REAL-TIME WAR UPDATES TICKER: Georgia Retains Core Of Military, US Influence Weakened -War Is Over, Kremlin Accepts Sarkozy Ceasefire Deal
9:57 P.M. August 12, 2008
Bloomberg:
“A substantial part of our military power has been destroyed,” said Georgian National Security Council chief Kakha Lomaia. “However, we did preserve the core of our army, and have managed to regroup it close to the capital.”
An airbase in Senaki was destroyed and three Georgian ships blown up in the Black Sea port of Poti, he said.
A month ago, about 1,000 U.S. soldiers joined 600 Georgians and 100 from Ukraine, Azerbaijan and Armenia in joint exercises at the Vaziani military base near Tbilisi. Russia repeatedly bombed the base during this month’s war.
“The American role in the region has been weakened,” Jan Techau, a European and security affairs analyst at the German Council on Foreign Relations in Berlin, said in a telephone interview. “It’s a reassertion of Russia’s dominant role in the region.”
Ian Hague, a Bank of Georgia board member and fund manager with $1.8 billion in the former Soviet Union, said the attack on Georgia discouraged Western investments in energy infrastructure by raising the risk premium.
“It’s somewhat reminiscent, in 1939, when Stalin attacked Finland,” former U.S. national security adviser Zbigniew Brzezinski told Bloomberg Television. “I think this kind of confrontation is the best kind of answer as to why they are seeking to be members of NATO.”
BREAKING: August 12, 2008 3:00
TBILISI, Georgia (AP) - Georgian president says he accepts cease-fire plan with Russia brokered by France .
Copyright 2008 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
10:30 A.M. Tuesday, August 12
Kremlin Accepts Sarkozy Ceasefire Deal
President Sarkozy won the Kremlin’s agreement today on the conditions for a cessation of hostilities in Georgia that would see both sides return to their initial positions before fighting erupted last week.
A six-point plan endorsed by President Medvedev during a visit by the French leader to Moscow calls on both Russia and Georgia to end all hostilities and allow free access for humanitarian assistance.
10:09 A.M. Tuesday, August 12
TBILISI, Georgia — Russia ordered a halt to military action in Georgia on Tuesday, after five days of air and land attacks that sent Georgia’s army into headlong retreat and left towns, military bases and homes in the U.S. ally smoldering. Georgia insisted that Russian forces were still bombing and shelling.
Despite the pledge by Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, Russia launched an offensive Tuesday in the only part of Abkhazia still under Georgian control.
4:00 A.M. Tuesda, August 12
MOSCOW (AP) - Russian President Dmitry Medvedev ordered a halt to military action in Georgia on Tuesday, after five days of air and land attacks that took Russian forces deep into its small U.S.-allied neighbor in the Caucasus.
Medvedev said on national television that the military had punished Georgia enough for its attack on South Ossetia. Georgia launched an offensive late Thursday to regain control over the separatist Georgian province, which has close ties to Russia.
“The security of our peacekeepers and civilians has been restored,” Medvedev said. “The aggressor has been punished and suffered very significant losses. Its military has been disorganized.”
The Russian president, however, said he ordered the military to defend itself and quell any signs of Georgian resistance.
“If there are any emerging hotbeds of resistance or any aggressive actions, you should take steps to destroy them,” he told his defense minister at a televised Kremlin meeting.
French President Nicolas Sarkozy, just arrived in Moscow carrying Western demands for a Russian pullback, welcomed the decision to halt the fighting but said Georgia’s sovereignty, integrity and security must be protected. There was no immediate comment from the United States.
As he started talks with Sarkozy, Medvedev said Georgia must pull its troops from the breakaway regions and pledge not to use force again to solve the conflict.
10:30 PM Monday August 11
Raw: Intense Firefights Unfolds Between Russian and Georgian Soldiers
Bush demands Russia withdraw from Georgia, end ‘brutal’ escalation of violence
8:29 P.M. Monday, August 11
Georgia Asks China for Help With Russia
Daily Mail
Georgia has asked China to use its influence to push for a resolution to a territorial flare-up with Russia. Georgian troops have pulled out of the breakaway province of South Ossetia after being overwhelmed by Russian forces. Daniel Schearf reports from Beijing.
7:52 P.M. Monday, August 111
Georgia ‘overrun’ by Russian troops as full-scale ground invasion begins
Gordon Brown urges Moscow to order a ceasefire
Putin lashes out at the U.S. for ‘helping Georgia’
Georgia ‘restarts shelling’ after ceasefire call ignore
Refugee crisis as 40,000 flee
UPDATE: 2:32 PM 8/11/08
Georgian President’s Web Site Moved to Atlanta After Russian Hackers Take Aim
UPDATE: 1:00 PM 11/8/08
(AP)
GORI, Georgia - Russian forces seized several towns and a military base deep in western Georgia on Monday, opening a second front in the fighting. Georgia’s president said his country had been effectively cut in half with the capture of the main east-west highway near Gori.
