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

[revolt426]

Mikhail Saakashvili is a coward. Even if the U.S./ Israel attempted to convince him that retaking S. Ossetia was a good idea he should have had the common sense .... Russia has thousands of nukes and a very large military and could tactically take Saakashvili out at any given time. They could do it right now but Putin is not stupid he knows the West is spinning all the news and doesn't want to overthrow Saakashvili... just destory his military inferstructure. The West can't demoize Russia if they choose not to overthrow the Government. If they do then... i guess we're in alot of trouble...

[Cobra]

I think it's clear now that Russia laid a trap for Sakhashvili and he feel right into it.

I don't know if some of you read the Russian media but over the last few months Russia has been sending more weapons into Georgia as well flying over Georgian airspace more frequently. They ahve been trying to goad him into this. Now some of there weirder actions over the past few months make sense.

Either Sakhashvili is a complete fool or NATO/US promised him somethign that they have since broken. My opinion is that Sakhashvili is a complete fool. He thought that the US/NATO would have no choice but the US isn't exactly in the position to fight another conflict.

In all honesty that fool has no one to blame but himself.

[dogmadestroyer]

Mikhail Saakashvili is a coward. Even if the U.S./ Israel attempted to convince him that retaking S. Ossetia was a good idea he should have had the common sense .... Russia has thousands of nukes and a very large military and could tactically take Saakashvili out at any given time. They could do it right now but Putin is not stupid he knows the West is spinning all the news and doesn't want to overthrow Saakashvili... just destory his military inferstructure. The West can't demoize Russia if they choose not to overthrow the Government. If they do then... i guess we're in alot of trouble...

+1

Bingo, that's exactly what I see happening. Take Russia with the good and the bad but Putin-Medvedev era Russia is very adept at statecraft.

[Protean]

Oh geez---

USA approves Georgia’s aggression against South Ossetia and Russia
http://english.pravda.ru/hotspots/conflicts/11-08-2008/106053-georgia_ossetia_russia-0

War between Russia and Georgia orchestrated from USA
http://english.pravda.ru/hotspots/conflicts/09-08-2008/106046-russia_georgia-0

Georgian troops burn South Ossetian refugees alive
http://english.pravda.ru/hotspots/conflicts/10-08-2008/106050-georgia-0

Putin: Georgia’s actions are criminal, whereas Russia’s actions are absolutely legitimate
http://english.pravda.ru/topic/georgia_ossetia-603/

[Irobot]

Putin: US airlift of Georgian soldiers adds a "New and Very Ominous Dimension"

Prime Minister Putin says the Russian offensive will continue as long as it takes to restore peace and persuade Georgia to return to normal relations with Russia. Appearing before his Cabinet Monday, he accused the West of falsely portraying the Georgian aggressors as victims and said the American airlift of Georgian soldiers from Iraq adds a new and very ominous dimension to the South Ossetia conflict. He also likened the Georgian leadership to Saddam Hussein. Indeed, the Georgian assault on Thursday night rubbled ten South Ossetian villages and included atrocities like burning people alive and squashing them with tanks.
http://ruvr.ru/main.php?lng=eng&q=30902&cid=47&p=11.08.2008

[Protean]

Russian troops do not plan to advance on Tbilisi - Moscow

Video:
http://www.russiatoday.com/news/news/28829/video

[IridiumKEPfactor]

August 11, 2008, 19:41
US sends more arms to Georgia – Israeli media
The United States is sending fresh supplies of weapons to Georgia from its base in the Jordanian port of Aqabah. That’s according to the Israeli newspaper – Maariv.
The paper says the US began flying weapons from the transport hub on Saturday. 

According to Maariv, the US is hiring Russian-made freight planes belonging to UTI Worldwide Inc. to transport arms and ammunition to Georgia. The paper says the Pentagon is redirecting supplies to Tbilisi that were earmarked for Iraq.

The Aqabah terminal is used by the US to supply troops in Iraq. The American military relies on the hub mainly because it’s safer to use Aqabah than Iraq’s own ports in the Persian Gulf.

Georgia stocks a wide range of weapons from many sources. This is a strategic move in case Russia were to block off the channels through which it gets its military supplies.

http://www.russiatoday.com/news/news/28832

[lazarus]

The more I think about this and how the first attack was a such a lopsided confrontation, the more I think that there is plan for something in the near term, in the next few days, maybe a false flag, and then a move on Iran.

[thadividedsky]

This caught my eye. I hope it dosn't stray too far off topic.
http://www.russiatoday.com/news/news/28835
RT attacked
In the course of the last 24 hours RT’s website (www.russiatoday.com) has endured numerous DDoS attacks, which have made it unavailable for some time. Channel’s security specialists say the initial attack was carried out from an IP-address registered in the Georgian capital Tbilisi. RT’s team apologizes for the inconvenience and gives a list of comprehensive external resources on the Georgian-South Ossetian conflict which can be used, should the attacks continue.

