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

[Sub-X]

Georgia conflict: Roar of war as jets fill the air
Telegraph
09 Aug 2008

A roar filled the air. Suddenly, from the horizon, two Russian war jets homed into view, their wingtips tilted towards the scrubland of northern Georgia as they screamed through the skies.

"Take cover, it's another wave," the Georgian commander shouted.

His men, a company of soldiers deployed on a lonely stretch of road close to Tskhinvali, the rebel capital of Georgia's breakaway region of South Ossetia, flung themselves to the ground and rolled into the thick thorn bushes that stretched towards the foothills of the Caucasus Mountains.

Anti-aircraft guns opened fire in staccato bursts before the ground started to rumble as the jets discharged their payloads. From both sides of the road, the soldiers began to fire their Kalashnikovs, a futile and desperate gesture against the might of the Russian Air Force.

"Russians!" yelled a young soldier, his grimy face streaked with sweat, as he jabbed a finger towards the retreating jets. "Russians," he told me again, more softly this time, as though scarcely able to believe that his tiny country was effectively at war with its giant ex-Soviet neighbour.

Gradually, the firing began to stop. Soldiers, chests heaving with exertion and adrenaline, rolled onto their backs and began to smoke.

Earlier in the day, Georgian troops scattered along the frontline seemed convinced that victory was within their grasp.

After an order was given to launch a full-scale assault on South Ossetia's Moscow-backed separatists in the early hours of the morning, Georgian forces appeared to make easy progress.

This, after all, was not the ragtag army that was forced to retreat in humiliation by Ossetian irregulars in 1992, but the well-equipped military force trained by the United States and blooded in Iraq.

Ranged against them was a small but determined rebel force, funded and armed by their Russian allies but still heavily outnumbered, driven by conviction that their sliver of territory, only one and a half times the size of Luxembourg, would never be part of Georgia.

With heavy artillery and Grad rockets, Georgian forces pounded Tskhinvali through the hours of darkness before ground troops entered the town and engaged in intense hand-to-hand fighting.

By dawn, Georgia controlled much of the town and had severed communications between the rebels and the outside world. By word of mouth, the South Ossetian military command relayed the message that over 1,000 people had been killed in the onslaught. It was an allegation that, in a region prone to hyperbole and claims of genocide, was impossible to verify. Russia also claimed that ten of its soldiers, ostensibly stationed in South Ossetia as peacekeepers, had also been killed.

But as the day wore on it became apparent that Georgian president Mikheil Saakashvili's gamble of Russian non-intervention had backfired. Retaliating swiftly, Russia commenced a combined aerial and land assault on Georgian forces, launching Moscow's first foreign military intervention since the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan.

Suddenly two European nations, one a key ally of the United States and Nato aspirant, were in a state of war.

Russian fighter jets bombed Gori, hometown of Stalin and the closest Georgian settlement to the frontier, sending plumes of smoke into the air. Later in the day, the Russians widened their assault not just in the frontline region but also close to the Georgian capital Tbilisi, where a military base two miles from the airport also came under attack. The Russian army had recently been evicted from the base by Georgia's pro-western government and this was Russia's revenge.

"It's not South Ossetia we are at war with, it's Russia," the company's commander said, shaking his head at the magnitude of his statement.

From Vladikavkaz, the capital of adjoining North Ossetia, which lies in Russia, phalanxes of Russian tanks and armoured personnel carriers rumbled towards Tskhinvali to provide ground support.

Deeply angry with Georgia's pro-western policies since the Rose Revolution of 2003, Moscow's fury has grown as its neighbour made a concerted push towards Nato membership. This was an explosive message of intent that Georgia, long decried in Moscow as a terrorist state, would be punished - even flattened if need be.

As the Russian soldiers advanced, the gunfire and shelling in Tskhinvali once again intensified and it became apparent that the Georgians were in retreat.

By nightfall, as artillery fire continued to echo through the hills, South Ossetian forces boasted that they had retaken most of the towns, a claim that again could not be verified although Georgian officials conceded that they had lost some territory.

In Georgian towns near the frontline, civilians huddled in small groups, their eyes nervously scanning the skies. Only the most resilient had stayed, their numbers boosted by bus drivers who had ferried reservists, called up two days ago, to the conflict zone.

Ambulances, their sirens wailing, sped along the streets, discharging wounded soldiers at the military hospital in Gori, a leafy town set beneath an ancient hill fortress.

Exhausted soldiers, talking in low voices or staring blankly into space, propped up walls in the town. An atmosphere of tension and expectation hung heavily in the air.

"The fighting has been hard and it will get harder yet," one young corporal said. "We will win though, just like David slew Goliath."

The same resigned determination seems to have settled over the town's inhabitants.

"We want peace," said Nino Zuabashvili, a shopkeeper. "But we are fed up with being bullied by Russia. What is Georgia's is Georgia's and every one of us is prepared to die to protect our sovereignty."

[Chocolaty]

The only one between the two of you acting like an adult is Wanted. She is right this is an important thread and was willing to call a truce to preserve it's integrity. But you decide to come back and antagonize her with this BS!

Grow up and DO NOT LET THIS THREAD END UP IN THE MEMORY HOLE OVER A PETTY ARGUEMENT!

There is a war going on and innocent men, women and children are DIEING. This thread has 11 pages of great info and discussion so do not turn it into trash talk, OK!

What are you talking about? You were trolling me without any basis as well before in the previous thread. She just accused me of being an 'insult queen' right now without any basis whatsoever and you call me antagonistic? You call that being an adult? What hypocricy.

YOU grow up pal. Your boot licking doesn't serve this thread or your integrity, way to continue this arguement in this otherwise great thread. You decided to defend someone trolling, isn't that turning this thread into trash?!

Take your own advice, Grow Up!

[Sub-X]

Georgia pays price for its Nato ambitions
Telegraph
09 Aug 2008

The outbreak of hostilities between Russia and Georgia is really about Nato, the West and spheres of influence.

While the world watched China's pyrotechnical tour de force at the opening of the Beijing Olympics, President Mikheil Saakashvili of Georgia was making a plaintive appeal for Western help against Russian military aggression.

One fact is clear: the Kremlin's troops would not be in South Ossetia today if Georgia were a loyal ally. Instead, Mr Saakashvili is paying the price for his pro-Western foreign policy and, in particular, his ambition to join Nato.

Two key events well beyond Georgia's borders have triggered Russia's fury. The first was Kosovo's declaration of independence in February and the new country's subsequent recognition by many Western states. This brought a public warning from Moscow that Kosovo's move to independence could set a precedent for Georgia's two breakaway regions, Abkhazia and South Ossetia.

