Allstocks.com's Bulletin Board Post New Topic  Post A Reply
my profile login | register | search | faq | forum home

  next oldest topic   next newest topic
» Allstocks.com's Bulletin Board » Off-Topic Post, Non Stock Talk » Russian tanks rolling into Georgian breakaway (Page 1)

 - UBBFriend: Email this page to someone!   This topic comprises 6 pages: 1  2  3  4  5  6   
Author Topic: Russian tanks rolling into Georgian breakaway
Pagan
Member


Member Rated:
4
Icon 1 posted      Profile for Pagan     Send New Private Message       Edit/Delete Post   Reply With Quote 
Russian tanks 'rolling into Georgian breakaway'
NEW: Georgia says it has shot down two Russian aircraft
Russian TV shows tanks and troops moving towards Georgia
Russian authorities said several of its peacekeepers died in a Georgian attack
Vladimir Putin warned Russia would respond to Georgia's actions


TBLISI, Georgia (CNN) -- Georgia's president said Friday that his country is under attack from Russian tanks and warplanes, and he accused Russia of targeting civilian populations as tensions over the breakway Georgian region of South Ossetia appeared to boil over into full-blown conflict.

"All day today they've been bombing Georgia from numerous warplanes and specifically targeting (the) civilian population, and we have scores of wounded and dead among (the) civilian population all around the country," Mikhail Saakashvili told CNN in an exclusive interview.

Saakashvili also said Georgian troops had shot down two Russian aircraft.

Asked whether Georgia and Russia were now at war, he said, "My country is in self-defense against Russian aggression. Russian troops invaded Georgia."

Russian television showed a convoy of Russian tanks and said they were heading into the South Ossetia region. Watch the Russian tanks moving into the area »

The move came after Russia denounced as "aggressive" a Georgian troops military offensive to regain control over the province, vowing to respond.

Russian authorities earlier said several of its peacekeepers died in a Georgian attack in South Ossetia, which borders Russia and has strong ties to its vast northern neighbor, and they vowed not to leave Russian citizens in the territory unprotected. Watch more about NATO's attempts to help Georgia »

"The Georgian leadership has launched a dirty adventure," a statement from Russia's Defense Ministry said on Friday. "We will not leave our peacekeepers and Russian citizens unprotected."

Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin said Georgia started the fighting and warned that Russia would respond to their actions.

"Heavy weapons and artillery have been sent there, and tanks have been added. Deaths and injuries have been reported, including among Russian peacekeepers," Putin said in comments carried Friday by Russia's Interfax news agency.

"It's all very sad and alarming. And, of course, there will be a response."

Earlier Friday, Georgian President Mikhail Saakashvili said in a televised statement that Russian aircraft bombed several Georgian villages and other civilian facilities.

He added that there were injuries and damage to buildings. "A full-scale aggression has been launched against Georgia," he said.

A Georgian official reported that seven people were hurt in the attack, the Associated Press said.

Saakashvili urged Russia to immediately stop bombing Georgian territory. "Georgia will not yield its territory or renounce its freedom," he said.

He also called for the full-scale mobilization of Georgian reserve forces as fighting continued to rage in South Ossetia's capital.

Meanwhile, NATO Secretary-General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer issued a statement Friday saying he was seriously concerned about the recent events in the region, and called on "all sides to end armed clashes and begin direct talks."

The United States also urged all sides to bring an immediate end to the violence. "The U.S. has been in discussions for many months with all parties to find a peaceful resolution," White House spokesman Gordon Johndroe said.

"We urge all sides to refrain from violence and to begin direct talks."

Russian peacekeepers are in South Ossetia under a 1992 agreement by Russian, Georgian, and South Ossetian authorities to maintain what has been a fragile peace. The mixed peacekeeping force also includes Georgian and South Ossetian troops.

The latest events came just hours after the U.N. Security Council finished an emergency session to discuss a dramatic escalation of violence in Georgia and South Ossetia. The session ended Friday morning without a statement about the fighting.

Violence has been mounting in the region in recent days, with sporadic clashes between Georgian forces and South Ossetian separatists. South Ossetia declared its independence from Georgia in the early 1990s, but its independence is not internationally recognized.

Georgian troops launched new attacks in South Ossetia late Thursday after a top government official said a unilateral cease-fire offer was met with separatist artillery fire.

"The objective of the operation is to protect the civilian population, to ensure their security and then convince the separatists that there is not a military solution to this conflict," said Alexander Lomaia, the secretary of Georgia's National Security Council.

Lomaia said Georgian troops were responding proportionately to separatist mortar and artillery attacks on two villages -- attacks he said followed the cease-fire and call for negotiations by Saakashvili.

The official news agency of the South Ossetian government reported heavy shelling in the territory's capital, Tskhinvali, that left dozens of buildings ablaze.

About 2,000 Georgian troops attempted to storm Tskhinvali overnight and were regrouping south of the city, according to Russia's ITAR-TASS news agency.

Around 10 a.m. Friday, Georgia said Russian military aircraft violated Georgian airspace and dropped two bombs on Kareli, a part of Georgia that is about 50 miles northwest of the capital, Tblisi, and is not in the conflict zone, said Shota Utiashvili, spokesman for the Georgian Ministry of Interior.