“What remains is an absolute determination not to be defeated by Georgia and not to suffer the humiliation of having to abandon Russia’s South Ossetia client state, with everything that this would mean for Russian prestige in other areas. Vladimir Putin’s Kremlin made it clear again and again that if Georgia attacked South Ossetia, Russia would fight. Georgian advocates in the West claimed that Moscow was only bluffing. It wasn’t”.
Analysis: roots of the conflict between Georgia, South Ossetia and Russia, The Times

“Russia's attacks over the weekend leave the West looking for ways it can exert its power to deter any further aggression. The West is under no obligation to help Georgia, because it is not a member of NATO.
Tomas Valasek, director of foreign policy for the Center for European Reform in London, said it was unrealistic for Georgia to expect help. "It's a sign of Georgia's own sense of importance," he said. "They were unrealistic to think the United States and Europe would come to their military aid”.
South Ossetia: Bloody fight, broad impact, USA Today

“As the world's diplomats hurried to contain the violence and prevent the conflict engulfing the wider Caucasus region, Russia made clear it no longer considered Georgia's President Mikhail Saakashvili a partner, prompting accusations from his main ally, the United States, that Moscow was resisting peace and wanted regime change”.
Georgia bows to might of Russia, The Independent

“There are three basic facts to keep in mind about the smokin’ little war in Ossetia:
1. The Georgians started it.
2. They lost.
3. What a beautiful little war!”
War Nerd: South Ossetia, The War of My Dreams, Exiled Online

“There is some truth in this analysis - but only some. In the first place, Russia may have behaved with shocking brutality, but this was in response to Georgian troops going into South Ossetia.
There was provocation. This tiny disputed parcel of land is admittedly legally part of Georgia, but it has been independent for 15 years, and its population of 70,000 includes Russian passport holders and many sympathetic to Russia”.
Shamed by the loss of empire, Russia is a wounded bear we provoke at our grave peril, Daily Mail

“My own view is that the U.S. has displayed a reckless disregard for Russian interests for some time. I don't like Russia's swing to greater domestic authoritarianism and worry about its stiffened posture on a number of international fronts -- but [President of the Nixon Center, Dimitri] Simes convinces me in his important Foreign Affairs essay, "Losing Russia," that much of what we are seeing unfold between Russia and Georgia involves a high quotient of American culpability”.
Georgia-Russia Clash: American Culpability and the Kosovo Connection, The Washington Note

“First, diplomacy. President Mikhail Saakashvili of Georgia is a headstrong fellow. Reference has been made to his Harvard education as if that should ensure sound judgment. Alas, however, the President's tutor was not the greatest of Harvard diplomatists, Henry Kissinger – but Anthony Eden at Suez. Mr. Saakashvili has only one defence against the charge of criminal irresponsibility: a plea of insanity”.
The West must share the blame for war in Georgia, The Independent

“No doubt, Saakashvili's government has been rash by daring the Russians in their own backyard. Neither does Georgia have the wherewithal to take on vastly superior Russian forces, nor is the West likely to come to its aid”.
Europe's New War, The Times of India

[Cobra]

Why post outright propaganda on here?
There's propaganda on both sides. Yes, the Russian side too.

Let's try to get to the truth of the matter.

[NotSure]

GEORGIAN SPEAKER: GEORGIA WAS WRONG TO DENY PRESENCE OF CHECHEN REBELS
By (04/18/2002 issue of the CACI Analyst)
In a published interview on 18 April, Georgian Parliamentary Speaker Nino Burdjanadze stated that it was a mistake for Georgia to deny the presence of Chechen rebels in its country. The speaker added that "an objective picture" of the presence of Chechen rebels should have been provided and she promised that "I stand for being totally open about the existing problems." The Georgian government had long denied Russian claims that Chechen rebels were using Georgian territory as an operational refuge for cross-border attacks on Russian troops in Chechnya. Burdjanadze also criticized President Eduard Shevardnadze's positive remark about Chechen field commander Ruslan Gelaev as "a big mistake." (CNA)

http://www.cacianalyst.org/?q=node/649

Check how many attacks have happened against Russia from Chechens that were hiding out in Georgia. So Georgia harbors terrorist affiliated with/trained by Al Queda? hmmmmmm. W's really changed his tune. I also found it interesting that the school shooting in Beslan, Russia in Sept. 2004 was in the province of North Ossetia.

Google search for: georgia chechen rebels

http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=georgia+chechen+rebels&btnG=Search

[Protean]

Timelines

The Georgian war minute by minute - August 12
http://www.russiatoday.com/news/news/28860

02:01 GMT Abkhazian troops have begun an operation to pull the Georgian military out of the upper part of the Kodori Gorge.

01:46 GMT Russia has rejected a draft resolution on Georgia-South Ossetia conflict, introduced by France at the UN Security Council meeting.


The Georgian war minute by minute - August 11

http://www.russiatoday.com/news/news/28804

20:50 GMT Russian Defence Ministry says Russian peacekeepers have not entered the Georgian town of Poti.

20:16 GMT Russian Emergencies Ministry’s plane, carrying medicines and a mobile intensive care unit to Vladikavkaz, has taken off from Moscow.

20:02 GMT NATO has agreed to hold an emergency meeting of the Russia-NATO Council in Brussels on Monday, over the situation in South Ossetia.

19:48 GMT Russian troops have left the Georgian town of Senaki after taking actions to prevent Georgia from shelling South Ossetia and Russian peacekeepers, according to Russia’s Defence Ministry.

17:19 GMT Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili said on Monday that the Russian military has blocked a central highway linking east and west Georgia. Russia troops and tanks entered the main part of Georgia's territory earlier on Monday, as Russia continued its peace enforcement operation to prevent further Georgian incursions into breakaway South Ossetia.

