Pat Moving Russia-Georgia War Update Thread To Top Of Featured Posts - Constant Updates With Video To Be Found There
Alright, this puppy will now be moving down the food chain, as central factual updates will continue in a thread at the top of Featured Posts. “Color” stories, opinion pieces, analyses, will continue as stand-alone posts in the Today’s Posts rotation.
9:42 P.M. PST
China seeks cease-fire in South Ossetia
BEIJING, Aug. 9 (AP) - (Kyodo)—China on Saturday called on Russia and Georgia for a cease- fire as the escalating violence in the breakaway Georgian province of South Ossetia continued.
“China is seriously concerned about the worsening situation and armed conflict in South Ossetia,” Foreign Ministry spokesman Qin Gang said in a statement.
“We call on the relevant parties to exercise restraint and for a cease-fire immediately,” he said. “We sincerely expect the parties concerned to settle the dispute through dialogue and safeguard regional peace and stability.”
Beijing made the pitch as Russia sent troops into South Ossetia and bombed Georgian air bases Friday after Georgia began a military offensive to retake the province.
——————————————————–
UPDATE: 8:39
Fierce fighting reported in Georgia after Russian troop surge:
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.”
(AFP)
UPDATE: 5:30 PM
Georgia reports new air attacks at military bases Also
Georgia to impose martial law, port bombed-official
Source: Reuters
TBILISI, Aug 9 (Reuters) - Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili will declare martial law in a few hours time, the secretary of Georgia’s Security Council said early on Saturday.
“The president is going to declare a state of martial law within a few hours,” Kakha Lomaia told Reuters. “Russia has bombed the (Black Sea) port of Poti and the military base at Senaki. We think Russia has started to bomb civil and economic infrastructure.”
_____________________________________________________________________________
VIDEO UPDATE 5:00 PM PST: Combat Video, Downed Aircraft, MLRS…. Watch Video…
Woke up to a war. News, video, & other information is coming in constantly as events unfold. This is the place to check back regularly today for news on Russia’s attempt to prove to the world that they are still a player.
Update 5:00 PM PST: Combat Footage…
Major Video Update 3:45 PM PST:
McCain urges Russia to halt actions…
Bush reiterates Georgian sovereignty…
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.
If you can't handle using your real email address, don't bother posting a comment.
Yea…I was workin midshift and was on break when I logged on to see it. I was lile; WTF!?
August 8th, 2008 at 7:55 amGeorgia is the province/country my husband’s Russian grandfather originated from. He (his family/ancestors) are of Viking decent and settled in that area … Just days before the “Revolution” hit (he as a teen boy all on his own) he packed one small travel bag and bugged out of Russia, made his way across Canada working lumber mills, railroads and such to get into America.
He would tell me stories about Russia and his travels to America … But told of hearing and reading in the newspapers what was done to the Czar and the Royal Family. He said he knew only ‘ugliness’ was going to come out of Russia after that. He said ‘the Czar and the upper class were bad enough … but the Bolsheviks were angry, evil, ugly and hated ALL the people of Russia … that his life was his own, and he would NOT remain in a country where his life would become nothing more than a piece of the whole (collective).
Another thing … I’m hearing Hussein’s gaff of yesterday to the 7 yr old girl about ‘what America isn’t what it could have been anymore …’ (whatever) …
Seems that fits a hell of a site mo better with today’s Russia/USSR …
August 8th, 2008 at 8:15 amSo anyone seeing this leading to WWIII? We go to war with Russia, they form alliances with our enemies and then approach China, which accelerates China’s challenge to the West…
August 8th, 2008 at 8:37 amBreaking now: Georgia is planning to withdraw 1000 of their troops from Iraq so they can help protect the homeland
August 8th, 2008 at 8:45 amHell, I definitely don’t blame them whatsoever for withdrawing from Iraq. Only makes sense at this point.
August 8th, 2008 at 8:53 amThat’s fine with me
August 8th, 2008 at 9:02 amGet some heavy transports and fly those boys home!
August 8th, 2008 at 9:30 amLets fly them home on C17s and give them parting gifts that can take down Russian bombers and penetrate Russian armor.
August 8th, 2008 at 9:31 amCPLViper Agree 100% we should make that happen in hours not days. A thousand men would make a big difference especially in the early days.
I would only add that maybe along with those men should be some loads of ATM and Stingers.
August 8th, 2008 at 10:03 amBack off, bully-boy Putin! Your tanks are sitting ducks for American weaponry.
I hope we’ve been loading up the Georgians with plenty of firepower. They deserve our support, after all they’ve done for us in Iraq.
