Skip to main content

Russia: Defying the laughter of tyrants

I have spent an emotional day with Georgians.

"My best friend- I have known him since he was six- is in the artillery in Gori. I do not know if he is dead or alive".

"The lines are down, I don't know where my family is"

Make no mistake -this was a war of Russia's choosing.

As the government of Georgia make a stand in the compound in Tbilisi, Russian troops have roamed at will across the country.

The defeat is complete, but Russia continues to pretend that Georgia fights on.

The latest nonsense is "Georgian agents are creating terrorist incidents in Russia". Only someone educated with the tin ear of the Stalinist could think that anyone beyond themselves could believe such a complete lie.

In my opinion, Russia can no longer be treated as anything but what she has become: a treacherous aggressor, contemptuous of human life.

People in the West are wringing their hands and saying "but what can we do- surely nothing?"

Do Russian spies not function with impunity? Expel them.
Is investment going to Russia? Stop it.
Is technology going to Russia? Ban it.
Do Russians enjoy shopping in the West- no visas.
Russian cyber attacks? Close the Russian Internet access to the outside world, as it is reopened, close it again, and again- replicate the cyber attacks they launched against Georgia (oh, and NATO, last year).
Does Russia like i-phones? No export of any technology.
Does Russia wish to join WTO? Stop it
Are they members of the "G-8"? No, you mean G-7.
Abrogate all military treaties including START.
EBRD and EIB investments in Russia? Suspend them.
No most favoured nation status- extra tariffs on Russian exports.
Russia craves respectability? Deny it- it is a thuggish third rate power- it will be hurt by a concerted boycott- so hurt it!

Do not panic about the gas- Qatar has more, and Russia has no one else they can sell it to in the face of a boycott- they are as dependent on us as we are on them.

What can you do personally? Why not ask your pub to boycott Baltika? As for Stolichnaya- Polish Wodka is better tasting anyway- Ask for Belveder (Belwederska), or Poctocki.

Please feel free to add any further ideas.

Comments

Anonymous said…
Well said. Georgian democracy is being bled to death by Russia. I’m amazed that people are parroting the Chamberlain line “a far away country…”. It’s the Sudetenland all over again, stand up to Russia now, painful as it may be, or pay a terrible price later.
the doctor said…
Cicero , You are usually on the ball with your insights but I regret that your list of possible remedies is a none starter . I am sure that they could all be implemented but they will not be , for the will is not there to .
Anonymous said…
Flood Georgia with weapons useful for asymetric warfare: stingers, anti-tank weapons, torpedos for the Russian navy, IEDs. Yesterday!!! Do it thru Turkey or via an airlift if necessary. Send letters to the President and congress requesting a Charlie Wilson strategy towards a friendly democratic ally. We did it for the thugs in Afghanistan, we can do it for a freedom-loving people.
Anonymous said…
Do Russian spies not function with impunity? Expel them.

- And when they come back? Did 1971 solve that problem.


Is investment going to Russia? Stop it.

- China will fill the gap especially for Oil. See Africa.

Is technology going to Russia? Ban it.

- They'll just steal it. They've also got useful scientists themselves.

Do Russians enjoy shopping in the West- no visas.

- Macau and the Far east have good shopping plazas.

Russian cyber attacks? Close the Russian Internet access to the outside world, as it is reopened, close it again, and again- replicate the cyber attacks they launched against Georgia (oh, and NATO, last year).

- Endless cyber war for eternity. besides you neeed to close every opening. You think China will help.

Does Russia like i-phones? No export of any technology.

I bet that'll have them quaking and when they buy from the Far east what then.

Does Russia wish to join WTO? Stop it

- I think they'll manage somehow.

Are they members of the "G-8"? No, you mean G-7.

- That'll get co-operation on Iran won't it.

Abrogate all military treaties including START.

- They're already doing that their side. Your idea means short range nuclear weapons back in Kaliningrad.

EBRD and EIB investments in Russia? Suspend them.

- With a huge surplus Oil fund and China's insatiable appetite I don't think they'll miss too much sleep perhaps.

No most favoured nation status- extra tariffs on Russian exports.
Russia craves respectability? Deny it-

- Their main export is energy which doesn't need MFT status.

it is a thuggish third rate power- it will be hurt by a concerted boycott- so hurt it!

- Thuggish yes. Third rate? This is not the 1990's. I suggest you read Simon Sebag Monteforoi in the Times. The big bear is back. Your impotent rage doesn't change any of that sadly.


Lepidus
Anonymous said…
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

Popular posts from this blog

Concert and Blues

Tallinn is full tonight... Big concerts on at the Song field The Weeknd and Bonnie Tyler (!). The place is buzzing and some sixty thousand concert goers have booked every bed for thirty miles around Tallinn. It should be a busy high summer, but it isn´t. Tourism is down sharply overall. Only 70 cruise ships calling this season, versus over 300 before Ukraine. Since no one goes to St Pete, demand has fallen, and of course people think that Estonia is not safe. We are tired. The economy is still under big pressure, and the fall of tourism is a significant part of that. The credit rating for Estonia has been downgraded as the government struggles with spending. The summer has been a little gloomy, and soon the long and slow autumn will drift into the dark of the year. Yesterday I met with more refugees: the usual horrible stories, the usual tears. I try to make myself immune, but I can´t. These people are wounded in spirit, carrying their grief in a terrible cradling. I try to project hop

Media misdirection

In the small print of the UK budget we find that the Chancellor of the Exchequer (the British Finance Minister) has allocated a further 15 billion Pounds to the funding for the UK track and trace system. This means that the cost of the UK´s track and trace system is now 37 billion Pounds.  That is approximately €43 billion or US$51 billion, which is to say that it is amount of money greater than the national GDP of over 110 countries, or if you prefer, it is roughly the same number as the combined GDP of the 34 smallest economies of the planet.  As at December 2020, 70% of the contracts for the track and trace system were awarded by the Conservative government without a competitive tender being made . The program is overseen by Dido Harding , who is not only a Conservative Life Peer, but the wife of a Conservative MP, John Penrose, and a contemporary of David Cameron and Boris Johnson at Oxford. Many of these untendered contracts have been given to companies that seem to have no notewo

Bournemouth absence

Although I had hoped to get down to the Liberal Democrat conference in Bournemouth this year, simple pressure of work has now made that impossible. I must admit to great disappointment. The last conference before the General Election was always likely to show a few fireworks, and indeed the conference has attracted more headlines than any other over the past three years. Some of these headlines show a significant change of course in terms of economic policy. Scepticism about the size of government expenditure has given way to concern and now it is clear that reducing government expenditure will need to be the most urgent priority of the next government. So far it has been the Liberal Democrats that have made the running, and although the Conservatives are now belatedly recognising that cuts will be required they continue to fail to provide even the slightest detail as to what they think should guide their decisions in this area. This political cowardice means that we are expected to ch