16:25 GMT Georgian Foreign ministry informs that Russian peacekeeping forces have entered the country’s territory and took control of the Georgia’s largest airbase in the town of Senaki.

16:08 GMT NATO has agreed to hold an urgent session with Russia concerning the situation in South Ossetia on August 12.

15:25 Two companies from Chechnya's Zapad and Vostok special battalions have been sent to Georgia's breakaway republic of South Ossetia to help defend against Georgian forces, the Russian Defense Ministry said on Monday.

14:12 GMT - Russian peacekeepers and other troops Conduct 'preventative action' near the town of Senaki, inside Georgia,  a spokesman for the Russian Defence Ministry said on Monday.

12:36 GMT - More than 360 Russians say they are being prevented from leaving Georgia, a Russian Foreign Ministry official said on Monday.

11:43 GMT – Georgia has cut the supply of Russian gas to Armenia without warning, according to Armenian gas importers Armrosgazprom.

11:42 GMT – South Ossetia reports that Georgia has resumed shelling its territory.

11:24 GMT – Kiev doesn’t plan to provide military aid to Tbilisi – Ukrainian Deputy Foreign Minister.

10:48 GMT – Georgia’s preventing Russian citizens from leaving ‘totally illegal’ – Medvedev.|

10:44 GMT – Putin blames the U.S. for hampering Russian peace efforts in South Ossetia by airlifting Georgian troops from Iraq to Georgia.

10:38 GMT – Oil giant BP (British Petroleum) denies Georgian reports alleging Russian planes bombed the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan pipeline.

10:32 GMT – Russia will go on with its mission in South Ossetia until it reaches its logical conclusion – Putin.

10:11 GMT – Georgia to file a case against Russia to The Hague Tribunal – Georgian Foreign Minister.

10:29 GMT – Russian aid convoy stopped by gunfire 10km away from Tskhinvali – RIA Novosti.

09:53 GMT – Security officers arrest nine Georgian agents spying on Russian territory and preparing acts of terrorism – FSB head.

09:24 GMT – Russia is not testing new weapons systems in the operation in South Ossetia – Deputy Head of Russia’s General Staff.

09:26 GMT – Ceasefire signed by Saakashvili to be delivered to Moscow by French and Finnish FMs on Monday - Interfax.

09:18 GMT – Russian military denies bombing Tbilisi International Airport.

09:18 GMT – Russian military confirm foreigners fighting on Georgian side.

09:16 GMT – Russia has no plans to moblise reservists over conflict in South Ossetia – Russian military official.

09:16 GMT – Russia is using ‘disproportionate force’ against Georgia – NATO head.

13:10 GMT  – Russia loses two more planes in South Ossetian conflict zone – Russian military official.

09:09 GMT – 18 Russian soldiers have died in South Ossetia so far, 14 are missing in action – Russian military official.

08:55 GMT – Peace enforcement operation in South Ossetia ‘mostly complete’ – Medvedev.

08:53 GMT – U.S. flies 800 Georgian soldiers from Iraq to Tbilisi – Russian General Staff.

08:48 GMT – Moscow calls for a Russia-NATO council meeting to discuss the situation in South Ossetia – Russia’s envoy to NATO.

08:42 GMT – French and Finnish Foreign Ministers present a three-stage plan for peace in Tbilisi.

08:18 GMT – Road from Tskhinvali to Rokski tunnel, connecting South and North Ossetia, safe for travel – RIA Novosti news agency report.

08:18 GMT – British Foreign Secretary condemns Russia’s military actions in Georgia.

08:09 GMT – Sea links between Georgia and Russia cut – Sochi port deputy director.

08:04 GMT – United States must have given a 'green light' to Georgia's offensive in South Ossetia – former Sovier leader Mikhail Gorbachev.

07:56 GMT – The EU rather than the U.S. will take the lead in mediating the South Ossetian conflict - French FM.

07:47 GMT – Russian Ministry of Communications announces that postal services to and from Georgia have been cut.

07:37 GMT – Azerbaijan oil continues to flow through Georgian territory - Azeri state oil company’s vice-president.

07:18 GMT – Turkey denies closing its air space to a Ukrainian plane bound for Georgia.

07:12 GMT – Peacekeepers in Abkhazia demand that the Georgian troops  lay down their arms - Russian news agencies.

07:10 GMT – Transdniestria’s Deputy Defence Minister says their troops are on alert and ready to go to South Ossetia.

06:25 GMT - Turkey refuses to allow a Ukrainian plane carrying aid to Georgia to pass through its airspace - Ukrainian Foreign Minister.

06:13 GMT – Georgian Interior Ministry denies it has blocked Russian citizens from leaving the country.

06:02 GMT – Abkhazia offers a humanitarian corridor for Georgian troops and civilians to leave Kodori gorge - Abkhazian Defence Minister.

05:54 GMT – Shelling of peacekeepers continued during the night despite ceasefire –commander of peacekeepers.

05:07 GMT – 9,000 Russian troops and 350 armoured vehicles are in Abkhazia to help peacekeepers – peacekeeping force deputy commander.

04:54 GMT – Russian journalist confirms that Georgian soldiers killed wounded Russian peacekeepers.

03:33 GMT – Georgian troops continue shelling Tskhinvali – South Ossetian president.

02:16 GMT – Georgia’s Interior Ministry denies earlier report that military base has been bombed.

01:14 GMT – Georgia’s Interior Ministry reports that Russia has bombed a military base near Tbilisi.