Georgia, located on the Black Sea coast between Russia and Turkey, has been split by Russian-backed separatist movements in South Ossetia and another region, Abkhazia.

Georgian and South Ossetian negotiators had been scheduled to meet Friday in Tskhinvali, Moscow's chief negotiator, Yuri Popov, told the Russian news agency Interfax.

Saakashvili announced Thursday night that he had ordered his troops to cease fire while the negotiators met, but Lomaia said the call was met with more attacks.

In addition, Lomaia said, hundreds of "mercenaries" -- or "volunteers," as the South Ossetians described them -- are pouring across the border from Russia to join the fight.

-- Journalist Elene Gotsadze contributed to this report.

--------------------
It is impossible to make anything foolproof because fools are so ingenious.

IP: Logged | Report this post to a Moderator
glassman
Member


Icon 1 posted      Profile for glassman     Send New Private Message       Edit/Delete Post   Reply With Quote 
Duma wants Putin to back Georgian separatists
The Associated Press
Published: March 21, 2008

MOSCOW: Parliament on Friday urged the Kremlin to consider recognizing the independence of two separatist regions in neighboring Georgia, stepping up Moscow's campaign to keep the former Soviet republic out of NATO.

The lower house of Parliament, the State Duma, voted overwhelmingly to adopt a statement calling on President Vladimir Putin and the government to "consider the question of the expediency of recognizing the independence of Abkhazia and South Ossetia."

The statement also says the government should speed up efforts to support the sovereignty of the two regions in case Georgia "accelerated" its drive to join the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, suggesting that Moscow should move swiftly toward recognizing the regions if the alliance puts Georgia on track for membership at a meeting next month.

The vote was 440 to 0 in the 450-seat chamber.

The statement calls on the government to increase support for Abkhazia and South Ossetia, which broke away from Georgian government control after the 1991 Soviet breakup and have made renewed calls for international recognition since Kosovo's Western-backed declaration of independence.


http://www.iht.com/articles/2008/03/21/europe/russia.php

so? we won the cold war, and Bush lost it back too?

--------------------
Don't envy the happiness of those who live in a fool's paradise.

IP: Logged | Report this post to a Moderator
bdgee
Member


Icon 1 posted      Profile for bdgee     Send New Private Message       Edit/Delete Post   Reply With Quote 
We didn't "win" the cold war, we simply survived it, while the U.S.S.R did not (which may offer a realistic definition of "winning" a war).

Bush lost us the chance to not have to fight several wars of the future (i.e., providing us several chances to loose a war), since it will be at least decades before most of the world will trust us again, thus disallowing diplomatic successes and avoidance of war.

IP: Logged | Report this post to a Moderator
Lockman
Member


Member Rated:
4
Icon 1 posted      Profile for Lockman     Send New Private Message       Edit/Delete Post   Reply With Quote 
quote:
Originally posted by bdgee:
We didn't "win" the cold war, we simply survived it, while the U.S.S.R did not (which may offer a realistic definition of "winning" a war).

Bush lost us the chance to not have to fight several wars of the future (i.e., providing us several chances to loose a war), since it will be at least decades before most of the world will trust us again, thus disallowing diplomatic successes and avoidance of war.

OBAMA will save us all! guess you haven't heard.

--------------------
Let's Go METS!!!

IP: Logged | Report this post to a Moderator
bdgee
Member


Icon 1 posted      Profile for bdgee     Send New Private Message       Edit/Delete Post   Reply With Quote 
Yes I did hear.

And, assuming he doesn't loose, that is fine.

However, suppose dubya wins a third term. Then, whatever ls is going on in the world, we will still be tied down in Iraq, assured of pretty good chance of loosing and still in almost total disfavor with most of the nations of the World.

IP: Logged | Report this post to a Moderator
jordanreed
Member


Icon 1 posted      Profile for jordanreed     Send New Private Message       Edit/Delete Post   Reply With Quote 
business, as usual?

--------------------
jordan

IP: Logged | Report this post to a Moderator
bdgee
Member


Icon 1 posted      Profile for bdgee     Send New Private Message       Edit/Delete Post   Reply With Quote 
Yep, the oil business.....
IP: Logged | Report this post to a Moderator
kermit42
Member


Rate Member
Icon 1 posted      Profile for kermit42     Send New Private Message       Edit/Delete Post   Reply With Quote 
Jesus, you liberals! Russia invades Georgia and the first bodies aren't even cold before you find a way to blame Bush?!?

When I saw the topic I was hoping to see a little intelligent thinking, but I was disappointed.

--------------------
Me Trade Pretty One Day.

IP: Logged | Report this post to a Moderator
glassman
Member


Icon 1 posted      Profile for glassman     Send New Private Message       Edit/Delete Post   Reply With Quote 
quote:
Originally posted by kermit42:
Jesus, you liberals! Russia invades Georgia and the first bodies aren't even cold before you find a way to blame Bush?!?

When I saw the topic I was hoping to see a little intelligent thinking, but I was disappointed.

you're right kermit, this isn't the return of the USSR and Bush has been the consumate diplomat... Putin doesn't have lying eyes and NATO will still get a new member....

seriuolsy? you beleive i'm just being a pundit?