Fighting also raged Monday around Tskhinvali, the capital of the separatist province of South Ossetia. Russian warplanes launched new air raids across Georgia, with at least one sending screaming civilians running for cover.
The reported capture of the key Georgian city of Gori and the towns of Senaki, Zugdidi and Kurga came despite a top Russian general’s claim earlier Monday that Russia had no plans to enter Georgian territory. By taking Gori, which sits on Georgia’s only east-west highway, Russia can cut off eastern Georgia from the country’s western Black Sea coast.
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UPDATE: 8/11/08 11:00
Georgian President: Russia Endgame ‘Ethnic Cleansing’
“The consequences for world security, human rights and energy security are tremendous and huge.”
_____________________________________________________
UPDATE MONDAY 8/11 9:15 AM PST: It is being reported that Russian troops have captured the city of Gori and are pressing to Georgia’s capital city of Tbilisi. This is not good, folks.
Thousands running in terror in the streets, burning tanks and bodies everywhere, hell raining down from above, Georgian artillery slamming into the barracks of sleeping Russian “peacekeepers”, pierced aircraft flopping and disintegrating through gravity’s burning white death spiral, hospitals unable to treat the swarming bloody hordes…. welcome to the return of the European war, a glimpse of the ones that were and the one we almost had… the faded and looming specters that Mr. Putin has built a career on.
UPDATES TICKER RUNS MOST RECENT AT TOP
7:50 AM Monday August 11
Bush Blasts Russians for Escalating Conflict With Georgia
4:19 A.M. Monday, August 11
Reuters staging fake photos?
3:02 P.M. Sunday, August 10, 2008
Russia says Georgia’s claims of retreat are not true:
1:19 P.M. Sunday, August 10
Georgia Calls It Quits, Russia Says “Not So Fast”
Georgia called a cease-fire and said its troops were retreating Sunday from the disputed province of South Ossetia in the face of Russia’s far superior firepower, but Russia said the soldiers were “not withdrawing but regrouping” and refused to recognize a truce.
Russia expanded its bombing blitz to the Georgian capital, deployed ships off the coast and, a Georgian official said, sent tanks from the separatist region of South Ossetia into Georgian territory, heading toward a border city before being turned back.
9:50 A.M. Sunday August 10
Russian bomb falls near runway at Tbilisi airport: ministry. Tbilisi is the capital of Georgia.
7:33 AM Sunday August 10, 2008
BEIJING — The White House is warning Russia to halt its attacks on Georgia or risk “significant” and enduring damage to its relationship with the United States.
Russia expanded its bombing blitz Sunday against neighboring U.S.-allied Georgia. Georgian troops pulled out of the capital of the contested province of South Ossetia under heavy Russian shelling.
The U.S. has called on Russia to stop its military offensive.
Jim Jeffrey, President Bush’s deputy national security adviser, said the U.S. has made it clear that “If the disproportionate and dangerous escalation on the Russian side continues, that this will have a significant long-term impact on U.S.-Russian -relations.”
____________________________________________________________________________
5:52 AM Sunday August 10, 2008Georgia Says Troops WithdrawnRussia disputes Georgia’s claim that it’s withdrawn its forces from South Ossetia and pours thousands of troops and heavy armour into the conflict zone.Russia has bombed a military airfield outside the Georgian capital Tbilisi and government officials there say Moscow is massing troops in its other breakaway region Abkhazia. and a Russian navy source says warships have set up a Black Sea blockade to keep arms and military supplies from reaching Georgia.9:05 PM August 9. 2008Ceasefire Hopes Dashed By RussiaHopes for an end to the fierce fighting over breakaway republic South Ossetia were dashed when Russia refused to agree to a ceasefire or a diplomatic agreement.The impasse means the fighting with Georgia will keep spilling over to other regions such as Abkhazia’s Kodori Ridge, where 15 United Nations military observers were told to evacuate.“A ceasefire would not be a solution. The fighting is still going on. The Georgian forces are continuing to be on the South Ossetian territory,” Russia’s UN ambassador Vitaly Churkin said.(The Press Association)8:07 PM August 9, 2008Russia bombs military airfield near Tbilisi: Georgian officialRussian planes on Sunday attacked the runway of a military airfield near Tbilisi international airport, a senior Georgian official told AFP.“Russian planes dropped several bombs on a military airfield not far from Tbilisi International Airport,” the secretary of Georgia’s national security council, Alexander Lomaia, told AFP.“There were no planes there, their task was to damage the runway,” he added.UPDATES THREAD:4:27 P.M. Saturday, August 9
12:20 P.M. Saturday, August 9
Video: Russia Blames U.S., “What you are watching is really a confrontation between Russia and the West.”
Is this really a U.S. vs Russia war, with Georgia as our proxy?
10:23 A.M. Saturday, August 9
9:49 A.M. PST Saturday, August 9
Source: Reuters
TBILISI, Aug 9 (Reuters) - Russian fighter jets targeted the the major Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan (BTC) oil pipeline which carries oil to the West, including Europe and the U.S., from Asia but missed, Georgia’s Economic Development Minister Ekaterina Sharashidze said on Saturday.
