Cablegate: Georgia/Russia Crisis

VZCZCXYZ0000
OO RUEHWEB

DE RUEHSO #0456 2381206
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
O 251206Z AUG 08
FM AMCONSUL SAO PAULO
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 8477
INFO RHEHNSC/NATIONAL SECURITY COUNCIL WASHDC IMMEDIATE
RUEHBR/AMEMBASSY BRASILIA PRIORITY 9613
RUEHRI/AMCONSUL RIO DE JANEIRO PRIORITY 8821
RUCPDOC/USDOC WASHDC 3155

UNCLAS SAO PAULO 000456

SIPDIS

STATE INR/R/MR; IIP/R/MR; WHA/PD

DEPT PASS USTR

USDOC 4322/MAC/OLAC/JAFEE
E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: KMDR OPRC OIIP ETRD BR
SUBJECT: GEORGIA/RUSSIA CRISIS

After Georgia

Article by Marcelo de Paiva Abreu, professor at the School of
Economics in PUC Rio de Janeiro (Catholic University), in
center-right O Estado de S. Paulo (08/25) says: "Last week's
happenings in Ossetia, Abkhazia and Georgia explained important
changes in the global political balance. For the first time, since
the fall of communism, it is evident that there are concrete limits
to the U.S. strategy based on the utilization of the U.S. economic
and military forces. ... It was clearly evident the resurgence of
Russian military power. But, more importantly it was the evidence
that the U.S. did not have the right conditions to go further than
offering moral comfort to Saakashvili and from a military point of
view, nothing could be done to avoid a Georgian humiliation. The
imprudence of the U.S. strategy was painfully evident and North
American frustration with its own incompetence was so huge that the
government easily convinced itself that everything could be
explained away by Russian bad faith...."
White

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