Iskander Missile Systems, Strategic Bombers May Be Stationed in Belarus - Russian Ambassador
MINSK. Aug 6 (Interfax) - Iskander missile systems or strategic bombers may be stationed in Belarus in response to the placement of the U.S. ABM system elements in the Czech Republic and Poland, said Russian Ambassador to Belarus Alexander Surikov.

"Are Belarus and Russia bound by the 1994 treaty [on the withdrawal of nuclear weapons from Belarus]? Of which the U.S. was a guarantor. No one can breach the treaty, but issues relating to anti- missile activities can be considered," Surikov told a press conference in Minsk.

"Among these issues is the possibility of placing Iskander missile systems in Belarus and the possible placement of strategic bombers in Belarus, Kaliningrad, etc.," he said.

"All these actions can be discussed after the U.S. has signed a treaty with Poland, and then various response measures, including the placement of nuclear weapons, can be taken," the ambassador said.


http://www.istockanalyst.com/article/viewiStockNews+articleid_2485544&title=Iska nder_Missile.html


it's not about punditry for me, i'm just observing causes and effects...

Russia mulls arms in Belarus to counter U.S. shield
Wed Aug 6, 2008 10:06am EDT

The United States have unnerved Moscow by its plans to install elements of its missile defense system in Poland and the Czech Republic, a measure Washington believes is needed to avert possible missile strikes from Iran.

Moscow says U.S. plans pose a threat to Russia's national security.


http://www.reuters.com/article/newsMaps/idUSL628838720080806


as for winning or losing the cold war? the "win" was a peaceful resolution....

Top Russian generals had earlier speculated that Moscow could deploy its new Iskander-M tactical surface-to surface missiles to counter the U.S. missile shield.

if it really is just Surface to Surface missiles (which i don't believe) then they are not reacting inapropriately...

--------------------
Don't envy the happiness of those who live in a fool's paradise.

IP: Logged | Report this post to a Moderator
bdgee
Member


Icon 1 posted      Profile for bdgee     Send New Private Message       Edit/Delete Post   Reply With Quote 
It isn't a political matter of blaming dubya, it is reality.

That liar and crook, under full protection (to this day!!!!) by and with full cooperation of the republican party has buried the respect for th U.S. and hope for avoiding war so deep in the s--t pile of party first fascism the whole world shakes and whimpers with any hint of aggression anywhere, by anyone.

IP: Logged | Report this post to a Moderator
Pagan
Member


Member Rated:
4
Icon 1 posted      Profile for Pagan     Send New Private Message       Edit/Delete Post   Reply With Quote 
quote:
Originally posted by bdgee:
It isn't a political matter of blaming dubya, it is reality.

That liar and crook, under full protection (to this day!!!!) by and with full cooperation of the republican party has buried the respect for th U.S. and hope for avoiding war so deep in the s--t pile of party first fascism the whole world shakes and whimpers with any hint of aggression anywhere, by anyone.

Sorry, but WTF are you talking about? What does that post have to do with the topic of this thread? Not picking fight, but lost on your logic.

--------------------
It is impossible to make anything foolproof because fools are so ingenious.

IP: Logged | Report this post to a Moderator
glassman
Member


Icon 1 posted      Profile for glassman     Send New Private Message       Edit/Delete Post   Reply With Quote 
i understand Bush and Putin shook hands in Beijing today... so i'm sure this is all just a big mistake...

my bad... i was just recalling how the USSR got involved in Afghanistan the first time...

we are allied with Georgia and Russia supports the spearatists...

and yes, we have "advisors" (under 200 legally reported)in Georgia and the Russkies have troops....

i don't trust Russia, never did... nor do i trust China, and i am not convinced we should be doing business with either of them...

--------------------
Don't envy the happiness of those who live in a fool's paradise.

IP: Logged | Report this post to a Moderator
glassman
Member


Icon 1 posted      Profile for glassman     Send New Private Message       Edit/Delete Post   Reply With Quote 
U.S., Poland strike missile deal while Russia objects

Wed July 2, 2008

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- The United States and Poland have reached a tentative deal to place part of a ballistic missile defense system on its territory, a plan that has drawn sharp objections from Russia, a senior administration official said Wednesday.

The Bush administration has long pushed to base missile interceptors in Poland. The interceptor rockets would be linked to an air-defense radar system in the Czech Republic, where officials agreed in April to take part in the system.

The interceptors in the Czech Republic could identify and shoot down missiles fired by Iran at Europe or the United States. Russia fervently opposes basing the interceptors right across its border and says the system's real target would be Russian missiles, according to Time magazine.


http://www.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/europe/07/02/missile.defense.poland/


then, a couple days later?

For months, it appeared that Poland would easily accept U.S. plans. Undoubtedly, Poland is a strong U.S. ally and a vital contributor to transatlantic security, contributing a sizable contingency in Afghanistan and a vocal lobby for future eastward expansion of NATO. However, seeking millions of dollars in military aid, Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk rebuffed the latest U.S. offer on July 4.