The second was Nato's pledge at the Bucharest summit in April that membership of the Atlantic Alliance for both Georgia and Ukraine was not a matter of "if" but "when", although in deference to Russian objections, no timetable for entry was granted. This provoked Vladimir Putin, then still Russia's president, to promise more support for Georgia's breakaway regions.

Despite the Cold War's demise, Russia regards the successor states of the old Soviet Union as its sphere of influence. This intervention is about sending a message from Moscow to Washington to "keep your nose out" of an area that the Kremlin has always seen as being inside its domain.

But as Mr Saakashvili warned yesterday, this is no longer about a tiny country way off most people's radar. Georgia's fate is about the future world order, Europe's place in it and persuading Moscow to desist from the brutish behaviour that has marked its recent foreign policy.

Georgia's crime, as seen from the Kremlin, is to have espoused the values preached by the West and to have dared say that it wants to choose its own friends.

To be sure, Mr Saakashvili damaged his own reputation by his suppression of opposition dissent last November, but in the post-Soviet world of authoritarianism and rampant state corruption, Georgia remains one of the few pinpricks of light.

If the West cringes now in the face of Moscow's bicep-flexing, the message to any other aspiring members of the democratic club will be patently clear: take that risk if you like but do not count on us to help if things turn nasty.

Georgia now stands on the very brink of a grotesquely uneven conflict with a resurgent Russia itching to flex its muscles and burning with post-imperial hubris. The chosen causus belli is South Ossetia, which fought a separatist war with Georgia in 1992 and has enjoyed the support of Russia ever since.

So much so, that Russia has spent the intervening years handing out Russian passports to any South Ossetian who cares to have one. These are the people who Dmitry Medvedev had in mind on Thursday when he said that as president of the Russian Federation, he was obliged to defend the lives of Russian citizens wherever they were.

Russian forces form part of a self-styled "peacekeeping force" in South Ossetia - but are seen by the Georgians as anything but neutral or interested in peace. As far as Georgia is concerned, the Russian troops are not mediators but an active party to the conflict.

The Russian presence has been a protracted exercise in cynicism - while its armed forces crushed the life out of separatism in Chechnya, its "peacekeepers" have propped up separatist regimes in South Ossetia and Abkhazia.

Moscow's diplomacy has been no less dishonest. All efforts to achieve a lasting peace in South Ossetia, by offering a degree of automony and a federal relationship with Georgia's central government, have been conducted under the auspices of the Joint Control Commission (JCC). This body, estabilished in the 1990s, includes representatives from Russia and its two proxies, North and South Ossetia, as well as Georgia.

It has long been clear that the JCC, which is dominated by Russia, is never going to agree to a peace agreement remotely acceptable to Georgia. But matters like peace, self-determination or territorial integrity have never been the real issue for Russia in the southern Caucasus.

Robert Parsons is the international affairs editor of France24 TV

[Sasha]

Georgia says port and army base bombed
09.08.2008 | 00:00 UTC
http://www.dw-world.de/dw/function/0,2145,12215_cid_3549062,00.html

Fresh reports from the Caucausus nation of Georgia say Russian warplanes have bombed the port city of Poti and a military base near the capital, Tbilisi. Official sources say 30 Georgians, mostly soldiers, have been killed. Russia says ten of its servicemen have been killed. Hundreds of civilians have been reported killed and thousands driven from their homes. Georgian President Mikhail Saakashvili has announced plans to impose martial law. The European Union says it will send a joint delegation along with the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe and the United States to seek a ceasefire.

[Sasha]

reported 11 minutes ago

Georgia reports new air attacks at military bases
Georgia says Russian warplanes attacked military bases and key facilities for shipping oil
http://www.newsmeat.com/news/meat.php?articleId=30154689&channelId=2951&buyerId=newsmeatcom&buid=3281
MUSA SADULAYEV
AP News

Aug 08, 2008 20:32 EST

Russia dispatched an armored column into the breakaway enclave of South Ossetia on Friday after Georgia, a staunch U.S. ally, launched a surprise offensive to crush separatists. Witnesses said hundreds of civilians were killed. Fighting reportedly raged well into the night with Georgia's interior ministry saying early Saturday that warplanes attacked three Georgian military bases and key facilities for shipping oil to the West.

The fighting, which devastated the capital of Tskhinvali, threatened to ignite a wider war between Georgia and Russia, and escalate tensions between Moscow and Washington. Georgia said it was forced to launch the assault because of rebel attacks; the separatists alleged Georgia violated a cease-fire.

"I saw bodies lying on the streets, around ruined buildings, in cars," said Lyudmila Ostayeva, 50, who had fled with her family to Dzhava, a village near the border with Russia. "It's impossible to count them now. There is hardly a single building left undamaged."

The fighting broke out as much of the world's attention was focused on the start of the Olympic Games and many leaders, including Russia's Prime Minister Vladimir Putin and President Bush, were in Beijing.

The timing suggested Georgian President Mikhail Saakashvili may have been counting on surprise to fulfill his longtime pledge to wrest back control of South Ossetia — a key to his hold on power. The rebels seek to unite with North Ossetia, which is part of Russia.

Saakashvili agreed the timing was not coincidental, but accused Russia of being the aggressor. "Most decision makers have gone for the holidays," he told CNN. "Brilliant moment to attack a small country."

Seeking to prevent an all-out war, diplomats issued a flurry of statements calling on both sides to halt the fighting. The U.N. Security Council held two tense emergency sessions 12 hours apart with both sides using the forum to launch accusations. As the meeting recessed, officials promised a third council session Saturday.

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice urged Russia to halt aircraft and missile attacks and withdraw combat forces from Georgian territory. Rice said in a statement the United States wants Russia to respect Georgian sovereignty and agree to international mediation.

The leader of South Ossetia's rebel government, Eduard Kokoity, said about 1,400 people were killed in the onslaught, the Interfax news agency reported. The toll could not be independently confirmed.

As night fell, there were conflicting claims as to who held the battlefield advantage.

Saakashvili said "Georgian military forces completely control all the territory of South Ossetia" except for a northern section adjacent to Russia. But Russian news agencies cited a Russian military official as saying heavy fighting was under way on the outskirts of the regional capital.

It was unclear what might persuade either side to stop shooting. Both claim the battle started after the other side violated a cease-fire that had been declared just hours earlier after a week of sporadic clashes.

