GEORGIA: FIGHTING RAGES IN S. OSSETIA, RUSSIAN TANKS HEAD FOR BATTLE

[Sub-X]

Russia fighting on several fronts as Georgian troops withdraw to defend Tbilisi
Telegraph
11 August 2008

Russian troops have advanced into Georgia on two fronts after Vladimir Putin rejected calls for a ceasefire and strongly criticised the US's role in the crisis.

A Georgian official has said it is transferring "all its troops" from South Ossetia towards Tbilisi amid fighting in the city of Gori, about 35 miles to the south-east of the capital.

Georgians were witnessed by the Telegraph in a full scale disorganised and panicked retreat from Gori. They were crammed into vehicles heading down road from Gori to Tbilisi, the capital. They say 6,000-7,000 Russian troops are heading their way and the Georgians are abandoning their positions.

Kakha Lomaia, a senior Georgian security official, said: "We received very reliable information that the Russians decided to move towards Gori. That's why we decided to pull out all our troops and to relocate them - to defend Tbilisi."

Lomaia has since claimed that Russian forces have "captured" the city. However a Reuters reporter in Gori said: "We are right now driving through the town and I see no trace of troops or military vehicles. It is absolutely deserted."

A Georgian Interior Ministry spokesman said that Russian forces had also moved into the town of Zugdidi in the west and seized police stations, and had made bombing raids against communications facility in Tblisi, the Georgian capital.

Moscow began moving troops from the breakaway region of Abkhazia into the town of Senaki, well inside western Georgia, earlier today, while most Georgian troops were tied up in the north, and just hours after senior military figures insisted Russia was not planning offensives in the main area of the country.

The new troop movements were revealed as Gordon Brown, the UK Prime Minister, said: "There is no justification for continued Russian military action in Georgia, which threatens the stability of the entire region and risks a humanitarian catastrophe." He said there was a "clear responsibility" on Moscow to agree a ceasefire and bring a swift end to the conflict.

Responding to international diplomatic pressure to bring hostilities to a close, Mr Putin, the Russian Prime Minister, said his country would pursue operations to their "logical conclusion" and accused the US of aiding its enemy by transporting Georgian troops to the conflict zone from Iraq.

"It is a shame that some of our partners are not helping us but, essentially, are hindering us," said Mr Putin. "The very scale of this cynicism is astonishing.

"Russia, of course, will take its peacekeeping mission to a logical conclusion. We will strive for working relations with all participants of this conflict."

Leading a joint effort with fellow foreign ministers from the group of seven largest economic powers, Condoleezza Rice, the US Secretary of State, urged Russia to accept an immediate ceasefire with Georgia. A State Department spokesman said: "We want to see the Russians stand down."

George W. Bush, the US President, said yesterday that he had told Mr Putin of his "grave concern" over Russia's "disproportionate" response in the conflict. His vice-president, Dick Cheney, upped pressure on Moscow by saying that Russian aggression "must not go unanswered" and warned of serious consequences for the world if hostilities continued.

The Russian Defence Ministry said that its operation in Senaki, which sits 30 miles outside the Abkhaz border, was necessary to avert renewed Georgian attacks on South Ossetia.

A spokesman said: "Russian peacekeepers and support units are carrying out an operation aimed at preventing Georgian forces from regrouping to carry new attacks on South Ossetia. Senaki is one of the places where such actions were underway."

Witnesses have reported at least six Georgian attack helicopters bombed targets in the region around the South Ossetian capital, apparently breaking their self-imposed ceasefire. Russia claims the shelling has killed three Russian troops and injured dozens more.

The Daily Telegraph has seen a large group of Russian soldiers wearing flak jackets near Senaki. The troops, who were flanked by about 40 vehicles including lorries and armoured personnel carriers, were carrying heavy weaponry and could be seen securing positions, including ambush positions.

The town is at a strategically important point on the main east-west highway through Georgia. Control of the highway could cut off the port of Poti on the Black Sea, south of Abkhazia. There is a Russian naval presence off the port and Russian air strikes have already been launched on it.

A Georgian Defence Ministry spokesman said that Russian armoured vehicles had seized a military base in the town. It is thought that Russian troops could also be targeting a Georgian radar station.

The Gergian President, Mikheil Saakashvili, said in a televised address that Russia is seeking to occupy all of Georgia. "This provocation was aimed at occupying South Ossetia, Abkhazia and then all of Georgia," he said.

Earlier today the Russian President, Dmitry Medvedev, had said that the "major part" of his country's assault on Georgia was over, raising hopes of a swift end to the fighting, which was sparked on Friday after Georgia entered South Osettia, attempting to wrest back control of the breakaway state by military means.

Both sides accuse each other of ethnic cleansing in the violence, in which more than 2,000 civilians are thought to have died and more than 40,000 are feared to have been displaced.

[Wanted]

Russia's conflict with Georgia stokes energy supply concerns
http://canadianpress.google.com/article/ALeqM5gz1lE8_YLs-qUWFGqgy5qzc_Wisw

6 minutes ago

VIENNA, Austria — Russia's conflict with Georgia could punish the European Union where it is perhaps most vulnerable: Oil and gas supplies from beyond its eastern frontier.

The EU has been trying to wean itself away from energy dependence on Moscow, which supplies a quarter of its oil and half of its natural gas, by developing routes for Central Asian resources that bypass Russia.

A key to this strategy is a network of energy routes that run through Georgia, notably the Baku Tbilisi-Ceyhan oil pipeline that was almost hit by a Russian bombing raid Monday.

No supply disruptions were reported and oil prices actually dipped. But the near-miss brought to stark relief how the conflict, which includes the prospect of a major Russian power grab in Georgia, could wreak havoc with the West's hopes of diversifying its supply sources.

The United States and the EU have become increasingly alarmed at how a resurgent Russia is using its vast energy wealth as a tool for expanding its influence - and getting its way - on the world stage.

"The EU grand strategy is to develop Georgia as an alternative route for Caspian oil and gas by bypassing Russia," says Michael Klare, author of "Rising Powers, Shrinking Planet, the New Geopolitics of Energy."

"But if Georgia is no longer a safe passageway, then all of these schemes for diminished dependency on Russia go up in smoke."

In these energy-hungry times, Georgia already plays a growing role in bringing supplies from energy-rich Central Asian nations like Azerbaijan, Turkmenistan and Kazakhstan to Western countries seeking to circumvent Russia.

The Baku Tbilisi-Ceyhan line provides one million barrels of Caspian crude to international markets from suppliers independent not only of Russia but also OPEC. Lesser amounts flow through the Baku-Supsa line, which ends on the Black Sea.

And Georgian ports on the Black Sea are a main shipping point of Caspian crude from Azerbaijan, Turkmenistan and Kazakhstan. More than 500,000 barrels leave these ports daily, and plans are afoot to expand capacity by an additional 200,000 barrels a day.

Gas also transits Georgia toward the West.

The Baku-Tblisi Erzurum pipeline connects Azerbaijan to Turkey through Georgia, en route to European consumers. Annual shipments of more than 6.5 billion cubic meters will be nearly tripled once the pipeline is expanded in the coming years.

Georgia also holds enormous symbolic significance in the West's struggle to diversify.

In comments earlier this year, Steve Levine, author of "The Oil and the Glory" called the Baku-Ceyhan pipeline "the first significant break in Russia's previous monopoly control over all oil and natural gas from the Caspian Sea states."

"Now Russia no longer calls the shots with impunity," said Levine. "Azerbaijan and Georgia, for example, rely on this pipeline ... for the political independence they often act out."

Klare traced Georgia's strategic importance to the U.S. and its European allies to a decision by former U.S. President Bill Clinton to choose Georgia as "an alternative pathway for the flow of Caspian oil and gas to the West."

With the struggle over energy sources intensifying over the last decade, that move by the Clinton administration provides essential background to the current conflict, said Klare.

"Georgia has been one of the leading recipients of U.S. military aid ever since," he told The Associated Press. "This, of course, infuriated the Russians and they determined to try to curb Georgia's ties to the West in any way they possibly could."

The Russian weapons of choice, said Klare, were South Ossetia - where the fighting originated - and Abkhazia.

In both of the predominantly ethnic Russian breakaway Georgian regions, the Kremlin established an armed presence - pointing "daggers into the very heart of Georgia's independence," says Klare.

And the fighting could spread into Abkhazia - with worrying implications for Europe, which hopes to expand Georgia's importance as an energy transit route independent of Moscow.

Still to be built, the EU's Nabucco pipeline is meant to transport non-Russian gas and go through territory independent of Moscow, making Georgia an ideal candidate.

An alternative to Georgia would be Armenia. But it, too, has problems with a breakaway region - the ethnic-Armenian Nagorno Karabakh enclave in neighbouring Azerbaijan. Simmering tensions there could flare, drawing in Armenia - and Russia, which continues to regard the region as part of its sphere of influence.

"Nagorno Karabakh is as difficult to solve as Abkhazia and South Ossetia," says Klare. "And Russia can mess that one up too."

[Avers]

One thing that has been discussed intermittenly on these forums (short time lurker *waves* hello), but not yet in regards to this crisis: This entire Georgian crisis is nothing more than the opening move in the global domination game, with all the NWO players (and I include Putin&Co on this) on one side, the rest of the world population on the other. With 6 billion game pieces to play with and the end goal of complete control.

There was a beautiful image posted by GoodBush in this thread, taking during the opening ceremony (no reported hostilities at that point):




Some probably not so far off captions:

GB: In a few hours my US special forces will instigate an attack on South Osseatia. Our puppet Saakasvili has been briefed on how to react.
VP: Good! I'll make sure we do not overrun the whole of Georgia within a few days. You just make sure that your naval armada is in place on the coast of Iran on time.
GB: Will do! At that time you should have managed to take Georgia and the whole world will be outraged at you (insert typical Bush cackle). Don't forget to back Iran when we start bombing them.
VP: You can count on me. Udachi!
GB: Cheers!