[Protean]

Webster Tarpley coming on Jack Blood's Deadline Live now.

He's on a roll--excellent report.

Use your media player to listen--

http://www.gcnlive.com/Programs/Deadline/On_Demand.html

[Wanted]

At UN: Confirmation of Russia's Georgia advance
http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5iVVNqxAjbWBpCIkTka8nXWNun12AD92GG82O0



By JOHN HEILPRIN – 15 minutes ago

UNITED NATIONS (AP) — Georgia brought another last-ditch appeal Monday to the United Nations Security Council to stop Russia's advancing army, which U.N. officials confirmed has driven beyond Georgia's breakaway regions of South Ossetia and Abkhazia.

The officials, B. Lynn Pascoe and Edmond Mulet, advised the council behind closed doors that non-peacekeeping Russian airborne troops were entering U.S.-allied Georgia from Abkhazia, and were not meeting any resistance while taking control of Georgia's Senaki army base, council diplomats said on condition of anonymity because it was a closed session.

"A full military invasion of Georgia is going on," Georgian Ambassador Irakli Alasania told reporters after the end of the two-hour council meeting that it had requested. "Now I think Security Council has to act."

It was the fifth such emergency session since Thursday. In that time Russia's ferocious retaliation against Georgia's initial move to control separatist South Ossetia has quickly broadened to nearly all-out war.

Since Georgia isn't a council member, it can can only attend a formal meeting such as the one held privately Monday.

Council diplomats said the session was marked by heated exchanges between Alasania and Russian Ambassador Vitaly Churkin, who was repeatedly asked whether it was Russia's intention to topple Georgian President Mikhail Saakashvili's fledgling democratic government in the Georgian capital Tbilisi.

"We in Russia, we cannot see how we can do business with him," Churkin told reporters afterward. "We make no secret of that."

France also circulated a draft resolution Monday that would have the council call for "the immediate and unconditional cessation of hostilities, and the complete withdrawal of Russian and Georgian forces to their positions prior to August 7."

The 15-nation council is expected to take up the draft proposal Tuesday.

The proposed text also calls for immediate negotiations and expresses the council's intention "to take further action, as appropriate, to help bring about and implement a peaceful and durable solution to the crisis."

Finally, the text would have the council express dismay that "the hostilities are occurring during the Olympic Truce" that the U.N. General Assembly had urged all nations to observe during the current Olympic Games in Beijing.

The U.S. also has been pushing to include language condemning Russia's actions. Any such proposal would be largely symbolic since Russia is one of five council members with the power to veto it. The others are the U.S., Britain, China and France.

Western diplomats, however, said the U.N.'s observations seemed to confirm their suspicions about Russia's motives.

"We have not received a clear answer today to that question," U.S. Ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad told reporters. "Why start a second front from Abkhazia? Why attack the rest of Georgia? And why attack the infrastructure of Georgia? Why threaten to attack the civilian airport of Tbilisi?"

His comments echoed those of Pesident Bush who demanded Monday that Russia end an escalation in the fighting.

[IridiumKEPfactor]

Webster Tarpley coming on Jack Blood's Deadline Live now.

He'll have the scoop on the latest with this conflict in his view.

Use your media player to listen--

http://www.gcnlive.com/Programs/Deadline/On_Demand.html

BUMP!

[SuzakaDusk]

http://www.indymedia.org.uk/en/2008/08/405920.html


US puppy Georgia provokes war with Russia
melchert | 08.08.2008 13:40 | Analysis | Globalisation | World

Georgia spits on Olympic Peace
 
condy with agressor in Tblisi "warns Russia" (BBC)



The neoconservative President of Georgia, Michael Sakaashvilli, started a full scale attack on the separatist russian minority province South Ossetia. The Ossetian capital is besieged right now. Air strikes are done. Russian peace keepers were killed, as well as many civilians.

Georgia is a close ally of the US and major player in Zbigniew Brzezinskis wet dream "the grand chessboard". It is part of the US strategy to weaken Russia by provoking conflicts on its boarders.
What the US seem to forget: all good chess players are russian....

A few hours ago Russia was officially asked by South Ossetia and Abchasia for military protection, russian troops are already heading towards Georgia and Ossetia. No doubt: Georgia will loose this "game".

The question is: why did Georgia start this war? There´s no doubt Saakashvilli won´t do any step without the order and knowledge of Washington. Why going into war with Russia?

Is there perhaps a major US plan - may be a war against Iran? Forcing Russia to focus on "its" problems, instead of mixing in into the Iran thing? Attacking Iran while China ist the host of the Olympic Games? So that China will be kind of bound...?

Speculations... But, the questions remain...


youtube:

 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=reuhlteq0VM
 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=guZQfn_hlLM
 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RBZXTZkOd_w
melchert

[Optimus]

Aug. 11, 2008

Ukraine to Defend Georgia against Russia’s Blockade
// Kiev threatens to ban Russian Black Sea Fleet from getting back to the Ukrainian base
http://www.kommersant.com/p1010061/r_527/Ukraine_sided_with_Georgia_in_the_South_Ossetia_conflict/


01.03.2007 Georgia, Tbilisi. President of Georgia
Michael Saakashvili (R) and President of Ukraine
Victor Yushchenko (L) during the latter's official
visit to Georgia.