The United States was sending in its top Caucasus envoy, Deputy Assistant Secretary of State Matthew Bryza, to try to end the bloodshed.

It was the worst outbreak of hostilities since the province won de facto independence in a war against Georgia that ended in 1992. Russian troops went in as peacekeepers but Georgia alleges they now back the separatists.

Russia, which has granted citizenship to most of the region's residents, appeared to lay much of the responsibility for ending the fighting on Washington.

In a telephone conversation with Rice, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said Georgia must be convinced to withdraw its forces, according to a ministry statement.

Georgia, which borders the Black Sea between Turkey and Russia, was ruled by Moscow for most of the two centuries preceding the breakup of the Soviet Union. Georgia has angered Russia by seeking NATO membership — a bid Moscow regards as part of a Western effort to weaken its influence in the region.

Saakashvili long has pledged to restore Tbilisi's rule over South Ossetia and another breakaway province, Abkhazia. Both regions have run their own affairs without international recognition since splitting from Georgia in the early 1990s and have built up ties with Moscow.

Georgia has about 2,000 troops in Iraq, making it the third-largest contributor to coalition forces after the U.S. and Britain. But Saakashvili told CNN the troops would be called home Saturday in the face of the South Ossetia fighting.

A senior U.S. defense official said Georgian authorities have asked the United States for help getting their troops out of Iraq. The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because the discussions have been private, said no formal decision has been made on whether to support the departure, but said it is likely the U.S. will do so.

Also, Pentagon officials said Adm. Mike Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, has reached out to his counterparts in Russia and Georgia, but has not yet connected with them.

Early Saturday, Interior Ministry spokesman Shota Utiashvili said the Vaziani military base on the outskirts of the Georgian capital was bombed by warplanes during the night and that bombs fell in the area of the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan oil pipeline. He also said two other Georgian military bases were hit and that warplanes bombed the Black Sea port city of Poti, which has a sizable oil shipment facility.

Utiashvili said there apparently were significant casualties and damage in the attacks, but that further details would not be known until the morning.

Earlier, Georgia's Foreign Ministry accused Russian aircraft of bombing two military air bases, inflicting some casualties and destroying several military aircraft. Rustavi 2 television said four people were killed and five wounded at the Marneuli air base.

Twelve Russian troops were killed and 30 wounded in the fighting, said Russian Ground Forces spokesman Col. Igor Konashenkov. Saakashvili said late Friday that about 30 Georgians had been killed "mainly members of the Georgian armed forces."

Russia's Defense Ministry said it was sending in reinforcements for its troops in the province, and Russian state television and Georgian officials reported a convoy of tanks had crossed the border. The convoy was expected to reach the provincial capital, Tskhinvali, by evening, Channel One television said.

"We are facing Russian aggression," said Georgia's Security Council chief Kakha Lomaya. "They have sent in their troops and weapons and they are bombing our towns."

Putin warned in the early stages of the conflict that the Georgian attack would draw retaliation and the Defense Ministry pledged to protect South Ossetians, most of whom have Russian citizenship.

Chairing a session of his Security Council in the Kremlin, Russian President Dmitry Medvedev also vowed that Moscow will protect Russian citizens.

"In accordance with the constitution and federal law, I, as president of Russia, am obliged to protect lives and dignity of Russian citizens wherever they are located," Medvedev said. "We won't allow the death of our compatriots go unpunished."

On Friday, an AP reporter saw tanks and other heavy weapons concentrating on the Russian side of the border with South Ossetia — supporting the reports of an incursion. Some villagers were fleeing into Russia.

The Georgian state minister for reintegration, Temur Yakobashvili, said Georgian forces had shot down four Russian combat planes over Georgian territory but gave no details. Russia's Defense Ministry denied an earlier Georgia report about one Russian plane downed and had no immediate comment on the latest claim.

Yakobashvili said one Russian plane had dropped a bomb on the Vaziani military base near the Georgian capital, but no one was hurt. More than 1,000 U.S. Marines and soldiers were at the base last month to teach combat skills to Georgian troops.

South Ossetia officials said Georgia attacked with aircraft, armor and heavy artillery. Georgian troops fired missiles at Tskhinvali, an official said, and many buildings were on fire.

Georgia's president said Russian aircraft bombed several Georgian villages and other civilian facilities.

A senior Russian diplomat in charge of the South Ossetian conflict, Yuri Popov, dismissed the Georgian claims of Russian bombings as misinformation, the RIA-Novosti news agency reported.

The Georgian attack came just hours after Saakashvili announced a unilateral cease-fire in a television broadcast late Thursday in which he also urged South Ossetian separatist leaders to enter talks on resolving the conflict.

Georgian officials later blamed South Ossetian separatists for thwarting the cease-fire by shelling Georgian villages in the area.

[Optimus]

New fighting between Russia, Georgia
http://www.kesq.com/Global/story.asp?S=8814365&nav=9qrx
Associated Press - August 8, 2008 9:43 PM ET

DZHAVA, Georgia (AP) - Fighting between Russia and Georgia is reportedly raging into the night.

Georgia's interior minister says warplanes have attacked three military bases, including one near the capital, Tbilisi (tuh-BLEE'-see). He says Russian planes also targeted an oil pipeline and a Black Sea port city, which has a sizable oil shipment facility.

Witnesses say hundreds of people were killed Friday when Russia dispatched an armored column into the breakaway enclave of South Ossetia (ah-SEE'-shuh) after Georgia launched a surprise offensive to try to crush separatists. The leader of the rebel government is quoted as saying 1,400 people were killed in the onslaught.

One woman who fled to a neighboring village says there's hardly a single building left undamaged in the provincial capital and that bodies were lying on the streets and in cars.

There's been a flurry of diplomatic activity, including by the U.S., to try to halt the fighting. The U.N. Security Council held two tense emergency sessions Friday. A third session is planned Saturday.

[TimeLady]

Clearly, the mighty country of Georgia has declared war on the weakling country of Russia.

[canton]

Moscow News Video

http://www.russiatoday.ru/news/news/28686/video

1400 Dead in 24hrs

[TimeLady]

http://ruvr.ru/index.php?lng=eng

Official website of the Voice of Russia, the international broadcaster of the Russian government. They have English-language programming from 10 PM to 5 AM Eastern time. Some people here might be interested in the top-of-the-hour newsbreaks.

There are shortwave frequencies too, but I don't know what they are offhand.

[Sub-X]

Clearly, the mighty country of Georgia has declared war on the weakling country of Russia.