“This clearly shows that Russia has not just targeted Georgian economic outlets but international economic outlets in Georgia,” she said at a news briefing.
There have been no independent verifications of Russian jets targeting the BTC pipeline.
9:00 A.M. PST Saturday, August 9
(AP) -Georgia has about 2,000 troops in Iraq, making it the third-largest contributor to coalition forces after the U.S. and Britain. But President Saakashvili has called them home in the face of the war on the homefront. The Georgian commander of the brigade in Iraq said Saturday they would leave as soon as transport can be arranged.
BEIJING (Reuters) - Georgia may pull its 35-strong Olympic team out of the Beijing Games because of Russian military attacks on its territory, the country’s National Olympic Committee told Reuters on Saturday.
“We’re talking about it now. It will be the decision of the president of the country (Mikheil Saakashvili),” spokesman Giorgi Tchanishvili said in the Chinese capital.
8:39 A.M. PST, Saturday, August 9
President George W. Bush said Russian attacks on Georgia marked a “dangerous escalation” of the crisis and urged Moscow to halt the bombing immediately.
Russian President Dmitry Medvedev told Bush the only solution was for Georgian troops to quit the conflict zone.
“I call for an immediate ceasefire,” Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili said in Tbilisi. “Russia has launched a full scale military invasion of Georgia.”
Russia’s military response to the crisis dramatically intensified a long-running stand-off between Russia and the pro-Western Georgian leadership that has sparked alarm in the West and led to angry exchanges at the United Nations reminiscent of the Cold War.
Bush, Saakashvili’s main ally in the West, said Georgia’s territorial integrity must be respected.
“The attacks are occurring in regions of Georgia far from the zone of conflict in South Ossetia. They mark a dangerous escalation in the crisis,” said Bush, who is attending the Olympics in Beijing.
In a telephone call with Bush, Medvedev “stressed that the only way out of the tragic crisis provoked by the Georgian leadership is a withdrawal by Tbilisi of its armed formations from the conflict zone,” a Kremlin statement said.
Russian officials said there could be no talks until Georgian forces pulled back.
7:58 A.M. Saturday, August 9
6:48 A.M. Saturday August 9
Bush and Putin discuss settling war over lunch at Olympics
President George Bush and Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin discussed the conflict in Georgia, the White House confirmed.
Both men were attending the opening of the Summer Olympics in the Chinese capital and spoke during a luncheon hosted by Chinese President Hu Jintao.
White House spokesman Tony Fratto did not provide any additional details.
But Putin, according to his spokesman, said: “There are lots of volunteers being gathered in the region, and it’s very hard to withhold them from taking part. A real war is going on.”
6:45 A.M. Saturday, August 9
Georgian President Calls For Cease Fire, Russia Bombs Whole New Province
Voices Of America - Georgia’s leader is calling for an immediate cease-fire in the breakaway region of South Ossetia, as reports come in that fighting has spread to another disputed region.
President Mikhail Saakashvili called for an end to the fighting Saturday, shortly before getting approval from the Georgian parliament to declare martial law.
At the same time, officials reported Russian warplanes hit targets in the breakaway region of Abkhazia.
Like South Ossetia, Abkhazia declared independence from Georgia in the early 1990s. Georgia has vowed to bring both territories back under central government control.
6:33 A.M. Saturday, August 9
Georgia officially declares state of war with Russia.
6:28 A.M., Saturday, August 9
Georgia Accuses Russia Of Ethnic Cleansing
MOSCOW, Aug 9 (Reuters) - Georgia’s National Security Council accused Russian troops on Saturday of conducting”ethnic cleansing” in separatist South Ossetia, saying pulling out Georgian forces from the region would lead to more violence.
Asked whether Georgia had information that Russian forces were involved in ethnic cleansing, Kakha Lomaia, the National Security Council secretary, told a conference call:
“No doubt about that. Villages that fell under Russian invasion, those villages are being cleaned out. … Pulling out our troops would lead to more ethnic cleansing by Russian troops.”
Earlier in the day, the Russian Foreign Ministry accused Georgian forces of conducting ethnic cleansing. Both sides have denied each other’s accusations as the fighting continued.
Georgia accuses Russia of ethnic cleansing
2:50 A.M.
Russia assigns blame for war on the United States. Georgia recalls it’s 2,000 troops from Iraq to join the battle at home.
(AP) - Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov told journalists the United States bears much of the blame for arming and training Georgian soldiers.
Russia, which has granted citizenship to most of the region’s residents, appeared to lay much of the responsibility for the outbreak of fighting, and now for somehow stopping it, on Washington.
Georgia was ruled by Moscow for 200 years before 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, a U.S.-educated lawyer, 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 President Saakashvili has called them home in the face of the war on the homefront. The Georgian commander of the brigade in Iraq said Saturday they would leave as soon as transport can be arranged.