August 8th, 2008 at 10:25 amThe Jerusalem Post is reporting that Georgia is withdrawing ALL of its troops (2000) tomorrow.
August 8th, 2008 at 10:25 amright on! they sure do deserve our support. they were good enough to help us when we needed them in Iraq.
Great find. i hadn’t seen that.
and i dont blame them one bit, if the US homeland was under attack we would withdraw troops from all over the world and bring them home.
August 8th, 2008 at 10:44 ami think that the withdrawl from iraq might be canceled…georgians took most of the region under control , and russians never showed up, i guess couldnt take the heat from GW
August 8th, 2008 at 11:04 amI hope they kick some Russkie arse. At least they’re not withdrawing because of hollow threats from the swines.
August 8th, 2008 at 11:11 amI hope you’re right, Giorgi. The Russians aren’t called “Gog and Magog” in the Bible for nothing: a very dangerous and evil country.
Their troops, at least until recently, were laughably incompetent and poorly trained. Their actions in Chechnya reminded me of the old Keystone Kops movies. They’ve spent a lot of money lately on improvements, though, so it remains to be seen whether they’re any better than before.
August 8th, 2008 at 11:40 ami think the money would solve the human factor problem, the incopetence part that is, their soldiers still get beat up by the superiors on daily basis, suicide is a normal occurence there, during the fights the soldier might have second thoughts rabout shooting an anemy and might frag his own commanders…althought they do have a huge military, they still cant solve the chechen problem after 10 years of fighting, says a lot about their fighting potential..the only thing thats scary about them is their missiles and nuclear weapons
August 8th, 2008 at 11:56 amFox fucking stopped an interview with a reporter in Georgia to bring nancy-boy Edwards mea culpa shtick.
I guess finding out he managed to impregnate a woman (at least I think it’s female; looks like a guy in drag to me) is more important than WWIII.
August 8th, 2008 at 1:26 pmFrom Foxnews.com:
PRESIDENT OF RUSSIA DMITRY MEDVEDEV Statement on the Situation in South Ossetia
August 8, 2008
The Kremlin, Moscow
As you know, Russia has maintained and continues to maintain a presence on Georgian territory on an absolutely lawful basis, carrying out its peacekeeping mission in accordance with the agreements concluded. We have always considered maintaining the peace to be our paramount task. Russia has historically been a guarantor for the security of the peoples of the Caucasus, and this remains true today.
Last night, Georgian troops committed what amounts to an act of aggression against Russian peacekeepers and the civilian population in South Ossetia. What took place is a gross violation of international law and of the mandates that the international community gave Russia as a partner in the peace process.
Georgia’s acts have caused loss of life, including among Russian peacekeepers. The situation reached the point where Georgian peacekeepers opened fire on the Russian peacekeepers with whom they are supposed to work together to carry out their mission of maintaining peace in this region. Civilians, women, children and old people, are dying today in South Ossetia, and the majority of them are citizens of the Russian Federation.
In accordance with the Constitution and the federal laws, as President of the Russian Federation it is my duty to protect the lives and dignity of Russian citizens wherever they may be.
It is these circumstances that dictate the steps we will take now. We will not allow the deaths of our fellow citizens to go unpunished. The perpetrators will receive the punishment they deserve.
*********************************************
ttb:
Sounds like a declaration of war, and a refusal to recognize Georgia’s territorial sovereignty. This could get ugly.
August 8th, 2008 at 1:28 pmas of 12:30 AM local time russians started to conduct air-raids and bomb georgian cities and public infrastructure, ports on the black sea, non military targets and military bases throughout the georgia…thats state terorism!!!!!!!!
August 8th, 2008 at 1:43 pmfuck russia , fuck putin
President of Georgia to declare martial law within hours. war is escalating. Russia has bombed ports and an airbase. folks this is how world wars start. fuck Iran at the moment. keep a close eye on this one.
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,399962,00.html
August 8th, 2008 at 1:47 pmI heard Russia saw weakness in our refusal to take Georgia into NATO. So Russia knew NATO wouldnt come to their defense.
August 8th, 2008 at 1:49 pmI say take all those munitions we find in Iraq and send them to Georgia. Stalins birth place.
Stay safe. Always have a plan to get to safety, and a backup plan. And a backup for the backup.
August 8th, 2008 at 2:16 pmBackground info on Georgia:
August 8th, 2008 at 3:01 pmhttp://www.state.gov/r/pa/ei/bgn/5253.htm
Hope Krauthammer is right in saying that this won’t escalate to much more.