Sure it may be a bit off key, but isn't this the perfect opportunity to create the world crisis the NWO so dearly want, so it can implement their plans for full scale world martial law and mass slaughter. As these guys seriously do not care what happens with most of their own people, they will be safe in their bunkers until after the dust has settled, ready to take up 'leadership' again. The one thing I haven't figured out yet is how and when China will chime in on all this.

On a sidenote: Bush is apparently still enjoying the Beijing games, and has the time during the break in a basketball game to talk to Henry Kissinger (was shown on CNN here in Europe, could not find a clip of it though). Now isn't that a coincidence?

[bigron]

Posted on Mon, Aug. 11, 2008

Russia seizes Georgia base, opens 2nd front


By MISHA DZHINDZHIKHASHVILI
Associated Press Writer
http://www.kansascity.com/451/story/742801.html



Russia opened a second front of fighting in Georgia on Monday, sending armored vehicles beyond two breakaway provinces and seizing a military base and police stations in the country's west, officials said.

The new forays into Georgia - even after Georgian President Mikhail Saakashvili signed a cease-fire pledge - appeared to show Russian determination to subdue the small, U.S.-backed country, which has been pressing for NATO membership.

The latest developments indicate that Russian troops have invaded Georgia proper from the separatist province of Abkhazia while most Georgian forces are locked up in fighting around South Ossetia.

The West has sharply criticized Russia's military response to Georgia's attack on South Ossetia as disproportionate, and the Group of Seven leading industrialized nations urged Russia on Monday to accept an immediate cease-fire and agree to international mediation.

"We want to see the Russians stand down," deputy State Department spokesman Robert Wood told reporters in Washington.

With Europe depending on Russia for a quarter of the oil it consumes - and half of its gas needs - the conflict serves as a vivid demonstration of Russian power in the Caspian region.

Russian armored personnel carriers rolled into the base in Senaki, a town in Western Georgia about 20 miles inland from the Black Sea port of Poti, Georgian Security Council secretary Alexander Lomaia said. In Moscow, a government official who spoke on condition of anonymity because he wasn't authorized to give his name, said the move into Senaki was intended to end Georgian resistance.

Russian forces also seized police stations in the town of Zugdidi and allied separatist forces took over a nearby village, Georgian Interior Ministry spokesman Shota Utiashvili said.

U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and the foreign ministers of Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy and Japan called on Russia to respect Georgia's borders and expressed deep concern for civilian casualties, Wood said, adding that the call was one of more than 50 Rice made over the weekend on the matter.

Russia's move to open a second front came hours after a senior Russian general insisted that Russia has no plans to press into Georgian territory beyond the breakaway regions.

The United States is campaigning to get Russia to halt its retaliation and American officials have accused Russia of using the fighting to try to overthrow the Georgian government. President Bush, who has encouraged Georgia's efforts to join NATO, said he spoke with Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin and the Russian president.

"I've expressed my grave concern about the disproportionate response of Russia and that we strongly condemn the bombing outside of South Ossetia," Bush said in an interview with NBC Sports.

In turn, Putin criticized the United States for airlifting Georgian troops back home from Iraq on Sunday at Georgia's request.

"It's a pity that some of our partners instead of helping are in fact trying to get in the way," Putin said at a Cabinet meeting. "I mean among other things the United States airlifting Georgia's military contingent from Iraq effectively into the conflict zone."

Putin's comments reflected Russia's growing irritation with Western condemnation.

"The scale of their cynicism causes surprise," Putin said. "It's the ability to cast white as black and black as white which is surprising, the ability to cast the aggressor as the victim and blame the victims for the consequences."

Putin remarks also reflected deep anger at Georgia's President Mikhail Saakashvili.

"Of course, Saddam Hussein ought to have been hanged for destroying several Shiite villages," Putin said. "And the incumbent Georgian leaders who razed ten Ossetian villages at once, who ran elderly people and children with tanks, who burned civilian alive in their sheds - these leaders must be taken under protection."

Putin and other Russian officials have accused Georgian forces of committing atrocities against civilians in South Ossetia - claims that could not be independently verified.

Georgia began an offensive to regain control over South Ossetia overnight Friday with heavy rocket and artillery fire and air strikes that ravaged the provincial capital, Tskhinvali.

Russia, which has developed close ties with the region and granted passports to most of its residents, sent in thousands of troops who launched an overwhelming artillery barrage and air attacks against Georgian troops. Heavy Russian shelling drove the Georgian forces out of the South Ossetian provincial capital of Tskhinvali on Sunday.

Saakashvili, the Georgian president, voiced concern that Russia's true goal was to undermine his pro-Western government. "It's all about the independence and democracy of Georgia," he said during a conference call.

At a U.N. Security Council meeting on Sunday, Russia's ambassador to the United Nations, Vitaly Churkin, acknowledged there were occasions when elected leaders "become an obstacle."

Saakashvili said Russia has sent 20,000 troops and 500 tanks into Georgia - with some troops getting within three miles of Gori, located just outside South Ossetia, before being repulsed Sunday.

Georgia borders the Black Sea between Turkey and Russia and was ruled by Moscow for most of the two centuries preceding the 1991 breakup of the Soviet Union. Both South Ossetia and Abkhazia have run their own affairs without international recognition since fighting to split from Georgia in the early 1990s.

Both separatist provinces have close ties with Moscow, while Georgia has deeply angered Russia by wanting to join NATO.

Georgia began an offensive to regain control over South Ossetia overnight Friday with heavy shelling and air strikes that ravaged the city of Tskhinvali. The Russia response was swift and overpowering - thousands of troops that shelled the Georgians until they fled Tskhinvali on Sunday, and air attacks across Georgia.

Russia's Deputy Foreign Minister Grigory Karasin said Sunday more than 2,000 people had been killed in South Ossetia since Friday, most of them Ossetians with Russian passports. The figures could not be independently confirmed, but refugees who fled the city said hundreds were killed.

Thousands of civilians have fled South Ossetia - many seeking shelter in the neighboring Russian province of North Ossetia.

Associated Press writers Vladimir Isachenkov in Moscow and Matthew Lee in Washington contributed to this report.

[Cobra]

Amen......................(knock on wood)

Nuclear weapons are a danger in conflicts where only one side has them.

When both sides have them their about as useful as committing suicide.

[Sub-X]

Georgia: another Sarajevo moment avoided
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/columnists/william_rees_mogg/article4498781.ece
August 11, 2008

The great powers learnt in 1914 that small conflicts can easily and quite accidentally trigger world wars.

Who has heard of Freiherr von Musulin, apart from a few historians of Austria-Hungary and students of the diplomatic causes of the First World War? In 1925, he published his memoirs, which were reviewed in The Times Literary Supplement by the eminent historian, Lewis Namier. Musulin called his memoirs Das Haus am Ballplatz, which was the name of the Austrian Foreign Office.

Baron Musulin is not an outstanding figure in the history of European diplomacy; he was infinitely far from being a Metternich or a Talleyrand, yet perhaps he reshaped European history to a greater degree than either of them. From 1910 to 1916 he held the comparatively unimportant post of Chief of the Department for Church Affairs. In the summer of 1913, he took his holiday in Croatia, the country of his birth; on his return to Vienna he wrote a report on the Serbian problem, a subject on which he had not previously been regarded as an expert.

At some time in July 1914 he was asked to draft a diplomatic ultimatum to Serbia: “Wherein, on the basis of Serbia's moral responsibility for the events of June 28 [the murder of the Archduke Franz Ferdinand] certain demands would be addressed to her for the suppression in future of Great-Serb propaganda.” He believed himself to have a reputation for “abilities for office work and stylistic skill”. He drafted the note on the assumption that the Serbians would accept it.

He was surprised when the note was rejected. He comments that: “It is altogether difficult to foresee the effect which any one political action may produce abroad.” Considering that the effect of his miscalculation was the First World War, 20 million dead, and all that has followed, that seemed an understatement.

Since 1914, the major powers have been concerned to avoid another Sarajevo moment, in which the world tumbled into war by accident. However, the war was not altogether an accident or a miscalculation. The more significant memoirs of Field Marshal Franz Conrad von Hötzendorf, the Chief of the Austrian General Staff, a grander and more aggressive figure than von Musulin, provide his real reasons for wanting a war. “Two principles were in sharp conflict: the maintenance of Austria as a conglomerate of various nationalities and the rise of independent national states claiming their ethnic territories from Austria-Hungary... For this reason, and not with a view to expiating the murder [of Franz Ferdinand], Austria-Hungary had to go to war against Serbia.”

No two historic events are identical, but there are disquieting resemblances between the Serbian crisis as it stood in July 1914 and the Georgian crisis as it stands in August 2008. There is the Russian factor that is central to both crises; there are conflicting nationalisms; there is the widespread feeling of anxiety. In 1914, Austria-Hungary was afraid of being let down by Germany, Germany was afraid of the growing strength of Russia, Russia was afraid of being let down by France, France was afraid of being let down by Britain, and Britain was alarmed by the growth of the German Navy. Every major power felt threatened. In the event, Serbia's rejection of the Austrian note pulled all of them into a war that few had wanted. The weakest power took the biggest decision.

The situation now is similar in many respects, but not in all. The big difference is that the Russian Federation is nearly 20 years beyond the time of Soivet Union's collapse. The Warsaw Pact had long since broken up, and most of the Warsaw Pact countries have joined the EU and Nato, without Russia being in a position to object. However, there are a number of newly independent countries, including Georgia, which were not members of the Warsaw Pact but part of the 19th and 20th- century Russian empire. This “near abroad” is seen by Russia as being inside Russia's natural sphere of influence.

The new Russia of Vladimir Putin is nationalist in the old tsarist fashion, and is determined to protect Russian interests. In the 1990s, the Yeltsin years, Russia could not assert these traditional Russian positions, because it was too weak. They are being reasserted now, and this reassertion is backed by Russia's growing importance as a provider of oil and gas.

