Readers Mixed on Possible Arms Embargo of Georgia

The following comments reflect the views of DW-WORLD.DE readers. Not all reader comments have been published. DW-WORLD.DE reserves the right to edit for length and appropriateness of content.

The US should definitely not re-arm Georgia, as the country has demonstrated that it cannot be trusted with weapons. But if they were "encouraged" to attack the South Ossetia region by the US -- as the Russians claim -- then we will probably re-arm them anyway. It appears that another outbreak of violence is apparently what the US government wanted. -- Orville Quick, US

Georgia is only the beginning of Putin's quest to make the former Union of Soviet Socialist Republic an imperial nation again. The warning shots have been fired. Through intimidation and the pretense of saving Russian-speaking people, Lenin's Bolshevism is now a chapter in the Putin policy book. Therefore, Ukraine or any pocket of Russian-oriented people will be justification for invasion. Ronald Ragan was correct in his belief that the Russians cannot be trusted. -- L. Hudson, US

The US has been aggravating Russia for five years by covertly supplying Georgia with arms and military know-how and as a result many innocent lives were lost. If the shoe was on the other foot, and Russia were to supply military systems to Cuba, the US would take strong objections and view it as a national threat. -- G. Gosau, Canada.

The EU, and Germany in particular, will now have a harder job of keeping relations with Russia on an even keel given Sarah Palin's remarks concerning the possibility of war. She obviously does not know Russia's history and its aversion to such talk. To discount the possibility that Russia will now feel it necessary to accelerate the building up of its military would be folly. To prevent the rhetoric from heating up to a point of confrontation, the discussion of Georgia becoming a member of NATO should be off the table until the air clears and Russia does not sense a heightened hostility from the US. Germany plays a pivotal role in keeping the peace. -- Rudy Rau, US

I strongly doubt Russia's rhetoric, or verbal saber-rattling, about "no imperial ambitions." A tree is known by its fruit. Georgia happened and now Crimea or eastern Ukraine or Belarus could be next. To prevent this I suggest NATO's prompt approval of Ukraine's acceptance within the bloc. -- Stanislav Sendek, Slovakia