Ukraine is practically the only CIS country to openly back Georgia demanding that Russia immediately withdraw its troops from the territory of Georgia. Yesterday Kiev threatened to block the returning of Russia’s Black Sea Fleet to Sevastopol in case the ships take part in a sea blockade of Georgia.

After the full-scale hostilities were unleashed, Ukraine was one of the first states to support Tbilisi officially. Friday, the Ukrainian Foreign Office issued a press-release, where “expressing its deep concern with the situation the conflict zone”, it virtually put the blame on Russia for unleashing the war and urged an immediate withdrawal of Russia’s troops from the territory of Georgia. “Unfortunately, the information we get from the battle arena proves that the Russian Federation, which played a mediatory role for a long time in the conflict settlement, is turning into its party,” the statement reads.

Ukraine’s President Victor Yushchenko sent the country’s Foreign Minister Vladimir Ogryzko to Tbilisi, where he’ll “discuss with the Georgian authorities concrete measures to stop the military confrontation”. More to the point, Mr Yushchenko ordered that the government “provide humanitarian aid to Georgia”.

Russia’s Foreign Ministry responded with a stern tirade accusing Kiev of being privy to the war. “The state of Ukraine, which has been supplying weaponry to Georgia so that it got armed to the teeth, and with that, directly encouraging the Georgian authorities to start the intervention and ethnic cleansing in South Ossetia, has no moral right to tutor others and seek to participate in the settlement,” the statement says. Meanwhile, Russia’s media reported that the Tupolev Tu-22 bomber was shot down over Georgia with the S-200 surface-to-air missile (SAM) system, which had been allegedly supplied by Ukraine. “We know that Kiev sold several AMD systems to Tbilisi. Among those, there could be the S-200 systems,” the source stressed.

Curiously, ahead of the war Tskhinvali accused Kiev of selling arms to Georgia. South Ossetia’s President Eduard Kokoity said that Ukraine sold T-72 tanks, Mil Mi-8 helicopters, APCs (armored personnel carriers), missiles and other weapons to Georgia. The day before the war started Ukraine’s Defense and Foreign Ministries confirmed weapons supplies emphasizing that they were made in full accordance with international norms.

The Ukrainian opposition disagreed, however. Petro Symonenko, the First Secretary of the Communist Party of Ukraine, required that a criminal case be opened in connection with the Ukrainian weaponry supplies to the “fledgling from the U.S. eagle’s nest”, and those from the Party of the Regions promised to set up an ad hoc commission in the Rada, which will investigate the supplies.

Yesterday the diplomatic confrontation of Moscow and Kiev reached its peak after the first reports about Russia’s Black Sea Fleet ships moving in the Georgian direction. The Ukrainian Foreign Office was quick to warn Russia against participating in the conflict using its Black Sea Fleet, and threatened that the ships might not return to the Ukrainian base. In its statement, Kiev points out that Ukraine “has the right, in accordance with the international law and the law of Ukraine, to forbid the ships and vessels that may take part in a conflict to return to the territory of Ukraine till the conflict is resolved”. Answering a question of Kommersant, which measures Ukraine can undertake to prevent Russia’s ships from getting back to Sevastopol, the MFA spokesperson could barely say anything certain. “I can’t tell you anything about the mechanism of the entrance denial,” Vassily Kirilich, the Press-Secretary with Ukraine’s Foreign Ministry, said.

Russia’s reaction to the demarche of Kiev was predictable. Deputy Foreign Minister Grigory Karassin rendered Ukraine’s statement regarding the Black Sea Fleet “cynical” underscoring that the Black Sea Fleet will stay in the Crimea whatever “till 2017 in accordance with the existing agreement”.

Interestingly, Ukraine is practically the only CIS country to openly back Georgia. The majority of experts opine that Kiev’s position and the friendship of the Ukrainian and Georgian Presidents can bode ill for the relations between Russia and Ukraine in the long run. “You should take it seriously. Ukraine makes no secret – it can easily side with your opponent,” Alexey Malashenko, Moscow Center Carnegie Expert, told Kommersant.
Grigory Plakhotnikov; Valery Kalnysh, Yelena Geda, Kiev

[Wanted]

Sarkozy to arrive in Moscow as Russian Army advances in Georgia
http://www.thaindian.com/newsportal/india-news/sarkozy-to-arrive-in-moscow-as-russian-army-advances-in-georgia_10082847.html


Moscow, Aug 12 (ANI): With Russian Army moving into Abkhazia, another breakaway region of Georgia, in an apparent attempt to broaden the conflict over South Ossetia, French President Nicolas Sarkozy will arrive here to undertake a peace plan.

Sarkozy will meet his Russian counterpart Dmitry Medvedev in Kremlin to discuss a French peace plan that Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili signed on Monday as Russian troops moved further into Georgia and casualties mounted outside the breakaway regions that sparked the war.
Russia has sent 9000 soldiers there in addition to a 3000-strong peacekeeping force on the ground. Russian peacekeepers have been deployed in Abkhazia since 1994 following a conflict where the coastal region broke away from Tbilisis control.

As the President of the European Union, Sarkozy’’s visit comes a day after US President George W. Bush strongly criticised Russia, saying it might be planning to depose the Georgian government and called on Russia to withdraw its troops.

Russia has invaded a sovereign neighbouring state and threatens a democratic government elected by its people. Such an action is unacceptable in the 21st Century, Bush said in Washington.
Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin accused Western countries of turning a blind eye to alleged atrocities by Georgia’’s forces during their surprise offensive last week, while Georgian President Mikhail Saakashvili described Russia as a barbaric aggressor accused Russia of expelling ethnic Georgians from both breakaway regions.