In 1914 Europe had six major powers, Germany, France, Britain, Austria-Hungary, Italy and Russia, all of which had imperial possessions. Most of these countries were coalitions of different nations, with domestic problems of nationalism. Britain, for instance, had the Irish problem.

In 2008, there are six major groupings in the world, the US, China, the EU, India, Russia and Japan. Islam is another matter. These groupings are all, to some degree, concerned about economic or political weaknesses in their own positions.

Some of these groups are rising powers, but others are in relative decline. Russia probably lacks the economic or population base to maintain Putinism in world competition. The US may well have another generation as the leading world power, but its lead is narrowing. Europe has not resolved the cultural differences of its membership. China and India are emerging superpowers. But these groupings are almost as uncertain as the European powers were in 1914, and the scarcity of future energy supplies makes them feel insecure.

In these circumstances, it was rash of the Government of Georgia to try to regain control of South Ossetia by force. How did it imagine that Russia would respond? Georgia is a candidate to join Nato, but the European members of Nato, particularly Germany, may feel that Georgia's Government is too impetuous to be given the Nato guarantee. In a world of uncertainty, the major powers cannot risk minor wars in case they become big ones.

[Sasha]

Georgian President Relocates Website To Atlanta
August 11, 2008
2:29 p.m. EST
Ed Sutherland - AHN Editor
http://www.allheadlinenews.com/articles/7011905889


Tblisi, Georgia (AHN) - Georgia's President has moved his official web site to the U.S., as the nation attempts to confront a military attack that now appear to include cyber assaults by hackers.

Georgian-born Nino Doijashvili, owner of Atlanta's Tulip Systems Inc., said the website for Georgia President Mikhail Saakashvili as well as Georgian TV, were moved to the United States. Earlier, Poland had offered computer space.

The news comes after several reports that Russian hackers were attacked Georgian Internet sites, in some cases using botnets to block access. Georgia's Foreign Affairs office web site had been attacked with Nazi images replacing those of Georgia's President, one report said.

In July, Russian hackers were blamed for cyber attacks on Lithuanian government sites, similar to online attacks in 2007 when a Soviet war memorial was moved in Estonia, the country's capitol.

_______________________________________

This is gonna screw some sheeple up,... "See!  He's in Atlanta, Georgia."

[GoodBush]

Georgian President Relocates Website To Atlanta
August 11, 2008
2:29 p.m. EST
Ed Sutherland - AHN Editor
http://www.allheadlinenews.com/articles/7011905889


Tblisi, Georgia (AHN) - Georgia's President has moved his official web site to the U.S., as the nation attempts to confront a military attack that now appear to include cyber assaults by hackers.

Georgian-born Nino Doijashvili, owner of Atlanta's Tulip Systems Inc., said the website for Georgia President Mikhail Saakashvili as well as Georgian TV, were moved to the United States. Earlier, Poland had offered computer space.

The news comes after several reports that Russian hackers were attacked Georgian Internet sites, in some cases using botnets to block access. Georgia's Foreign Affairs office web site had been attacked with Nazi images replacing those of Georgia's President, one report said.

In July, Russian hackers were blamed for cyber attacks on Lithuanian government sites, similar to online attacks in 2007 when a Soviet war memorial was moved in Estonia, the country's capitol.

_______________________________________

This is gonna screw some sheeple up,... "See!  He's in Atlanta, Georgia."

All part ot the huge psy op against us.

[Protean]

Nuclear weapons are a danger in conflicts where only one side has them.

When both sides have them their about as useful as committing suicide.

Agreed. Let's hope Zbig feels the same way...

[Sasha]

All part ot the huge psy op against us.

It does seem like it, hunh?  Of all the places in the western world to which they could have moved their site,... Atlanta.

[GoodBush]

It does seem like it, hunh?  Of all the places in the western world to which they could have moved their site,... Atlanta.

Where are those guidestones again?

This is a global psy op.

[Sasha]

Where are those guidestones again?

This is a global psy op.

oooh.  I forgot about those rocks.  These old, wrinkley depressed Straussians have little else to do in life that brings them any joy other than play with rocks and RISK pieces, all the while civilians are sacrificed on their altars of purely vain insanity.

[Sasha]

16 minutes ago


European Commission Presses Russia on Georgia
By Tendai Maphosa
London
11 August 2008
http://voanews.com/english/2008-08-11-voa52.cfm


The European Commission is calling for Russia to halt its military incursion into Georgia. Tendai Maphosa has the details from London.

The European Commission expressed extreme concern about the fighting in Georgia. Addressing a press briefing in Brussels, Commission spokeswoman Krisztina Nagy called for Russia to halt its military action immediately.

"We consider that that the latest developments such as the crossing of the Georgian borders by Russian troops changed the dimension of he conflict. We therefore call upon Russia to stop immediately all military activity on Georgian territory," she said.

Nagy reiterated support for diplomatic efforts for an agreement to end hostilities that would respect Georgia's sovereignty and territorial integrity.

The European Commission also announced the release of nearly $1.5 million in what it described as fast-track aid to help cover the urgent humanitarian needs of thousands of civilians affected by the fighting.

European Commission spokesman John Clancy told VOA the fighting has displaced at least 30,000 civilians and the number is likely to increase. He said more money for humanitarian assistance would be made available if needed.

"We are providing through this funding of one million euros in areas such as basic emergency shelter tents, for example, or food or water and sanitation, all these issues need to be dealt with when you have populations on the move," he said.

Clancy called for the parties involved in the fighting to respect humanitarian law and to provide safe passage to civilians fleeing from the fighting.

Georgian forces moved against the breakaway province of South Ossetia last week in an effort to restore control. The move drew a quick Russian military response. Georgia has agreed to a cease-fire and accuses the Russians of continuing to attack Georgian territory. 

[Dok]

The White House announced that President Bush -- enroute back from attending the Olympics in Beijing -- will make a statement on the Georgia-Russia crisis at 5:15 p.m. EDT

[Triadtropz]

The White House announced that President Bush -- enroute back from attending the Olympics in Beijing -- will make a statement on the Georgia-Russia crisis at 5:15 p.m. EDT

this should be interesting..I wonder what the old lame duck has to say?...he will probably just regurgitate what he's already said.

[Sasha]

Here's a great and very detailed article by the gentleman that was just on Infowars radio:


War in the Caucasus: Towards a Broader Russia-US Military Confrontation?
Global Research,
August 10, 2008
http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=9788

During the night of August 7, coinciding with the opening ceremony of the Beijing Olympics, Georgia's president Saakashvili ordered an all-out military attack on Tskhinvali, the capital of South Ossetia.

The aerial bombardments and ground attacks were largely directed against civilian targets including residential areas, hospitals and the university. The provincial capital Tskhinvali was destroyed. The attacks resulted in some 1500 civilian deaths, according to both Russian and Western sources.  "The air and artillery bombardment left the provincial capital without water, food, electricity and gas. Horrified civilians crawled out of the basements into the streets as fighting eased, looking for supplies." (AP, August 9, 2008). According to reports, some 34,000 people from South Ossetia have fled to Russia. (Deseret Morning News, Salt Lake City, August 10, 2008)

The importance and timing of this military operation must be carefully analyzed. It has far-reaching implications.

Georgia is an outpost of US and NATO forces, on the immediate border of the Russian Federation and within proximity of the Middle East Central Asian war theater. South Ossetia is also at the crossroads of strategic oil and gas pipeline routes.





Georgia does not act militarily without the assent of Washington. The Georgian head of State is a US proxy and Georgia is a de facto US protectorate. 
Who is behind this military agenda? What interests are being served? What is the purpose of the military operation.

There is evidence that the attacks were carefully coordinated by the US military and NATO.

Moscow has accused NATO of "encouraging Georgia". Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov underscored the destabilizing impacts of "foreign" military aid to Georgia: .

“It all confirms our numerous warnings addressed to the international community that it is necessary to pay attention to massive arms purchasing by Georgia during several years. Now we see how these arms and Georgian special troops who had been trained by foreign specialists are used,” he said.(Moscow accuses NATO of having "encouraged Georgia" to attack South Ossetia, Russia Today, August 9, 2008)

Moscow's envoy to NATO, Dmitry Rogozin, sent an official note to the representatives of all NATO member countries:

“Russia has already begun consultations with the ambassadors of the NATO countries and consultations with NATO military representatives will be held tomorrow," Rogozin said. "We will caution them against continuing to further support of Saakashvili."

“It is an undisguised aggression accompanied by a mass propaganda war,” he said.

(See Moscow accuses NATO of having "encouraged Georgia" to attack South Ossetia, Russia Today, August 9, 2008)

According to Rogozin, Georgia had initially planned to:

"start military action against Abkhazia, however, 'the Abkhaz fortified region turned out to be unassailable for Georgian armed formations, therefore a different tactic was chosen aimed against South Ossetia', which is more accessible territorially. The envoy has no doubts that Mikheil Saakashvili had agreed his actions with "sponsors", "those with whom he is negotiating Georgia's accession to NATO ". (RIA Novosti, August 8, 2008)

Contrary to what was conveyed by Western media reports, the attacks were anticipated by Moscow. The attacks were timed to coincide with the opening of the Olympics, largely with a view to avoiding frontpage media coverage of the Georgian military operation.

On August 7, Russian forces were in an advanced state readiness. The counterattack was swiftly carried out.

Russian paratroopers were sent in from Russia's Ivanovo, Moscow and Pskov airborne divisions. Tanks, armored vehicles and several thousand ground troops have been deployed. Russian air strikes have largely targeted military facilities inside Georgia including the Gori military base.

The Georgian military attack was repealed with a massive show of strength on the part of the Russian military.

 

Act of Provocation?

