Legal Commentary

Georgia Blowback? Russia To Temporarily Cut NATO Cooperation

By Big Tent Democrat

NATO sent a sternly worded letter to Russia. Russia responds with stern implied threats of its own:

Doubts surfaced over the future of military cooperation between NATO and Russia on Wednesday after Norway said Moscow had informed it of a decision to freeze all joint work with the alliance in the row over Georgia. However Russia's ambassador to NATO played down any future steps, saying the decisions were "of temporary character, of regional character, not global character."

[More...]

. . . Russian envoy Dmitry Rogozin said curtailing contacts was "in nobody's interest." "Temporary decisions are being taken on current cooperation and not about cooperation in general," he told Reuters in English. . . . However he said no decision had been taken to end cooperation with the alliance's big operation against Islamist militancy in Afghanistan, under which Moscow allows the transit of non-lethal equipment for NATO via its territory. "This is not going to happen. If Afghanistan is the new Vietnam for the Americans then it will be a problem for Russia itself ... We are not interested in the alliance's failure in Afghanistan."

(Emphasis supplied.) The implied threat is there of course. Two can play at this game and NATO's big play right now is in Afghanistan, where Russia has a part to play. The reckless actions of the Georgian government have caused major headaches for the West. Some quietly stern words to Georgia may be in order.

Big Tent Democrat, Speaking for me only

Full post as published by TalkLeft on August 20, 2008 (boomark / email).