Georgia has accused Russia of bombing its towns, ports and air bases and has asked the international community to help end what it called Russian aggression.
Kakha Lomaya, the head of Georgia’s Security Council, said Georgia has shot down 10 Russian planes, including four brought down Saturday.
The first Russian confirmation that any of its planes had been shot down came Saturday from Col. Gen. Anatoly Nogovitsyn, the deputy chief of the General Staff, who said two Russian planes were downed. He did not say where or when.
Aug 8 11:10 PM US/Eastern
Fierce fighting reported in Georgia after Russian troop surge
34 minutes ago
JAVA, Georgia (AFP) — Russia and its pro-West neighbour Georgia engaged in fierce fighting Saturday in the disputed region of South Ossetia, reports said, as the international community scrambled to prevent an all-out war.
Georgian forces early Saturday launched the latest in a series of artillery attacks on Tskhinvali, the capital of the breakaway Georgian region, a south Ossetian government spokeswoman said. Russian forces said they had counterattacked.
Fierce clashes between Russian and Georgian troops in the southern suburbs of Tskhinvali were reported by Russian news agencies during the night.
Georgia said it was under Russian aerial bombardment in what the country’s UN Ambassador Irakli Alasania described as “a full-scale military invasion.”
Moscow on Friday sent troops into the province to defend Russians under fire from a Georgian offensive to regain control over the province that broke away from Tbilisi’s control in the early 1990s.
The United States, the European Union and the OSCE were preparing to send a joint delegation to Georgia to try to broker a ceasefire, the EU said Friday.
As fighting continued, both sides said they had the upper hand.
“Georgian forces are controlling the entire territory of South Ossetia except Java,” a city north of Tskhinvali, Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili said in a televised address on Friday.
The rebels shortly afterwards announced that they were in control of the capital Tskhinvali, Interfax news agency reported.
Saakashvili said 30 people had died on the Georgian side, but separatist leader Eduard Kokoity put the overall death toll from Friday far higher.
“Slightly more than 1,400 people have died,” Kokoity said, cited by Interfax. “This information will be checked, but this is the approximate number, based on information from relatives.”
Early Saturday fighting was centred on the capital Tskhinvali.
“The Georgian side is right now firing on residential parts of Tskhinvali,” South Ossetian government spokeswoman Irina Gagloyeva said in televised comments after nightfall.“We responded to the last volley that hit Tskhinvali and our peacekeepers positions with a counter strike from our artillery and tanks,” said Russian Ground Forces spokesman Igor Konashenkov, speaking on Russian television.In a claim that Moscow denied, Georgia’s interior ministry said five Russian aircraft had been shot down.The Russian military said in a statement that more than 10 Russian peacekeepers had been killed in Tskhinvali as Georgian ordnance slammed into their barracks.Other Georgian officials said that Russian planes on Friday had bombed near a military base in Vaziani, a military airport in Marneuli, the port of Poti and a railway junction and an airport in Senaki. There was no immediate reaction from Russian forces.President Saakashvili on Saturday was preparing to declare a state of emergency, senior administration official Alexander Lomaia told AFP.Authorities have evacuated the presidential building and other government offices in the capital Tbilisi amid fears of Russian bombardment, Lomaia said.On the diplomatic front, the United States — a champion of Georgia’s bid to join NATO — called for an immediate ceasefire and Russian withdrawal.“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,” Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said in a statement.The European Union and NATO also called for a halt to hostilities.In em ergency talks in New York on Friday, the UN Security Council failed to agree a call for an immediate ceasefire as Russia and Georgia blamed each other for the conflict. Talks were due to resume Saturday.Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, in Beijing for the start of the Olympic Games along with other world leaders including US President George W. Bush, blamed Georgia.“They have in effect begun hostilities using tanks and artillery,” said the former president, still a powerful figure in the Kremlin. “It is sad, but this will provoke retaliatory measures.”Television images showed Russian tanks, armoured personnel carriers and trucks rumbling towards South Ossetia — plus Georgian ground forces hammering rebel positions with lorry-mounted rockets.In the streets of Tskhinvali, home to an estimated 20,000 people, tanks were seen burning, and women and children ran for cover, hunched over in terror.An AFP reporter in South Ossetia saw women, children and elderly people riding buses toward the Russian border, fleeing the fighting.The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) said hospitals in Tskhinvali were teeming with casualties.“Ambulances cannot move, hospitals are reported to be overflowing, surgery is taking place in corridors,” an ICRC spokeswoman said, adding inhabitants were taking shelter in basements with no electricity or phone service.South Ossetia broke from Georgia in the early 1990s. It has since been a constant source of friction between Georgia and Russia, which opposes Tbilisi’s aspirations of joining NATO and has de facto supported the separatists although not recognised their independence.South Ossetia has long sought unification with North Ossetia, which is inhabited by the same Ossetian ethnic group but ended up across the border in Russia after the 1991 collapse of the Soviet Union.
