Posted on 08/17/2008 9:03:34 AM PDT by Schnucki
The Russian occupation of the Georgian city of Gori appeared to be more entrenched today, despite claims by President Medvedev that his troops were planning to withdraw.
As international pressure increased on Mr Medvedev to implement a French-brokered ceasefire pledge signed last week, the Kremlin declared today that Russian forces would start pulling back from the occupied territory tomorrow.
The ceasefire deal was meant to conclude a five-day war in which Russian forces launched an all-out assault against Georgia after stopping a Georgian army assault against Moscow-backed separatists in its autonomous region of South Ossetia.
Yet despite Mr Medvedev's claim that a withdrawal was imminent, evidence from the scene today in Gori seemed to indicate that forces would not be leaving soon.
The Times was told that, after destroying Georgian radio and television transmitters, Russian troops had now installed their own, meaning Gori residents can now only tune in to channels from Moscow.
In addition, Russian troops were seen bolstering their positions in the hills which surround Gori, including creating improved machine gun posts.
Troops continue to surround Gori with tanks, armoured personnel carriers and security forces. All Georgian police and law enforcement were said to still be banned by Russia from operating there.
Russia's continuing presence in the city is now causing huge anger and frustration within Georgia's military ranks, as Georgian troops have withdrawn from Gori to Tblisi, and - according to the terms of last week's ceasefire - are under strict instructions not to confront the Russian forces unless they attack the capital.
(Excerpt) Read more at timesonline.co.uk ...
Of course they are, that was the reason for the invasion in the first place. Putin intends to take back all the countries of the old Soviet Union, one at a time.
Trying to dislodge the Russians now would only give them the pretect they desie to take the whole of th e country.
Russia ‘strengthens occupation’ despite claims of withdrawal
Hey, they already violated one truce agreement - why stop there?
Exactly.
Now that diplomacy has paused Putin...Georgia needs to simply build up its military... economic and political alliances, too.
Time is on the side of Georgia. Everyday that the Russian Army is paused is another day for Georgia to import more manpads to shoot down more Russian jets, later.
"I was born and raised in Russia and now am an American citizen. And while..."
Once a Russian,...always a Russian........
I saw Richard Holbrook being interviewed a few hours ago & he mentioned that he saw Russian soldiers wearing stolen Georgia uniforms in Gori yesterday.
Digging foxholes isn’t a sign of “leaving”.
I wonder if the Russians will learn all about IED’s
Or they were fools like me and actually thought the Cold War was over.
My wife of 5 years was born and raised in St. Petersburg. Luckily for her, she and her family managed to get out after the second bank/economic collapse of the late 90’s. This is her take on the whole situation. Yeltsin was a man for freedom and democracy, he had no intentions of quarrel with the west. He maintained a draw down of the military and at the same time strenghthen trade and cooperation with the west. Russia’s elite, and ruling intelligence czars saw him as a threat, but could not oust him, or “put him away” because he was very popular among younger Russians. Because of the corruption, and oligarchy that was being formed back stage by the former KGB and mafia, it made the Russian people weary of more democratic reforms. After Yeltsin left office and Putin became elected, Putin like any good tyrant started social reforms that engulfed and nationalized any successful state business and started to redistribute the wealth. (Remember the heads of the oil industries and other businesses being jailed?) next he started going after his enemies, mainly the Chechyans, successful politicians within Russia and wealthy independent business men. After this occurred, he started putting his former Intelligence (KGB) buddies in positions of power across Russia. Once he was able to solidify power, he started going after his enemies abroad and poisioning those that did not see eye to with him. Now that he has achieved that, his next goal is the former states of the Soviet Union that hold wealth and strategic value that make Russia more powerful, and solidify his political base, and the trust of the Russian people. Only thing standing in his way now are a few former Soviet states, Nato and the United States... Putin is a very dangerous man, hes calculating, cold, and heartless. He has transformed Russia in the past 7-8 years faster than any other nations head has been able to do, mainly from oil money. It is going to be interesting to see how this plays out, but one thing we can not do is show weakness. Putin is a martial arts expert, and avid chess player. He knows when and where to strike....
“
Or they were fools like me and actually thought the Cold War was over.
“
P.S.:
autumnraine,
I don’t think you were foolish to have that thought.
Parties in the MSM, Democrats and even Republicans have tried to
convince us that the grasping power of The USSR couldn’t actually revive
in the shape of Russian power.
The REAL FOOLS were otherwise very smart folks like Francis
Fukuyama, that thought the “end” of The Cold War signalled the “end
of history” and that democracy had totally triumphed.
Forever more, amen! (/SARC!!!)
And all the folks in the MSM (and American politics) heralding
“The Peace Dividend” were also part of that “Amen Chorus”.
The current situation in Georgia shows these brainiacs couldn’t have
been more wrong.
It must come as a real second shock to these folks after being hit over
the head with the resurgence of the Islamic worldview after a long sleep
under the domination of Communism and the fall of Ottoman Empire.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_End_of_History_and_the_Last_Man
Clearly the Georgians need to learn how to make IEDs and other booby traps. There is nothing wrong with making S. Ossetia and the other provences into another Afghanistan for them.
Collasping that tunnel to Russia would be a start.
hmmmm . . . i wonder if the provacatuer would be a Russian dressed in Georgian fatigues . . . why do i get the feeling this isn’t over
Seeing how big Gori is from google earth, I’m really surprised the Georgians couldn’t have put up a bigger fight. Chechen militants managed to kill hundreds of Russian troops during both invasions of Grozny. During the first incursion into Grozny, Russian troops took a heavy beating from small squads of Chechen militants with anti-armor RPG’s. They would mostly hide in basements and high on top of buildings away from the arc of the BMP and t-72’s main weapons arc... A large city like that could have made the Russians pay dearly to take it....
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.