Picture of the Day
Besides the fact that the Georgian police look like they came out of a Styx video, it is notable that another leader has declared "emergency rule."
A ring of soldiers cordoned off central Tbilisi on Thursday after Georgian President Mikhail Saakashvili declared a state of emergency and shut down independent media to quash six days of anti-government protests.....
A close U.S. ally, he has attempted to portray his small former Soviet state as a beacon of democracy and stability in the volatile Caucasus region -- an image which now lies in tatters.
If I remember right, I think it was the "Rose Revolution." The AP has more detail on the crackdown.
(Georgian police in gas masks prepare to disperse opposition protesters from in front of the parliament building in Tbilisi.(AFP/Zviad Nikolaishvili))
posted by mikevotes at
6:21 AM
4 Comments:
I see this as a return to Reagan's policy of supporting pro-U.S. dictators as a means to prevent leaders who don't dance to our tune from taking power. The major difference is that, under Reagan, we had the ostensible Soviet threat.
Since the Soviet Union is gone, and we are the sole world superpower, it is becoming increasingly clear that we are no longer a nation that spreads democracy to oppressed peoples. We just want control, without any responsibilty.
Like a an elderly football hero living on dreams of his youth, we have been deluded into a 60+ year-old image of a U.S. that liberates, aids, and strengthens oppressed nations. Now we back authoritarian regimes against democratic movements and our foreign aid is little more than a bribery programme that goes to countries who don't really need it (Israel, Egypt, and Colombia). We have become a bully nation that eschews co-operation and sovereignty. We offer nothing but heavy burdens to our allies, and our foes score image points with the rest of the world for standing up to us.
Mike, like you, I feel that this is not the America I was brought up to believe in.
By
Todd Dugdale , at 8:55 AM
Did someone say middle class revolution? That should be interesting....up off those couches and into the SUVs...we're off to Washington! Oooops no gas....
By
Anonymous, at 9:58 AM
First, let me draw the distinction that it wasn't just Reagan. The US has a longer history of supporting dictators, as example, the US policies in Latin America.
The really frightening thing to me is not that we're a bully nation, it's that we're no longer an effective bully nation. It really charts the decline of US influence that all these strongmen feel they can flout the US even without a a significant backer like the Soviet Union.
Even the little dogs think they can get away with stuff now.
In theory, this could be the US's hyperpower turning point. (not Georgia, but this presidency.)
By
mikevotes, at 1:36 PM
Anon, exactly. I often chuckle as people speak of some great movement in America. We can't even get people to go vote, asking for an uprising may be a little bit of an overreach.
By
mikevotes, at 1:39 PM
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