Bob Chapman said today that it would be like Ireland declaring war on Britain,more like Ireland declaring war on 2 Britain's  

[SuzakaDusk]

What are you talking about? You were trolling me without any basis as well before in the previous thread. She just accused me of being an 'insult queen' right now without any basis whatsoever and you call me antagonistic? You call that being an adult? What hypocricy.

YOU grow up pal. Your boot licking doesn't serve this thread or your integrity, way to continue this arguement in this otherwise great thread. You decided to defend someone trolling, isn't that turning this thread into trash?!

Take your own advice, Grow Up!

You just do not quit do you, Wanted offered a truce and all yet you was too petty to take it.

Route is right, So I suggest you get back to the topic in hand !!!!!

[IridiumKEPfactor]

Wow... Here's some nice little propagada.




August 9, 2008, 5:21
Georgian president compared to Hitler
Besides the sounds of bombs over Tskhinvali, informational warfare is also being waged. Hackers sympathising with South Ossetia, attacked Georgian websites on Friday. The most notable compared the Georgian President Mikhail Saakashvili with the German dictator Adolf Hitler.
 
Several other news websites have also been paralysed.

South Ossetian websites were also targeted, but have since resumed operation.


http://www.russiatoday.ru/news/news/28694

[Sasha]

Wow... Here's some nice little propagada.




August 9, 2008, 5:21
Georgian president compared to Hitler
Besides the sounds of bombs over Tskhinvali, informational warfare is also being waged. Hackers sympathising with South Ossetia, attacked Georgian websites on Friday. The most notable compared the Georgian President Mikhail Saakashvili with the German dictator Adolf Hitler.
 
Several other news websites have also been paralysed.

South Ossetian websites were also targeted, but have since resumed operation.


http://www.russiatoday.ru/news/news/28694

That's heavy we want'ta kill you propaganda.

[Optimus]

What are you talking about? You were trolling me without any basis as well before in the previous thread. She just accused me of being an 'insult queen' right now without any basis whatsoever and you call me antagonistic? You call that being an adult? What hypocricy.

YOU grow up pal. Your boot licking doesn't serve this thread or your integrity, way to continue this arguement in this otherwise great thread. You decided to defend someone trolling, isn't that turning this thread into trash?!

Take your own advice, Grow Up!

This is the last time I will address this bunch of BS in this thread. Yes she has basis for you insulting her. You started this grudge match with her. And as it shows in your replies here, your answer to anyone that disagrees with you is to call them a troll.

http://forum.prisonplanet.com/index.php?topic=50576.0

So quit embarassing yourself and let's stay on track with the topic of this thread, shall we.

[Freeski]

please do not hold back.Tell how we really feel!!!!!!!
No need to sugar coat  the description..

really??? Cause I got more baby!

[Freeski]

Now, back to Armageddon.

[Sasha]

For f*ck sake!  Who the hell cares about an interforum troll-off?  Do you not see what's going on here?  OUR world is on f*cking on fire and you're worried about who's acting like what to whom in here.

We are in here!  and that that is that!  Be happy you've found a place where people like to talk about real, substantive issues and love to engauge eachother in meaningful debate.  Let it go if does nothing to build the topics that matter.  Just blow it off like I'm not doing right now cause this is has gone on tooooooooo long.

Freedom requires discipline!  Exercise some.   

[Chocolaty]

For f*ck sake!  Who the hell cares about an interforum troll-off?  Do you not see what's going on here?  OUR world is on f*cking on fire and you're worried about who's acting like what to whom in here.

We are in here!  and that that is that!  Be happy you've found a place where people like to talk about real, substantive issues and love to engauge eachother in meaningful debate.  Let it go if does nothing to build the topics that matter.  Just blow it off like I'm not doing right now cause this is has gone on tooooooooo long.

Freedom requires discipline!  Exercise some.   

Exactly, personal attacks are useless and disruptive, please stay on topic. If you really must personally attack someone, use the PM for that.

[RickS]

Route24, Chocolatly, and Wanted, please start a new thread and have it out there. We don't want to read your BS.

[Chocolaty]

Route24, Chocolatly, and Wanted, please start a new thread and have it out there. We don't want to read your BS.

I don't want this BS either, all I do is respond to attacks, I didn't instigate a thing, so please don't lump me into this.

[RickS]

I don't want this BS either, all I do is respond to attacks, I didn't instigate a thing, so please don't lump me into this.

I have to agree with you in this case, but maybe you could just stop responding considering the importance of the issue at hand.

[Optimus]

South Ossetia fighting risks wider war
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080809/ap_on_re_eu/georgia_south_ossetia;_ylt=AvJScL0LEvsTatbuDVtRh01vaA8F
By MUSA SADULAYEV, Associated Press Writer
3 minutes ago
 
DZHAVA, Georgia - Russia sent an armored column into the breakaway enclave of South Ossetia after Georgia, a staunch U.S. ally, launched an offensive to crush separatists. Georgia reported early Saturday that warplanes attacked three of its bases and some key oil facilities.
 
Witnesses said hundreds of civilians have died in the fighting, which threatened to ignite a wider war between Georgia and Russia and escalate tensions between Moscow and Washington.

Georgia said it was forced to launch the assault because of rebel attacks; the separatists alleged Georgia violated a cease-fire.

The South Ossetian capital of Tskhinvali was reportedly devastated. Ossetia spokeswoman Irina Gagloyeva said the city came under prolonged fire during the night "but it was suppressed" by the armed forces, the Interfax news agency quoted her as saying Saturday.

"I saw bodies lying on the streets, around ruined buildings, in cars," said Lyudmila Ostayeva, 50, who had fled with her family to Dzhava, a village near the border with Russia. "It's impossible to count them now. There is hardly a single building left undamaged."

The fighting broke out as much of the world's attention was focused on the start of the Olympic Games and many leaders, including Russia's Prime Minister Vladimir Putin and President Bush, were in Beijing.

The timing suggested Georgian President Mikhail Saakashvili may have been counting on surprise to fulfill his longtime pledge to wrest back control of South Ossetia — a key to his hold on power. The rebels seek to unite with North Ossetia, which is part of Russia.

Saakashvili agreed the timing was not coincidental, but accused Russia of being the aggressor. "Most decision makers have gone for the holidays," he told CNN. "Brilliant moment to attack a small country."

Seeking to prevent an all-out war, diplomats issued a flurry of statements calling on both sides to halt the fighting. The U.N. Security Council held two tense emergency sessions 12 hours apart with both sides using the forum to launch accusations. As the meeting recessed, officials promised a third council session Saturday.