To make matters more complicated, Polish Petroleum and Gas Mining (PGNiG), 85 percent of which is owned by the Polish state, is looking to Tehran as a source of energy. On June 30, the Polish daily Rzeczpospolita reported that PGNiG was "close" to securing a contract to extract liquefied natural gas (LNG) from Iran's Lavan gas field.
While the United States fears a nuclear-armed Iran, Poland is weighing this risk against its own national security agenda -- to reduce its overwhelming dependence on Russian energy imports. Considering that total Polish demand for gas is expected to double to 24.4 billion cubic meters by mid-decade, the Polish government is reluctant to increase volumes of Russian gas. After a Russian-Ukrainian price dispute in January 2006 reduced Polish gas imports by 9 percent for several days, diversifying away from Russian gas sources looks more prudent.


http://www.worldpoliticsreview.com/Article.aspx?id=2417

--------------------
Don't envy the happiness of those who live in a fool's paradise.

IP: Logged | Report this post to a Moderator
glassman
Member


Icon 1 posted      Profile for glassman     Send New Private Message       Edit/Delete Post   Reply With Quote 
'If the US and Poland ultimately reach an agreement on the installation of the missile defence system, Russia will need to consider what steps to undertake and what decisions to make', Alexander Surikov, the Russian ambassador to Belarus, said in Minsk yesterday.

According to Mr Surikov, such a response could be for Russia to deploy to Belarus and the Kaliningrad enclave its ground-ground Iskander-M missiles with which the Russian armed forces are currently being equipped. The Iskanders-M in the Kaliningrad enclave would be aimed at the Polish missile defence base, and those in Belarus - at the radar base the Czechs have already agreed to host. Russia would also move strategic bombers to bases in Belarus and around the city of Kaliningrad.

Russian generals made similar threats as Mr Surikov last year. In August, Col Gen Nikolai Bordyuzha, Secretary General of the Collective Security Treaty Organisation (a military pact of the CIS, with members including Russia, Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, and Uzbekistan), said that the US missile defence project should be responded to with a 'new international military structure resembling Soviet military structures'.

The prospect of close military cooperation with Russia suits Belarussian president Alexander Lukashenko, who has reacted equally angrily to the US plans. Russia operates in Belarus a radiolocation base called Volga in the town of Gantsevichi, and a navy remote control centre in Vileika, Mink region.


http://wyborcza.pl/1,86871,5562840,Russia_Threatens_New_Deployments_to_Offset_US _Missile.html

--------------------
Don't envy the happiness of those who live in a fool's paradise.

IP: Logged | Report this post to a Moderator
Pagan
Member


Member Rated:
4
Icon 1 posted      Profile for Pagan     Send New Private Message       Edit/Delete Post   Reply With Quote 
"i don't trust Russia, never did... nor do i trust China, and i am not convinced we should be doing business with either of them..."

I agree. We quit doing business with either of them, and their economies collapse. It's like a new "detente", but economic based.

Weird times we live in [Confused]

--------------------
It is impossible to make anything foolproof because fools are so ingenious.

IP: Logged | Report this post to a Moderator
glassman
Member


Icon 1 posted      Profile for glassman     Send New Private Message       Edit/Delete Post   Reply With Quote 
wierd times alright:

the power brokers want to "do business" while saying they are "spreading freedom", yet it's our citizens freedoms that seem to be disappearing.

we funded the Afghani Mujhahadeen (no evidence that i have seen has turned up that we funded osama personally) in a direct attempt sucker the USSR deeper into a war there...

it worked... the USSR lost 50,000 men and went BKRPT... the cold war ended...

we used the Paki's as a conduit, and in return for their "help" we "allowed" them to develop nuclear weapons and helped them by training their scientists in our US and British universities...

then they sold secrets to N Korea and Iran...the guy who did it is a national hero and was pardoned...

meanwhile? we decided to industrialise China which is also communist and pretend that we are helping free their people?

old Soviet Joke: "We pretend to work, they pretend to pay us"...
that's the "evil commies"...

the "good commies" work cheap...

and wars in the mideast make oil prices go uo...

--------------------
Don't envy the happiness of those who live in a fool's paradise.

IP: Logged | Report this post to a Moderator
CashCowMoo
Member


Rate Member
Icon 1 posted      Profile for CashCowMoo     Send New Private Message       Edit/Delete Post   Reply With Quote 
WAR! WAR! WAR!

--------------------
It isn't so much that liberals are ignorant. It's just that they know so many things that aren't so.

IP: Logged | Report this post to a Moderator
bdgee
Member


Icon 1 posted      Profile for bdgee     Send New Private Message       Edit/Delete Post   Reply With Quote 
quote:
Originally posted by Pagan:
quote:
Originally posted by bdgee:
It isn't a political matter of blaming dubya, it is reality.

That liar and crook, under full protection (to this day!!!!) by and with full cooperation of the republican party has buried the respect for th U.S. and hope for avoiding war so deep in the s--t pile of party first fascism the whole world shakes and whimpers with any hint of aggression anywhere, by anyone.

Sorry, but WTF are you talking about? What does that post have to do with the topic of this thread? Not picking fight, but lost on your logic.
Truthfully, it certainly looks to be that you are too picking a fight.....or at least trying to.


"Sorry, but WTF are you talking about?", you ask?

Read the thread and find out.

"What does that post have to do with the topic of this thread?", you asked?

If you had bothered to read the thread, you would have seen that it is a direct response to the post just two before it in the thread, just as th post immediately preceding is.

Now, I have a couple of questions that I will pose in bit more polite manner.

When was there a rule put into effect that there is some boundary to the subject or content of post in a thread in Off Topics at Allstocks?

