Due lunghi articoli di scenario per comprendere il conflitto tra Russia e Georgia.
- Il primo - di James Traub - ricostruisce gli scenari che hanno condotto alla guerra. E' scritto da un insider ed è il migliore che abbia letto. Per darvi un'idea ecco la descrizione di una burrascosa telefonata tra il presidente georgiano Mikhail Saakashvili e il primo ministro russo Vladimir Putin.
Now things began to degenerate rapidly. On April 21, Mr. Saakashvili called the Russian leader to demand that he reverse the decision. He reminded Mr. Putin that the West had taken Georgia’s side in the dispute. And Mr. Putin, according to several of Mr. Saakashvili’s associates, shot back with a suggestion about where they could put their statements. Mr. Saakashvili, prudent for once, shied from uttering the exact wording, but said that Mr. Putin had used “extremely offensive language,” and had repeated the expression several times.
- Il secondo è di C. J. Chivers e mostra che anche per i diplomatici americani l'azzardo di Saakashvili non è stato una buona idea.
One American official who covers Georgian affairs, speaking on the condition of anonymity while the United States formulates its next public response, said that everything had gone wrong. Mr. Saakashvili had acted rashly, he said, and had given Russia the grounds to invade. The invasion, he said, was chilling, disproportionate and brutal, and it was grounds for a strong censure. But the immediate question was how far Russia would go in putting Georgia back into what it sees as Georgia’s place. There was no sign throughout the weekend of Kremlin willingness to negotiate. A national humiliation was under way. “The Georgians have lost almost everything,” the official said. “We always told them, ‘Don’t do this because the Russians do not have limited aims.’ ”
New York Times