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice urged Russia to halt aircraft and missile attacks and withdraw combat forces from Georgian territory. Rice said in a statement the United States wants Russia to respect Georgian sovereignty and agree to international mediation.

The leader of South Ossetia's rebel government, Eduard Kokoity, said about 1,400 people were killed in the onslaught, the Interfax news agency reported. The toll could not be independently confirmed.

As night fell, there were conflicting claims as to who held the battlefield advantage.

Saakashvili said "Georgian military forces completely control all the territory of South Ossetia" except for a northern section adjacent to Russia. But Russian news agencies cited a Russian military official as saying heavy fighting was under way on the outskirts of the regional capital.

Early Saturday, Interior Ministry spokesman Shota Utiashvili said the Vaziani military base on the outskirts of the Georgian capital was bombed by warplanes during the night and that bombs fell in the area of the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan oil pipeline. He also said two other Georgian military bases were hit and that warplanes bombed the Black Sea port city of Poti, which has a sizable oil shipment facility.

Utiashvili said there apparently were significant casualties and damage in the attacks, but that further details would not be known until the morning.

Earlier, Georgia's Foreign Ministry accused Russian aircraft of bombing two military air bases, inflicting some casualties and destroying several military aircraft. Rustavi 2 television said four people were killed and five wounded at the Marneuli air base.

Twelve Russian troops were killed and 30 wounded in the fighting, said Russian Ground Forces spokesman Col. Igor Konashenkov. Saakashvili said late Friday that about 30 Georgians had been killed "mainly members of the Georgian armed forces."

It was unclear what might persuade either side to stop shooting. Both claim the battle started after the other side violated a cease-fire that had been declared just hours earlier after a week of sporadic clashes.

The United States was sending in its top Caucasus envoy, Deputy Assistant Secretary of State Matthew Bryza, to try to end the bloodshed.

It was the worst outbreak of hostilities since the province won de facto independence in a war against Georgia that ended in 1992. Russian troops went in as peacekeepers but Georgia alleges they now back the separatists.

Russia, which has granted citizenship to most of the region's residents, appeared to lay much of the responsibility for ending the fighting on Washington.

In a telephone conversation with Rice, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said Georgia must be convinced to withdraw its forces, according to a ministry statement.

Georgia, which borders the Black Sea between Turkey and Russia, was ruled by Moscow for most of the two centuries preceding the breakup of the Soviet Union. Georgia has angered Russia by seeking NATO membership — a bid Moscow regards as part of a Western effort to weaken its influence in the region.

Saakashvili long has pledged to restore Tbilisi's rule over South Ossetia and another breakaway province, Abkhazia. Both regions have run their own affairs without international recognition since splitting from Georgia in the early 1990s and have built up ties with Moscow.

Georgia has about 2,000 troops in Iraq, making it the third-largest contributor to coalition forces after the U.S. and Britain. But Saakashvili told CNN the troops would be called home Saturday in the face of the South Ossetia fighting.

A senior U.S. defense official said Georgian authorities have asked the United States for help getting their troops out of Iraq. The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because the discussions have been private, said no formal decision has been made on whether to support the departure, but said it is likely the U.S. will do so.

Also, Pentagon officials said Adm. Mike Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, has reached out to his counterparts in Russia and Georgia, but has not yet connected with them.

Russia's Defense Ministry said it was sending in reinforcements for its troops in the province, and Russian state television and Georgian officials reported a convoy of tanks had crossed the border. The convoy was expected to reach the provincial capital, Tskhinvali, by evening, Channel One television said.

Putin warned in the early stages of the conflict that the Georgian attack would draw retaliation and the Defense Ministry pledged to protect South Ossetians, most of whom have Russian citizenship.

Chairing a session of his Security Council in the Kremlin, Russian President Dmitry Medvedev also vowed that Moscow will protect Russian citizens.

"In accordance with the constitution and federal law, I, as president of Russia, am obliged to protect lives and dignity of Russian citizens wherever they are located," Medvedev said. "We won't allow the death of our compatriots go unpunished."

On Friday, an AP reporter saw tanks and other heavy weapons concentrating on the Russian side of the border with South Ossetia — supporting the reports of an incursion. Some villagers were fleeing into Russia.

The Georgian state minister for reintegration, Temur Yakobashvili, said Georgian forces had shot down four Russian combat planes over Georgian territory but gave no details. Russia's Defense Ministry denied an earlier Georgia report about one Russian plane downed and had no immediate comment on the latest claim.

Yakobashvili said one Russian plane had dropped a bomb on the Vaziani military base near the Georgian capital, but no one was hurt. More than 1,000 U.S. Marines and soldiers were at the base last month to teach combat skills to Georgian troops.

South Ossetia officials said Georgia attacked with aircraft, armor and heavy artillery. Georgian troops fired missiles at Tskhinvali, an official said, and many buildings were on fire.

Georgia's president said Russian aircraft bombed several Georgian villages and other civilian facilities.

A senior Russian diplomat in charge of the South Ossetian conflict, Yuri Popov, dismissed the Georgian claims of Russian bombings as misinformation, the RIA-Novosti news agency reported.

The Georgian attack came just hours after Saakashvili announced a unilateral cease-fire in a television broadcast late Thursday in which he also urged South Ossetian separatist leaders to enter talks on resolving the conflict.

Georgian officials later blamed South Ossetian separatists for thwarting the cease-fire by shelling Georgian villages in the area.

[RickS]

AJ and his guests made it clear that there position was US/Israel backed Georgia attacked Russia first. May I ask who is not in agreement with that?

[Chocolaty]

U.S. tells Russia to pull forces out of Georgia
http://www.reuters.com/article/politicsNews/idUSN0850115420080809
By Susan Cornwell and Sue Pleming
30 mins ago

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States told Russia on Friday to withdraw its forces from U.S. ally Georgia and stop its air attacks on the tiny Caucasus state following fighting in the breakaway region of South Ossetia.

"We call on Russia to cease attacks on Georgia by aircraft and missiles, respect Georgia's territorial integrity, and withdraw its ground combat forces from Georgian soil," U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said in a statement.

Rice issued her statement as Georgia, a former Soviet state that now wants to join NATO, said it would declare martial law and battled to get control of the rebel enclave, which was fortified by Russian forces.

Georgia said Russian fighter jets bombed container tankers and a shipbuilding plant in the port of Poti, prompting Washington's sharpest rebuke of Russia since the crisis began.