Who appointed you to leadership of the "Thread Police"?

IP: Logged | Report this post to a Moderator
Relentless.
Member


Icon 1 posted      Profile for Relentless.     Send New Private Message       Edit/Delete Post   Reply With Quote 
Can we please have world war three now?
I am getting just a bit tired of all the anticipation...
Every minor stir in any quadrant erupts into nothing more than ratings for the 24/7's... can we please have a real skirmish between good and evil?

IP: Logged | Report this post to a Moderator
CashCowMoo
Member


Rate Member
Icon 1 posted      Profile for CashCowMoo     Send New Private Message       Edit/Delete Post   Reply With Quote 
Screw it....lets back Georgia and lets give the Russians a pounding and good ol fashion USA butt whooping that they have had coming to them for decades.

--------------------
It isn't so much that liberals are ignorant. It's just that they know so many things that aren't so.

IP: Logged | Report this post to a Moderator
osubucks30
Member


Icon 1 posted      Profile for osubucks30     Send New Private Message       Edit/Delete Post   Reply With Quote 
Georgia sent troops to Iraq. Sure they only had about 2,000 there but they helped! Now they are getting crushed and where are we?? Doesn't seem right.
IP: Logged | Report this post to a Moderator
osubucks30
Member


Icon 1 posted      Profile for osubucks30     Send New Private Message       Edit/Delete Post   Reply With Quote 
I am not in favor of preemptive strikes. I have made that clear before. Russia is crushing a democratic elected country. So Bush says. Are we just all rhetoric?? Russia is a big country so no standing up for the little guy I guess.
IP: Logged | Report this post to a Moderator
CashCowMoo
Member


Rate Member
Icon 1 posted      Profile for CashCowMoo     Send New Private Message       Edit/Delete Post   Reply With Quote 
Problem is...how do we tell russia bad dog when we told them to piss off when we went into iraq?

--------------------
It isn't so much that liberals are ignorant. It's just that they know so many things that aren't so.

IP: Logged | Report this post to a Moderator
Relentless.
Member


Icon 1 posted      Profile for Relentless.     Send New Private Message       Edit/Delete Post   Reply With Quote 
We don't.. and we can't.
At this point we are as bad as them and their actions right now are nothing short of what we would have done had they been arming one of our former territories.
Fact of the matter is we are just as much to blame for this as anyone.
This is the price of all our BS.
We.. just like them.. run around.. sneak around thwarting progress.. encouraging back stabbing.
We are deceitful and we encourage that in everyone else with our two faced dealings with the world.
This idiotic notion that everyone is our enemy and we need to control them through either force of covert psyops will end this species for all.

IP: Logged | Report this post to a Moderator
Relentless.
Member


Icon 1 posted      Profile for Relentless.     Send New Private Message       Edit/Delete Post   Reply With Quote 
The moronic idea that we are somehow needed to spread "Freedom" and "Democracy" to every corner of the world when we here haven't seen it's like in over a hundred years is exactly what brings on conflicts like this.
IP: Logged | Report this post to a Moderator
glassman
Member


Icon 1 posted      Profile for glassman     Send New Private Message       Edit/Delete Post   Reply With Quote 
Welcome to "The New American Century"

the project is so bankrupt they've even failed to pay their bills:
www.newamericancentury.org/
This Account Has Been Suspended
Please contact the billing/support department as soon as possible.


--------------------
Don't envy the happiness of those who live in a fool's paradise.

IP: Logged | Report this post to a Moderator
bond006
Member


Member Rated:
4
Icon 1 posted      Profile for bond006     Send New Private Message       Edit/Delete Post   Reply With Quote 
Close Window
Georgia says Russia bombed after order to halt war
Tuesday, August 12, 2008
TBILISI, Georgia - Russia ordered a halt to the war 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 televised order by Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, Russia launched an offensive Tuesday in Abkhazia, sending tanks, armored personnel carriers and artillery toward the breakaway region.

Georgian troops were forced out of their last stronghold in the separatist province, said Maj. Gen. Anatoly Zaitsev, a defense official in Abkhazia. The claim that Georgian forces were gone could not immediately be confirmed.

And hours before the order to stop fighting, Russian jets bombed the crossroads city of Gori, near the separatist region of South Ossetia. Gori's post office and university were burning Tuesday, but the city was all but deserted after most remaining residents and Georgian soldiers fled Monday ahead of a feared Russian onslaught.

In Moscow, Medvedev said Georgia had been punished enough for its attack on South Ossetia. Georgia launched an offensive late Thursday to regain control over the separatist province, which has close ties to Russia.

"The aggressor has been punished and suffered very significant losses. Its military has been disorganized," Medvedev said.

Georgian President Mikhail Saakashvili, speaking before a crowd of thousands at a Tbilisi square, said the invasion was not because Russia wanted control of the breakaway regions.

"They just don't want freedom and that's why they want to stamp on Georgia and destroy it," he said, as red and white Georgian fluttered.

Tens of thousands of terrified residents have fled the fighting - South Ossetians north to Russia, and Georgians west toward the capital of Tbilisi and east to the country's Black Sea coast.

Both sides have traded accusations of genocide and ethnic cleansing.

