Where is it?
Russia invaded Georgia, a sovereign state. This is a clear breach of international law. And I wonder where are the protests?
Let`s go to Heidelberg and see whether the same people who built a “symbolic protective shield for International Law” back in 2003 when the Iraq war took place are now building a wall against the Russian invasion of Georgia!
Let`s go to Berlin and see whether half a million of Germans are going to protest against this Russian war against Georgia!
Let`s go and ask journalists why at least some of them still call this a conflict, rather than calling it a war!
Let`s ask them why they still refer to Russian troops on sovereign Georgian territory as “peace-keeping forces”!
Let`s ask these same journalists why they do not call the American troops in Iraq and Afghanistan peace-keeping forces!
And finally, let`s go and ask the so-called peace activists where their signs saying “No war for oil / gas / energy” are!
For it is all about energy, it is all about gas. Russia obviously does not like the idea of a gas pipeline like the Nabucco Gas Pipeline that would make Europe less dependent on Russia.
But at the end of the day, I am optimistic that the dream of freedom will be stronger. For you can invade a country, you can take prisoners, but you cannot imprison the hopes and thoughts of an entire people.
Va’ pensiero sull’ali dorate …
Fly, thoughts, on wings of gold …
Va’ Pensiero
From the Opera “Nabucco” by Giuseppe Verdi (1813-1901)
Verdi’s first successful opera, Nabucco (Nebuchadnezzar), was written in 1842. It relates the Biblical story of the captivity of the Hebrews in Babylon in the 6th century B.C. In the opera, the chorus “Va, pensiero” (a paraphrase of Psalm 137) is sung by the exiles on the banks of the Euphrates, lamenting the loss of their homeland.
The piece soon became a popular anthem for the Italian people, expressing their own longing for political freedom from Austria.