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GEORGIANS VISITING IOWA WANT WEST TO 'GET INVOLVED'
By Tony Leys, [email protected]
DesMoinesRegister.com
August 13, 2008
IA
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Ames, Ia. -- Ten Georgian officials touring Iowa have fallen into
the unexpected role of de facto diplomats for their besieged country.
Members of the group are asking Americans to stand up against the
Russian invasion of Georgia. "If the West doesn't get involved in it,
the whole world will be different tomorrow," said Giorgi Gugushvili,
a public-television journalist who is part of the group.
Gugushvili and nine other Georgians are visiting Iowa as part of a
program financed by the U.S. State Department. After they arrived
here, Russian tanks thundered into their homeland amid a longstanding
territorial dispute.
"Unfortunately, for Russians, this is a chronic disease, invading
small countries," Gugushvili said through an interpreter. "This planet
doesn't only belong to the superpower nations. There are other small
countries on this planet as well."
Russian President Dmitry Medvedev announced Tuesday that he would halt
the offensive because it had accomplished its goals of safeguarding
two separatist areas, wire services reported.
But the Georgian visitors fear Russian forces will remain in their
country long enough to establish effective control there. Gugushvili
said if the Russians achieve that goal, they will move against other
neighboring countries, too. "Russia is burning with the desire to
restore the Soviet Union," he said.
The original dispute involves the two small regions that both countries
claim. Gugushvili and Koba Chopliani, a human-rights official for
the Georgian government, said Georgians are not willing to give up
the territories in return for peace.
Georgia sparked the current fighting by launching a military offensive
in one of the separatist regions; Chopliani acknowledged that his
country had a role in starting the conflict.
But Russia wildly overreacted by invading much of Georgia, he said.
Chopliani said the real reason for the war is that Georgia has sought
close ties to the United States and its allies in NATO.
Georgia has fewer than 5 million people, about 3 percent of Russia's
population. But the men said their country will not give in. Gugushvili
said that if they have to, Georgians will follow the model of Afghan
rebels, who fought heavily armed Soviet troops for nine years before
driving them out of Afghanistan in 1989.
The Georgian delegation's host is the Iowa Resource for International
Service, which is financed by the State Department. The group's
three-week U.S. tour is scheduled to end today. The war disrupted air
traffic into Georgia, but the group hopes to fly into nearby Armenia,
then take a bus home
By Tony Leys, [email protected]
DesMoinesRegister.com
August 13, 2008
IA
Share this article: Del.icio.us Facebook Digg Reddit Newsvine What's
this?
Ames, Ia. -- Ten Georgian officials touring Iowa have fallen into
the unexpected role of de facto diplomats for their besieged country.
Members of the group are asking Americans to stand up against the
Russian invasion of Georgia. "If the West doesn't get involved in it,
the whole world will be different tomorrow," said Giorgi Gugushvili,
a public-television journalist who is part of the group.
Gugushvili and nine other Georgians are visiting Iowa as part of a
program financed by the U.S. State Department. After they arrived
here, Russian tanks thundered into their homeland amid a longstanding
territorial dispute.
"Unfortunately, for Russians, this is a chronic disease, invading
small countries," Gugushvili said through an interpreter. "This planet
doesn't only belong to the superpower nations. There are other small
countries on this planet as well."
Russian President Dmitry Medvedev announced Tuesday that he would halt
the offensive because it had accomplished its goals of safeguarding
two separatist areas, wire services reported.
But the Georgian visitors fear Russian forces will remain in their
country long enough to establish effective control there. Gugushvili
said if the Russians achieve that goal, they will move against other
neighboring countries, too. "Russia is burning with the desire to
restore the Soviet Union," he said.
The original dispute involves the two small regions that both countries
claim. Gugushvili and Koba Chopliani, a human-rights official for
the Georgian government, said Georgians are not willing to give up
the territories in return for peace.
Georgia sparked the current fighting by launching a military offensive
in one of the separatist regions; Chopliani acknowledged that his
country had a role in starting the conflict.
But Russia wildly overreacted by invading much of Georgia, he said.
Chopliani said the real reason for the war is that Georgia has sought
close ties to the United States and its allies in NATO.
Georgia has fewer than 5 million people, about 3 percent of Russia's
population. But the men said their country will not give in. Gugushvili
said that if they have to, Georgians will follow the model of Afghan
rebels, who fought heavily armed Soviet troops for nine years before
driving them out of Afghanistan in 1989.
The Georgian delegation's host is the Iowa Resource for International
Service, which is financed by the State Department. The group's
three-week U.S. tour is scheduled to end today. The war disrupted air
traffic into Georgia, but the group hopes to fly into nearby Armenia,
then take a bus home