Posted on 08/11/2008 9:59:31 AM PDT by maquiladora
Russian troops have entered the main body of Georgia on two fronts after Vladimir Putin rejected calls for a ceasefire and strongly criticised the US's role in the crisis.
A Georgian official has said it is transferring "all its troops" from South Ossetia towards Tbilisi amid fighting in the city of Gori, about 35 miles to the south-east of the capital.
Georgians were witnessed by the Telegraph in a full scale disorganised and panicked retreat from Gori. They are crammed into vehicles heading down road from Gori to Tbilisi, the capital. They say 6,000-7,000 Russian troops are heading their way and the Georgians are abandoning their positions.
Kakha Lomaia, a senior Georgian security official, said: "We received very reliable information that the Russians decided to move towards Gori. That's why we decided to pull out all our troops and to relocate them - to defend Tbilisi."
Lomaia has since claimed that Russian forces have "captured" the city. However a Reuters reporter in Gori said: "We are right now driving through the town and I see no trace of troops or military vehicles. It is absolutely deserted."
A Georgian Interior Ministry spokesman said that Russian forces had also moved into the town of Zugdidi in the west and seized police stations, and had made bombing raids against communications facility in Tblisi, the Georgian capital.
(snip)
The Daily Telegraph has seen a large group of Russian soldiers wearing flak jackets near Senaki. The troops, who were flanked by about 40 vehicles including lorries and armoured personnel carriers, were carrying heavy weaponry and could be seen securing positions, including ambush positions.
(Excerpt) Read more at telegraph.co.uk ...
Great, Putin is now blaming us for him being such a asshat. Since we are going to be blamed anyways might as well, take care of business for now.
O God, save the Tsar!
Strong and majestic,
Reign for glory, For our glory!
( 2x :)
Reign to foes’ dismay,
O Orthodox Tsar.
God, save the Tsar, Save the Tsar!
( 2x :)
My high school’s alma mater is actually set to this music! The school probably figured that Russia wouldn’t be using it any more, but that may change under Tsar Vladimir.
Anybody have a good map handy?
There wasn’t much we could do before, but if Georgia asked us to drop bombs on the outskirts of their own cities, I should think that the international community would be OK with that.
If Russians happen to be IN Georgia at the time, well that’s their own fault.
Lileks did a great Bleat this morning asking where are all those “war is not the answer” people now?
I’m glad someone posted this for the Russian Apologists here on FR.
I mean, you know, Russia isn’t “wrong”, Georgia was... and well, you know, they are just doing what was right.
Of course, NOW they have moved into large regions of Georgia.
How is THAT right again, Apologists?
Look for Latvia, Lithuania or Estonia to receive the same treatment in the near future. US security guarantees mean no more than France's.
We have an alliance with Georgia?
So doesn’t the fact Georgia is part of NATO require us to act against Russia?
Strange that the media seems to act so apathetically about what could be WWIII.
Georgia is not part of NATO. The Russians want to prevent that from happening.
Georgia isn’t part of NATO.
So in all this, Russia takes a country a little larger than Rhode Island and oil falls again.
I had the same thought Saturday morning...ummmmmm....are we ever again going to stand by our allies?
We need to help Georgia.
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