The United States, Australia, and New Zealand and their ally in
Tbilisi, Mikheil Saakashvili, are upset that Russian Foreign Minister
Sergei Lavrov recently visited Fiji. The fear from Washington, Canberra,
Wellington, and Tbilisi was that Lavrov was going to offer Fiji
lucrative financial assistance in return for the South Pacific nation’s
recognition of the independence of Abkhazia and South Ossetia. The two
countries broke away from Georgia, triggering a war between Georgia and
Russia in 2008.
While the Obama administration is cautioning Fiji about recognizing the
independence of the two secessionist republics in return for economic
aid from Moscow, something Washington calls Taiwan-style “checkbook
diplomacy,” it is more than happy to reward other countries with special
incentives if they recognize the independence of America’s creation in
the Balkans that was severed from Serbia, Kosovo.
The United States has complained, along with its two surrogate
“sheriffs” in the Pacific region – Australia and New Zealand – that
Russia’s offer of economic perks to Nauru, Vanuatu, and Tuvalu, three
nations that have never managed to fully break free of Western
colonialist dictates, resulted in those nations’ decisions to recognize
the independence of Abkhazia. While Vanuatu recognized only Abkhazia
during a government crisis in Port-Vila, the Vanuatu capital, Nauru and
Tuvalu recognized both Abkhazia and South Ossetia. Previously, only
Russia, Nicaragua, and Venezuela recognized the two breakaway nations,
with Washington charging that Russia offered military and other deals to
Nicaragua and Venezuela in return for their recognition of the two
emergent nations.
Australian Foreign Minister Kevin Rudd lived up to the Australian Labor
Party’s total subservience to the United States by calling for
transparency in Russia’s dealings with the South Pacific states. Yet
Australia’s and New Zealand’s policies to the small Pacific nations has
often been based on secret intelligence agreements between the United
States, Australia, and New Zealand, including the signals intelligence
alliance between the three nations that makes the diplomatic
communications of the South Pacific states and all telecommunications in
the South Pacific subject to eavesdropping by the U.S. National
Security Agency (NSA).
Georgia has argued that the cases of Abkhazia/South Ossetia and Kosovo
are un-related. However, the United States has cajoled a number of
nations into recognizing Kosovo, the latest being Ghana. In return for
recognition, Washington has granted countries recognizing the organized
crime-imbued regime in Pristina, the Kosovo capital, with the same sort
of perks that the United States has accused Russia of providing the
South Pacific and Latin American states that have recognized
Abkhazia/South Ossetia. While the United States condemns the “checkbook
diplomacy” practiced for years by Taiwan and China to gain and swap
diplomatic recognition from mostly poor and small nations, it has
practiced the same sort of “checkbook diplomacy” with regard to Kosovo.
A State Department cable divulged by WikiLeaks points to the hypocrisy
of U.S. foreign policy and how Washington has pressured countries into
not recognizing Abkhazia/South Ossetia by exerting pressure directly or
via its allies.
On February 22, 2010, a cable from the U.S. embassy in Quito, Ecuador
cited the visit by the Abkhazian Vice Foreign Minister to Quito and
referred to U.S. concern that Ecuador’s Multilateral Affairs Under
Secretary Arturo Cabrera had met the Abkhazian official in preparation
for the announcement of diplomatic relations. The cable states:
“Cabrera said that the MFA too was surprised by the Vice Foreign
Minister's visit, and indicated that nothing materialized from it. He
gave the impression that he considered it unlikely the GOE would
recognize South Ossetia or Abkhazia as independent states, although he
did not say so directly. Cabrera also informed us that the issue was
handled by Bilateral Affairs rather than his office. When the
opportunity arises, the Embassy will raise the issue also with the MFA's
Bilateral Affairs office.”