Be respectful of others and their opinions. Inflammatory remarks and inane leftist drivel will be deleted. It ain’t about free speech, remember you’re in a private domain. My website, my prerogative.
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This is more about Georgia wanting to join NATO than anything else. Putin the die-hard totalitarian prick is doing all he can to stop Georgia from joining NATO. The business over South Ossetia is just an excuse for Czar Putin to impose his will on Tbilisi.
Fuck Putin. Here’s achance to do for Georgia what we did for the muj in Afghanistan in the 80’s and give Puty a black eye.
August 8th, 2008 at 8:00 pmI believe this might be the first shot in Putins threats about our deployment of the ABM system…..Next Cuba.
August 8th, 2008 at 8:21 pmSo roughly a quarter of Iraq war casualties in one day. thats an ugly number.
any chance of US intervention? i couldnt see Bush letting Georgia get completely overrun by Russia.
August 8th, 2008 at 8:49 pmI’m pretty sure we have special forces (or CIA paramilitary, since we might not want to “officially” be there) deployed in the area. My guess is that we’re probably giving the Georgians intelligence–satellite, signals, and maybe even aerial drones–and with several years of American training under their belts, are giving the Russians a bloody nose, if not a severe ass-kicking.
August 8th, 2008 at 8:57 pmThis may sound random, but does anyone know what a gallon of gas costs in Georgia the country right now?
August 8th, 2008 at 8:58 pmAugust 21, 1968. Deja vu.
August 8th, 2008 at 8:58 pmI’m pretty sure we have special forces (or CIA paramilitary, since we might not want to “officially” be there) deployed in the area. My guess is that we’re probably giving the Georgians intelligence–satellite, signals, and maybe even aerial drones–and with several years of American training under their belts, are giving the Russians a bloody nose, if not a severe ass-kicking..
August 8th, 2008 at 9:00 pmAugust 21, 1968. Deja vu.
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Yeah!
August 8th, 2008 at 9:07 pmHad family survive that.
yeah they mentioned this morning that there are US military personnel in Georgia right now. they have been there working with them and training them for years now. Government put a statement about monitoring the situation and evacuating all diplomats if it escalated, well it did so its kinda hard to gauge whats going to happen next.
August 8th, 2008 at 9:14 pmRegarding Russia’s invasion of Georgia - -
Can’t help but remember this:
What it all boils down to is this. I want the new closeness to continue. And it will, as long as we make it clear that we will continue to act in a certain way as long as they continue to act in a helpful manner. If and when they don’t, at first pull your punches. If they persist, pull the plug. It’s still trust but verify. It’s still play, but cut the cards. It’s still watch closely. And don’t be afraid to see what you see.
Ronald Reagan
August 8th, 2008 at 9:26 pmCould we have made a deal to sit back on this, if Russia sits back when we do Iran?
August 9th, 2008 at 2:11 am“Georgia has about 2,000 troops in Iraq, making it the third-largest contributor to coalition forces after the U.S. and Britain.”
If Georgia has been rotating deployments every 12 months, then they’ve got up to about 10,000 seasoned troops facing the Russians.
Gen. George S. Patton
Any info on the role played by Georgian units in Iraq?
August 9th, 2008 at 4:44 amI wonder what Putin was telling George during their exchange during the opening ceremonies at the Olympics….
August 9th, 2008 at 5:59 amThe fact of the matter is that Putin is actually patterned his style of government after Hitler’s.
Strong central government with private sector ownership creates the best system.
The US is now too fractured and confused.
The difference is that National Socialism was a Life based cosmic force. Beyond Christianity,Islam and simple nonsense such as democracy, communism etc.
Read Savitri Devi’s The Lightning and The Sun Chapters 11-14 and you shall see
August 9th, 2008 at 6:11 amCould we have made a deal to sit back on this, if Russia sits back when we do Iran?
That’s an interesting point.
August 9th, 2008 at 6:22 amIf Russian forces took ~4 years to partially defeat the Chechens…I don’t see a fast victory over Georgia, if at all.
I see as a more likely result the whipping the Slovenians gave the Serbs in 1990.
August 9th, 2008 at 6:56 amSeems as if the detruction that the Georgians are receiving is from the air. What kind of air force do they have if any?
August 9th, 2008 at 7:10 amCan they survive a Russian airial onslaught?
http://www.defensetech.org/archives/004350.html
See that link for details as to how Georgia and Russia match up against each other.
August 9th, 2008 at 8:37 amHerr Heinz…so Herr Hitler’s Nat’l Socialism was so successful that Herr Putin wil succeed if he emulates Nazi Germany? ‘National Socialism was a Life based cosmic force’. Are you joking? Life based, I guess that must have been after the Nazi’s managed to get 60 million killed?
August 9th, 2008 at 9:33 amThis could very well be the reason we moved two Navy carriers to the region.
Give me a break, Kraut !!
