets or supporters of the West, but Saakashvili is. This is why Saakashvili is getting a free pass. Again, this is a disgrace and a dereliction of duty on the part of Western media.

I can only guess when the commentariat will again consider Russia – like when claiming Russia “again fails to fulfill its ceasefire commitments.” I bet you that this will never be said about the Georgian side. Saying as much doesn’t sell.

Peter Lavelle