Posted on August 10, 2009 - by Venik

Delusions in Tbilisi

Recently Russian online news service Lenta.ru published a Q&A session with a well-known Georgian political and military analyst Mamuka Areshidze, who is known for his anti-Kremlin attitudes but is also somehow not a particularly big supporter of Georgian El Duce. In other words, Areshidze is supposedly a moderate, a centrist and so his take on the war with Russia may be interesting to people trying to understand what the average Georgians – not the right-wing ultra-nationalist nuts like Saakashvili and his supporters – think happened between Georgia and Russia a year ago and how it will all play out in the future.

After reading his rather lengthy answers to dozens of questions posted by the (mainly Russian but not always supportive of Russia’s Georgian policies) readers of Lenta.ru, I have to say I am a bit shocked at the amount of delusional thinking on the part of this supposedly intelligent and well-informed man. I find no other way of addressing some of his more radical statements than by dismissing them on the account of his very specifically-Georgian pride. For example, some Russian smartass is asking:

What do you think, is the Georgian army stronger today than it was last year? According to your information, should another war break out, how long is it likely to last?

Completely missing sarcastic tone of the question, in all seriousness Mr. Areshidze assures his readers that last year the Georgian army did not run toward the country’s capitol in humiliating defeat at the hands of a smaller Russian force equipped with older weapons, but that, in fact, this was a tactical retreat that is a testament to the Georgian military’s level of training and professionalism.

About the Georgian army, it was well prepared the last time and it is well prepared now… The fact the Georgian army abandoned its bases and stepped back deeper into Georgian territory just shows that it was not prepared for a defensive war. The did not think the war would develop according to a such a scenario… And so the Georgian army was retreating simply to limit its losses. I think the Russians felt the strength of the Georgian army in first hours of the battle… The biggest mistake of the Georgian leadership was that they failed to mobilize the civilians.

In other words, the Georgian army was conducting a strictly offensive operation, got caught with its pants down and ran as fast as Georgian highways allowed. The “army was retreating simply to limit its losses”. Can there be any other reason for retreating? The only mistake this supposed moderate can find in the actions of the Georgian government and the military command was that they failed to drag the country’s civilian population into a shootout with the Russian tanks.

Areshidze’s interview is best proof to date that even now, a year after the most humiliating military defeat in their country’s history, most Georgians have their heads so far up their asses, they can see the back of their own teeth. But perhaps it is exactly the overwhelming nature of their defeat, coupled with characteristically Georgian concept of pride is what prevents even the moderate Georgians from seeing facts as they are. After embarrassing his fellow countrymen beyond any measure, Saakashvili now expertly plays on their sense of self-worth to remain in power.

To Areshidze’s credit I must say that even before the war he was always opposed to the use of force against the two breakaway provinces. Embarrassingly, though, he believed that use of force would have quickly subjugated Abkhazia and South Ossetia and that Russia would not have interfered with any considerable force.

A few photos of the Georgian army’s “strategic withdrawal”:

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Related posts:

1. The Cease-Fire Deal and Life in Tbilisi
2. Photos: Georgian Losses in the War
3. Exploding UAVs in Georgia
4. Photos: Events in Georgia
5. Saakashvili’s Army on the Run