August 9th, 2008 at 9:57 amThis is Russia’s pay back for Serbia/Kosovo. Unless we want to insert troops (I don’t) the Russians are going to force Georgia to let these two provences break away. This is why an understanding of history and the consequences of the use of military force is so vital. This day has been coming since the first bomb was dropped by us on Belgrade, and we need to hold our nose and work to help the Georgians accept the inevitabe and get on with settling this before they are totally destroyed.
August 9th, 2008 at 10:07 ami dont think so
August 9th, 2008 at 11:14 amGeorgia wants to join NATO and Russia doesn’t want them to.
August 9th, 2008 at 11:45 amIf Georgia has any nukes left over, and things get rather close to the end, watch out.
August 9th, 2008 at 11:51 amWinnie the Pooh
August 9th, 2008 at 1:11 pmwould know what to do
TREES ARE THE ANSWER
August 9th, 2008 at 2:46 pmMost of Georgia’s troops were on the border of Iraq and Iran. Now they are being pulled out to fight at home.
http://ca.youtube.com/watch?v=QAL-InFfFC4
August 9th, 2008 at 2:55 pmBut isn’t the Breck girl more important?
August 9th, 2008 at 3:37 pmAccording to The Times on Aug. 9, “While it has no significant oil or gas reserves of its own, Georgia is a key transit point for oil from the Caspian region destined for Europe and the United States. Crucially, it is the only practical route from this increasingly important producer region that avoids both Russia and Iran.”
“The Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan (BTC) pipeline…was partly underwritten by British taxpayers [and] entered full service last year. It is the world’s second-longest oil pipeline….”
“About 250 kilometres of the route passes through Georgia, with parts of it running only 55 kilometres from South Ossetia. It also runs close to another secessionist Georgian region, Abkhazia.”
I’m waiting to hear that the British armed forces get involved in this one.
August 9th, 2008 at 4:06 pmThis is a planned diversion from the approaching blockade of Iran. See:
http://europebusines.blogspot.com/2008/08/massive-us-naval-armada-heads-for-iran.html
August 9th, 2008 at 5:50 pmI don’t understand why the Georgians don’t bomb the rail link through the mountains to stop the Russians from entering Georgia there. That is the only way into Georgia from Russia through the mountains. Close that, and the only way is by air or the Black Sea.
August 9th, 2008 at 6:14 pmYou got it, brother! Close there one way in and crush the bastards or last until winter when the mountains are snowed in.
Every time I think about this conflict I envision Gunnery Sgt. Hartman (R. Lee Ermey) getting in Pres. Bush’s face and yelling, “Why are you letting Russians take over Georgia? Why aren’t you stomping the Russians guts out?”
I am not looking forward to seeing what this does to the price of oil come Monday. Watch the foreign markets that open before ours, then duck for cover at 9:30am EST.
August 9th, 2008 at 7:40 pmSomeone else posted this site earlier somewhere. There is a mention of targeting the tunnels @ 6hrs ago. I was able to read everything earlier, but now when I click on the stories, it goes nowhere.
http://www.aboutgeorgia.net/
August 9th, 2008 at 7:53 pmTom in Texas
If that’s true, holy balls I want to shake the hand of the guy that came up with the plan!
Rove/Cheney/Bush, you magnificent bastards!
August 9th, 2008 at 9:00 pmIt’s on FOX news now that Georgian forces are withdrawing from South Ossetia.
August 9th, 2008 at 10:56 pmLatested update out of Georgia discounts whats being reported on the MSM Russian Forces Control Tskhinvali – Georgian Officials
August 10th, 2008 at 1:39 amConfused reporting from South Ossetia:
“Georgian Forces Break Through Tskhinvali Defense”
August 10, 2008
The South Ossetian State Committee for the Press and Mass Information reports that Georgian formations broke through the defenses of the Tskhinvali from the south after having been driven out by Russian forces. Fighting has been resumed in the city with renewed strength.
Georgian forces are using all forms of weapons at their disposal in residential neighborhoods of the South Ossetian capital. Those include artillery, Grad missiles, grenade launchers, personnel carriers and tanks. South Ossetian forces are being overwhelmed. Russian subdivisions have already been dispatched to aid them.
Georgian tank subdivisions are also attempting to take control of the Zari road, which connects Tskhinvali to North Ossetia. “Georgian tanks… are pressing toward the strategically important Zari road from the village of Khetagurovo,” the South Ossetian State Committee for the Press reports, but Interfax states that the Georgian forces have not taken the road.
The Russian border service is denying reports in the Georgian media that there has been an explosion in the Roki tunnel, RIA Novosti reports, citing the head of the North Caucasus department of the border service press service. The press officer stated that servicemen in the area of the tunnel have confirmed that “everything is calm and ambulances continue to bring the wounded through from the South Ossetian side.” The Roki tunnel is on the border between North and South Ossetia. It is being used to move Russian hardware and infantry into South Ossetia and to bring the wounded out of the conflict zone.
Novosti-Gruzia quotes Georgian Defense Ministry spokesmen as saying that the Georgian military has broken though to the Roki tunnel, however.