"We deplore the Russian military action in Georgia, which is a violation of Georgian sovereignty and territorial integrity," U.S. Ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad told reporters at a U.N. Security Council meeting in New York.

The State Department summoned the Charge d'Affaires at Russia's Embassy in Washington, Aleksander Darchiyev, to see Rice's deputy John Negroponte, who pressed Moscow to stop its military activities in Georgia.

"The deputy secretary said that we deplore today's Russian attacks by strategic bombers and missiles, which are threatening civilian lives," said State Department spokesman Robert Wood of Negroponte's meeting with the Russian diplomat.

"These attacks mark a dangerous and disproportionate escalation of tension," he added.

Both Rice and the White House urged an immediate cease-fire in South Ossetia, and U.S. officials said they would send an envoy to the region to help mediate.

As fighting raged in and around the South Ossetian capital of Tskhinvali, Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili said Russia and Georgia were at war.

Rice said the United States was working with its European partners to launch international mediation, and "we urgently seek Russia's support of these efforts."

Diplomatic sources said the U.S. envoy would be Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs, Matthew Bryza, who is expected to join a mission that includes the European Union and the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe.

Georgia is at the center of a battle for influence between the United States and Russia in the Caucasus.

President George W. Bush spoke to Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin about the crisis while both men were in Beijing for the Olympics. Bush has called Georgia a "beacon of democracy" in a volatile region.

NATO MEMBERSHIP

The Russian intervention came as something of a surprise to U.S. military officials who spent recent days monitoring the fighting in South Ossetia and Russia's military buildup.

"The build-up of forces was more than expected and they moved earlier than we thought they would," said a U.S. military official who spoke on condition of anonymity.

American military planners reviewed contingency plans for the possible evacuation of up to 3,000 U.S. citizens from Georgia, including about 130 defense personnel there to train Georgian military forces for duty in Iraq.

Washington has pushed hard for NATO membership for Georgia, despite European misgivings over the state's stability. Russia strongly opposes Georgia's NATO bid.

Robert Hunter of the RAND Corporation, a former U.S. ambassador to NATO, said "no one wants to fight for Georgia."

He said the United States had pushed too hard to try to get NATO membership for Georgia, and now Russia was trying to demonstrate, in part, that U.S.-led NATO efforts had their limits and Moscow's interests must be taken into account.

Republican presidential candidate John McCain said Russia should pull its forces out. "The consequences for Euro-Atlantic stability and security are grave," he said.

Democrat Barack Obama condemned Russia's role. "What is clear is that Russia has invaded Georgia's sovereignty, has encroached on Georgia's sovereignty, and it is very important for us to resolve this issue as quickly as possible."

(Additional reporting by David Morgan, Caren Bohan, Jeremy Pelofsky, Matthew Bigg and Louis Charbonneau; editing by Chris Wilson)

[Godsforce]

Bob Chapman said today that it would be like Ireland declaring war on Britain,more like Ireland declaring war on 2 Britain's  

Ireland would win if it picked a fight with Britain, its already taken down the Lisbon Treaty.  Michael Collins spirit lives on.

I like Bob Chapman, but he's been wrong alot lately.  He and AJ didn't see that Lindsey Williams predicted this was going to happen and kind of raced over that fact when a caller brought it up. 
On the upside now's a good time to buy silver and gold.

[RickS]

Democrat Barack Obama condemned Russia's role. "What is clear is that Russia has invaded Georgia's sovereignty, has encroached on Georgia's sovereignty, and it is very important for us to resolve this issue as quickly as possible."

OK, it's obvious Georgia invaded Russia.

[Optimus]

Georgia | 08.08.2008
Analysis: South Ossetian Conflict Will Cost Russia Dearly
http://www.dw-world.de/dw/article/0,2144,3548662,00.html

The escalating conflict between Georgia and Russia over the former's breakaway province South Ossetia has far-reaching consequences and might become a major problem for Moscow, according to experts.

Full-fledged fighting raged in Georgia's separatist region of South Ossetia on Friday, Aug. 8, making short shrift of an Olympic peace set to blanket the opening ceremonies in Beijing.

Russia's premier Vladimir Putin and US President George W Bush, arranged on different sides of the conflict, spoke with "one voice," according to Putin. "Everybody agrees -- nobody wants to see a war," the Russian leader said.

But such words fell flat as pro-Western President Mikhail Saakashvili, a close US ally, ordered a full-scale mobilization to re-take the separatist region and Russia deployed troops and fighter jets to "protect its citizens" against Georgia's "dirty venture."



Georgia, on the Black Sea coast between Turkey and Russia, was under Moscow's rule in their two centuries of shared Soviet history, but this influence has been challenged by the United States which is trying to win a foothold in the strategic Caucasus region.

Pretenses of Russian-mediated peace talks scheduled on Thursday dissipated in the face of the spiraling fighting and analysts seemed tragically unsurprised to see tension derail to war.

"They have been shooting at each other for months and for a military analyst like me, it was inevitable," Pavel Felgenhauer, an independent Moscow-based analyst, told DPA news agency.

"South Ossetia has been routed, that's clear," he said. "Now it will be a difficult war between Russia and Georgian forces with South Ossetia taking a secondary role."

After Russian media reported at least 10 of its peacekeepers dead in the fighting, state-owned Channel One television showed images of long Russian military convoys moving across into the mountainous South Caucasus.

Rhetorical collateral

The roughly 70,000 South Ossetians and residents in Georgia's other rebel region of Abkhazia, who aspire to re-unification with Russia, became an irrevocable part of Kremlin foreign policy since the beginning of this year, used as rhetorical collateral in Russia's disagreements with the West.

With Kosovo's independence in February, Russian opposition took the form of a threat that its example would provoke a "domino effect" in the Caucasus.

This fear was no less present in Georgia, which has not recognized Kosovo's western-supported independence, and Moscow's line served to amplify separatist claims in the region.

Controversial NATO bid

Saakashvili has made re-asserting control over the rebel regions a priority of his presidency, as part of a concerted policy for rapprochement with the West focused in a bid to join NATO in April.

Then-President Putin projected NATO's eastward expansion as a menacing betrayal and perpetuation of Western containment policy, but Moscow's key argument ran contra: That NATO membership would re-ignite civil war against Tbilisi's control.

Had Tbilisi become a NATO member, the alliance would be obliged to protect it militarily, pitting Western alliance troops against Russian fighters -- a fact that did not escape European diplomats who voted to delay Georgian membership in the alliance despite Bush's personal backing of the bid.