While Russian officials said at least 1,600 civilians in South Ossetia have died since fighting erupted on August 8, Georgia maintained that Russian troops on Monday began a ground offensive, prompting the former Soviet republic’’s army to retreat toward Tbilisi.

According to media reports, Russian artillery rolled deep into western Georgia and took several towns and a military base, as other forces captured Gori on Monday.

Georgia and Russia began fighting when Russia moved in troops and bombed targets after Georgian forces began an offensive into South Ossetia, which split away from Georgia in an early 1990s war.
Russia has justified it actions by calling it as Georgian-waged genocide in South Ossetia. (ANI)

[One Revelator]

Sheesh! Yushchenko still has scars from the sushi incident.  Pretty tough hombre.

[Wanted]

Georgia refuses surrender to Russia
http://www.radioaustralia.net.au/news/stories/200808/s2332710.htm?tab=latest


Georgia's president, Mikheil Saakashvili, has vowed not to surrender as Russian troops press deeper into his country.

He says the capital Tbilisi is being threatened, and the majority of Georgia's territory is occupied.

President Saakashvili, accuses Russia of premeditating the attack, which began several days ago in South Ossetia.

Russian officials say they have no intention of occupying territory beyond South Ossetia and another separatist area, Abkhazia.

Russia's ambassador to the UN. Vitaly Churkin, has just rejected a proposed Western draft resolution in the Security Council that would call for an immediate truce.

The move came after U-S President George W. Bush condemned of Russia's military offensive saying it could cripple Russia's ties with the west.

"I am deeply concerned by reports that Russian troops have moved beyond the zone of conflict, attacked the town of Gori and are threatening Georgia's capital of Tblisi," he said.

"There's evidence that Russian forces may soon begin bombing the civilian airport in the capital city.

"These reports are accurate. These Russian actions would represent a dramatic and brutal escalation of the conflict in Georgia.

[Another_Ron_Paul_Supporte]

Does anybody know when the U.S. will fly the Georgia troops out of Iraq?

Oh, and what about those guys from the Caucasus, too?

[Real Truth]

I'm guessing their president thinks U.S. is going to save them or something because I don't know what he thinks is going to happen a miracle?

[Wanted]

I'm guessing their president thinks U.S. is going to save them or something because I don't know what he thinks is going to happen a miracle?

Me thinks he might be one of those god will save us people. 
But yea, Saakashvili wouldnt do what he is doing without the backing of USA or some major power.

[Real Truth]

Me thinks he might be one of those god will save us people. 
But yea, Saakashvili wouldnt do what he is doing without the backing of USA or some major power.

thats what I'm thinking because him against Russian military is complete suicide...

[Optimus]

Does anybody know when the U.S. will fly the Georgia troops out of Iraq?

Oh, and what about those guys from the Caucasus, too?

http://forum.prisonplanet.com/index.php?topic=52464.msg256532#msg256532

On your second question. Can you elaborate on what "guys" you're talking about?

[Wanted]

Report: Abkhaz troops push Georgians from gorge
http://www.hindu.com/thehindu/holnus/003200808120901.htm


MOSCOW (AP): Troops in the separatist Georgian province of Abkhazia launched an operation Tuesday to push Georgian forces out of the northern Kodori Gorge, the only area of the province still under the control of the former Soviet republic, the Interfax news agency reported.

The operation in the western region comes as Russian troops have pressed into Georgia in an escalating conflict that started last week over another breakaway province, South Ossetia in central Georgia.

The Interfax report cited the Abkhaz defense headquarters as saying the operation started early Tuesday to push Georgian troops out of the northern part of the Kodori Gorge. The report gave no other details. The operation could not immediately be independently verified.

Russian-backed separatist forces in Abkhazia launched air and artillery strikes Saturday to drive Georgian troops from their bridgehead in the region. Abkhazia's separatists declared Sunday they would push Georgian forces out of the gorge.

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

Both South Ossetia and Abkhazia have run their own affairs without international recognition since fighting to split from Georgia in the early 1990s and have built up ties with Moscow.

In 2006, Georgian forces moved into the upper part of the Kodori Gorge to root out members of a defiant militia. Georgia later established a local administration made up of people who fled the fighting in Abkhazia.

Abkhazian and Russian officials have said they believe Georgia intends to launch an offensive from there to retake Abkhazia and demanded the withdrawal of Georgian troops from the area.

[NotSure]

Does anybody know when the U.S. will fly the Georgia troops out of Iraq?

Oh, and what about those guys from the Caucasus, too?

Can you imagine if Russia shoots down the US planes bringing the Georgian troops from Iraq? They are announcing it ahead of time so Russia will be ready and waiting, the perfect plan I think, or maybe they'll fly em right over the heart of Iran, crash the planes themselves and blame Iran, HA! Nothing would surprise me at this point.

OH! Has Ron Paul spoken about this war yet?

[revolt426]

Russia to attempt peace talks with french and push for special triburnal to try the President Mikheil Saakashvili of Georgia. I guess he's gonna have to go and if cheney has a problem then he better keep his god damn mouth shut.

http://www.kommersant.com/p1010382/Russian-Georgian_conflict_South_Ossetia/

[Cruise4]

No chance he'll lob a nuke into London is there? Or Brussels? Go on Putin, you know you want to.

