August 11, 2008
The Baltic American Freedom League (BAFL) believes that the Russian attack on Georgia is an aggressive attempt of Russian imperialist expansionism and that Georgia deserves the support of the United States of America and NATO. Georgia has bravely struggled to establish itself as a sovereign and independent country since 1990, when it declared independence from the Soviet Union. Moreover, Georgia has been a staunch ally of the U.S., is a large contributor of coalition troops in Iraq, and seeks to join NATO.
A Russian occupation of South Ossetia would be an enormous setback for Georgia and would be threatening to the other former ex-captive nations. We are very concerned that the occupation of South Ossetia by Russia may encourage further acts of aggression by Russia on Georgia in Abkhazia. The Baltics and other neighboring countries who have Russian citizens living in their midst are further threatened as Russia attempts to not only expand its sphere of influence in the region, but actively seeks to occupy new territories.
We urge the U.S. to support Georgia and immediately issue sanctions against Russia, boycott Russian goods, and issue a warning for U. S. citizens not to travel to Russia during this turbulent time.