Dangerous double game

But analysts point out that Russian policy was not all war-mongering, and Moscow, having lost a dangerous political double game, may find itself trapped in a war that, if prolonged, could prove immensely costly. Just before April, Russia ended a 16-month blockade and resumed air and postal links to Georgia, holding out the possibility of dropping economic sanctions as well.

Russia's special envoy Yuri Popov arrived in Tbilisi to mediate peace talks between the two sides on Thursday, even as the fighting escalated out of control with both sides returning heavy artillery shelling and making bomber sorties with Sukhoi SU-27 fighter jets.

Now, Felgenhauer said, Russia has made a choice that will drag it into a prolonged and difficult war because mountains form a barrier between the region and Russia, leaving only a one-road pass, closed off in the winter.

"It's a logistical nightmare to try to take South Ossetia back from Georgia's quite good military," Felgenhauer said. "Massive Russian intervention may turn out to be costly, not only in terms of human costs ... it could be politically devastating for Russia's standing and economy."

Russian-Western rift likely

Georgia, whose army numbers around 18,000 soldiers, had surrounded the South Ossetia capital on Friday.

Such a war could swiftly create a political rift between Russia and the West, whose support remains with Georgia for the present, other Russian observers said.

The United States sent its envoy to the region on Friday.

"We support Georgia's territorial integrity and we call for an immediate ceasefire," State Department spokesperson Amanda Harper told DPA.


 
 

[KarnEvil9]

I just returned from a "trip" to Pravda. Are they ever mad in the forums over there! The Olympics aren't going to do much for international relations after this shatpile of dung escalates.

[Chocolaty]

Russia sending more troops to Georgian region
http://uk.reuters.com/article/oilRpt/idUKL925210820080809
MOSCOW (Reuters)
25 minutes ago

Russia's military on Saturday said army units had arrived overnight in South Ossetia to bolster troops acting as peacekeepers and announced the imminent arrival of additional reinforcements, Russian news agencies reported.

Igor Konashenkov, an aide to the Russian infantry commander, was quoted by the agencies as saying units of the 58th army would seek to "establish peace" in the region, scene of fighting between Russian and Georgian forces for two days. Additional "special units", he said, would arrive "in the next few hours".

Konashenkov said three members of the Russian peacekeeping units had been killed overnight, bringing total losses to 15.

(Reporting by Ron Popeski; Editing by Richard Balmforth)

[Protean]

Screenshot--Google is blocking its maps of Georgia. Nada...They make the whole country a blank. Now nearby Armenia and Azerbaijan are getting the same treatment.

[Sasha]

I'm quite sure that this particular passage has been included in multiple threads but, it applies very directly to this discussion as well and illuminates what is very likely the US/NATO/Isreali goal in this conflict:



“But if the middle space [Russia and the former Soviet Union] rebuffs the West [the European Union and America], becomes an assertive single entity, and either gains control over the South [Middle East] or forms an alliance with the major Eastern actor [China], then America’s primacy in Eurasia shrinks dramatically. The same would be the case if the two major Eastern players were somehow to unite. Finally, any ejection of America by its Western partners [the Franco-German entente] from its perch on the western periphery [Europe] would automatically spell the end of America’s participation in the game on the Eurasian chessboard, even though that would probably also mean the eventual subordination of the western extremity to a revived player occupying the middle space [e.g. Russia].”

--Zbigniew Brzezinski (The Grand Chessboard: American Primacy and Its Geostrategic Imperatives, 1997)



i.e. The US must control the 'middle space' of the 'chessboard' or else be religated into geostrategic irrelivancy - and there's nothing worse for war mongers than not getting their fill of RISK pieces.

[Sasha]

Screenshot--Google is blocking its maps of Georgia. Nada...They make the whole country a blank. Now nearby Armenia and Azerbaijan are getting the same treatment.

That's really messed up but, Google is a really messed up company.  Anyone who would help China militantly exercise martial law on its captive citizens needs some dismantling.

Thanks for that pict though.  Its good to have record of their censorship.

[Freeski]

Unbelievable.

[KarnEvil9]

it hasn't hit Google Earth yet.

[Chocolaty]

Screenshot--Google is blocking its maps of Georgia. Nada...They make the whole country a blank. Now nearby Armenia and Azerbaijan are getting the same treatment.

Yahoo maps and Mapquest aren't blocking. This is just bad publicity for Google and will achieve nothing. I wonder what they are thinking doing this.

[Sasha]

Georgian fighting risks wider war
Russia and U.S. ally Georgia battle over breakaway region of South Ossetia.
By Musa Sadulayev
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Saturday, August 09, 2008

DZHAVA, Georgia — Russia dispatched an armored column into the breakaway Georgian enclave of South Ossetia on Friday after Georgia, a U.S. ally, launched a surprise offensive against South Ossetian separatists. Witnesses said hundreds of civilians were killed.

"I saw bodies lying on the streets, around ruined buildings, in cars," said Lyudmila Ostayeva, 50, who fled to Dzhava, a village near the border with Russia. "It's impossible to count them now. There is hardly a single building left undamaged."

Fighting raged into the night, with Georgia's Interior Ministry saying early today that Russian warplanes attacked three military bases and key facilities for shipping oil to the West.

The leader of South Ossetia's rebel government, Eduard Kokoity, said about 1,400 people were killed in the onslaught, the Interfax news agency reported.

Twelve Russian troops were killed and 30 wounded in the fighting, Russian officials said. Georgia announced that about 30 of its people, mostly troops, had been killed. None of the tolls could be independently confirmed.

The fighting, which devastated South Ossetia's capital of Tskhinvali, threatened to ignite a wider war between Georgia and Russia, and escalate tensions between Moscow and Washington.

The South Ossetian rebels have been backed by Russia, which is suspicious of Georgia's close links with the United States and its bid to join the NATO alliance.

From Chechnya to Abkhazia, Russian-sponsored volunteers were encouraged to join South Ossetia's fight against Georgia, raising the threat of a war that could engulf the volatile Caucasus region.

Georgian President Mikhail Saakashvili called for U.S. support for Georgia, comparing the situation to the Soviet Union's Cold War crackdowns in places such as Czechoslovakia and Afghanistan.

"This is not about a tiny separatist area inside Georgia," he said on CNN. "This is not about Georgia anymore. It is about America, its values."

Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, facing his first major crisis since coming to office in May, called an emergency meeting of his national security council. "We will not tolerate the death of our citizens," he said. "Those guilty will receive due punishment."

