Ukraine bans Russia-Georgia war documentary

InfoRus reports, "The Ukrainian Security Service (USS) banned Russian documentary film “War 08.08.08 The Art of Betrayal” claiming that it may provoke riots."

Yes, Ukraine which is supposed to be on track to eventually become a NATO member, is banning documentary films. In the US leaders have taken a different approach to the obscuring the truth about the conflict known as the Georgia-Russia war.

I just finished watching the banned Russian documentary, which is available in English on Youtube. It's not particularly controversial. Recent reports in the BBC and the New York Times suggest that Russian aggression was not the cause of the conflict.

Although Barack Obama's initial response to the hostilities had been measured and balanced, during each of the three presidential debates the Change Candidate embraced McCain's point of view that the war was entirely Russia's fault. Let's hope the shift was mere campaign tactics. In Washington D.C. last week, French President Sarkozy repeated the myth of Russian "aggression." It's the fear that a recent cover of Foreign Affairs propogates: that Russian aggression desperately needs to be "checked." So what are the Russians going to do next, invade France?

One thing is certain, the image of a Russian bear on the move in Europe is a marketing bonanza for defense contractors. To keep NATO growing you need to build a lot more big equipment: big ships, big bases, big planes. It sure helps if the Russians look like trouble.

Not only was it the Georgians who started the war, but the Russian intervention appears to have served a legitimate humanitarian purpose. It seems Georgian forces perpetrated war crimes against the people of South Ossetia.

Some points raised in the video:

• Evacuation of women and children from South Ossetia villages three days prior to Georgian attack.
• Role of Ukraine in arming the Georgians. A conduit for US and NATO supplies?
• Firing at homes, cars and civilians, which has been documented by the BBC and Human Rights Watch, among others.
• A network of deep trenches built above the city in weeks prior to the attack. Apparently
• people knew about the trenches and fortifications, but there was no reaction from the European observers in the OSCE
• 127 advisors from US defense department working in Georgia at the time.
• August 27: 1,000 American soldiers took part in Geogian-US military exercises.
• Attacks by Saakashvili's government killed 66 Russian peacekeepers, 1692 Russian citizens. Russians call it a "crime against Russia."

The film was made by Russians, and is obviously pro-Russia. But I do not like it when a film like this gets banned. And especially I do no like it when the US political class and media choose to disseminate an outright distortion of events-- turning myth into public opinion -- as has so obviously happened in this case. Make no mistake, the official US posture concerning the Georgia-Russia conflict is at once a fraud, a sham, and a breathtaking act of hypocrisy.

You can watch the Russian documentary here.