Full story:
http://www.kommersant.com/p-13066/r_527/Tskhinvali_Defense/
August 10th, 2008 at 5:58 amInteresting analysis here–note the theory that the “massive, genocidal losses” angle is deliberate Russian agit-prop to justify a massive Russian “counter-attack”:
http://orbat.com
And Belmont Club has good stuff, too, as always.
August 10th, 2008 at 6:49 amLet’s send Barak Obama there to talk to the Russians without preconditions!! He will so dazzle them with his offers of “change,” they will gladly lay down their weapons and start singing “Kum By Ya” with all the Georgians. Then, no doubt, he’ll take five loaves and two fishes and feed all the refugees as well.
August 10th, 2008 at 7:27 am[[Russia expanded its bombing blitz Sunday against neighboring U.S.-allied Georgia. Georgian troops pulled out of the capital of the contested province of South Ossetia under heavy Russian shelling.]]
Peacekeeping Russian style. What a bunch of incompetent dickheads.
August 10th, 2008 at 7:33 amTbilisi_big powdermill explosives factory burned not too long ago_____hmmm.
August 10th, 2008 at 9:01 amRalph Peters’ analysis in the New York Post:
What just happened? The Kremlin decided it was time to act, since Georgia was only growing stronger under its democratically elected government. Although NATO has been hemming and hawing about admitting Georgia, the Russians didn’t want to take any chances. (Just last month, 1,000 US troops were in Georgia for an exercise.)
Calculating that the media and world leaders would be partying in Beijing, the Russians ordered North Ossetian militiamen, backed by Russian “peacekeepers” and mercenaries, to provoke the Georgians earlier this month.
Weary of the Russian presence on their soil, the Georgians took the bait. President Mikheil Saakashvili ordered his US-trained military to respond.
That was the excuse the Kremlin wanted. Immediately, a tank brigade from Russia’s 58th Army (the butchers of Chechnya) crossed the international border into Poland - sorry, I meant Georgia.
How do I know that the Russians set a trap? Simple: Given the wretched state of Russian military readiness, that brigade could never have shot out of its motor pool on short notice. The Russians obviously “task-organized” the force in advance to make sure it would have working tanks with competent crews.
Otherwise, broken-down vehicles would’ve lined those mountain roads.
The Russians planned it. And they hope to push it to the limit.
If I were a Russian staff planner…My objective would be to retake Tskhinvali, then strike due south to cut Georgia’s lifelines to the world - the strategic highway, parallel rail line and international pipeline that connect Georgia’s eastern interior with its western ports.
If the Russian invaders can sever those links, they’ll cut Georgia in half. Control of that road-rail-pipeline complex would not only bring the Georgian economy to a standstill - it would also allow the Kremlin’s other clients in Abkhazia, on the Black Sea, to renew their attempt to devour Georgian territory.
http://www.nypost.com/php/pfriendly/print.php?url=http://www.nypost.com/seven/08092008/postopinion/opedcolumnists/raping_georgia_123664.htm
August 10th, 2008 at 9:46 amWhere is the presses outrage like when Bush invaded Iraq?
August 10th, 2008 at 10:06 amIf Russia had a problem with Georgia why didn’t they have to go to the UN and get 12 resolutions before invading a sovereign country?
Did Putin call for sanctions? or a world coalition?
WTF?
And why is it that the press can’t resist calling the Democratic nation of Georgia a former Soviet Republic?
Fucking Bastards!!
Georgia Pulls Out of Ossetia as Second Front Opens
August 10, 2008 1440 EDT
In Abkhazia, President Sergei Bagapsh gave Georgia a deadline for removing its troops from the upper Kodori Gorge, a part of the region controlled by Georgia, as Abkhaz warplanes and artillery pounded Georgian positions for a second day, according to a statement on the president’s Web site. Bagapsh said Abkhazia is acting “independently,” without Russian help. Utiashvili said Russian paratroopers and infantry are deployed in Abkhazia, and that fighting began earlier today…
Zalmay Khalilzad, U.S. ambassador to the UN, said Abkhazia is engaged in a “Russian-based military offensive” against Georgia in the Kodori Gorge that is a “direct challenge to a UN Security Council-mandated mission.”
In signs of a possible economic blockade, Russian warships prevented a Ukrainian ship carrying grain and an unidentified oil tanker from docking in the Georgian port of Poti, Economic Development Minister Eka Sharashidze said by telephone.
“This is suffocation of the country,” Lomaia said. “An economic blockade like this is very close to genocide.”
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=apjn7JAm9ZMU&refer=home
August 10th, 2008 at 11:47 amMore on Russia’s escalation:
http://www.nypost.com/seven/08102008/news/worldnews/russia_expands_war_123889.htm?page=0
We need to intervene. Georgia can’t take on Russia alone. If they reabsorb Georgia while the US does nothing, the other former Soviet republics will have no choice but to fall back into the Russian orbit. China will feel emboldened to push further in Tibet and Nepal, and might decide to bring Taiwan back under it’s control.
