Posted on 08/11/2008 7:35:32 PM PDT by 2ndDivisionVet
Some dreams are hard to kill, even when run over by invading tanks.
As a youth, Gizo Ujarmeli of then-Soviet Georgia was drafted into the dreaded Interior Ministry. Posted as a border guard on the frozen steppe, he listened to Voice of America, taught himself English and dreamed of a day when he could live in freedom.
Soon after the collapse of Communism and the disintegration of the Soviet Union, the Republic of Georgia declared independence, and Ujarmeli was on his way. In 2000, newly married, he and his wife Elena settled in Wausau.
Central Wisconsin welcomed them and, in turn, they fell in love with the community. Ujarmeli became a citizen, learned the real estate business and began a successful career.
His family was recently blessed by the birth of a child, their first. His mother, who was still living in Georgia, came over last month to spend time with the growing family. Life couldn’t get much better — until, that is, the Russians launched a massive invasion of his birthplace.
Russia today is a gangster kleptocracy ruled by ex-KGB thugs. Dmitry Medvedev may be president, but the real power lies with prime minister Vladimir Putin, who has unleashed on Georgia the same mechanized horde that raped, burned and murdered its way through Chechnya.
For Ujarmeli, the news from the region is alarming. His father, sister and nephew remain in Georgia, and he has not been able to communicate with them since the conflict began. He has friends serving in the army, defending their country from the brutish aggression of Putin’s forces, and he doesn’t know whether they’re dead or alive.
The nightmare being experienced by Ujarmeli will soon affect all of us in Wisconsin.
Running across Georgia is the sole oil pipeline from the Caspian Sea not currently controlled by Putin. The Russians have already bombed it and have positioned their Black Sea fleet to prevent access to Georgian ports.
In an already volatile energy market, this is going to drive the price of oil and, inevitably, gas at the pump back up. Americans of every political stripe have, de facto, become the victims of aggression.
Both Barack Obama and John McCain have condemned this Russian assault. Fine words, but words alone won’t solve this. The United Nations is impotent. Nor will the European Union act; it has been utterly neutered by a supine dependence on Russian oil and natural gas. The duty falls to us, and the first thing that President Bush should do is reconvene Congress in emergency session.
A massive airlift of humanitarian supplies should be organized. The transport planes should be escorted by U.S. fighter jets and Tbilisi airport protected by the American air defense units, to assure that the help arrives.
If we allow naked aggression to snuff out a small democracy, we’ll pay a price far higher than a few more cents at the pump. We will, in fact, have forfeited the very meaning of this country and the reason why brave men like Ujarmeli dream of coming here.
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