August 8th, 2008 at 3:31 pmhere are some comments about this evenment, the other side appreciation, and they look like the russian intervention is justified. Im not taking part, who is right, who is wrong, just hope that will not finish as a Ychechen conflict :
http://atlanticreview.org/archives/1140-War-in-the-Caucasus.html#comments
August 8th, 2008 at 4:20 pmhere are some comments about this evenment, the other side appreciation, and they look like the russian intervention is justified.
—————————————————-
FUCK THAT!
Russia wants the damn oil lines that supply the US and much of Europe. PERIOD
Theres NOTHING justified in doing this.
Their helping Iran and something is in the fucking works.
August 8th, 2008 at 5:20 pmThis apparently may have started about ten days ago.
From Strategypage.com -
…………………………..
War With Georgia
August 8, 2007: A week of fighting in Georgia (on Russians southern border in the Caucasus) was apparently a Georgian attempt to finally defeat ethnic separatists in the breakaway area of South Ossetia (population 50,000). Georgia announced that it had liberated the separatist area. Russia has not yet announced if it will go to war to support the, apparently, defeated South Ossetian separatists.
There is a second such area; Abkhazia (population 200,000). Georgia has a population of 4.6 million, and a hostile relationship (going back centuries) with Russia. In response to this bad attitude, Russia has backed the rebels of Abkhazia and South Ossetia (which are on the Russian border) since the early 1990s. Georgia was part of the Soviet Union (and Russia) for over two centuries. Georgians tolerated this for a long time as the only way to keep the Moslem Turks out of Christian Georgia. But with the end of the Cold War, this was no longer an issue and the Georgians wanted the Russians gone. The Russians considered the Georgians ungrateful and unreliable (for allowing Chechen rebels to hide out in neighboring Georgian mountains.)
The fighting in South Ossetia and Abkhazia had stopped over a decade ago, because Georgia could not muster sufficient military force to regain control of the two breakaway border areas. Then a UN brokered peace deal brought in several thousand Russian peacekeepers. About ten days ago, there were were reports of gunfire and mortar shells exploding in South Ossetia. In the last few days, Georgian Su-25 ground attack aircraft were seen hitting targets in South Ossetia. Artillery shells were reported to have hit a Russian peace keeper barracks. Russia announced that it was sending more peacekeeping troops to South Ossetia. Russian aircraft were reported to have bombed targets just inside Georgia. Russia was unable to get the UN to pass a resolution demanding that Georgia cease efforts to get back control of its territory.
August 8th, 2008 at 5:21 pm
Goddam it people JUST STOP FIGHTING
August 8th, 2008 at 5:30 pmSo anyone seeing this leading to WWIII? We go to war with Russia, they form alliances with our enemies and then approach China, which accelerates China’s challenge to the West…
————————————————
Yes
August 8th, 2008 at 5:34 pmHold onto your wallets boys and girls, if this gets any worse, tough times are ahead.
August 8th, 2008 at 5:48 pmMcCain was on the ball, took action and made his statement with knowledge and confidence, probably one of his finer moments so far in the campaign (The opportunity to use this moment should be exploited by the McCain campaign)…
Hussein had no enthusiasm for the subject and exposed that he had no knowledge of the situation before reading a headline today, his statement sounded more like he was grudgingly repeating portions of President Bushes statement…
As of Aug 5th the overall CBS poll #’s work out to a 60-40% split with McCain in the lead as an Effective Commander In Chief… Todays showdown should give McCain an even greater lead in that category…
August 8th, 2008 at 5:51 pmAlso … I guess these events answer the question of why two carrier groups are moving / moved into the area.
In my opinion, the shit is starting to hit the fan.
August 8th, 2008 at 5:54 pmYou read my mind!
August 8th, 2008 at 6:21 pmThe perception that, right or wrong, Georgia is in over its head may well be right - they don’t have much that we have not donated to them, but their heart is in the fight and that can mean everything. What will make the difference, and may decide the outcome is if President George W. Bush orders emergency delivery of Javelin and AT-4 anti-armor weapons, along with Stingers and - this is the rub - advisors at the tactical an operational levels. We didn’t stage manage this move, and that is a problem, but the pressure is clear because we are on stage to all the partnership for peace and former Warsaw Pact NATO members to who are waiting to see if we will back a friend in the fight of their life. A broad variety of logistics, including cash, will have to just show up at the right place at the right time to shore the Georgians up or we will be shown up as B.S. MFers. It will be a lot harder to base our Balistic missle defenses and obtain contingency basing and landing rights in Russia’s near abroad if we are unfaithful and show a yellow streak now. Kindly tell me if you disagree with my assessment. I really want of know.
