Another Bad Idea

Lawyers, Guns and Money has a new post today on how certain defense analysts think the Georgian Army should be rebuilt along a Hezbollah model. Nice. The Georgians should just admit they have a failed state, dismantle the military, and start funding local militias. Putting aside the nihilism of this argument--including the fact that this would condemn Tbilisi to rubble--it wouldn't work because the Russians already have paramilitaries operating in Abkhazia and South Ossetia, and incursions by Georgian paramilitaries would only provoke an organized Russian response. Tbilisi needs greater regional stability, not instability, and the bigger threat is that irregular South Ossetian forces will continue to operate in the region. Hezbollah is also not a good example because Israel is way more sentimental than Russia. I've seen some examples of criticism for Russia's handling of the Beslan massacre--a botched rescue operation--but I've seen nothing but praise for their handling of the Nord-Ost siege, when Russian forces responded to Chechen fighters taking a Moscow theater hostage by gassing the place, killing all the Chechens along with well over 100 hostages.

I especially like how they cite Grozny as a positive example:

Downtown Grozny , Feb 2000. Via Cobb.