US-NATO military and intelligence planners invariably examine various "scenarios" of a proposed military operation-- i.e. in this case, a limited Georgian attack largely directed against civilian targets, with a view to inflicting civilian casualties.

The examination of scenarios is a routine practice. With limited military capabilities, a Georgian victory and occupation of Tskhinvali, was an impossibility from the outset. And this was known and understood to US-NATO military planners. 


A humanitarian disaster rather than a military victory was an integral part of the scenario. The objective was to destroy the provincial capital, while also inflicting a significant loss of human life.

If the objective were to restore Georgian political control over the provincial government, the operation would have been undertaken in a very different fashion, with Special Forces occupying key public buildings, communications networks and provincial institutions, rather than waging an all out bombing raid on residential areas, hospitals, not to mention Tskhinvali's University.


Tskhinvali's University before the bombing

The Russian response was entirely predictable.

Georgia was "encouraged" by NATO and the US. Both Washington and NATO headquarters in Brussels were acutely aware of what would happen in the case of a Russian counterattack.

The question is: was this a deliberate provocation intended to trigger a Russian military response and suck the Russians into a broader military confrontation with Georgia (and allied forces) which could potentially escalate into an all out war?

Georgia has the third largest contingent of coalition forces in Iraq after the US and the UK, with some 2000 troops.  According to reports, Georgian troops in Iraq are now being repatriated in US military planes, to fight Russian forces. (See Debka.com, August 10, 2008)

This US decision to repatriate Georgian servicemen suggests that Washington is intent upon an escalation of the conflict, where Georgian troops are to be used as cannon fodder against a massive deployment of Russian forces.

US-NATO and Israel Involved in the Planning of the Attacks

In mid-July, Georgian and U.S. troops held a joint military exercise entitled "Immediate Response" involving respectively 1,200 US and 800 Georgian troops.

The announcement by the Georgian Ministry of Defense on July 12 stated that they US and Georgian troops were to "train for three weeks at the Vaziani military base" near the Georgian capital, Tbilisi. (AP, July 15, 2008). These exercises, which were completed barely a week before the August 7 attacks, were an obvious dress rehearsal of a military operation, which, in all likelihood, had been planned in close cooperation with the Pentagon.

The war on Southern Ossetia was not meant to be won, leading to the restoration of Georgian sovereignty over South Ossetia. It was intended to destabilize the region while also triggering a US-NATO confrontation with Russia. 

On July 12, coinciding with the outset of the Georgia-US war games, the Russian Defense Ministry started its own military maneuvers in the North Caucasus region. The usual disclaimer by both Tblisi and Moscow: the military exercises have “nothing to do” with the situation in South Ossetia. (Ibid)

Let us be under no illusions. This is not a civil war. The attacks are an integral part of the broader Middle East Central Asian war, including US-NATO-Israeli war preparations in relation to Iran.

The Role of Israeli Military Advisers

While NATO and US military advisers did not partake in the military operation per se, they were actively involved in the planning and logistics of the attacks. According to Israeli sources (Debka.com, August 8, 2008), the ground assault on August 7-8, using tanks and artillery was "aided by Israeli military advisers". Israel also supplied Georgia with Hermes-450 and Skylark unmanned aerial vehicles, which were used in the weeks leading up to the August 7 attacks.

Georgia has also acquired, according to a report in Rezonansi (August 6, in Georgian, BBC translation) "some powerful weapons through the upgrade of Su-25 planes and artillery systems in Israel". According to Haaretz (August 10, 2008), Israelis are active in military manufacturing and security consulting in Georgia.

Russian forces are now directly fighting a NATO-US trained Georgian army integrated by US and Israeli advisers. And Russian warplanes have attacked the military jet factory on the outskirts of Tbilisi, which produces the upgraded Su-25 fighter jet, with technical support from Israel. (CTV.ca, August 10, 2008)

When viewed in the broader context of the Middle East war, the crisis in Southern Ossetia could lead to escalation, including a direct confrontation between Russian and NATO forces. If this were to occur, we would be facing the most serious crisis in US-Russian relations since the Cuban Missile crisis in October 1962.

Georgia: NATO-US Outpost

Georgia is part of a NATO military alliance (GUAM) signed in April 1999 at the very outset of the war on Yugoslavia. It also has a bilateral military cooperation agreement with the US. These underlying military agreements have served to protect Anglo-American oil interests in the Caspian sea basin as well as pipeline routes.

Both the US and NATO have a military presence in Georgia and are working closely with the Georgian Armed Forces. Since the signing of the 1999 GUAM agreement, Georgia has been the recipient of extensive US military aid.

Barely a few months ago, in early May, the Russian Ministry of Defense accused Washington, "claiming that [US as well as NATO and Israeli] military assistance to Georgia is destabilizing the region." (Russia Claims Georgia in Arms Buildup, Wired News, May 19, 2008). According to the Russian Defense Ministry

"Georgia has received 206 tanks, of which 175 units were supplied by NATO states, 186 armored vehicles (126 - from NATO) , 79 guns (67 - from NATO) , 25 helicopters (12 - from NATO) , 70 mortars, ten surface-to-air missile systems, eight Israeli-made unmanned aircraft, and other weapons. In addition, NATO countries have supplied four combat aircraft to Georgia. The Russian Defense Ministry said there were plans to deliver to Georgia 145 armored vehicles, 262 guns and mortars, 14 combat aircraft including four Mirazh-2000 destroyers, 25 combat helicopters, 15 American Black Hawk aircraft, six surface-to-air missile systems and other arms." (Interfax News Agency, Moscow, in Russian, Aug 7, 2008)

NATO-US-Israeli assistance under formal military cooperation agreements involves a steady flow of advanced military equipment as well as training and consulting services.

According to US military sources (spokesman for US European Command), the US has more than 100 "military trainers" in Georgia. A Pentagon spokesman Bryan Whitman "said there were no plans to redeploy the estimated 130 US troops and civilian contractors, who he said were stationed in the area around Tblisi" (AFP, 9 August 2008). In fact, US-NATO military presence in Georgia is on a larger scale to that acknowledged in official statements. The number of NATO personnel in Georgia acting as trainers and military advisers has not been confirmed.

Although not officially a member of NATO, Georgia's military is full integrated into NATO procedures.  In 2005, Georgian president proudly announced the inauguration of the first military base, which "fully meets NATO standards". Immediately following the inauguration of the Senakskaya base in west Georgia, Tblisi announced the opening of a second military base at Gori which would  also "comply with NATO regulations in terms of military requirements as well as social conditions." (Ria Novosti, 26 May 2006).

The Gori base has been used to train Georgian troops dispatched to fight under US command in the Iraq war theater.

It is worth noting that under a March 31, 2006, agreement between Tblisi and Moscow, Russia's two Soviet-era military bases in Georgia - Akhalkalaki and Batumi have been closed down. (Ibid)  The pullout at Batumi commenced in May of last year, 2007. The last remaining Russian troops left the Batumi military facility in early July 2008, barely a week before the commencement of the US-Georgia war games and barely a month prior to the attacks on South Ossetia. 

The Israel Connection

Israel is now part of the Anglo-American military axis, which serves the interests of the Western oil giants in the Middle East and Central Asia.

Israel is a partner in the Baku-Tblisi- Ceyhan pipeline which brings oil and gas to the Eastern Mediterranean. More than 20 percent of Israeli oil is imported from Azerbaijan, of which a large share transits through the BTC pipeline. Controlled by British Petroleum, the BTC pipeline has dramatically changed the geopolitics of the Eastern Mediterranean and the Caucusus:

"[The BTC pipeline] considerably changes the status of the region's countries and cements a new pro-West alliance. Having taken the pipeline to the Mediterranean, Washington has practically set up a new bloc with Azerbaijan, Georgia, Turkey and Israel, " (Komerzant, Moscow, 14 July 2006)



While the official reports state that the BTC pipeline will "channel oil to Western markets", what is rarely acknowledged is that part of the oil from the Caspian sea would be directly channeled towards Israel, via Georgia. In this regard, a Israeli-Turkish pipeline project has also been envisaged which would link Ceyhan to the Israeli port of Ashkelon and from there through Israel's main pipeline system, to the Red Sea.

The objective of Israel is not only to acquire Caspian sea oil for its own consumption needs but also to play a key role in re-exporting Caspian sea oil back to the Asian markets through the Red Sea port of Eilat. The strategic implications of this re-routing of Caspian sea oil are far-reaching. (For further details see Michel Chossudovsky, The War on Lebanon and the Battle for Oil, Global Research, July 2006)

What is envisaged is to link the BTC pipeline to the Trans-Israel Eilat-Ashkelon pipeline, also known as Israel's Tipline, from Ceyhan to the Israeli port of Ashkelon.

"Turkey and Israel are negotiating the construction of a multi-million-dollar energy and water project that will transport water, electricity, natural gas and oil by pipelines to Israel, with the oil to be sent onward from Israel to the Far East,

The new Turkish-Israeli proposal under discussion would see the transfer of water, electricity, natural gas and oil to Israel via four underwater pipelines.

http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1145961328841&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull

“Baku oil can be transported to Ashkelon via this new pipeline and to India and the Far East.[via the Red sea]"

"Ceyhan and the Mediterranean port of Ashkelon are situated only 400 km apart. Oil can be transported to the city in tankers or via specially constructed under-water pipeline. From Ashkelon the oil can be pumped through already existing pipeline to the port of Eilat at the Red Sea; and from there it can be transported to India and other Asian countries in tankers. (REGNUM)

In this regard, Israel is slated to play a major strategic role in "protecting" the Eastern Mediterranean transport and pipeline corridors out of Ceyhan. Concurrently, it also involved in channeling military aid and training to both Georgia and Azerbaijan.

A far-reaching 1999 bilateral military cooperation agreement between Tblisi and Tel Aviv was reached barely a month before the NATO sponsored GUUAM agreement. It was signed in Tbilisi by President Shevardnadze and Israel's Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyu. These various military cooperation arrangements are ultimately intended to undermine Russia's presence and influence in the Caucasus and Central Asia.