August 8th, 2008 at 7:37 pmTime for another Russia revolution. Where is Gary Kasparov?
August 8th, 2008 at 9:10 pmWhat would Obamessiah do?
August 8th, 2008 at 9:11 pmPretty scary. As a devout catholic i have heard and read much on the topic of the end of the world and how wars will spread everywhere, and a majority all say that Russia is more or less the cause of the problem. Fuck the Russians, hope they back down or else WW3 might be close at hand
August 8th, 2008 at 9:34 pmEver get the feeling that Russia somehow had a hand in 9/11? I know I did, strongly. Not so much, now, but every now-and-then I still wonder.
August 8th, 2008 at 9:59 pmNobama is swimming in the deep end now and he’s scared, as he should be. This president thing isn’t all it’s cracked up to be is it?
He appeared, as usual, to be unprepared to say anything substantive. More like, “Hey, my plane’s leaving for Hawaii, see ya.”
August 9th, 2008 at 6:08 amI Russian. And at us in the country bears do not walk the streets also not all drink vodka since morning and till the evening. Moreover not all country hates America and Americans and we do not want war. I understand your indignation after all your opinion on a situation is formed by news and the TV. However having seen sites BBC and CNN, and also articles with descriptions of occurring events in a zone Georgian - the Osset conflict I have come to a conclusion that at the situation description many facts are considerably deformed by your correspondents and leaders of news, and many is rather considerable, practically on 180 degrees. Russia is shown practically as an aggressor attacked on poor and defenceless Georgia which only put things in order in the province, pacifying as is told on your site of “separatists”. While Russia has acted with the help to fraternal people to reflect attack of aggressors and to prevent occupation of Ossetia by the Georgian armies. That further would lead to civil war in region, and Georgia inspired with success certainly would continue the party of other unrecognized republic of Abkhazia in aggression. That does not speak that Russia is interested in the peace, and all forces are directed on that not to allow Georgia to grasp independent (let and not recognised) republic that in itself is a crime against humanity. The main news on site BBC at present is the information on an attack of the Russian air forces on Gori, also it is mentioned victims among the peace population of Georgia. However about more than 2000!!! The killed Ossetins why that the information is extremely poor. About that that Georgia the first has launched war having attacked at night a peace city also is ignored, are silent also fighters of special groups of Georgia which shower with pomegranates of women and children of buildings escaping in cellars from aggressors. Certainly the truth do not write and in Russian-speaking editions, there too muddle the information, демонизируют Saakashvilis and show a situation from foreshortenings favourable that the public opinion of citizens of Russia developed against Georgia and the USA supporting it. Simply understand that at each medal two parties and it is impossible to judge on a situation leaning against news presented English-speaking to mass media.
August 9th, 2008 at 9:50 amJust a sample of the differences:
August 9th, 2008 at 10:12 amMcCain gets down to business and Obama goes on vacation.
Pelosi goes on vacation and the taxpayers don’t due to Gas$.
max
excuse me but what about chechens?? who are u to talk about what right and whats wrong and invading people…we are taking whats ours, you keep your land … karoche ra bratan, proshu ne sovat svoi nos v chuzhie dela, esli ti naxlebalsya putinskoi propogandi idi na vash forumi i govori chto xoches o saakashvili, vsya gruziya edina i gruzinskii flag budet razveivatsa na rokskom tunele, duraki vi vobshe vam bolshe net mesta na kavkaze za sodeyanoe, i ne skuli kak malenkii piosik vi navsegda poteryali gruziu i ves kavkaz, to chto skazal putin 2 chasa nazad eto bred sivoi kobili, … a zhalko, moglibi normalno vesti sebya i vsio bilo bi tip top a ne vmeshivatsa i zhopu lizat separatistam, vi zhe boites chto grusiya v NATO voisiot, tebe ne poxui a? tebe kakaya raznica, vot estonia v NATO i chto? chto Piter razbombili ili strashnie amerikanskie shpioni obxvatili vashu stranu..voobshe a davaite zaxodite v NATO vmeste budet veselei
sorry i had to say it in russian, wouldnt sound the same in english
August 9th, 2008 at 10:35 amGeorgia peoples die 2 times for $$$
http://k.img.com.ua/img/gallery/756/8fbdf560b7f5dfb5d1305d32f0d5392a.jpg
http://k.img.com.ua/img/gallery/756/3150ab36819655b61a5a4036c3f46b1c.jpg
August 9th, 2008 at 1:37 pm