Russia has accused Georgia of killing more than 2,000 people, mostly civilians, in the separatist province of South Ossetia. The claim couldn't be independently confirmed, but witnesses who fled the area over the weekend said hundreds had died.

Many Georgians also have been killed in the fighting and on Tuesday, the Georgian security council said it filed a lawsuit in the International Court of Justice for alleged ethnic cleansing. The overall death toll was expected to rise because large areas of Georgia were still too dangerous for journalists to enter and see the true scope of the damage.

"It feels like an annexed country," said Lasha Margiana, the local administrator in one of the villages in the Kodori Gorge, where fleeing Georgians said the entire population had abandoned their homes.

Zaitsev, the commander in Abkhazia, said only local forces - not Russian ones - were involved in the operation to squeeze out the Georgians. But an AP reporter visiting the village of Chuberi saw 135 Russian military vehicles heading toward the Kodori Gorge. Georgian officials said their troops in the gorge were being attacked by Russians.

Medvedev assailed the West for supporting Georgia in the conflict: "International law doesn't envision double standards."

In Tskhinvali, the South Ossetian provincial capital now under Russian control, the body of a Georgian soldier lay in the street along with debris. A poster hanging nearby showed Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin and the slogan "Say yes to peace and stability" as South Ossetian separatist fighters launched rockets at a Georgian plane soaring overhead. Broken glass and other debris littered the ground.

"If there are any emerging hotbeds of resistance or any aggressive actions, you should take steps to destroy them," Medvedev ordered his defense minister at a televised Kremlin meeting.

U.S. officials were focused primarily on confirming a ceasefire and attending to Georgia's urgent humanitarian needs

"It is very important now that all parties cease fire," Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said. "The Georgians have agreed to a ceasefire, the Russians need to stop their military operations as they have apparently said that they will, but those military operations really do now need to stop because calm needs to be restored."

Russia's foreign minister called for Saakashvili to resign. Medvedev said Georgia must pull its troops from the two Russian-backed breakaway provinces and allow them to decide whether they want to remain part of Russia.

"Ossetians and Abkhaz must respond to that question taking their history into account, including what happened in the past few days," Medvedev said grimly.

Thousands of Georgians poured out their support for their president at a rally in Tbilisi, crowding a main square and nearby streets as far as the eye could see and holding aloft fluttering red-and-white Georgian flags.

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

Both separatist provinces are backed by Russia, which appears open to absorbing them.

Medvedev said Tuesday that Russian peacekeepers will stay in both South Ossetia and Abkhazia; Saakashvili said his government will officially designate Russian peacekeepers in those breakaway provinces as occupying forces.

The Russian onslaught angered the West and drew tough words from President Bush, but some Georgians are disappointed that the U.S. did not intervene to protect its tiny ally.

"I'd like to think the words really do matter," U.S. Deputy Assistant Secretary of State Matthew Bryza said Tuesday in Tbilisi.

Bryza declined to say if the U.S. would provide military support in the event that Russia expands its operations: "I hope we'll never come to the question of what we do if Russia refuses to observe international law."

Georgia sits on a strategic oil pipeline carrying Caspian crude to Western markets bypassing Russia, has long been a source of contention between the West and a resurgent Russia, the dominant energy supplier to Europe. The British oil company BP shut down one of three Georgian pipelines as a precaution, although the company said it had no evidence the pipelines had suffered damage.

In villages around the South Ossetian provincial capital, separatist fighters reportedly were setting fire to Georgian houses and searching for hidden Georgian fighters.

An AP photographer in the village of Ruisi near South Ossetia saw fresh damage from a Russian air raid that locals said came just 30 minutes before Medvedev's televised statement.

Residents said three villagers were killed and another five wounded when a Russian warplane raided the village. One slain victim, 77-year old Amiran Vardzelashvili, was struck by a fragment in the heart while was working in a field.

The Georgian government said another nearby village, Sakorinto, also was bombed after Medvedev announcing a halt to fighting, as was an ambulance in the Black Sea province of Adzharia.

The U.N. and NATO called meetings Tuesday to deal with the conflict, while Poland's president and the leaders of four former Soviet republics flew to Georgia for a meeting of solidarity with Saakashvili.

"The Russian state has once again shown its face, its true face," said Poland's Lech Kaczynski, who was being joined by counterparts from Lithuania, Estonia, Ukraine and Latvia.

But he said it was "good news" that Medvedev ordered a halt to the war.

At the White House on Monday, Bush had demanded that Russia end a "dramatic and brutal escalation" of violence in Georgia, agree to an immediate cease-fire and accept international mediation.

"Russia has invaded a sovereign neighboring state and threatens a democratic government elected by its people. Such an action is unacceptable in the 21st century," Bush said in a televised statement.

---

Associated Press writers Chris Torchia reported from Zugdidi, Georgia and near the Kodori Gorge; Misha Dzhindzhikhashvili from Tbilisi, Georgia; David Nowak from Gori, Georgia; Douglas Birch from Vladikavkaz, Russia; Jim Heintz, Vladimir Isachenkov and Lynn Berry from Moscow; and Pauline Jelinek from Washington.