In a pro forma declaration, Tel Aviv committed itself, following bilateral discussions with Moscow, on August 5, 2008, to cut back military assistance to Georgia.

Russia's Response

In response to the attacks, Russian forces intervened with conventional ground troops. Tanks and armored vehicles were sent in. The Russian air force was also involved in aerial counter-attacks on Georgian military positions including the military base of Gori.

The Western media has portrayed the Russian as solely responsible for the deaths of civilians, yet at the same time the Western media has acknowledged (confirmed by the BBC) that most of the civilian casualties at the outset were the result of the Georgian ground and air attacks.

Based on Russian and Western sources, the initial death toll in South Ossetia was at least 1,400 (BBC) mostly civilians.  "Georgian casualty figures ranged from 82 dead, including 37 civilians, to a figure of around 130 dead.... A Russian air strike on Gori, a Georgian town near South Ossetia, left 60 people dead, many of them civilians, Georgia says." (BBC, August 9, 2008). Russian sources place the number of civilian deaths on South Ossetia at 2000.

A process of escalation and confrontation between Russia and America is unfolding, reminiscent of the Cold War era. 

Are we dealing with an act of provocation, with a view to triggering a broader conflict?  Supported by media propaganda, the Western military alliance is intent on using this incident to confront Russia, as evidenced by recent NATO statements.

[Loungin]

\GWB

The situation is not...    ....<bobs head>...   good.
To avoid any reactification from the United States, Russia needs to haultify their aggresive actions. <smirk>

[Triadtropz]

If the US jumps in it's WW3 time...then what will Iran and China do?...I think the Russians are making a shrewd war move here..just when Israel and the US are thinking of attacking Iran, russia is setting up a staging area for war...they know what they are doing.

[Loungin]

There is no way we could hold Georgia.  It stands between Russian and Iran which would ally in this conflict.  Georgia is lost if this battle escelates to war.

[Cobra]

Russian Army General says that Russia has no plans to move on to the Capital of Tbilisi.

Lenta.ru

[IridiumKEPfactor]

Gori has been sacked.











http://apnews.myway.com/article/20080811/D92G94PG0.html

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/europe/article4509692.ece

[IridiumKEPfactor]

[ConcordeWarrior]

I hope this is not going to escalate any further or the whole world will be in big trouble.

If it does we already know the ones responsible for it.

[The_lizard]

I hope this is not going to escalate any further or the whole world will be in big trouble.

If it does we already know the ones responsible for it.

I hope it does escalate i think the world is going to be better off for it. why hold it off?

[ConcordeWarrior]

So you wouldn't mind a nuclear confrontation... as long as you are nowhere nearby and you can keep yourself safe? Is that what you mean?

I hope it does escalate i think the world is going to be better off for it. why hold it off?

[The_lizard]

well, i believe that the NWO isn't going to win the planet. People will start to wake up on their own just by the speed they are moving. it will come to a nuclear confrontation eventually no matter what happens at this point in time. there is 100% chance it will happen some time in the future. why not get it over with now?

i would like to add that i would rather have my son grow up in a post nuclear war world than a pre nuclear war world. if it comes to a nuclear war whoever survives is going to be better off.

[Sasha]

Lessons to be drawn from Georgia
By Linda S. Heard, Special to Gulf News
Published: August 11, 2008, 23:23
Gulf News.com - UEA




Who could have believed that the pro-Western government of Georgia would be foolish enough to take on mighty Russia! And especially when 'the prize' is nothing more than a tiny enclave whose population overwhelmingly wants to maintain their de facto independence and close relations with Moscow. Indeed, an estimated 70 per cent of South Ossetia's 70,000-strong population hold Russian citizenship.

It's been less than five years since Georgia's bloodless Rose Revolution when Georgia's President, Mikhail Saakashvili, replaced the 'White Fox' Eduard Shevardnadze promising to bring Georgia's breakaway regions back into the national fold.

To the cheers of the White House, which characterised the revolution as being one of the most powerful movements in modern history, he began to steer his country away from its Communist past towards Western Europe with one eye on the EU and the other on membership of Nato. US President George W. Bush described Georgia as "a beacon of liberty" and Georgia volunteered troops to help wage Bush's war in Iraq.

Given recent events it's ironic that earlier this year Saakashvili expressed a desire to restore damaged ties with Russia and initiated a meeting with former president Vladimir Putin. So what possessed him to "restore constitutional order" by ordering his troops to surround South Ossetia's capital Tshkinvali and advance into the city? He must have known this action would trigger a Russian military response.

Was he attempting to show-off his pre-Nato entry credentials perhaps? Or was the conflict orchestrated by the US as Chairman of the State Duma Committee for Security Vladimi Vasilyev believes?

"The things that were happening in Kosovo, the things that were happening in Iraq - we are now following the same path," he said. "The further the situation unfolds, the more the world will understand that Georgia would never be able to do all this without America". If, indeed, Saakashvili acted on Washington's direction or after receiving a wink and a nod from the White House he's been taken for a ride. Today, thousands of Georgian civilians are dead while thousands more are fleeing from Russian bombs in terror. Tshkinvali is said to have been reduced to smouldering ruin. Civilian and military targets within Georgia have come under Russian attack. Moreover, his misadventure has already sparked conflict in another separatist province Abkhazia on the Black Sea, where Russia is determined to evict Georgian troops once and for all.

By the time you read this the war may have expanded to include another wannabe Nato member Ukraine, which has threatened to prevent Russian warships from returning to their Crimean base. A worst - though improbable - scenario could involve Russian tanks trundling through the streets of the Georgian capital Tbilisi.

Whether or not American hands have been pulling Georgia's strings for whatever nefarious reason, Saakasvili has played right into the hands of the Russian government, whose leaders have repeatedly announced that they regret the demise of the Soviet Union and will resist Nato and the EU from encroaching on its borders.

With coffers replete with oil and gas revenue and in an atmosphere of new nationalism, Russia has been itching to display its muscle for some time now. This year, Moscow resumed its annual military parade following a long hiatus while its fighter planes have audaciously buzzed a US aircraft carrier. Russia's relationship with the West - in particular the US and Britain - has rarely been as strained.

Bone of contention

A major bone of contention is Washington's plan to set up interceptor missiles in Poland and a radar installation in the Czech Republic. Another revolves around Russia's refusal to extradite Andrei Lugovoi to Britain, where he is wanted in connection with the poisoning of a former KGB agent.

All Moscow needed was an excuse to show the world what this new heavyweight Russia was made of and Saakasvili, who has somewhat of a reputation for being an inexperienced hothead, for whatever reason, happily obliged.

Although this war was triggered by Georgia, Moscow is attracting international criticism for over-reacting. The US has called on Russia to end its campaign of terror; the secretary of Nato accuses Russia of using excessive force while a draft UN resolution blames Russia for its "assault". Where were they when Israeli aircraft were pounding Lebanese cities and spraying the land with cluster bombs in the summer of 2006?

But if Saakasvili believes that his Western friends will come to his country's aid militarily, he's destined to be sorely disappointed just as the Lebanese Prime Minister Fouad Siniora was when he hoped against hope that his so-called close allies - the US and Britain - would use their leverage with Israel to effect a ceasefire.

I suspect that when the Georgian president finally surveys the wreckage of his country brought about by his own naïve and ill thought out miscalculations, he will be forced to conclude, like so many other world leaders before him, that America has no friends, only interests. More fool those who jeopardise the lives of people they have sworn to protect by believing otherwise... even for a moment.

[eddy64]

well the georgian troops have been airlifted out of iraq, where they were postioned near the iranian border.  convenient for the staging of an incident with iran since the fleet is due off the iranian coast this week.

[Sasha]

well the georgian troops have been airlifted out of iraq, where they were postioned near the iranian border.  convenient for the staging of an incident with iran since the fleet is due off the iranian coast this week.

Iran's play in this will really be a wild card.  They have recient historical financial and military ties with China and Russia so, they are likely to be in ongoing secret meetings with both considering the situation right now - biding their time.   

I'd heard that the Georgian troops were positioned in the green zone, very near by where the different news agencies were being housed, of course it was a CNN Morning bobble head that said it so, take it with two grains of salt - the Georgian troops might have been near the border.  I haven't heard nor read anything about where they'll be landing or where they'll be positioned in Georgia yet though. 

[Byrne0ut]

You have to know that the United States gave its blessing for the Georgians to go in and try and take back S. Ossetia.  The United States had to know that the Russian Response was going to be fierce.  

What I am thinking is that the United States Knew Full well that the russians would have went into Georgia and used a heavy hand while doing so.  

Is it beyond the realm of belief to believe that the Russians and The United States came to an agreement in which the United States will let Russia take back a former protectorate and squash democracy in Georgia as long as Russia agrees to stand on the side lines while the United States and Israel initiate an attack against the Iranian Nuclear sites.

The russians have wanted to take back the breakaway regions for a long long time now and the united states, by allowing the Georgians to attack S. Ossetia, has allowed the Russians the opportunity to re-establish their stranglehold on the region.  

These are just my thoughts on whats going on.

[Sasha]

16 minutes ago
The EU meets on Wednesday and it looks like the dominos are lining up for a full blown world war.




Baltic support for Georgia
Aug 11, 2008
Monika Hanley in cooperation with BNS





RIGA-TALLINN- A parade of over 1000 supporters marched from the FreedomMonument to the Russian and Georgian embassies in support of Georgia and against Russian aggression.

Carrying white roses and signs reading “Putin! I cry because of you” and “hands off of Georgia-Russians go home” caused traffic blockage for hours as protestors paraded through the streets.

The double meaning of many chants was not lost on participants. The cries of “Russians out!” was met with a light reprimand from the LATO Latvian Transatlantic Organization protest organizers that “we are in support of Georgia, not against the Russian people.”

