2 local reporters interviewed Georgia presidentBy Ron Menchaca (Contact)
The Post and Courier
Saturday, August 9, 2008
Charleston Mercury Charleston Mercury Managing Editor Will Cathcart (left) and videographer Elliot Merck (right) with Georgia President Mikheil Saakashvili in July. While Friday's tense escalation between Russia and Georgia caught many Americans by surprise, two Charleston men watched the events unfold with a sense of sadness and helplessness because they saw it coming. Will Cathcart and Elliott Merck, both 25, recently interviewed Georgia President Mikheil Saakashvili for an upcoming story in the Charleston Mercury, a local, bi-weekly newspaper that strives to cover international news and other topics that might be overlooked by mainstream media outlets. The newspaper is owned by the same parent company as The Post and Courier. Though Georgia's tense relationship with Russia was a main topic of the interview, the journalists could not have imagined how quickly the situation would escalate to the brink of war just days after their visit late last month to the town of Batumi on the Black Sea. Russia sent tanks and reportedly bombed Georgian air bases Friday after Georgia launched a major military offensive to retake the breakaway province of South Ossetia, threatening to ignite a broader war. Hundreds of civilians were reported dead in the worst outbreak of hostilities since the province won de facto independence in a war against Georgia that ended in 1992. When news of the conflict reached Charleston on Friday morning, Cathcart and Merck were stunned and saddened. They had broken bread with Saakashvili and chatted with young locals who spoke of their admiration for America's democratic ideals and their fears that their country's five-year-old democracy might be lost to an act of Russian aggression. "I can't explain how I felt because we really started to care about these people," Cathcart said. "Those young men told us, 'If Russia invades, we will fight to the death.' " Cathcart, managing editor of the Charleston Mercury, landed the interview through acquaintances in Germany, including sculptress Gabriela von Habsburg, an honorary citizen of Georgia working to maintain the country's independence. Cathcart has written numerous stories about the delicate situation in the region and how Georgia's geographic location between Russia and Iran is key to international stability. In recent interviews with the Mercury, von Habsburg warned that summer would be the opportune time for Russia to invade Georgia because allies such as Germany and the United States are preoccupied with elections and summer vacations. "Gabriela was saying this in April. She was saying these people were going to get invaded," Cathcart said. Cathcart has been busy writing up his notes from the trip for a story to be published in the Mercury next week. Merck, who now lives in Los Angeles, has been editing video he shot of the interview. Neither will soon forget the experience. During their outdoors sit-down with Saakashvili, the president's guards were positioned on nearby buildings with sniper rifles. Guards also examined Merck's video camera to make sure it wasn't a weapon. Saakashvili is a target because he has embraced democracy to the chagrin of Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, Cathcart said. Saakashvili told Cathcart during the interview that "the D-word is quite an irritant for some people there. ... Georgia may be the standard bearer of democracy in this part of Europe." In Georgia, the Charleston men also ran into what they believed to be American service members. Saakashvili told the journalists that about 1,200 U.S. troops were there to train Georgian soldiers. Georgia also has troops fighting alongside U.S, and British soldiers in Iraq. Cathcart, who has been studying the region's politics and history for his articles, believes the outcome of the current standoff carries high stakes for the U.S. "If Georgia falls, you will have Russia bordering Iran. What we need people to understand is how crucial this country is to our national security. I hope we don't leave them high and dry," he said. Reach Ron Menchaca at rmenchaca@postandcourier.com or 937-5724. |
Article tools |
|
Notice about comments: Charleston.net is pleased to offer readers the ability to comment on stories. We expect our readers to engage in lively, yet civil discourse. Charleston.net does not edit user submitted statements and we cannot promise that readers will not occasionally find offensive or inaccurate comments posted in the comments area. Responsibility for the statements posted lies with the person submitting the comment, not charleston.net. If you find a comment that is objectionable, please click "suggest removal" and we will review it for possible removal. Please be reminded, however, that in accordance with our Terms of Use and federal law, we are under no obligation to remove any third party comments posted on our website. Full terms and conditions can be read here. |
Comments
This article has 8 comment(s)
Posted by tc1 on August 9, 2008 at 8:28 a.m. (Suggest removal)
A no questions asked (or tolerated) land connection between Russia and Iran would be very valuable to them. More valuable would be a Russian base in Cuba.
Posted by berthelot on August 9, 2008 at 9:13 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Wow, the facts are really cloudy in this article.