"Can you imagine if Russia shoots down the US planes bringing the Georgian troops from Iraq"

How about if 'someone' takes out the diplomatic convoy leaving? Or are they gone already?

[revolt426]

Oh by the way Ron Paul is busy because his wife is in the hospital and "Stable but in critical condition"? Don't know there's another thread about it

[Optimus]

UK says 'no' to Western troops in Georgia
http://www.thewest.com.au/default.aspx?MenuID=2&ContentID=90789
12th August 2008, 10:30 WST


Britain's Europe Minister Jim Murphy said Russia's military actions in Georgia were “brutal” but insisted there was “no question” of Western troops being sent to the region.   

In an interview with BBC Television, Murphy urged a diplomatic resolution to the crisis, reiterating his view that there was “no military solution”.   

International efforts to mediate an end to the conflict between Georgia and Russia were set to intensify today, but Moscow signalled it opposes a peace plan calling for an immediate truce.   

Russia's actions were “utterly unacceptable and totally brutal”, Murphy said.   

“Russia has gone out of South Ossetia and out of Abkhazia deep into Georgian territory, a small, beautiful democracy.   

“Yes of course there are faults on both sides historically - it is a complicated dispute - but what is happening now is unacceptable.   

“Russia has to be aware there will be very strong, international diplomatic coordinated responses,” suggesting negotiations over new relations between Russia and the European Union could be halted.   

“Is it feasible for us to discuss a new strategic partnership with a Russia that is behaving in such a brutal way against one of its democratic neighbours?“   

He insisted that there was “no question” of British, EU or NATO troops being deployed in the region.   

“There is no military solution to what's happening. Russia will score a military victory over Georgia by sheer weight of power, of numbers, of determination, of planning, but you cannot force a military solution.   

“This will have to be resolved diplomatically and that means an end to the violence by all sides, a ceasefire and the resumption of peace talks.”   

British Prime Minister Gordon Brown said earlier there was “no justification” for Russia's military action in Georgia, which he said threatens the stability of the whole region.

[Optimus]

UK says 'no' to Western troops in Georgia
http://www.thewest.com.au/default.aspx?MenuID=2&ContentID=90789
12th August 2008, 10:30 WST


Britain's Europe Minister Jim Murphy said Russia's military actions in Georgia were “brutal” but insisted there was “no question” of Western troops being sent to the region.   
  

He insisted that there was “no question” of British, EU or NATO troops being deployed in the region.    

Anyone else catch the contradictions between the title of this article and the statements highlighted in red?

[NotSure]

http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/224891,extra-us-military-airlifts-georgian-soldiers-from-iraq.html

Moscow/Tbilisi, Georgia - A US military aircraft on Monday delivered Georgian soldiers home from Iraq as reinforcements in the Ossetia war. The air force C5 cargo plane carried elements of Georgia's 13th Infantry Battalion, accounted by its desert combat experience and US training to be Georgia's most effective combat force.
Georgian media offered contradictory reports as to whether one or more US cargo planes had arrived at Tbilisi International airport.
A Deutsche Presse-Agentur reporter in central Tbilisi saw a single C5 Galaxy cargo jet departing the vicinity at a high angle normally used to avoid possible missile fire.
Russian bombers over the last three days have struck a military airfield next to Tbilisi's civilian airport, once when a US cargo plane was on the ground roughly a kilometre distant.
It was unclear what portion of the Georgian infantry brigade in Iraq had returned to Georgia. Georgia prior to the airlift had some 2,000 men stationed in Iraq.
The rated capacity of a C5 is some 120 tons.

[dr4gon]

Anyone else catch the contradictions between the title of this article and the statements highlighted in red?

i noticed the link is for some other article. I even typed the article headline into google, clicked the link and it was a diff story... weird

[Optimus]

i noticed the link is for some other article. I even typed the article headline into google, clicked the link and it was a diff story... weird

Wow... that is weird! They flushed the original story down the memory hole!

Replaced UK says 'no' to Western troops in Georgia
http://www.thewest.com.au/default.aspx?MenuID=2&ContentID=90789

with Russia opposes ceasefire in Georgia
http://www.thewest.com.au/default.aspx?MenuID=2&ContentID=90789

[Cruise4]

At least Bush is having a good time...

http://www.rense.com/general82/bejj.htm

[NotSure]

I just googled Zbigniew Brzezinski Mikhail Saakashvili, the first thing I read was Webster Tarpley's "Brzezinski's Georgia Puppets Attack Russia - WWIII In Sight" which is great and I'm sure has already been posted
http://www.rense.com/general82/indt.htm

Then the second link I clicked was from the Huffington Post and it scared me much more than Tarpley's article. Oh how can we count the lies?

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/nathan-gardels/brzezinski-russias-invasi_b_118029.html

Brzezinski: Russia's Invasion of Georgia Is Reminiscent of Stalin's Attack on Finland

On Sunday I talked with Zbigniew Brzezinski, the elder statesman who was national security advisor to President Jimmy Carter, about the Russian invasion of Georgia. He long tangled with Soviet power. Now he takes on Putin:


Nathan Gardels: What is the world to make of Russia's invasion of Georgia?

