Power over justice

Fighting is going on between South Ossetia and Georgia, and Russia has chosen to side with South Ossetia. Of course, the conflict has been going on for some time, and the American media has just now chosen to begin to pay attention, no doubt because of Russia’s new involvement in the situation. Representatives of the U. S. government have urged the Russian government to withdraw troops from the region. And why? Because Georgia was on track to join NATO, and if that were to happen, the the U. S. would have a place in the region by which to gain advantage against Russia. Also, there is a major oil pipeline in the region. The most annoying thing is that this is being presented by our government as an issue of Georgia’s national sovereignty. What about South Ossetia’s national sovereignty? From our government’s perspective, this seems to me to be more about our trying to step outside the bounds of our national sovereignty to impose our wills on those who don’t actually have to answer to us. The years 1861 through 1865 loom large in the background.