SALHANI: Bad news from the Caucasus

It is small wonder that Claude Salhani fairly drips with slavish support for Russia’s invasion of Georgia, for he is a one-man Potemkin village. Almost everything he says in his above column is a lie. First, his moral equation of Russia’s ambush-rape of Georgia with America’s justified and legal invasion of Saddam’s rogue-state Iraq is beyond delusional and not even worthy of serious discussion. Next, and far more significant for today’s world situation (hey Claude, it’s 2008 not 2003, so move on already!), is his acquiescence in Russia re-establishing by force tyrannical domination of its former captive nations and satellites even as far west as the Czech Republic. Indeed, sycophant Salhani takes unholy delight in Russian imperialism’s violent resurgence simply for the black eye it would deal the United States, which he obviously hates. Join to all this Salhani’s characteristically uncritical praise for Bashir Assad and the Syrian mess he runs along with his insisting on the Israeli-Palestinian “peace process” (aka., replacing Israel with an anti-Western, Jew-killing, Islamist terrorist state) as the panacea for all the world’s ills, and we have the complete picture of who he really is – a lying anti-Semitic, America-bashing propagandist who will support any power, including Muslim-slaughtering Russia, that will help destroy the Judaeo-Christian West. Yet, it is Salhani who should be having “second thoughts” – contrary to his confident predictions that Moscow’s former slaves will cravenly cave in to outrageous and unjust Russian demands and threats, the Poles, the Ukrainians, the Czechs, and the Baltic States show every sign of wanting to fight for their hard-won freedoms, especially in partnership with that horrible “hyper-power,” the United States of America. Sorry, Potemkin Claude, but you’re busted for the phoney “journalist” you are!

Tomnj: Thank you for your comments. I do believe you have misunderstood the concept of my commentary. I do not attempt to make excuses for the Russians as you suggest but rather point to the facts. You may wish to deny reality but much as Russia’s reaction was exaggerated, the fact remain that Georgia initiated the conflict. And the fact that years may have passed and it is indeed 2008, does not alter the fact that Russia can draw (as I pointed out) analogies to the US invasion of Iraq, which was NOT in retaliation to any act of aggression against the United States by Iraq. For the record, I make no apologies for the brutality of Saddam’s regime. Having covered Desert Storm and seen first-hand the result of the occupation of Kuwait by Saddam’s troops, I can attest to the horrors committed by Saddam. The fact remains that the invasion of Iraq was not supported by the UN. Secondly, I don’t see how you equate what I report on Syrian President Assad as “support and praise.” In fact it is just the opposite which is intended – to point out first how little time it took for him to fly to Moscow (although the trip was planned some time ahead) and that the reason that Syria and others would flock to Moscow is precisely due to the fact that they had been ignored by Washington. It’s always easy to shoot the messenger – or accusing him of false “obvious hate.” Respectfully. Claude Salhani