New Outlook Media

Georgia showed its Teeth to the Americans. What’s next? Temur Pipia One of the most difficult stages of the political struggle has been passed in Georgia: a law on foreign agents has been adopted. The ruling Georgian Dream won an intermediate, but very important victory, which, however, is too early to celebrate. Before this, »Dream« accelerated the consideration of the bill , and the parliamentary hearing,previously scheduled for the 17th, was scheduled for May 14. This was the latest of many tricks that the parliamentary majority repeatedly resorted to so that the opposition could not be well prepared for the storming of the parliamentary building. And so it happened. There were clashes with the police, detentions, scuffles, attempts to cause traffic paralysis in Tbilisi, but the efforts of the authorities yielded results: the security forces easily coped with the task and at this stage maintained stability, since the opposition did not have time to organize itself thoroughly. However, the fight over the law is not over yet. Now the whole country is waiting for the president’s veto. After all, President Zurabishvili has already announced that she will veto the law, thereby giving another reason to destabilize the situation. Yes, the opposition was unable to prevent the adoption of the law on »foreign agents« and to gain a critical mass of people, but its leaders will take into account their own mistakes and better prepare for the moment of overcoming the presidential veto. Top‐​ranking European diplomats openly joined the fight. From afar, senior representatives of the EU, the US State Department, American senators and MEPs, the foreign ministers of Germany and France, and senior British officials are barking and threatening a »fundamental curtailment of relations.« The foreign ministers of Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia and Iceland came to Tbilisi to mobilize the opposition and put moral pressure on the government directly on the spot. They had already visited the protesters and encouraged them in the best traditions of »Maidan democracy.« Footage of touching communication on the street was distributed throughout all electronic media from the opposition. The ministers, who addressed the protesters from the rostrum, in their fiery speeches called on the latter to continue the fight with even greater energy. Thus, on Rustaveli Avenue, in contrast to Kyiv Khreshchatyk, not one, but four Victoria Nuland cars appeared at once. The opposition has rallied even more, and TV channels continue to call on student youth not to stop protests.From the screens of these TVs, and even in classrooms, students are being brainwashed by the liberal professors who swarm Georgian universities. On the other hand, the government, in the person of Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze, has already managed to show character by giving a worthy rebuff to the envoy of the US Secretary of State who hastily arrived in Tbilisi. Despite the demand that the latest version of the bill not be adopted, it was voted on, and the area around parliament was cleared in front of Assistant Secretary of State Jim O’Brien. At the meeting with the country’s prime minister, he failed to achieve anything. The overseas envoy expressed his dissatisfaction at a press conference held in splendid isolation, where he tried to convince that the Americans did not intend to stage a coup and did not represent the »party of war.« By the way, Bidzina Ivanishvili, the main inspirer of the Georgian rebellion for sovereignty, categorically refused to meet with the American. Thus, the State Department received a slap in the face from a man who, at an essentially anti‐​American rally of many thousands, declared that he was not Yanukovych and was not going to surrender his people and back down. Thus, the mission of the American envoy ended in failure. Read more in MagMa: https://magma-magazin.su/2024/06/temur-pipia/georgia-showed-its-teeth-to-the-americans-whats-next/

The U.S. / Israeli hostage rescue operation was a massive violation of the Law of War, especially as it pertains to the issue of proportionality. There is no legal jurisdiction that would certify a claim that rescuing four hostages is worth 200-plus civilians. Even the Israeli Supreme Court agrees this outcome is a gross violation of the principle of proportionality—as it set out in a 2004 decision. The question now is whether the ICC will have the moral integrity to set forth an additional indictment against Israel, and an indictment against the U.S. Don’t hold your breath. 🕊Follow @ScottRitter