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Georgia's Russia claims raising eyebrows
AP ^ | Aug 13 2008 | MISHA DZHINDZHIKHASHVILI

Posted on 08/14/2008 2:24:57 AM PDT by ketelone

TBILISI, Georgia - It was a claim that could have provoked a dangerous Kremlin response: The United States is readying to take over airports and ports in the former Soviet republic of Georgia.

The claim, by U.S.-backed Georgia President Mikhail Saakashvili on Wednesday was swiftly shot down by officials in Washington, who denied any such designs on Georgian soil.

Yet, it was the latest in a string of overstated pronouncements by the American-educated Georgian leader that are further fueling tensions with Moscow.

(Excerpt) Read more at news.yahoo.com ...


TOPICS: Foreign Affairs; Russia
KEYWORDS: geopolitics; georgia; russia; saakashvili; war
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Ive been saying all along that Saakashvili is a madman, who is trying very, very hard to draw the US into a shooting war with Russia.

There is something seriously deranged about this dude. What in the world makes him think that the US would want to take over his ports and cities for any reason?

If the US wants to deliver humanitarian aid, it can do it without "taking over" ports.

I think he just wants to provoke another fight, and is hoping that this time the US will get involved.

Hes already started one war, and run around demanding the US bail him out of it, and help him get the enclave he bombed the crap out of back. I hope the administration is extremely firm with him. Why are we backing this fool anyway? Hes a brinksman, and Im pretty sure the people of Georgia deserve someone better than this idiot who start a war, and ruin their chances of properly being integrated into the west, destroying their infrastructure, and hard earned capital.

1 posted on 08/14/2008 2:24:58 AM PDT by ketelone
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To: ketelone
*"Idiot who started a war". /Grammar check off
2 posted on 08/14/2008 2:26:36 AM PDT by ketelone
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To: ketelone
He is just too open and too truthful. US troops are on the coast of Georgia and they are at the Tibilis airport. And FYI - US troops control whatever land they are standing on at the time. You got a problem with that ?
3 posted on 08/14/2008 2:35:41 AM PDT by justa-hairyape
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To: ketelone

If US military planes sit on a Georgian tarmac or US military ships dock in Georgian harbors those locations are in fact protected under the US umbrella. If Russia were to bomb either it could start a real war. So in a practical sense the Georgian President is correct that the US is essentially going to protect those areas though said poorly. In diplo speak it was said badly and the US corrected it. Bush has already stated that he’s going to send aid ships into the Russian blockaded Georgian ports.

That’s a big deal.


4 posted on 08/14/2008 2:47:23 AM PDT by DB
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To: ketelone

AP wrote this - therefore I doubt its truthfulness.


5 posted on 08/14/2008 3:19:50 AM PDT by SkyPilot ("I wasn't in church during the time when the statements were made.")
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To: SkyPilot

He actually said so. The moment I heard it I knew there would be a reaction. He is quite blunt.


6 posted on 08/14/2008 3:22:33 AM PDT by spetznaz (Nuclear-tipped Ballistic Missiles: The Ultimate Phallic Symbol)
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To: spetznaz

Isnt it interesting how we all get mad when Politicians never answer questions , obfuscate and outright lie,then when someone tells it straight we all get nervous because we dont really have the Courage to do what has to be done . We are all State Dept weenies ,I guess Obombo is right we have to go to the UN for a resolution ,W should not send any aid because that is clearly a Provocation and something might happen ,Russia will get Mad ,Hell Vladimir might slip some plutonium in Bushs tea next time they meet .
Its amazing how the scenarios from the movie DARK KNIGHT we are witnessing and People ar reacting true to form


7 posted on 08/14/2008 3:36:44 AM PDT by ballplayer
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To: ketelone

I’m with you. I think Georgia does need a different leader.
He has been caught in lie after lie.

He has to be crazy to think we would commit to military force in Georgia.


8 posted on 08/14/2008 3:43:03 AM PDT by finnsheep
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To: ballplayer
One thing I've realized is that not many people can handle the truth. When it comes to politics this is even more the case. Obfuscation is not only an art form, it is the only form of engagement (where you have smoke and mirrors orbing around behind funny glass). Some would say that it has a purpose (and in high diplomacy it does have an important purpose), but at the same time it is interesting how people want SO MUCH to be deluded. Lies are actually appreciated.

Going back to this case, I think the State Dep is worried that the dude may push an angle that they do not want brought forward. Is that the right way of looking at it? I don't know, but maybe he should match his statement speech with that of president Bush. If Bush says the US military will be taking humanitarian aid using the US military to Georgia, maybe he should say that. IF Bush says that the US military will be taking over Georgian sea and air ports then he can say that, but maybe he should not say it unless Bush specifically put it that way.

There is something I learned from the Bible about enemies .....Proverbs 24:17 states that we should 'not rejoice when our enemy falls, And not let our hearts be glad when he stumbles.'

I think this has a bearing here, especially when it comes to Cultures like the Russian and the Chinese that love to save face. A moment of bluntness can have a ripple effect (I read today that the Russians were withdrawing from Gori when some Georgian soldiers came and drew weapons ....the Russians came streaming back. Now, the Georgians had every right to do that, after all it is GEORGIA. However I wonder the prudence of it since the Russians were leaving anyways).