Previously, on January 26, 2010, the U.S. embassy in Peru ensured that a
Peruvian official would raise Washington’s objections with Ecuador over
Abkhazia/South Ossetia at a South American defense meeting:
“Charge raised reftel points regarding the Government of Ecuador's
potentially recognizing the Georgian separatist regions of Abkhazia and
South Ossetia with MFA Under Secretary for the Americas Ambassador
Javier Leon January 25. Leon said he planned to travel to Ecuador this
week for a UNASUR meeting of Vice Ministers of Defense, and would raise
the issue with his GOE [Government of Ecuador]
counterparts at that time.”
counterparts at that time.”
The same day, the U.S. embassy in Chile tried to use Chile to pressure
Ecuador not to recognize the two secessionist nations but with little
success:
“Poloff [Political Officer] delivered reftel demarche to Eduardo
Schott, Deputy Director for European Affairs at the Ministry of Foreign
Affairs. Schott was unaware of Ecuador's potential decision to recognize
the independence of the Georgian separatist regions of Abkhazia and
South Ossetia. He will consult with colleagues about the possibility of
raising the issue with Ecuador. He said that Chile is comfortable
sharing its reasons for not recognizing the regions, but other countries
are free to make their own decision.”
Nauru’s decision to recognize Abkhazia/South Ossetia was seen as a
“comedy” according to a December 16, 2009, cable from the U.S. embassy
in Tbilisi:
“Georgian officials downplayed the significance of Nauru's apparent
December 14 recognition of Abkhazia's "independence," which Russia
reportedly encouraged with an offer of $50 million to the island nation.
Although officials are discussing with Australian counterparts whether
the recognition is actually final, Reintegration Minister Yakobashvili
joked in public about Russia's apparent purchase of the recognition,
calling it a "comedy," while Deputy Foreign Minister Bokeria told us
privately the step was not so important, even if it was true. The
relaxed approach represents a welcome shift from Georgia's more manic
reaction to previous recognitions by Venezuela and Nicaragua, an
approach that we have actively encouraged with our Georgian
counterparts. Georgia has also recognized and expressed appreciation for
successful U.S. efforts to discourage additional recognitions from
Latin American countries . . .”
Perhaps the most draconian use of U.S. pressure regarding recognition
of Abkhazia / South Ossetia was the pressure Washington, London, and
Paris applied on four poor African states, Burundi, Guinea-Bissau,
Central African Republic, Guinea-Bissau, and Mali, that signaled a
willingness to establish relations with the secessionist states. The
information is contained in a September 1, 2009, cable from the U.S.
embassy in Tbilisi. The relevant sections of the cable are as follows:
“Foreign Minister Grigol Vashadze called in the U.S. and UK ambassadors
August 31 to request urgent assistance on two matters. First, the
Georgians learned that four African countries -- Burundi, Central
African Republic, Guinea-Bissau, and Mali -- are seriously considering
recognizing Abkhazia and South Ossetia, and the Georgians want help
dissuading them from doing so . . . Vashadze told the ambassadors that
the Georgian Embassy in Paris learned from the Quai d'Orsay that
Burundi, the Central African Republic (CAR), Guinea-Bissau, and Mali
were seriously considering taking the step of recognition. He considered
this information quite reliable. He expressed great concern that such a
step would undermine many of Georgia's diplomatic successes over the
past year. He was especially concerned that Russia will orchestrate an
announcement of these recognitions at the UN General Assembly, saying
that such announcement would be an absolute catastrophe, especially if
it occurred when President Saakashvili was in New York. ”
The four African nations were pressured into not recognizing
Abkhazia/South Ossetia.
Other leaked State Department cables illustrate Washington’s pressure
on various nations, including Spain, Bangladesh, Mauritius, Zambia,
Guatemala, South Africa, Brunei, Djibouti, and even the tiny Maldives
through the same sort of financial incentives and diplomatic
“sweeteners” Washington accused Russia applying on the South Pacific
states in return for recognition of Abkhazia/South Ossetia.
When it comes to hypocrisy, there is no greater world center for it
than the U.S. Department of State. However, thanks to the leaks of State
Department cables, the hypocrisy of the State Department and the Obama
administration in foreign policy can be read in their own words.
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