Every third rate dictator from Iran to Zimbabwe will feel emboldened. It’ll be Vietnam all over again, after we did so much to restore faith in our word in Iraq.
Even if we broker a treaty where Georgia remains ‘independent’ but gives Russia South Ossetia, it’ll be the Sudetenland all over again. Czechoslovakia was forced to give up it’s border region with Nazi Germany, including it’s best defensive terrain, fortifications, and factories.
The only way from Russia to Georgia is to go under the mountains through a single tunnel from North Ossetia to South Ossetia. That’s where a small force can hold off a much larger. Once the Russians were through, there wasn’t much the Georgians could do.
That’s why they fomented the ’seperatists’ and handed out Russian passports like confetti. That gave them a pretext to insert ‘peacekeepers’ who secured the southern end of the tunnel and opened the gates.
We should send a carrier battle group to break the blockade and provide air support. Those tank columns are sitting ducks to these:
http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/systems/munitions/cbu-97.htm
They were only used twice during the invasion of Iraq. That’s all it took. Entire battalions wiped out in seconds.
August 10th, 2008 at 12:40 pmso the liberals have finally started to chime in: why does the US care about what’s going on with Iran when Russia is being a menace right now?
August 10th, 2008 at 2:50 pmBush needs to get his ass back to DC instead of making nice for the camera in China….
This is serious shit going on.
August 11th, 2008 at 9:57 amThis is like if the Mexicans in Texas and California wanted to create a separate state and the Mexican military came in to the U.S. to help them.
August 11th, 2008 at 9:59 amI wonder what we’d do about it…
Give them all rights under the Geneva Convention obviously
August 11th, 2008 at 10:03 amWhere the fuck is GWB?
August 11th, 2008 at 10:23 amSeriously….where are George Clooney and Sean Penn? I demand to hear from the anti-war movement out of hollywood.
Wait…oh wait…I forgot. It’s a communist thing so it’s ok…
August 11th, 2008 at 11:41 amRussian troops close in on Georgian capital as full-scale war looms
Luke Harding in Tbilisi and Ian Traynor, Europe editor
Monday August 11 2008 20:00 BST
The Georgian authorities announced that the town of Gori, 60 miles north of Tbilisi, had effectively fallen to the Russians who were also advancing from the western pro-Russian breakaway province of Abkhazia into territory previously under Georgian control.
“The Georgian army is retreating to defend the capital. The government is urgently seeking international intervention to prevent the fall of Georgia and the further loss of life,” said the Georgian government.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/aug/11/georgia.russia13?gusrc=rss&feed=networkfront
OK - it’s time to blow the Roki tunnel.
August 11th, 2008 at 12:37 pmNow that it is clear that the BEAR is going to not just defend Ossetia and Abkhazia but destroy Georgia, it is time for the F-16s and F-15s to gain air superiority over Georgia and bring in the A-10s to breakup the Russian armor columns. This is going to require operating from NE Turkey or the biggest airlift and refueling campaign since Berlin but it is now time to show Putin and company that they cannot simply destroy the smaller nations on thier Southern border. Time to use the C-5As to get some Abrams & choppers up to Tbilisi and start putting together a worth while defensive force to help encourage the bad guys to ease back out of combat. AND WE DON’T HAVE ALL FUCKING DAY TO DO THIS!!!
August 11th, 2008 at 1:42 pmRVN68MIKE-
August 11th, 2008 at 2:52 pmI’m with you - in the meantime, we should start raining cruise missiles on Russia’s ratlines.
It seems as if Russia’s propaganda machine Pravda is blaming this war on the jews http://avideditor.wordpress.com/2008/08/11/russia-blames-georgia-war-on-the-jews/
August 11th, 2008 at 3:18 pmI’m seeing what looks like T-80’s with reactive armor - including a couple that got smoked! - and those have to be the Russians.
I also saw what appeared to be old T-62’s with RPG slats tacked on….not much doubt who those belong to.
I’m thinking a couple runs by some F-117’s might even the odds a bit.
August 11th, 2008 at 9:33 pmGeorgia’s Military equipment http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Military_of_Georgia
Their airforce is puny and their air defences are weak, Russian planes can operate with impunity. It would be nice to see an SU-37 in action over Georgia vs. an American JSF. Talk about a dog fight. I hope we help Georgia militarily of they are seriously kaput.
August 11th, 2008 at 11:55 pmMedvedev calls halt!?!?
Russian news reports are quoting President Dmitri Medvedev ordering a halt to Russian military action in Georgia.
Much more here…BBC confirms.
August 12th, 2008 at 1:33 amhttp://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2060404/posts
i’d love to see an Abrams toe to toe with their POS tank
August 12th, 2008 at 9:00 amHey Momps,
Remember Iraq? The Russian POS tanks are littered everywhere in Iraq.
August 12th, 2008 at 9:16 am