Well, I don't like obfuscation much, but there is a spot for it in international politics (especially at certain levels, and this is one of them). And when you consider that with the US moving in with humanitarian aid that is spearheaded by the military, indicating an end of the conflict, one wonders what function certain statements would have. There is no added benefit, but there is definitely added risk.

Look at how president Bush phrased his words ....he was very direct when he said that the US military was bringing in aid, but he did so in a way that allowed the Russians to save face and have an exit strategy. I know there are many on FR that would have preferred he state that the Russians have 30 minutes to move out or he will begin nuking targets (or my favorite stupid comment ....give suit-case nukes to Chechen terrorists), but in life there is no need to take the long convoluted route when a short and efficient one will work (and work better).

I hope I make sense.

9 posted on 08/14/2008 3:54:47 AM PDT by spetznaz (Nuclear-tipped Ballistic Missiles: The Ultimate Phallic Symbol)
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To: ballplayer
Oh, and the next verse after the one I quote states as follows:

'Or the LORD will see it and be displeased, And turn His anger away from him.'

Never rub your enemies face in something, otherwise you may awaken a reaction that you did not expect. A few days ago Russia was winning, now it is Georgia winning (not militarily, but politically) since the US has finally stepped in. The prudent thing to do is to win 'in peace.' You can go ahead and rub someone's face in something, and a whole new beast emerges that no one anticipated.

If you have the winning hand, let it be. Nothing is as successful as success. Try to prove a point and you can find things taking a very serious turn when they did not have to.

10 posted on 08/14/2008 3:57:44 AM PDT by spetznaz (Nuclear-tipped Ballistic Missiles: The Ultimate Phallic Symbol)
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To: justa-hairyape

I got a big problem with someone who starts a war on the flimsiest pretexts, and then rants on TV about us sending troops to save him. Save him, mind you, I dont think he gives a damn what happens to his country, because he wouldnt have started a war with the only country in the world with more nukes than us otherwise.

This guys inexcusable. Hes just lucky that our decency and loyalty as a friend to his country prevents us from telling him to totally lump it on his own.

Sakashvili should get no ideas that any of this means that the World doesnt think that hes a raving tinpot dictator.


11 posted on 08/14/2008 4:05:18 AM PDT by ketelone
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To: DB
Thank you; you summed it perfectly.

Additionally, both assertions (GA and US) accomplish other objectives.

12 posted on 08/14/2008 4:12:17 AM PDT by Alia
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To: spetznaz; ballplayer
but at the same time it is interesting how people want SO MUCH to be deluded. Lies are actually appreciated.

So true. Thus the popularity of Bill Clinton, while people run screaming from guys like Alan Keyes or Ron Paul- flawed men to be sure, but they say the things that the self-deluded are terrified to hear. Political speech that says nothing is a waste of my time.

13 posted on 08/14/2008 4:13:32 AM PDT by ovrtaxt (This election is like running in the Special Olympics. Even if McCain wins, we're still retarded.)
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To: SkyPilot

“AP wrote this - therefore I doubt its truthfulness.”

There y’go. Not quire Reuters, but down there.


14 posted on 08/14/2008 4:15:14 AM PDT by BibChr ("...behold, they have rejected the word of the LORD, so what wisdom is in them?" [Jer. 8:9])
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To: spetznaz
You made perfect sense; well done.

If Bush says the US military will be taking humanitarian aid using the US military to Georgia, maybe he [Saakashvili] should say that.

What? And have the Socialist MSM paint Saakashvili as a U.S. Poodle, as Obama did re the English Prime Minister?

Last but not least, the U.S. needs to have Russia reveal/expose WHY they are taking out on Georgia what Russia thinks is due the U.S.

15 posted on 08/14/2008 4:21:35 AM PDT by Alia
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To: ballplayer

Yeah, you are right. People are brainwashed into the thinking that we must go to some world authority and beg for permission before acting. In times like these, when a country is taking over another, we should be able to act without permission. Ultimately at least.


16 posted on 08/14/2008 4:24:22 AM PDT by autumnraine
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To: ketelone

You really need to study this more before commenting.


17 posted on 08/14/2008 4:33:53 AM PDT by DB
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To: ketelone
I got a big problem with someone who starts a war on the flimsiest pretexts

No country can tolerate an aggressive enemy maintaining a privileged sanctuary in the heart of its territory, inside its natural mountain and marine defensive borders. S. Ossetia was to Georgia as Sudetenland was to Czechoslovakia.

18 posted on 08/14/2008 5:41:23 AM PDT by hellbender
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To: ketelone
Ive been saying all along that Saakashvili is a madman, who is trying very, very hard to draw the US into a shooting war with Russia.

I want to know why he decided to take back the region at this time and almost start WWIII. He had to know Russian were playing war games right on the other side of the hill.

19 posted on 08/14/2008 5:46:02 AM PDT by McGruff (Kick Russia out of the G8, Kick them Now!)
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To: McGruff

“Ive been saying all along that Saakashvili is a madman, who is trying very, very hard to draw the US into a shooting war with Russia.”

“I want to know why he decided to take back the region at this time and almost start WWIII. He had to know Russian were playing war games right on the other side of the hill.”

I am not certain that I agree with either of you...however, it does point out what INEXPERIENCE can bring about....OBAMA for example.


20 posted on 08/14/2008 5:49:13 AM PDT by Moby Grape
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