Several Russiasupporters, wrapped in Russian flags also attended and heckled participants.

The march ended at the Georgian embassy where supporters placed white roses in sympathy on the embassy ledges. Georgian embassy workers and the ambassador were pleased at the display and tearfully thanked the Latvians.

The Georgians in attendance sang Georgian songs and the mood was one of peace, not anger.

Similar protests and supportive actions were held in Lithauania and Estonia.

Estonian President Toomas Hendrik Ilves called on Europe to take charge in ending the Russian attacks in Georgia.

Ilves said that the scale and specificity of Russia's attacks indicated detailed planning.

"Essentially, Russiacopied the Serbiaand Kosovo scenario one-to-one: crippling of infrastructure, destroying military capacity, undermining the lawful regime and claiming humanitarian intervention."

Ilves said that the European Union must therefore resolutely support the legitimacy of the democratic and law-abiding government, which has not oppressed its own population in any way.

"It is the European Union that can and should be the strong power that induces the Russian Federationto end its military activity on the territory of the Republic of Georgia," he said.

Ilves continued that "War has broken out in Europe, a European nation has fallen victim to the aggression of its neighbor, and the European Union, as the bearer of European values, cannot remain a helpless bystander."

"We both understand that the European Union faces a very serious and fundamental choice, because the Russian attacks against Georgia unavoidably confront us with the task of reviewing several aspects of current cooperation between the European Union and Russia," the Estonian president said, adding that Russia's military strikes in Georgia tolled a knell for many of Europe's hopes, such the possibility of sharing common fundamental values with Russia.

To show Russiathat aggression will not be without consequences, President Ilves recommended that the European Union immediately suspend the visa facilitation agreement with Russia and further dialogue on this topic.

[Sasha]

You have to know that the United States gave its blessing for the Georgians to go in and try and take back S. Ossetia.  The United States had to know that the Russian Response was going to be fierce.  

What I am thinking is that the United States Knew Full well that the russians would have went into Georgia and used a heavy hand while doing so.  

Is it beyond the realm of belief to believe that the Russians and The United States came to an agreement in which the United States will let Russia take back a former protectorate and squash democracy in Georgia as long as Russia agrees to stand on the side lines while the United States and Israel initiate an attack against the Iranian Nuclear sites.

The russians have wanted to take back the breakaway regions for a long long time now and the united states, by allowing the Georgians to attack S. Ossetia, has allowed the Russians the opportunity to re-establish their stranglehold on the region.  

These are just my thoughts on whats going on.

+1

[eddy64]

Iran's play in this will really be a wild card.  They have recient historical financial and military ties with China and Russia so, they are likely to be in ongoing secret meetings with both considering the situation right now - biding their time.   

I'd heard that the Georgian troops were positioned in the green zone, very near by where the different news agencies were being housed, of course it was a CNN Morning bobble head that said it so, take it with two grains of salt - the Georgian troops might have been near the border.  I haven't heard nor read anything about where they'll be landing or where they'll be positioned in Georgia yet though. 

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080811/ap_on_re_mi_ea/iraq_georgia


BAGHDAD - The departure of 2,000 Georgian soldiers from Iraq leaves a question mark over the future of a series of checkpoints along smuggling routes near the Iranian border, forcing the U.S. to shuffle units to fill the vacuum.


Three Georgian checkpoints on highways surrounding the area's main city of Kut, 100 miles southeast of Baghdad, were empty on Monday, residents and Iraqi officials said.

But many Iraqis aren't sorry to see the Georgians go. They say the Georgians were rude, disrespectful and ineffective.

"They never respected us," 20-year-old college student Saad Hassan complained. He said Georgian soldiers would hold families at checkpoints for hours even in extremely hot or cold weather.

The former Soviet republic was the third-largest contributor of coalition forces after the U.S. and Britain. After Georgia initially sent a group of 70 servicemen to Iraq in August 2003, Georgian President Mikhail Saakashvili agreed to increase the contingent to 2,000 servicemen as he courted U.S. support to lessen Russian influence.

But Georgia called its forces home after an outbreak of fighting with Russia over the breakaway region of South Ossetia.

The U.S. military, which began flying the Georgians home on transport planes Sunday, has acknowledged the decision would have a "near-term impact" but insisted American commanders were making adjustments to minimize the disruption to operations.

Last year, Georgia agreed to move most of its soldiers from the relatively safe Green Zone in Baghdad to a mainly Shiite desert area southeast of the capital. The purpose was to help interdict supplies allegedly smuggled to militiamen from Iran, particularly powerful roadside bombs known as explosively formed penetrators, or EFPs.

At the time, U.S. commanders said the Georgians would give their strapped forces a boost by helping search vehicles and people along highways as part of stepped-up efforts to stanch the flow of illegal arms and foreign fighters to Baghdad.

The U.S. military said Monday that the Georgian brigade had searched 175,291 vehicles, 792,859 people at checkpoints and traffic control stops and had conducted 2,469 patrols in the area since Oct. 30, 2007.

Citing security concerns, the military declined to give specifics about unit changes to make up for the absence of the Georgians.

"We will make adjustments to ensure sustained operations and don't anticipate their departure will result in any significant long-term impact on the overall security situation in Iraq," said Maj. Daniel Elliott, a spokesman for U.S. forces south of Baghdad.

"They were an important and valued partner and contributed quite a bit to the improved security in Wassit province where the bulk of their forces operated with us and our Iraqi security force partners," Elliott said

But the governor of Wassit province, which includes Kut, said the Georgians provided little real security and that officials were considering removing the posts — long the source of tensions with the locals.

"I do not think that the departure of the Georgian soldiers will have an impact on the situation in the province," Latif Hamad said in a telephone interview. "There were always language and poor performance problems. Our security forces can fill any vacuum."

Local Iraqis were happy to see the Georgians leave. They complained that the Georgians, most of who could speak little English or Arabic, were rude and disrespectful.

"They did not try to give us services. Instead, they were a source of annoyance by delaying us at their checkpoints and mocking the simple locals," said Salim Ali, a 45-year-old farmer.

The Georgians were unavailable for comment. The telephone at the Georgian headquarters in Kut was constantly busy.

The U.S. military gave the Georgians a warm farewell and said it expected to have them all out of Iraq by early Tuesday, despite Russian protests over the flights.

"We want to thank them for the great support they've given the coalition and we wish them well," U.S. military spokesman Rear Adm. Patrick Driscoll said Sunday at a news conference in Baghdad.

While the Georgians were primarily based in Wassit province, small contingents remained in Baghdad to help guard the Green Zone, which houses the U.S. Embassy and Iraqi government offices.

The Pentagon has said the Georgians also were helping provide security for important bridges near Baqouba, 35 miles northeast of Baghdad, as well as for three coalition forward operating bases.

The U.S. commander in northern Iraq said only about 80 of the Georgian troops had been deployed in his area, and the effect of their departure would be minimal.

"We've adapted quite frankly. These were good soldiers but we've been able to adapt the battle space to account for their loss," U.S. Army Maj. Gen. Mark Hertling told a Pentagon press conference, speaking from a U.S. base outside Tikrit.

At least five Georgians soldiers have died in Iraq since the U.S.-led invasion in 2003.

At its height, in the months after Saddam Hussein was toppled, the multinational force numbered about 300,000 soldiers from 38 countries — 250,000 from the United States, about 40,000 from Britain and the rest ranging from 2,000 Australians to 70 Albanians.

[bigron]

Monday, August 11, 2008
20:58 Mecca time, 17:58 GMT   
News Europe 
http://english.aljazeera.net/news/europe/2008/08/2008811171730453756.html

 
Russian army in Georgia advances 
 
Russia's defence ministry has said that its forces have carried out military operations around the west Georgian town of Senaki in order to prevent Georgian troops from regrouping there.

 

Russian forces "are conducting an operation to prevent firing on South Ossetia and on Russian peacekeepers by Georgian artillery and the regrouping of Georgian forces" Russia's RIA Novosti news agency quoted a Russian defence ministry official as saying.

 

Georgia's interior ministry confirmed the operation at Senaki, which is home to a Georgian infantry base.

Shota Utiashvili, a Georgian interior ministry spokesman, said: "Russian forces have occupied the Senaki military base, which was abandoned."

 

Earlier, Alexander Lomaia, the secretary of Georgia's security council, said that Russian forces had also occupied the Georgian city of Gori and that Georgian forces were fortifying positions near Tbilisi to defend the capital.

 

He said: "Russian forces are occupying Gori. Georgian armed forces received an order to leave Gori and to fortify positions near Mtskheta to defend the capital. This is a total onslaught."

 

Mtskheta is a Georgian city 24km from Tbilisi.

 

Moscow denied that it had taken Gori.

 

Earlier, Jonah Hull, Al Jazeera's correspondent outside Gori, confirmed that the city had been evacuated.


Hull said: "The evacuation began suddenly... when word came that the Russians were 5km to 10km from the city's limits. I have seen civilians and the army fleeing. Georgian troops clinging to the back of quad bikes. I have seen tanks leaving in no particular formation. It's panic basically."

 

'No surrender'

Earlier on Monday, Mikheil Saakashvili, Georgia's president, spoke of the "cold-blooded, pre-meditated, murder" of his country and said that there would be "no surrender" to Russian aggression.

 

Map with Key locations in the conflict :

http://english.aljazeera.net/news/europe/2008/08/20088113157434469.html

 
Appealing to the international community to step in to resolve fighting over the breakaway region of South Ossetia, he said: "The world has a moral duty to stop the madness."

 

Saakashvili made the comments at a news conference in Tbilisi, the Georgian capital, on Monday.

 

His remarks came as Russia's Interfax news agency said Georgian forces were continuing to shell Tskhinvali, the South Ossetian capital, early on Monday, killing three Russian peacekeepers and wounding 18 others.

 

Saakashvili said that the manner in which Russian troops mobilised in South Ossetia over recent days clearly indicated that it was a pre-meditated operation.

