Georgia is presently caught between hammer and anvil. Hammer would be the doubting West (Europe & America) and anvil is the long-cherished truth, pursued by this Nation. Hopefully, the space between them is narrowing – at a nerve-wracking measured pace though. The recent change of hands in government, as painful as it usually is here, has triggered the whole series of arrests in the country, which as a matter of fact is nothing unexpected or unusual either. And the history as well as the modern world abounds with analogies of the sort. The previous Georgian government which was nursed, matured and made active in compliance with lofty Western ideals was certainly perceived by the world as a ‘beacon of democracy’.
Now that the beacon has partially lost the power of beam, frustration is perpetuated among the stalwarts of the Free World because their carefully nurtured seed of democracy in this part of the world is being presented by the current Georgian government to the international community as a dreadful miscreant. The dilemma is serious and can hardly be taken care of unless the hammer and anvil try very hard to reach mutual understanding concerning the straining goings-on that are in vigorous progress in Georgia as we speak. The newly-elected authorities think that progress in Georgia will be impossible unless the crime, perpetrated by the former rulers is investigated and punished accordingly, whereas the formers are trying to prove that they are the victims of political revenge. And the patiently-observing West is getting confused while the Georgian legal-ethical-political turmoil is not mitigating. Legal because the court cases of various size and weight are in pipeline; ethical because Georgia’s future moral standards and image depend on the fairness and precision of soon-to-materialize outcomes; political because it is the politics that brings about the frictions of this magnitude in a nation’s life. West has grown all ears and eyes, watching the situation in Georgia and deducing that the now-functioning government of the country is abusing its newly-acquired power to discredit unfairly and arbitrarily the former decision-makers, being poetically motivated. Would the hammer feel right to be biased in those extremely consequential judgments about the anvil? Doesn’t the hammer want to be absolutely sure where and how deep the truth is buried? Would hasty conclusions and perfunctory inferences of the hammer do any good service to the people of Georgia? The answer is No! What if the already revealed but not yet proven series of crimes have indeed taken place in Georgia during the previous rule? In case the answer is Yes, should the perpetrators be duly punished or not? Or we better wink at a committed crime and keep doing business as usual as if nothing terribly outrageous had happened. How would my beloved American people – and I am part of them – have reacted if scandals like Watergate, Thomas-Hill, Enron and Clinton-Lewinski had been hushed and skipped to the benefit of ‘business as usual’? Americans are priding themselves on their ability to use every bad bungle for perfecting their society. Americans are not afraid of scandals. They are smart and honest enough to cope with every malcontent, occurring in their great country. Their democratic system of government has proven to be stable and flexible enough to change to meet new and unforeseen challenges. We too want to be smart, honest, stable and flexible in our small country. I am among those heart-broken friends of Georgia who hate to see this much filth and dirt around in this beautiful piece of land. I would rather see the wonderful people of Georgia peacefully and laboriously building its better future. Alas, we are busy with arrests and pending and incipient court cases. Too bad! But what to do if this indeed is the only right way to that better future. Dear well-wishers of Georgia, please be patient and give a chance to Her Majesty the Themis.