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Copyright 2007 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed


Legal | Privacy Policy
Copyright © 2008, PeoplePC Inc. All rights reserved.
Close Window

IP: Logged | Report this post to a Moderator
CashCowMoo
Member


Rate Member
Icon 1 posted      Profile for CashCowMoo     Send New Private Message       Edit/Delete Post   Reply With Quote 
Now they are talking about how they are going to "punish" Russia for this. I dont see this going anywhere good anytime soon.


I say we para-drop all 4 82nd airborne brigades into georgia, start rolling the armor stationed in Germany eastward full speed, and send multiple fleets with nuclear attack submarines off the eastern coast of Russia. Then the 2nd infantry division can deploy stryker brigades from Turkey (port access) and push all the Special Forces teams from Afghanistan up the belly of Russia to assist strategic targeting by stealth bombers.

4th Brigage, 25th Infantry division (airborne) can deploy from Alaska and hit up the northeastern front of Russian, and then land Marine expeditionary forces from Japan to the southeastern coast of Russia with air cover provided by A-10 warthogs stationed in south Korea that can run missions from bases there.

Naval battleships from the mediterranian sea can route their way up to the ocean just south of finland on off western russias borders. We can fly long range stealth bomber missions from guam, and from air bases in Missouri.


Yes....I can see it now. We will crush the commie *******s like we should have long ago!


Ol putin will never change...that ol KGB ******* trying to run moscow like stalingrad.

--------------------
It isn't so much that liberals are ignorant. It's just that they know so many things that aren't so.

IP: Logged | Report this post to a Moderator
bdgee
Member


Icon 1 posted      Profile for bdgee     Send New Private Message       Edit/Delete Post   Reply With Quote 
We spent all our might in Iraq and the Russians know it. They don't have to care what we think and they know it.

We pooped away our might. Not only politically on an illegal war, but we wasted all our military material and strength subduing a tin horn dufus running a third world country, just to keep big oil on top of our own financial heap.

IP: Logged | Report this post to a Moderator
bond006
Member


Member Rated:
4
Icon 1 posted      Profile for bond006     Send New Private Message       Edit/Delete Post   Reply With Quote 
Yes so is the way your enemies think in Iraq we have shown nothing but weakness not in the original bttle but the occupation has been a big failure and shows the world that we are having a hard time in controling a rabble.

and after dinking around for years we will leave and the government in Iraq will most likley fall in 6 months or less and we will look like fools.

Ivan is still big and strong they called flight suits bluff on this and won.

We lost face to the world.

Bush hs got to learn to back up his big mouth or learn how to control it.And remember he is not in a bar half lit bragging about how tough he is.

IP: Logged | Report this post to a Moderator
Pagan
Member


Member Rated:
4
Icon 1 posted      Profile for Pagan     Send New Private Message       Edit/Delete Post   Reply With Quote 
This could get bad quick if everyone is not careful.....

Bush orders U.S. military to help Georgian civilians
NEW: U.S. Air Force jet lands in Georgia with humanitarian aid
NEW: Bush warns Russia not to interfere with humanitarian shipments
U.S., allies may kick Russia out of G-8, international organizations as punishment


WASHINGTON (CNN) -- President Bush said Wednesday he is dispatching U.S. military personnel to Georgia in a "vigorous and ongoing" mission to provide humanitarian aid to victims of the fighting between Russian and Georgian troops.

Shortly after Bush spoke, the White House announced that a U.S. Air Force C-17 cargo jet carrying medical supplies arrived in the Georgian capital of Tbilisi.

Another C-17 is to arrive in Tbilisi on Thursday carrying more supplies, including 104,000 doses of antibiotics requested by the Georgian Ministry of Health, a State Department spokesman said. The value of both shipments is $1.28 million, he said.

Bush said more U.S. military aid missions were planned by the Navy and Air Force.

He warned Russia not to interfere with any relief efforts.

"We expect Russia to honor its commitment to let in all forms of humanitarian assistance. We expect Russia to ensure that all lines of communication and transport, including seaports, airports, roads and airspace, remain open for the delivery of humanitarian assistance and for civilian transit," Bush said at the White House.

Russia sent troops and tanks into the breakaway Georgia region of South Ossetia last week after Georgia's military acted to clamp down on Russian-linked separatists there. Separatists in South Ossetia want independence -- or unification with North Ossetia, which is in Russia.

Russian forces have since moved out of South Ossetia and into other parts of Georgia.

Bush said he expected Russia to honor a truce agreement made Tuesday.

"We expect Russia to meet its commitment to cease all military activities in Georgia, and we expect all Russian forces that entered Georgia in recent days to withdraw from that country," Bush said.

Because of the situation in Georgia, Bush has decided to delay his summer vacation at his ranch in Crawford, Texas, for "a day or two," White House Secretary Dana Perino said.

The president said he was sending Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice to Europe to express "America's unwavering support" for the Georgian government.

Rice will travel to France, which negotiated the ceasefire between Russia and Georgia on Tuesday. Rice will then head to Tbilisi, Bush said.

After traveling to Paris and Tbilisi, Rice will travel to NATO headquarters in Brussels, Belgium, on Tuesday where she will meet with NATO's Secretary General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer and ministers of the North Atlantic Council, the alliance's governing body, spokeswoman Carmen Romero told CNN.

