Byzantine Blog

NATO Forfeited its Right to Moralize

Russian Ambassador to NATO Dmitriy Rogozin said today in Brussels that Russia does not take lessons from those who were killing Serbs and destroying Serbia's infrastructure in 1999.

"NATO’s communiqué about the excessive use of force in the South Ossetia makes Moscow remember the operation of the Alliance against Serbia. Russia will not listen to such assessments from this military bloc, because it would then have to remind of the disproportionate use of force against the people and armed forces of Serbia, when NATO tried to give Serbs 'joys of democracy' through bombardment of Belgrade, destruction of Serbian towns, bridges and infrastructure", Russian Ambassador said at the press conference dedicated to Russia's military operations in South Ossetia.

"In 1999, NATO assessed that Slobodan Milosevic's policy is bad towards Kosovo-Metohija Albanians, but it decided not to bomb only the Serb troops in Kosovo, but the entire territory of Serbia, including bridges, hospitals, TV stations and state institutions... Thousands of Serbian civilians were killed in those attacks", Rogozin said.

"That is the major difference between NATO and Russia, which limited its actions in Georgia strictly to military targets. I'm horrified when I hear those who were silent before thousands of Serbian victims in 1999 giving themselves right to deliver moral lessons now... They'll never have that right", Rogozin stressed.

Analyst: Saakashvili's Scenario Was the Same as Croat "Storm"

"The same scenario was repeated in the South Ossetia, as it was in the Croatian operation “Storm”, Vecernje Novosti quotes Boris Smelyov, a renowned Russian political analyst and lecturer at the Russian Diplomatic Academy.

"Back then, the Croats took an incredibly brutal action and killed many civilians, but the West pretended they did not see it. Now, the Georgians have done the same, while using the heavy artillery and 'grad' missile systems", emphasized Shmelyov.

According to him, the difference is that then-President Slobodan Milosevic did nothing to help Serbs in Croatia, while the Russian authorities ordered their army to enter South Ossetia.

Noting that the same US military instructors were training the Croats, then Albanians, and now Georgians, Shmelyov pointed out there is a powerful structure of the retired officers in U.S., who are involved in the training of armed forces in the countries supported by the American authorities.

"Clearly, those instructors are under the control of CIA and Pentagon, and those who are supported by the Pentagon, are supported by the US media", stressed Shmelyov.

Putin: The Overwhelming U.S. Cynicism is Surprising

Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin announced on Tuesday Russia will carry its peace mission in South Ossetia down to its logical finale. At the government session, Putin said Russia will strive to "build relations with all the participants of the conflict, including the Georgian side".

"We have warned our partners many times, the Western partners, that Georgian side is making preparations for an aggression, that they are preparing to resolve the old conflict with weapons. No one was listening to us. And, here, they have gotten the results", Putin said.

He assessed that United States are obstructing implementation of the peace operations in the zone of Georgian-Ossetian conflict, by carrying the Georgian troops over from Iraq to Georgia, in U.S. military planes.

"Of course, we are not surprised by the cynicism of the U.S. politics, but by the dimensions of that cynicism -- the skillfulness to present white as black, to portray the aggressor as a victim of an aggression!", Putin noted.