U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice urged Russia to halt aircraft and missile attacks and withdraw its combat forces from Georgian territory. Rice said the United States wants Russia to respect Georgian sovereignty and agree to international mediation.

About 130 U.S. military and civilian Defense Department personnel are currently in Georgia, where they are training Georgian troops for deployment to Iraq as part of the multinational force there.

Georgia has about 2,000 troops in Iraq, making it the third-largest contributor to coalition forces in Iraq after the U.S. and Britain. But Saakashvili said those troops are being called home in the face of the South Ossetia fighting. Georgian authorities have asked the United States for help rushing the troops back from Iraq.

Georgia also is strategically important to the West for its oil and gas pipelines.

Early today, Georgian Interior Ministry spokesman Shota Utiashvili said the Vaziani military base on the outskirts of Tbilisi, Georgia's capital, was bombed by warplanes during the night and that bombs fell in the area of the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan oil pipeline. He also said two other Georgian military bases were hit and that warplanes bombed the Black Sea port city of Poti, which has a sizable oil shipment facility.

The pipeline, which carries oil from Azerbaijan's Caspian Sea fields, can pump slightly more than 1 million barrels of crude oil per day, or more than 1 percent of the world's daily crude output. It allows the West to reduce its reliance on Mideast oil while bypassing Russia and Iran.

Georgia said it was forced to launch Friday's assault because of rebel attacks; the separatists alleged Georgia violated a cease-fire.

The fighting broke out as much of the world's attention was focused on the start of the Olympic Games and many leaders, including Russia's Prime Minister Vladimir Putin and President Bush, were in Beijing.

Some observers said the timing suggested Saakashvili might have been counting on surprise to fulfill his longtime pledge to wrest back control of South Ossetia. The rebels seek to unite with North Ossetia, which is part of Russia.

But Saakashvili accused Russia of being the aggressor. "Most decision makers have gone for the holidays," he told CNN. "Brilliant moment to attack a small country."

[XR500Final]

Georgian Pipeline Supplying Western Powers Exploded.

http://www.forbes.com/reuters/feeds/reuters/2008/08/08/2008-08-08T092613Z_01_SP182663_RTRIDST_0_MARKETS-OIL-UPDATE-2.html

LONDON, Aug 8 (Reuters) - Oil fell below $118 on Friday as supply concerns eased after an indication that a key oil pipeline through Turkey, still burning after an explosion, may come back on line earlier than some previous expectations.

A fire that has shut the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan (BTC) oil pipeline may be extinguished on Friday or Saturday, a senior source at Turkey's Energy Ministry told Reuters.

Georgia States will Remove Troops from Iraq... Asks US Forces to Move Them...

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/chi-georgia-ossetia_nu_rodriguezaug09,0,3233663.story

Saakashvili also announced in the interview that, because of the crisis, Georgia would call home its 2,000 troops in Iraq, now the third-largest contingent in the U.S.-led coalition there. The Associated Press reported that Georgian authorities had asked Washington to help transport them home.The Kremlin warned Friday that Russia's response to Georgia's move on South Ossetia would be swift and decisive.

"We won't allow the death of our compatriots to go unpunished," said Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, who convened an emergency session of Russia's Security Council.

Black Sea Port of Poti Attacked by Russian Forces (Oil Facility)

http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5hV2N6fVKS5slf10A13Dj_uIdaZ4QD92EDA201

He also said two other Georgian military bases were hit and that warplanes bombed the Black Sea port city of Poti, which has a sizable oil shipment facility.

BTC Oil Pipeline Pumps 1 Million Barrels a Day

http://www.easybourse.com/bourse-actualite/bp/updatenegative-impact-of-btc-georgia-seen-on-bp-earnings-GB0007980591-503013

The one million barrels-a-day Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan oil pipeline Wednesday was shut down after a fire on the Turkish part of the route and the local pipeline company said it may be out of order for the next two to five weeks.

According the the Georgian Times (offline) this explosion occured on the 6th of August..

[XR500Final]

With George Bush eyeballing all the dancing girls at the Olympic stadium, and having just taken 900 days off, I bet the guy has NO CLUE what to do..

Ring... Ring...

Hello CFR...

Yes its George, I'm just... Yah... I'm ... Well.... I just need to know what you guys want me to do next...  What do you want me to say... Can you fax over a speech...

Don't worry about that George, just posture, we have our plans laid out with Cheney, you know better...

Ah,, Yah - thanks

Bye <click>

[otero1]

With George Bush eyeballing all the dancing girls at the Olympic stadium, and having just taken 900 days off, I bet the guy has NO CLUE what to do..

Ring... Ring...

Hello CFR...

Yes its George, I'm just... Yah... I'm ... Well.... I just need to know what you guys want me to do next...  What do you want me to say... Can you fax over a speech...

Don't worry about that George, just posture, we have our plans laid out with Cheney, you know better...

Ah,, Yah - thanks

Bye <click>

LOL! So true

[Sasha]

Russian president orders humanitarian aid for South Ossetia
Aug 9th, 2008 | By Sindh Today |
http://www.sindhtoday.net/world/10356.htm

Moscow, Aug 9 (RIA Novosti) Russian President Dmitry Medvedev has ordered humanitarian aid to people affected by the ongoing conflict between Georgia and its breakaway region of South Ossetia.

‘The president has instructed Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, Emergency Situations Minister Sergei Shoigu and Interior Minister Rashid Nurgaliyev to provide humanitarian aid to people affected by the escalation of the Georgian-South Ossetian conflict,’ the Kremlin press service said.

Georgia Friday attacked the separatist south Caucasian region and its fighter jets bombed several areas.

According to various reports, a large part of the republic’s capital, Tskhinvali, has been destroyed and South Ossetian authorities reported numerous civilian casualties.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said: ‘A Russian humanitarian convoy has come under fire. Panic is growing among the local population, and the number of refugees is increasing. There are reports of ethnic cleansing in some villages.â€�

Meanwhile Russian and Georgian armed forces were locked in combat Friday over control of Caucasus region of South Ossetia, with hundreds of civilians reported killed or injured.

The escalating crisis prompted calls for restraint from international governments and bodies, including the US, European Union (EU), NATO and the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE).

Eduard Kokoity, South Ossetia’s leader, said more than 1,400 civilians had died as a result of the combat beginning in sporadic firefights Aug 1, and shifting to full-blown warfare early Thursday.

Georgian fire killed at least 10 Russian peacekeepers stationed in the breakaway Georgian province in severe fighting centred in Tskhinvali, Russian army spokesmen said.