 

He said: "It is obvious... the Russian invasion had been planned for months and months and months. The timing of this intervention has been chosen deliberately [with regards] to the Olympics."

 

"It is so clear what has happened. We are in the process of invasion, occupation and annihilation of a democratic, independent country.

 

"Please wake up everybody and make your position and speak with a united voice... We are seeing the cold-blooded, pre-meditated, murder of a small country."

 

Cease-fire rejected

A cease-fire proposed by European Union envoys was signed in Tbilisi by Saakashvili on Monday morning, but Russia immediately rejected the document.

A Kremlin spokesman said: "According to information from peacekeepers in South Ossetia, Georgia continues to use military force and in this regard we cannot consider this document."

 

 
Russia's deputy prime minister dismissed an EU cease-fire .
 
Sergei Ivanov, the Russian deputy prime minister, dismissed the EU efforts, saying the document was "not a ceasefire agreement".

 

Ivanov said a "cease-fire agreement is signed by two sides when they meet... we need a written agreement between Georgia on one side, South Ossetia and Abkhazia... that they will never use force in the future."

 

The document called for medical access to victims, a controlled withdrawal of troops on both sides and eventual political talks.

 

Meanwhile, Vladimir Putin, Russia's prime minister, said on Monday that the West had mistaken the real aggressors for the victims.

In a speech to senior government officials, Putin said some United States politicians still had a Cold War mentality.

"It is a shame that some of our partners are not helping us but, essentially, are hindering us," Putin said.

"I mean... the transfer by the United States of a Georgian contingent in Iraq with military transport planes practically to the conflict zone."

On Monday, the US military confirmed they had begun flying 2,000 Georgian troops home from Iraq after Georgia recalled them.

"The very scale of this cynicism is astonishing," said Putin.

"The attempt to turn white into black, black into white and to adeptly portray victims of aggression as aggressors and place the responsibility for the consequences of the aggression on the victims."

Casualties

Earlier on Monday, Georgia's president said his country's existence was threatened by what he said was a Russian military onslaught centred on the breakaway region of South Ossetia but also including bombardments across Georgia.

 

At the weekend, Russian tanks attempted to advance in the direction of the town of Gori outside South Ossetia, but were turned back by Georgian forces.

 

Moscow officials have said that 2,000 people have been killed among the South Ossetian population, but Human Rights Watch (HRW), a New York-based rights group, said that appeared to be an exaggeration.

 

HRW also questioned Russia's claim that the conflict had resulted in 24,000 refugees, saying that refugees who had crossed the border multiple times may have been registered more than once.

 

Thousands of refugees have been housed in hostels in and around Vladikavkaz, the capital of North Ossetia, with others being sent to the cities of Nalchik, Krasnodar and Rostov in southern Russia.

 

"There are fears of propaganda and of disinformation. It's difficult to form an objective picture," said Tanya Lokshina, a HRW researcher.

 

Both South Ossetia and Abkhazia have run their own affairs without international recognition since fighting to break from Georgia in the early 1990s.

The two provinces have close ties with Moscow, while Georgia has deeply angered Russia by wanting to join Nato.
 
 Source: Al Jazeera and agencies 
 
 
 
 
 

[Sasha]

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080811/ap_on_re_mi_ea/iraq_georgia


BAGHDAD - The departure of 2,000 Georgian soldiers from Iraq leaves a question mark over the future of a series of checkpoints along smuggling routes near the Iranian border, forcing the U.S. to shuffle units to fill the vacuum.


Three Georgian checkpoints on highways surrounding the area's main city of Kut, 100 miles southeast of Baghdad, were empty on Monday, residents and Iraqi officials said.

But many Iraqis aren't sorry to see the Georgians go. They say the Georgians were rude, disrespectful and ineffective.

"They never respected us," 20-year-old college student Saad Hassan complained. He said Georgian soldiers would hold families at checkpoints for hours even in extremely hot or cold weather.

The former Soviet republic was the third-largest contributor of coalition forces after the U.S. and Britain. After Georgia initially sent a group of 70 servicemen to Iraq in August 2003, Georgian President Mikhail Saakashvili agreed to increase the contingent to 2,000 servicemen as he courted U.S. support to lessen Russian influence.

But Georgia called its forces home after an outbreak of fighting with Russia over the breakaway region of South Ossetia.

The U.S. military, which began flying the Georgians home on transport planes Sunday, has acknowledged the decision would have a "near-term impact" but insisted American commanders were making adjustments to minimize the disruption to operations.

Last year, Georgia agreed to move most of its soldiers from the relatively safe Green Zone in Baghdad to a mainly Shiite desert area southeast of the capital. The purpose was to help interdict supplies allegedly smuggled to militiamen from Iran, particularly powerful roadside bombs known as explosively formed penetrators, or EFPs.

At the time, U.S. commanders said the Georgians would give their strapped forces a boost by helping search vehicles and people along highways as part of stepped-up efforts to stanch the flow of illegal arms and foreign fighters to Baghdad.

The U.S. military said Monday that the Georgian brigade had searched 175,291 vehicles, 792,859 people at checkpoints and traffic control stops and had conducted 2,469 patrols in the area since Oct. 30, 2007.

Citing security concerns, the military declined to give specifics about unit changes to make up for the absence of the Georgians.

"We will make adjustments to ensure sustained operations and don't anticipate their departure will result in any significant long-term impact on the overall security situation in Iraq," said Maj. Daniel Elliott, a spokesman for U.S. forces south of Baghdad.

"They were an important and valued partner and contributed quite a bit to the improved security in Wassit province where the bulk of their forces operated with us and our Iraqi security force partners," Elliott said

But the governor of Wassit province, which includes Kut, said the Georgians provided little real security and that officials were considering removing the posts — long the source of tensions with the locals.

"I do not think that the departure of the Georgian soldiers will have an impact on the situation in the province," Latif Hamad said in a telephone interview. "There were always language and poor performance problems. Our security forces can fill any vacuum."

Local Iraqis were happy to see the Georgians leave. They complained that the Georgians, most of who could speak little English or Arabic, were rude and disrespectful.

"They did not try to give us services. Instead, they were a source of annoyance by delaying us at their checkpoints and mocking the simple locals," said Salim Ali, a 45-year-old farmer.

The Georgians were unavailable for comment. The telephone at the Georgian headquarters in Kut was constantly busy.

The U.S. military gave the Georgians a warm farewell and said it expected to have them all out of Iraq by early Tuesday, despite Russian protests over the flights.

"We want to thank them for the great support they've given the coalition and we wish them well," U.S. military spokesman Rear Adm. Patrick Driscoll said Sunday at a news conference in Baghdad.

While the Georgians were primarily based in Wassit province, small contingents remained in Baghdad to help guard the Green Zone, which houses the U.S. Embassy and Iraqi government offices.

The Pentagon has said the Georgians also were helping provide security for important bridges near Baqouba, 35 miles northeast of Baghdad, as well as for three coalition forward operating bases.

The U.S. commander in northern Iraq said only about 80 of the Georgian troops had been deployed in his area, and the effect of their departure would be minimal.

"We've adapted quite frankly. These were good soldiers but we've been able to adapt the battle space to account for their loss," U.S. Army Maj. Gen. Mark Hertling told a Pentagon press conference, speaking from a U.S. base outside Tikrit.

At least five Georgians soldiers have died in Iraq since the U.S.-led invasion in 2003.

At its height, in the months after Saddam Hussein was toppled, the multinational force numbered about 300,000 soldiers from 38 countries — 250,000 from the United States, about 40,000 from Britain and the rest ranging from 2,000 Australians to 70 Albanians.

Ah ha! Well sourced!  Proving yet agian that CNN babble heads are good for nothing, especially the news.   

[Optimus]

US military planes arrive in Georgia
http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=66322&sectionid=351020606
Mon, 11 Aug 2008 20:39:47 GMT
 

Georgian soldiers after returning from Iraq, in Tbilisi
 
The US planes have sent 2,000 Georgian troops from Iraq to the embattled region of South Ossetia, a Pentagon official says.

Pentagon spokesman Bryan Whitman said on Monday that the US was fulfilling its agreement with the Georgian government to assist them in redeploying their troops in an emergency, AFP reported.

Earlier in an interview with The Times, General David Petraeus said, "The flights are ongoing to redeploy the elements of the Georgian contingent so that they can deal with the security issues in their country."

On Saturday, chief of Georgia's military operations in Iraq, Bondo Maisuradze said the US military agreed to help with the logistics of the Georgian redeployment.

The Georgian soldiers are located in Diyala province, north of Baghdad and some others guard the Iraqi Parliament building as well as other key structures inside Baghdad's fortified Green Zone.

Georgia has had the third largest contingent after the US and Britain in Iraq before the withdrawal.

Russian Premier Vladimir Putin said sending the Georgian troops from Iraq would not change the situation and the US is hampering the peacekeeping operation in South Ossetia.

"It's a pity that some of our partners instead of helping are trying to get in the way, I mean the United States using its military transport aircraft to relocate Georgia's military contingent from Iraq virtually into the conflict zone, among other things," said Putin.

Chairman of Russia's State Duma Security Committee Vladimir Vasilyev said on Sunday that Tbilisi could not initiate military operation in South Ossetia without Washington's help.

On Thursday evening, Georgian military forces launched a large-scale military offensive against the break away region of South Ossetia hours before the start of the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games. In response, Russia moved its forces to the region where most of the population has Russian citizenship.

[HYDROGENPAL]

'Oil, Israel and Iran' Among Factors that Led to Georgia War
 
by Gl Ronen


(IsraelNN.com) Analysis of the war in Georgia points to a fight over a major oil route as the main reason for hostilities, but also to an Israeli connection.