1) South Ossetia is de facto independent from Georgia. They held a referendum vote on November 12, 2006 in which they had a 95% voter turnout, 99% of which voted for independence. The South Ossetians are loyal to Russia. This de facto independence is not recognized by the UN or NATO because the referendum did not have the approval of Georgia's leaders. This was the second time South Ossetia has declared its independence from Georgia.
2) Russia has had "peacekeeping" troops in South Ossetia for years to protect the South Ossetians (who are essentially Russian) from the Georgians.
3) Georgian troops attacked the Russian troops in South Ossetia first (8/7/08). Russia sent support to their troops thereby creating the headlines "Russia invades Georgia". The Russian invasion was provoked by the Georgians, and it has been brewing for quite a while now.
4) AP reports that there are American troops in Georgia - as many as 1000 a month ago, just over 100 now - training Georgian fighters.
http://www.stripes.com/article.asp?secti...
Posted by iceman1978 on August 9, 2008 at 10:28 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Georgia doesn't share a border with Iran. They share their northern border with Russia, Azerbaijan and Armenia to the east and south, and Turkey to the west and south. Georgia is a staunch US ally (and friendly with Turkey), and Turkey is allies with Israel so this situation could quickly escalate. I believe that the pipeline does have a great deal to do with this because the only alternative would be to run the pipeline through Turkmenistan or Uzbekistan and into Afghanistan and Pakistan to reach the Indian ocean seaports.
I wouldn't want to be in the position to make the call on this one, but if I did I would say that we should help Georgia in the same way that we did the mujahadeen when the Soviet Union invaded Afghanistan.
If you really want to weaken Russia though, all you've got to do is drive down the price of oil. That's what the Saudis did in the 1980's. The USSR was one of the biggest oil producers in 1980 and when prices bottomed out by 1987 their economy was a wreck. That, and the heavy losses in Afghanistan, contributed a great deal to their collapse.
Posted by WestAshleyMomma on August 9, 2008 at 1:40 p.m. (Suggest removal)
It looks as if that may already be happening, driving down the cost of oil. The price continues to fall by a couple of dollars almost evey day. This is allowing the price of gas to also continue to fall. On Hwy 61, the gas prices have fallen .25 cents in about 2 weeks. Once was 3.94, and today its 3.69. A small relief for us.
Posted by iceman1978 on August 9, 2008 at 10:07 p.m. (Suggest removal)
I don't see Russia colonizing Iran. They were unable to defeat the mujahadeen in Afghanistan and the Soviet Union was more heavily armed in 1980 than they are today. Iran's military isn't one that I would consider world-class, but they are better equipped than the mujahadeen was.
If you want my opinion I think we've played our cards the wrong way in how we've dealt with Russia since the breakup of the Soviet Union. Our first mistake was getting involved in the situation with Serbia and Bosnia. That's one conflict that we had no business in. The Russians were upset at what we were doing, but were unable to help the Serbs because they couldn't get flyover permission from the eastern European nations. You could say that we rubbed it in their faces.
A better solution would have been to speak with the Russian president privately and explain to him that despite pressure from the UN for us to get involved, we have decided to stay out of it. If they want to ship weapons to assist Serbia we will look the other way. We would do this for Russia as a favor even though it would make us look bad in the eyes of other nations. The time may come though when we will need Russia to do us a favor (like stop helping Iran build nukes)
Posted by berthelot on August 10, 2008 at 9:14 a.m. (Suggest removal)
ASHLEY_COOPER
The P&C is owned by the Evening Post Publishing Co. See link below:
http://www.evepost.com/
I get the impression that they don't allow comments on AP articles because they are a local and state newspaper. It costs money to host accounts and allow comments and there are plenty of places on the web that you can go to comment on national and world news.
Posted by jeff61 on August 10, 2008 at 9:41 a.m. (Suggest removal)
The AP is a news gathering Organization which sells National and World News to local newspapers and such. To my knowedge the AP does not own any newspapers.
Posted by grainofsalt on August 10, 2008 at 10:32 a.m. (Suggest removal)
I assumed you were using the word "own" figuratively. But if not, AC, then what you've read above is accurate. The Post-Courier is part of a family-owned company that owns papers and tv stations across north and south america.
I think most locals don't realize that the majority of the local community newspapers were bought by the Post-Courier in the last ten years. The Moultrie News, the Journal, the Summerville Journal Scene, the Goose Creek Gazette, the Berkeley Independent - all owned and controlled by the Post-Courier's parent company, Evening Post Publishing. Off the topic of this story, of course, but Interesting.