Anatoli Baranov: Ousting Russia from the CIS

A sudden change of the situation in the unrecognized republic of Abkhazia coincides with the beginning of the military action in Afghanistan – many analysts have already noticed this strange coincidence. Why did it happen now? Why such a weird combination – Chechens and Georgians vs. Abkhazians and Russians?

It’s an open secret that the past war between Georgia and Abkhazia took place with Russia’s participation on Abkhazia’s side. Shamil Basayev first appeared back during this time – he commanded a battalion of Chechen militants. Now, there is Ruslan Gelayev.

Georgian President Eduard Shevardnadze visited the United States of America short before the new Abkhazian war. It seemed that the president of the republic was given adequate guidelines - that terrorists and their bases must not be present on the territory of the republic of Georgia. Everyone decided that this was about the Chechen guerrillas in the Pankissky gorge, but the matter could also very likely touch upon the republic of Abkhazia – the regime in this self-proclaimed republic could definitely match the notion of “terrorist” from the point of view of the West. The fact that Russian supported that regime was very good proof of this.

This is an explanation of Vladimir Putin’s yesterday decision to withdraw the Russian troops from the Abkhazian territory. Otherwise, Russia will lose a chance for any relations with the West.

The fact that Georgia used Chechen militants in its “anti-terrorist” operation in Abkhazia is not a big deal - one can be a "good" guerrilla; the Northern Alliance is a very good example of this. There is a very small number of Russian troops along the southern borders of the Commonwealth of Independent States: Georgia, Armenia, Tajikistan, and that is all. That is all for the Collective Security Treaty. Georgia is ousting us from its territory in public, and we are not taking any measures.

Uzbekistan has already become the first CIS country where NATO troops are based. The motive for this is the war with the Afghanistan Taliban movement. The amount of the troops is surely not enough for such war – one battalion of mountain soldiers. However, it is enough to talk about a military presence. Maybe the withdrawal of the Russian peacemakers is the first step on the road and the second one – NATO’s peacemakers will take their place. The next step will continue along the same path – the president of the Azerbaijan republic, Geydar Aliyev, has requested the deployment of foreign troops in Azerbaijan too: this republic has already been threatened by “Armenian terrorists” for long time. The proof of this is still the same – there are Russian troops stationed in Armenia. This regime can not help being a regime of terror.

We have already mentioned that according to the date from the Russian special services, the deployment of the American troops on the territory of the southern republics of CIS will be performed under the pretext of anything. Georgia, Uzbekistan, and Azerbaijan are already in the picture. It is obvious that setting up the strategic line will be accompanied with ousting Russia and building USA domination of the area instead.