Russian President Medvedev declares that Russia would retaliate on a NATO member state

Press TV reports: Russia would counter Georgia any day

Russia's president says he would even confront a NATO-member Georgia, as the alliance signals an 'open road' for Tbilisi relations.

In a recent meeting with a group of journalists, academics and experts in Moscow, President Dmitry Medvedev said he would have ordered an attack on Georgia regardless of its status with the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO).

Georgia has concentrated its efforts to join NATO, claiming that the former Soviet-country needs to be under the alliances' security umbrella to counter potential Russian attacks.

This is while the pro-Western Georgian government provoked a Russian response after Tbilisi launched a military offensive into the de-facto region of South Ossetia in early August.

The conflict between Moscow and Tbilisi claimed the lives of some 2,000 people - many of whom held Russian citizenship.

"What do you think would have happened if Georgia had been granted a NATO membership action plan?" President Medvedev asked.

"I, as President and Commander in Chief, would not wait for a second to take the same steps as I took in August," he added.

Medvedev also vowed to militarily defend Russians wherever they may be in the world.

As the crisis between Russia and the West simmers, Moscow contends that NATO's strategy of expanding eastward could formulate the potential for a fierce conflict in the Caucasus.

Meanwhile, NATO Secretary-General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer said on Tuesday that the alliance has a strong desire for deeper ties with Georgia in light of the recent conflict in South Ossetia.

"The process of NATO enlargement will continue," said Scheffer.

Following Scheffer's remarks, Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili warned Moscow that Tbilisi's path to NATO membership is now 'irreversible'.
-------
Commentary: Amazing article. For the first time, at least to my knowledge, the Russians have openly and unequivocally confirmed what I had been suspecting for a long while: they are willing to take on NATO and the USA in an open ended military conflict which could result in a massive nuclear exchange if Russia itself, or Russian citizens anywhere in the world are the object of a deliberate attack. Some might wonder whether this is only bluster or whether they really mean it. They mean it. Fully. Every word of it.

It would be the greatest folly of all not to realize that the Russian government, supported by the vast majority of its citizens, fundamentally believes that things have gone too far and that the USraelian Empire must be stopped at any cost. And this has exactly *nothing* to do with some "resurgent Grand-Russian nationalism", some presumed Russian predisposition towards wars or any revanchist feelings about a lost empire. The reality is that nobody in Russia wants an empire. They had it for way too long already and they paid a huge price for its maintenance. No, Russians mostly want to live decent lives, make some good money, live free and safe and be treated with some basic respect by others. Nothing really exotic or unique here. This is why the Russians did not attack the Baltic States (even though at least two of them were guilty of gross violations of the civil and human rights of Russian minorities there), this is why Russia did not attack the Ukraine after it declared independence (even though the Western supported Ukranian governments were spewing anti-Russian vitriol day after day) and this is why Russia will not use force against anyone else unless attacked first. But Russia will strike back at *anyone* out there who would commit the folly of doing what Saakashvili did: killing Russian peacekeepers and Russian civilians. This is where the Russian government and the Russian people draw the line: don't kill us and, if you do, we will kill you.

This is a warning which the West should heed very carefully before making any silly decisions about "NATO expansion" and all this imperial nonsense. Western politicians should stick to a basic policy: not admit anyone into NATO any country which is potentially capable of trying to attack Russia or Russian citizens under the 'cover' of NATO as doing so is the best way to start a nuclear war.