Zbigniew Brzezinski: Fundamentally at stake is what kind of role Russia will play in the new international system. Unfortunately, Putin is putting Russia on a course that is ominously similar to Stalin's and Hitler's in the late 1930s. Swedish foreign minister Carl Bildt has correctly drawn an analogy between Putin's "justification" for dismembering Georgia -- because of the Russians in South Ossetia -- to Hitler's tactics vis a vis Czechoslovakia to "free" the Sudeten Deutsch.

Even more ominous is the analogy of what Putin is doing vis-a-vis Georgia to what Stalin did vis-a-vis Finland: subverting by use of force the sovereignty of a small democratic neighbor. In effect, morally and strategically, Georgia is the Finland of our day

The question the international community now confronts is how to respond to a Russia that engages in the blatant use of force with larger imperial designs in mind: to reintegrate the former Soviet space under the Kremlin's control and to cut Western access to the Caspian Sea and Central Asia by gaining control over the Baku/ Ceyhan pipeline that runs through Georgia.

In brief, the stakes are very significant. At stake is access to oil as that resource grows ever more scarce and expensive and how a major power conducts itself in our newly interdepedent world, conduct that should be based on accommodation and consensus, not on brute force.

If Georgia is subverted, not only will the West be cut off from the Caspian Sea and Central Asia. We can logically anticipate that Putin, if not resisted, will use the same tactics toward the Ukraine. Putin has already made public threats against Ukraine.

Gardels: What, if anything, can the West do to contain this revived Russian behavior?

Brzezinski: Not only the West, but the rest of the international community, must make it clear that this kind of behavior will result in ostracism and economic and financial penalties. Ultimately, if Russia continues on this course, it must face isolation in the international community -- a longer range risk to its own well-being.

The United States, particularly, shoulders the major burden of mobilizing an collective international response. This invasion of Georgia by Russia is a very sad commentary on eight years of self-delusion in the White House regarding Putin and his regime. Two memorable comments stand out. First, when Bush first met Putin and said he looked into his soul and could trust him. Second, not long ago, Condi Rice claimed that American relations with Russia have never been better in history!

Gardels: John McCain has already suggested that Russia be expelled from the G8. Is that something you would contemplate?

Brzezinski: The G8 is an impotent fiction anyway. But It has to be much more than
that. It has to be a concerted effort on all levels -- at the United Nations, in the Atlantic Council, in the EU or in NATO, in consultation with the Japanese, the Chinese and others -- to convey to Russia that, whatever grievances it may have, it cannot resolve them by a deliberate policy of dismembering an adjoining state and
trying to obtain political domination over it.

Gardels: Is the West obliged to help Georgia resist the Russian attack with some kind of military support?

Brzezinski: The question is not what obligation the West may have at the moment. The question is about our longer term interest. If a Russia, which misjudges its power and its capacities embarks now on a blatantly nationalistic and imperialistic course, we will all suffer.

Therefore it is all the more important that Russia be stopped now by mobilizing a concerted, global effort to oppose and condemn the Russian invasion. Ultimately, that could lead to economic and financial sanctions, though one would hope that other Russian leaders, including its business elite, will have cooler heads and be more aware of Russia's own vulnerabilities. Russia is not ready to sustain a new cold war.

Gardels: Should the Atlantic Alliance urgently induct Georgia into NATO as one response?

Brzezinski: The West desisted from extending the NATO "membership action plan" to Georgia -- a preparatory stage for becoming a member -- out of deference to Russian objections. It is now clear that the deference shown to Putin, in the face of his obvious ambitions, has been counterproductive. In view of what has happened, NATO ought to extend the membership action plan to Georgia, therefore reinforcing the commitment NATO made in Bucharest last March
to the effect that NATO intends, at some future point, to include Georgia.

Gardels: You haven't mentioned Dmitri Medvedev, the the Russian president, once, but only Putin. Does Medvedev have any function in this?

Brzezinski: As much to do with it as the formal head of state of the Soviet Union in 1950 had to do with the running of the Soviet government. Does anyone remember his name? But the real ruler of the Soviet Union had a name that most still remember -- and it rhymes with Putin.....

[revolt426]

http://www.kommersant.com/p-13078/Oil_pipeline_attack_/

BP Said Russia’s Jets Didn’t Attack Oil Pipeline in Georgia
Spokesman of British Petroleum has refuted the allegation of Georgia about Russia’s air attacks on the oil pipeline.
According to Georgia, Russia’s jets unsuccessfully attacked Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan pipeline Saturday. They fired 51 missiles and explosion craters are seen at the distance of a few dozen meters from the facilities.

The thorough check didn’t reveal any traces of bombing in the pipeline area, said a representative of BP. Some employees of BP are still in Georgia but they will probably leave the country after the British Foreign Office urged all British residents to hasten out of it while the air traffic is available and the border is open.
www.kommersant.com

[RonPaulRocks]

Anyone know another stream for Russia Today TV?

The one given before is not working for me,  http://streaming.visionip.tv/Russia_Today

[Sasha]

Anyone know another stream for Russia Today TV?

The one given before is not working for me,  http://streaming.visionip.tv/Russia_Today

I've been watching it off and on for two days now.  It just doesn't work some times, try again at a later time.

This is link i've been using, same as yours:  streaming.visionip.tv/Russia_Today

Of course it is acting funky right now, just having tried it.  Pop up says server not available after a fairly long buffer period.  If its a 24 hour network then, it could be overloaded with viewers or, I suppose even brought down by other means...

Information control is the one of the first stages of warfare.