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“Russia had no option but to crush the attack, to save lives. This was not a war of our choice. We have no designs on Georgian territory, but we had to halt a murderous assault.”

Why I had to recognise Georgia’s breakaway regions

By Dmitry Medvedev

Published: August 26 2008 18:48 | Last updated: August 26 2008 18:48

On Tuesday Russia recognised the independence of the territories of South Ossetia and Abkhazia. It was not a step taken lightly, or without full consideration of the consequences. But all possible outcomes had to be weighed against a sober understanding of the situation – the histories of the Abkhaz and Ossetian peoples, their freely expressed desire for independence, the tragic events of the past weeks and inter­national precedents for such a move.

Not all of the world’s nations have their own statehood. Many exist happily within boundaries shared with other nations. The Russian Federation is an example of largely harmonious coexistence by many dozens of nations and nationalities. But some nations find it impossible to live under the tutelage of another. Relations between nations living “under one roof” need to be handled with the utmost sensitivity.

After the collapse of communism, Russia reconciled itself to the “loss” of 14 former Soviet republics, which became states in their own right, even though some 25m Russians were left stranded in countries no longer their own. Some of those nations were un­able to treat their own minorities with the respect they deserved. Georgia immediately stripped its “autonomous regions” of Abkhazia and South Ossetia of their autonomy.

Can you imagine what it was like for the Abkhaz people to have their university in Sukhumi closed down by the Tbilisi government on the grounds that they allegedly had no proper language or history or culture and so did not need a university? The newly independent Georgia inflicted a vicious war on its minority nations, displacing thousands of people and sowing seeds of discontent that could only grow. These were tinderboxes, right on Russia’s doorstep, which Russian peacekeepers strove to keep from igniting.

But the west, ignoring the delicacy of the situation, unwittingly (or wittingly) fed the hopes of the South Ossetians and Abkhazians for freedom. They clasped to their bosom a Georgian president, Mikheil Saakashvili, whose first move was to crush the autonomy of another region, Adjaria, and made no secret of his intention to squash the Ossetians and Abkhazians.

Meanwhile, ignoring Russia’s warnings, western countries rushed to recognise Kosovo’s illegal declaration of independence from Serbia. We argued consistently that it would be impossible, after that, to tell the Abkhazians and Ossetians (and dozens of other groups around the world) that what was good for the Kosovo Albanians was not good for them. In international relations, you cannot have one rule for some and another rule for others.

Seeing the warning signs, we persistently tried to persuade the Georgians to sign an agreement on the non-use of force with the Ossetians and Abkhazians. Mr Saakashvili refused. On the night of August 7-8 we found out why.

Only a madman could have taken such a gamble. Did he believe Russia would stand idly by as he launched an all-out assault on the sleeping city of Tskhinvali, murdering hundreds of peaceful civilians, most of them Russian citizens? Did he believe Russia would stand by as his “peacekeeping” troops fired on Russian comrades with whom they were supposed to be preventing trouble in South Ossetia?

Russia had no option but to crush the attack to save lives. This was not a war of our choice. We have no designs on Georgian territory. Our troops entered Georgia to destroy bases from which the attack was launched and then left. We restored the peace but could not calm the fears and aspirations of the South Ossetian and Abkhazian peoples – not when Mr Saakashvili continued (with the complicity and encouragement of the US and some other Nato members) to talk of rearming his forces and reclaiming “Georgian territory”. The presidents of the two republics appealed to Russia to recognise their independence.

A heavy decision weighed on my shoulders. Taking into account the freely expressed views of the Ossetian and Abkhazian peoples, and based on the principles of the United Nations charter and other documents of international law, I signed a decree on the Russian Federation’s recognition of the independence of South Ossetia and Abkhazia. I sincerely hope that the Georgian people, to whom we feel historic friendship and sympathy, will one day have leaders they deserve, who care about their country and who develop mutually respectful relations with all the peoples in the Caucasus. Russia is ready to support the achievement of such a goal.

When the Linden’s came for the Goreans,
I remained silent;
I was not a Gorean.

When they excluded up the role-players,
I remained silent;
I was not a role player.

When they came for the child avatars,
I did not speak out;
I was not a child avatar.

When they came for the furries,
I remained silent;
I wasn’t a furry.

When they came for me,
there was no one left to speak out.

“you can’t have a picture of a child and an adult in the same picture.”

組完了就要給爸媽拍照，這個很重要。又是小朋友人生中第一張自己組裝的椅子。

…最後警察竟然帶隊衝進美術館，說館長有藏匿槍枝，雖然館長一直喊冤枉，還是被小警察帶回警局拘留所裡盤問。

又出現不同職業互動的狀況，非常生動呀。我家小孩事後都說好好笑，一直要說這段故事給我聽。

盲人一開始引導我們進入第一個空間時，大家手忙腳亂，真的是伸手不見五指，慢慢靜下來後，開始可以聽到流水聲，摸摸樹葉，大石牆上還有一個哥德的雕像。進入超級市場，可以用手摸各種水果，若真的要上街購物，好不容易”摸”到了想要的水果，秤重怎麼辦?標價怎麼辦?

但進入十字路口的空間時，眼睛看不見後，耳朵也變得特別敏感，各種吵雜的聲音震耳欲聾，尤其不時響起緊急煞車聲，還真的蠻怕被車撞到的。到了酒吧，已經是大家進入這個黑暗空間約20分鐘後的事情，慢慢對於盲人世界有點感覺，很可惜有位同學在第一個空間時就呈現極度焦躁不安的狀態，而沒有繼續跟著我們探險。

這個”溝通平台”地幫助了不少視障的邊緣人，也成功地教育了一般大眾。整個博物館的參訪，並不是要激發我們的同情心，去憐憫有殘缺的人，反而是由盲人來教導我們，如何在黑暗中”看見”一些東西，重新審視生活的價值。