French President Nicolas Sarkozy, acting as the president of the European Union, had negotiated the ceasefire agreement between Russia and Georgia, which called on the two nations to return to the positions they held on August 6, before Georgia's crackdown on South Ossetia. Watch Bush express support for Georgia's democracy »

Bush said the United States is concerned about reports that Russian units have taken positions on the east side of Gori, which is just outside of South Ossetia, and that they have entered and taken positions in the Black Sea port city of Poti.

Russian personnel carriers were moving toward the Georgian capital of Tbilisi, CNN's Matthew Chance also reported on Wednesday.

Dimitry Peskov, a spokesman for the Russian government, said Wednesday that the troops were demilitarizing the area near the South Ossetia border and "never had plans" to travel to the capital. Watch the Russian spokesman explain tank movements »

State Department officials said they were concerned by Russia's moves.

Administration officials told CNN that the United States and its European allies were considering kicking Russia out of the G-8, the group of the world's largest industrial economies, and other international organizations as punishment for its actions in Georgia. They also said Russia's relationship with NATO is also at risk. Watch Russian tanks move toward Tbilisi »

The United States appears to have let its European allies take the lead on the diplomatic efforts to stop the fighting in Georgia, Zain Verjee, CNN's State Department correspondent, said.

The Europeans have a greater influence over Russia and the United States needs Russia to help with other thorny diplomatic issues, such as efforts to pressure Iran to suspend its nuclear program, Verjee reported.

Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili criticized the United States on Wednesday during an interview with CNN for not taking more measures to help. Watch Saakashvili fault the U.S. response »

"America is losing the whole region, and this is the region of eastern and central Europe," said Saakashvili, who called for U.S. and European powers to send peacekeepers to the region. "This is much bigger than any other place where there is American influence, and this is the most natural allies of America."

But U.S. officials said they warned Saakashvili not to provoke Russia militarily by sending Georgian troops into South Ossetia and that they had ruled out any U.S. military action to defend Georgia.

Russia's move in Georgia is happening amid an overall struggle between the United States and Russia for influence within Eastern Europe. From Russia's point of view, American support for Georgia is a direct threat to its influence.

By striking heavily in Georgia, Moscow, Russia, is sending a signal to other former Soviet republics, such as Ukraine and Moldova, said Sarah Mendelson, the director of the Human Rights and Security Initiative at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington.

"If I were a neighbor of Russia and I saw what Russia had done in Georgia, I would be very nervous," Mendelson said. "I think those countries that are leaning toward the West are very nervous today."

Copyright 2008 CNN. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. Associated Press contributed to this report.

All AboutRepublic of Georgia • U.S. Department of State • Russia

Find this article at:
http://www.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/08/13/us.russia.diplomacy/index.html

--------------------
It is impossible to make anything foolproof because fools are so ingenious.

IP: Logged | Report this post to a Moderator
glassman
Member


Icon 1 posted      Profile for glassman     Send New Private Message       Edit/Delete Post   Reply With Quote 
i wonder if Bush will be remembered well when Russia decides to cut off Europes Nat Gas over our interference? this is a good way to get to hellinabucket fast...

--------------------
Don't envy the happiness of those who live in a fool's paradise.

IP: Logged | Report this post to a Moderator
Pagan
Member


Member Rated:
4
Icon 1 posted      Profile for Pagan     Send New Private Message       Edit/Delete Post   Reply With Quote 
quote:
Originally posted by glassman:
i wonder if Bush will be remembered well when Russia decides to cut off Europes Nat Gas over our interference? this is a good way to get to hellinabucket fast...

Did you see the recent press confernece by Georgia's leader, he was flanked by the leaders of Latvia, Estonia, Ukraine, Poland, and 2 other former Soviet Republics denouncing the aggression. The mix is getting thick.

--------------------
It is impossible to make anything foolproof because fools are so ingenious.

IP: Logged | Report this post to a Moderator
glassman
Member


Icon 1 posted      Profile for glassman     Send New Private Message       Edit/Delete Post   Reply With Quote 
no i was busy today, but i have been catching up on history in Georgia...

keep in mind that if we add them to Nato? we would be obliged by treaty to defend them against Russia. that's a major part of what this is all about... the other part is US putting missiles in the area...

it would be like if Russia put missiles in Cuba here.... oh yeah... i seem to have heard some rumor about something like that...

--------------------
Don't envy the happiness of those who live in a fool's paradise.

IP: Logged | Report this post to a Moderator
Pagan
Member


Member Rated:
4
Icon 1 posted      Profile for Pagan     Send New Private Message       Edit/Delete Post   Reply With Quote 
Big difference glass, our missiles are "shootdown missiles", not first strike missiles. Thats what is pissing Russia off. Any aggression, missile wise, they make against a neighbor can be nullified.

--------------------
It is impossible to make anything foolproof because fools are so ingenious.

IP: Logged | Report this post to a Moderator
  This topic comprises 6 pages: 1  2  3  4  5  6   

Quick Reply
Message:

HTML is enabled.
UBB Code™ is enabled.

Instant Graemlins
   


Post New Topic  Post A Reply Close Topic   Feature Topic   Move Topic   Delete Topic next oldest topic   next newest topic
 - Printer-friendly view of this topic
Hop To:


Contact Us | Allstocks.com Message Board Home

© 1997 - 2021 Allstocks.com. All rights reserved.

Powered by Infopop Corporation
UBB.classic™ 6.7.2

Share