Russia-Georgia War: Georgia Reports New Attacks At Military Bases (no time for a President Obama)

Associated Press ^

[quesney]

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

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

[...]

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

[...]

[quesney]

More U.N. sessions. Yeah, that'll do it.

This -- along with whatever happens between Israel and Iran and G*d knows what else between now and the November elections -- should remind more Americans that we do not have the luxury of voting in the Oval Office hollow, inexperienced people who just happen to look nice on TV (Obama, Edwards, Hilton, etc....). It's time to get real.

McCain would be well-advised to put out a foreign policy ad on this theme immediately.

[Brian S. Fitzgerald]

http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=66042&sectionid=351020204

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan

Turkish Prime Minister urges dialogue to end the South Ossetian-Georgian conflict, while evincing concern over Georgia's territorial integrity.

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan told Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili that Ankara was concerned about developments in the conflict, emphasizing the importance of resolving the impasse through direct talks.

He reasserted Turkey's support for Georgia's territorial integrity, while warning of grave consequences of the conflict for regional peace and security.

The Turkish Red Crescent staff was put on alert and necessary actions were taken to send humanitarian support to Georgia should the need arise.

Turkey has developed close economic ties with Georgia particularly in the energy sector and supports its bid to join NATO.

Georgia launched a large military offensive against South Ossetia's capital of Tskhinvali on Thursday, killing at least 12 Russian peacekeepers. The action prompted a Russian retaliation..

[VOR78]

I absolutely agree. This is one area where McCain could make a huge amount of headway in this race. As you stated, he needs to place an ad very soon highlighting his foreign policy strength in the context of this current crisis.

[GAB-1955]

And what happens next when the Russians win?

[Brian S. Fitzgerald]

http://www.dw-world.de/dw/article/0,2144,3549136,00.html

GEORGIA | 09.08.2008

Georgia's Borders Must Be Recognized, Says Former Minister

The conflict over South Ossetia must be resolved politically, says the former education minister from Georgia, Alexander Kartosia. The territorial integrity of Georgia, however, is not up for questioning.

DW-WORLD.DE: Georgia is applying military force against the breakaway enclave of South Ossetia. Is the best way to respond to claims for independence by both South Ossetia and Abkhazia?

Alexander Kartosia: No, that's not the way to solve the conflict. You see, the military offensive came suddenly. The situation escalated from day to day. The Georgian government offered to sit down at the negotiating table with the de facto government in South Ossetia several times last week. But the South Ossetian government rejected all the offers. It's unfortunate that the Georgian side allowed itself to be provoked. But the daily attacks from the Ossetian side were just too much to bear for the residents in the targeted Georgian villages. I just hope there are no deaths among the peaceful population in South Ossetia.

How can a war between Russia and Georgia be averted?

The only sensible step would be to end all the fighting and no matter what prevent the military escalation. That applies to both Russia and Georgia. Each side must sit down at the table and begin negotiating.

South Ossetia voted for independence in a 2006 referendum. What doesn't Georgia recognize this?

Two principles collide here: the principle of self-sovereignty and the fundamental principle of the territorial integrity of a nation. South Ossetia is a part of Georgia, and that needs to be respected. The case of Kosovo is not really an appropriate analogy: the right to self-sovereignty played the decisive role there, but the charges of ethnic cleansing were also recognized on an international level. That's not the case in South Ossetia. So for this reason, the territorial integrity of Georgia takes precedence.

Why does Russia support the breakaway regions of South Ossetia and Abkhazia?

From a formal perspective, Russia has the right to protect South Ossetia, because many of the residents in the region are also citizens of the Russian Federation. But the real reason is something different: Georgia wants to enter NATO and the European Union. Russia will not allow Georgia -- a former member of the Soviet Union -- to join these organizations and can not accept Georgia's pro-western aspirations.

Alexander Kartosia was education minister in Georgia from 1998 to 2004 Bildungsminister. He now teaches at the European University Viadrina in Frankfurt an der Oder in Germany.

The interview was conducted by Dirk Eckert (ktz)

[Virginia Ridgerunner]

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan told Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili that Ankara was concerned about developments in the conflict, emphasizing the importance of resolving the impasse through direct talks.

Too late for that, with over 1,400 dead.

[BloodOrFreedom]

This is it, ladies and gentlemen. The next big one...stock the pantries and arm yourselves

[quesney]

To ad to your Q&A, I understand a major oil pipeline goes through Georgia to Western Europe — a pipeline that avoids Russia completely. Interesting.

[FFranco]

No queation that if Russia does not change its ways, not only with regard to Georgia, but also in Europe, Iran, and the rest of the world, war with the US is inevitable. This is not the time for an affirmative action president who will be learning on the job. This is time for the experienced, reasoned leadership America will receive from John McCain and whoever he selects as his Vice President.

[VOR78]

Obviously, if he were to do so, he’d have to be careful in just how he does it. I wouldn’t advise setting forth an actual policy, but merely using it to highlight the differing levels of foreign policy experience between the two candidates and, as has been a recurring theme in McCain’s ads, asking whether Obama was ready to lead in a time of crisis.

The one thing he doesn’t want to do is take a hard line against Russia. That’s obviously a bad idea.

[tessalu]

If Obama is so dumb that the thinks the USA has 57 states, he would have no idea on what he should do, and Obama is run by evil Marxist handlers who would be running the country.

[Brian S. Fitzgerald]

this one?

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/2058674/posts?page=349#349

[BGHater]

McCain?

Lol. He won’t even get tough on the border.

[autumnraine]

Aw, don’t say that! Obama has lots of experience with foreign policy. Why he spent his entire spring break in Pakistan visiting a friend’s parents. He could handle this whole Russian war thing no problem!

[Ingtar]

What would McCain say in this ad? His own first comments were to go to the UN also.

[Brian S. Fitzgerald]

another pipeline map

[Brian S. Fitzgerald]

2003 map of pipelines, current and planned (188K bytes)

[iThinkBig]

Russian strategy, choke off energy and restore former glory, make westward move into europe, hit US and Israel with terror nasties. Chinese involvement marching down the old silk roads, yeah would think so but not just yet.

[silentreignofheroes]

Someday it will be to late.

[Brian S. Fitzgerald]

http://www.topnews.in/report-russian-aircraft-strike-targets-inside-georgia-257747

Report: Russian aircraft strike targets inside Georgia

Submitted by Sahil Nagpal on Sat, 08/09/2008 - 02:54. Georgia Russia

Moscow/Tbilisi, Georgia - Russian aircraft carried out airstrikes overnight Friday against targets near Tbilisi, according to reports early Saturday from Georgia.

The conflict over Georgia's breakaway South Ossetia region raged on as the Georgian Air Force base at Vaziani was bombed, according to the Russian news agency Itar-Tass, citing the Georgian Interior Ministry.

There were no initial details about casualties or damage at the air base, about 20 kilometres south-east of the capital.

Attacks by air were also reported at a military base in Senaki in western Georgia and in Poti, a port on the Black Sea.

The Russian military in South Ossetia reported that Georgian troops had renewed artillery fire overnight into Tskhinvali, capital of the Russian-supported Caucasus province. The latest bombardment struck mostly in residential areas, the Russians alleged. (dpa)