Channel 2's expert on the Muslim world, Ehud Ya'ari, told viewers of the central evening newscast that Russia and neighboring countries were vying for control of a strategic oil pipeline from the Caspian Sea to the Mediterranean. This relatively new pipeline passes through Azerbaijan and Georgia to Turkey and is the only pipeline between Asia and Europe that does not pass through Russia or Iran. Israel is expecting to receive oil and gas through the pipeline.

By using the ethnic Russian population in South Ossetia to destabilize Georgia, Russia was making a play for the pipeline, he said.

The Israeli Connection
The Georgian move against South Ossetia was motivated by political considerations having to do with Israel and Iran, according to Nfc. Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili decided to assert control over the breakaway region in order to force Israel to reconsider its decision to cut back its support for Georgia's military.

Russian and Georgian media reported several days ago that Israel decided to stop its support f
Russia bombed a Georgian military plant in which Israeli experts are upgrading jet fighters for the Georgian military.
or Georgia after Moscow made it clear to Jerusalem and Washington that Russia would respond to continued aid for Georgia by selling advanced anti-aircraft systems to Syria and Iran.

Hundreds of Israeli defense experts are reportedly in Georgia and Israel's military industries have been upgrading Georgia's air force, training its infantry and selling the country unmanned aerial vehicles and advanced artillery systems.

Former minister Ronny Milo was reportedly among the leading Israeli middlemen in the arms deals with Georgia and Brig.-Gen. Gal Hirsch has been training army units through a company he owns.

http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/127135

[Sasha]

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080811/ap_on_re_mi_ea/iraq_georgia


BAGHDAD - The departure of 2,000 Georgian soldiers from Iraq leaves a question mark over the future of a series of checkpoints along smuggling routes near the Iranian border, forcing the U.S. to shuffle units to fill the vacuum.

Additionally, that should give Iran another really good reason to side with Russia against the Georgian puppet government.

[Wanted]

Georgia claims Russians have cut country in half
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/ap/world/5937118.html



GORI, Georgia — Russian forces seized several towns and a military base deep in western Georgia on Monday, opening a second front in the fighting. Georgia's president said his country had been effectively cut in half with the capture of the main east-west highway near Gori.

Fighting also raged Monday around Tskhinvali, the capital of the separatist province of South Ossetia. Russian warplanes launched new air raids across Georgia, with at least one sending screaming civilians running for cover.

The reported capture of the key Georgian city of Gori and the towns of Senaki, Zugdidi and Kurga came despite a top Russian general's claim earlier Monday that Russia had no plans to enter Georgian territory. By taking Gori, which sits on Georgia's only east-west highway, Russia can cut off eastern Georgia from the country's western Black Sea coast.

"(Russian forces) came to the central route and cut off connections between western and eastern Georgia," Georgian President Mikhail Saakashvili told a national security meeting.

The news agency Interfax, however, cited a Russian Defense Ministry official as denying Gori was captured. Attempts to reach Gori residents by telephone late Monday did not go through.

Security Council head Alexander Lomaia said Monday it was not immediately clear if Russian forces would advance on Tbilisi, the Georgian capital. But the Russian Defense Ministry denied such intentions, the Interfax and RIA-Novosti news agencies said.

At Georgia's request, U.N. Security Council in New York called an emergency session for later Monday — the fifth meeting on the fighting in as many days.

The two-front battlefield was a major escalation in the conflict that blew up late Thursday after a Georgian offensive to regain control of the separatist province of South Ossetia. Even as Saakashvili signed a cease-fire pledge Monday with EU mediators, Russia flexed its military muscle and appeared determined to subdue the small U.S. ally that has been pressing for NATO membership.

On Monday afternoon, Russian troops invaded Georgia from the western separatist province of Abkhazia while most Georgian forces were busy with fighting in the central region around South Ossetia.

Russian armored personnel carriers moved into Senaki, a town 20 miles inland from Georgia's Black Sea port of Poti, Lomaia said. Russian news agencies late Monday cited the Defense Ministry as saying the troops had left Senaki "after liquidating the danger," but did not give details.

Russian forces also moved into Zugdidi, near Abkhazia, and seized police stations, while their Abkhazian allies took control of the nearby village of Kurga, according to witnesses and Georgian officials.

In Zugdidi, an AP reporter saw five or six Russian soldiers posted outside an Interior Ministry building. Several tanks and other armored vehicles were moving through the town but the streets were nearly deserted, with shops, restaurants and banks all shut down.

In the city of Gori, an AP reporter heard artillery fire and Georgian soldiers warned locals to get out because Russian tanks were approaching. Hundreds of terrified residents fled toward Tbilisi using any means of transport they could find. Many stood along the road trying to flag down passing cars.

An APTV film crew saw Georgian tanks and military vehicles speeding along the road from Gori to Tbilisi. Firing began and people ran for cover. A couple of cars could be seen in flames along the side of the road.

Georgia borders the Black Sea between Turkey and Russia and was ruled by Moscow for most of the two centuries preceding the 1991 breakup of the Soviet Union. Both provinces of South Ossetia and Abkhazia have run their own affairs without international recognition since fighting to split from Georgia in the early 1990s — and both have close ties with Moscow.

Georgia began an offensive to regain control over South Ossetia late Thursday with heavy shelling and air strikes that ravaged South Ossetia's provincial capital of Tskhinvali.

The Russia response was swift and overpowering — thousands of troops that shelled the Georgians until they fled Tskhinvali on Sunday, and four days of bombing raids across Georgia.

Yet Georgia's pledge of a cease-fire rang hollow Monday. An AP reporter saw a small group of Georgian fighters open fire on a column of Russian and Ossetian military vehicles outside Tskhinvali, triggering a 30-minute battle. The Russians later said all the Georgians were killed.

Another AP reporter was in the village of Tkviavi, 7 1/2 miles south of Tskhinvali inside Georgia, when a bomb from a Russian Sukhoi warplane struck a house. The walls of neighboring buildings fell as screaming residents ran for cover. Eighteen people were wounded.

Georgian artillery fire was heard coming from fields about 200 yards away from the village, perhaps the bomber's target.

Hundreds of Georgian troops headed north Monday along the road toward Tskhinvali, pocked with tank regiments creeping up the highway into South Ossetia. Hundreds of other soldiers traveled via trucks in the opposite direction, towing light artillery weapons.

President Bush and other Western leaders have sharply criticized Russia's military response as disproportionate and say Russia appears to want the Georgian government overthrown. They have also complained that Russian warplanes — buzzing over Georgia since Friday — have bombed Georgian oil sites and factories far from the conflict zone.

The world's seven largest economic powers urged Russia to accept an immediate cease-fire Monday and agree to international mediation. U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and her colleagues from the Group of Seven leading industrialized nations spoke by telephone and pledged their support for a negotiated solution to the conflict.

"I've expressed my grave concern about the disproportionate response of Russia and that we strongly condemn the bombing outside of South Ossetia," Bush told NBC Sports.

Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin criticized the United States for viewing Georgia as the victim, instead of the aggressor, and for airlifting Georgian troops back home from Iraq on Sunday.

"Of course, Saddam Hussein ought to have been hanged for destroying several Shiite villages," Putin said in Moscow. "And the incumbent Georgian leaders who razed ten Ossetian villages at once, who ran elderly people and children with tanks, who burned civilian alive in their sheds — these leaders must be taken under protection."

The U.S. military was flying Georgian troops back home from Iraq and informed the Russians about the flights ahead of time to avoid mishaps, said one military official said Monday on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak about the subject on the record.

Defense Department spokesman Bryan Whitman said Monday morning that U.S. officials expect to have all Georgian troops out of Iraq by the end of the day.

Pentagon officials said Monday that U.S. military was assessing the fighting every day to determine whether less than 100 U.S. trainers should be pulled out of the country.

There had been about 130 trainers, including a few dozen civilian contractors, but the civilians had been scheduled to rotate out of the country and did so over the weekend, Whitman said. The remaining uniformed trainers were moved the weekend to what officials believe is a safer location, he said.

Whitman said he didn't know whether the civilian trainers were among the 170 that the State Department said it had evacuated.

Saakashvili signed a cease-fire pledge Monday proposed by the French and Finnish foreign ministers. The EU envoys headed to Moscow to try to persuade Russia to accept it.

Saakashvili, however, voiced concern that Russia's true goal was to undermine his pro-Western government. "It's all about the independence and democracy of Georgia," he said.

Saakashvili said Russia has sent 20,000 troops and 500 tanks into Georgia. He said Russian warplanes were bombing roads and bridges, destroying radar systems and targeting Tbilisi's civilian airport. One Russian bombing raid struck the Tbilisi airport area only a half-hour before the EU envoys arrived, he said.

Another hit near key Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan oil pipeline, which carries Caspian crude to the West. No supply interruptions have been reported.

Abkhazia's separatists declared Sunday they would push Georgian forces out of the northern part of the Kodori Gorge, the only area of Abkhazia still under Georgian control.

Before invading western Georgia, Russia's deputy chief of General Staff Col.-Gen. Anatoly Nogovitsyn demanded Monday that Georgia disarm its police in Zugdidi, a town just outside Abkhazia. Still he insisted "We are not planning any offensive."

At least 9,000 Russian troops and 350 armored vehicles were in Abkhazia, according to a Russian military commander.

Russia's Deputy Foreign Minister Grigory Karasin said more than 2,000 people have been killed in South Ossetia since Friday, most of them Ossetians with Russian passports. The figures could not be independently confirmed, but refugees who fled Tskhinvali over the weekend said hundreds had been killed.

Many found shelter in the Russian province of North Ossetia.

"The Georgians burned all of our homes," said one elderly woman, as she sat on a bench under a tree with three other white-haired survivors. "The Georgians say it is their land. Where is our land, then?"

[KiwiClare]

This is up at Digg.com.  There are some interesting comments from people underneath.

 Is the war in Georgia related to the Iran blockade?
http://digg.com/world_news/Is_the_war_in_Georgia_related_to_the_Iran_blockade