Almost everything President Bush says is MADE FOR TELEVISION. No more so than in the current situation in Georgia. The answer to the problems of the Caucuses, as in the Balkans, is not diplomatic action but military action.
At the very beginning of the Serbian invasion of its neighbours, this commentator is on record as saying that the war would quickly be ended by bombing the bridges of Belgrade. It took NATO three years to take that simple action that stopped the war.
The parallel in Georgia is shouting at NATO but, as in the Balkans, they are deaf and blind to the obvious solution. That solution is military, not political. How do we know? Captured on television are the orders the Russian tank commanders have received, “We just drive and drive and drive” one tank driver said.
It has to be understood that these are not regular Russian forces. They are the ‘Special Forces’ (the privateers in 19th century terminology) who suppressed the Chechnyan rebels. These are not crack Russian regiments whose honour has to protected. They are expendable in terms of Russian honour.
The United States has a considerable number of tanks in Germany that it could fly to Georgia in short notice. Flying tanks is a most important part of this military strategy because this strategy is MADE FOR TELEVISION. On television every night a few tanks roll out of transport planes at Tbilisi airport. At the same time, tens of tanks are filmed rolling through Germany to transport ships in Bremerhaven. Taking time is the key strategy.
When 15 tanks are assembled in Georgia they drive around the capital. They just drive and drive and drive. They drive to the closest town where the Russian tanks are and drive past them as if they did not exist. They drive through the countryside as if on reconnaissance. If the Russians do not withdraw, they drive up to them and start a conversation, exchange cigarettes, Bourbon for Vodka, but they sit there and do not leave.
Every day, more tanks land at Tbilisi and roll out and drive and drive and drive. Every day the transport ships are shown moving from Germany to the Black Sea. NATO warships sail through the Bosporus towards the coast of Georgia. As Owen Meany might say, “IT’S MADE FOR TELEVISION – THAT’S WHAT THAT IS.”
What happens? Nothing. As Sun Tzu might ask himself, what war is this? The answer is the Cuban missile crisis.
The American tanks drive around the Russian Tanks and the Russians tanks stay put or run out of fuel. The Americans give them fuel and so they may return to South Ossetia. In effect, the Americans have replaced the Russians as ‘Peace Keepers’. The Russian acknowledge this gracefully. When the Russian forces have returned to South Ossetia the diplomatic solution starts. The Russians do not repeat the exercise in the Ukraine. The world remains a happier place.
