South Ossetia War thoughts
Thursday, August 14th, 2008Unless you have been under a rock this week, you are probably aware that the countries of Russia and Georgia went to war over a plot of land in The Republic of Georgia called South Ossetia. You can read up on the details at Wikipedia or Mahalo is you want the quick edition. There is certainly plenty of news if you want more.
But there are a couple of comparisons of scale that have struck me that I thought I would share.
The Republic of Georgia is smaller than the State of Georgia. In fact it’s smaller than 40 of our 50 states.
The Republic of South Ossetia is smaller than the State of Rhode Island. For a more granual comparison for my fellow citizens of Maine, South Ossetia would fit inside Hancock County. Or for those in southern Maine who aren’t sure how big Hancock County is, it’s about the same as Cumberland, Androscoggin, and Sagadahoc counties combined.
In other words, it’s small! The United States of America is a big country and often we forget that fact when we hear the news from overseas. That historically much blood has been shed on very small patches of land should also not be forgotten.
I don’t mean to make little of a war. Only to put some perspective on the area being discussed. Something I have not seen the mainstream media do. I also have some other thoughts but am still mulling them over so I will save them for another day.
Tags: area, Georgia, Maine, Rhode Island, Russia, South Ossetia
