Posted on 08/11/2008 8:16:28 AM PDT by Jeff Head
TBILISI, Georgia — Russia opened a second front of fighting in Georgia on Monday, sending armored vehicles beyond two breakaway provinces and seizing a military base and police stations in the country's west, the Georgian government and a Russian official said.
GEORGIAN FORCES
RUSSIAN FORCES
(Excerpt) Read more at seattletimes.nwsource.com ...
“The remarks about paying a price for verbal support to countries like Poland has me curious to the long term goals of Russia. Is this the beginning of a reformulation of the USSR?”
The bear is back.
We aren’t going to directly engage them and risk a large scale military confrontation with Russia. It would be crazy to enter into conflict with them particularly with so many of our forces occupied.
“Russian widens the war and enters Georgia proper. Also flanking in from the coast where they have made amphibious landings.”
Looks like the Russians are planning to stay awhile.
H told them they would pay for criticizing Russia. The latest has the Presidents of all four countries on their way to Georgia as a show of support and solidarity.
So basically the FSU nations just told the new SU to FU.
the headline nobody ran
So you are proposing a millitary attack on Russia in response to this? Seriously?
So you are advocating a direct military conflict with Russia? Seriously? I don’t remember any direct treaty with the Georgians? Do you know of any?
You seriously are ready to risk a nuclear exchange over this? You may be. But with all due respect, you are insane. There are other more prudent ways of dealing with this problem.
The reactions by Eastern Europe, the Balitcs, the other former republics (most importantly Ukraine) and the western investments in the Russian Federation will all be used as leverage against the Russians. This is going to backfire in their face. Their stock market has already dropped 6% and western firms will begin leaving (they already have in the last year) due to Russia’s reminiscence of its Soviet days.
Many on this board are foolishly calling for direct military intervention. That, with all due respect, is beyond retarded.
Lets say Puerto Rico gained its independence from the USA, and one section of it occupied by American citizens, was attacked by the new government, we would respond. I’m not saying that Russia is right in this, but you have to understand the dynamics of the situation. Regardless if it is right on their part or not, we have to make decisions based on the national security of the USA, not Georgia.
Are there any counts in regard to Russian military losses and Georgian losses? I have heard the 2,000 figure but have no idea if that is a civilian count. Also heard 12 Russians KIA ( seems very low ).
I’m praying the Georgians fight like hell even though the outcome appears to be inevitable.
I’m at work and do not have time to look through the entire thread right now so please excuse me if this was answered earlier.
"During their mop-up operations in South Ossetia, Georgian commandos have thrown hand grenades into the basements where civilians were hiding," he said. "That's what we call genocide."
South Ossetia's capital, Tskhinvali, lay in smoldering ruins after four days of fighting. Each side accused the other of killing large numbers of civilians. Russia said at least 2,000 people had been killed in Tskhinvali.
Georgia began withdrawing its forces from Tskhinvali early Sunday.
Georgia, a pro-Western ally of the U.S., is intent on asserting its authority over South Ossetia and Abkhazia, both of which have strong Russian-backed separatist movements.
The situation in South Ossetia escalated rapidly from Thursday night, when Georgia said it launched an operation into the region after artillery fire from separatists killed 10 people. It accused Russia of backing the separatists.
South Ossetia, which has a population of about 70,000, is inside Georgia but has an autonomous government. Many South Ossetians support unification with North Ossetia, which would make them part of Russia.
Russia supports the South Ossetian government, has given passports to many in South Ossetia, and calls them Russian citizens.
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Bad move, Georgia. No more chess for you.
So you learned to read yesterday? Seriously?
Try again, and get back to me if you have something thoughtful to say.
>There is no way in hell Turkey is going to allow a Carrier >Battle Group to transit the Bosporus Straits.
There is no way moving a carrier group into the Black Sea would be a good strategy. (Like the Russians sending a battle group into the great lakes. The Med is plenty close enough.
It’s largely because Europe is powerless militarilly, at least beyond what they’ve committed to in S. Asia, the Middle East and Africa.
The SOuth Ossetian group has been used to cause trouble before. The Russian’s didn’t seem to do anything about this back in 2004:
The Chinese are doing similar stuff.
Washington Post Foreign Service
Sunday, November 26, 2006; Page A01
TBILISI, Georgia — The U.S. Secret Service and Georgian police are investigating an international counterfeiting operation that stretches from a separatist enclave in this former Soviet republic to Maryland, where fake $100 bills have been seized, according to senior officials and investigators here. The allegations are supported by American diplomats, U.S. court documents and a recent report to Congress.
From a printing press in South Ossetia, a sliver of land with no formally recognized government, more than $20 million in the fake bills has been transported to Israel and the United States, according to investigators. The counterfeit $100 notes have also surfaced in Georgia and Russia, officials said.
The fake notes have been passed at numerous businesses throughout the Baltimore area and have also surfaced in New York, Newark and Buffalo, according to court papers and the joint report to Congress by the Secret Service, the Treasury Department and the Federal Reserve. The report, issued in September, also said the number of counterfeit notes produced in this region and passed in the United States has “increased dramatically” in recent years.
The presence in South Ossetia of an international counterfeiting ring capable of producing thousands of bills, according to investigators, is a stark example of how organized crime has flourished, sometimes through the neglect or alleged involvement of officials, in areas of the former Soviet Union whose territorial status remains unresolved 15 years after the fall of communism.
“Counterfeiting is not the only headache for us if you’re talking about criminality in South Ossetia,” Ekaterine Zguladze, Georgia’s deputy interior minister, said in an interview. “You also have drug trafficking, weapons trafficking, robbery, kidnapping. And our opportunity to fight criminals in there is very limited.”
A spokesman for the U.S. Secret Service, in an e-mail message, declined to discuss the case “due to the sensitivities of the ongoing investigations and political considerations.” But the joint report to Congress said the Secret Service “is currently investigating a scheme with ties to suspects in Israel, Russia, and the Republic of Georgia to produce counterfeit U.S. currency. The U.S. Secret Service has reason to believe this family of counterfeit notes is being produced in the Caucasus region,” as the mountainous area encompassing parts of southern Russia and Georgia is called.
U.S. diplomats confirmed that the location was South Ossetia.
The cash from the Caucasus, as with other lines of counterfeit dollars believed to be from the same source, was given its own code by the Secret Service: c-21558, according to the joint report to Congress.
“Since the c-21558 family’s first detection in March 1999 the total counterfeit activity (passed and seized notes) has exceeded $23 million,” according to the report. In 2005, the Secret Service detected $5.3 million from the Caucasus ring, up from $1.5 million in 2003, the report said.
Did you not post this?
“If Russia has invaded Georgia proper, Bush should return from the Olympics now, and we should moving forces and equipment into Georgia ASAP.”
So you haven’t learned to read at all i suppose? Seriously?
If you can't differentiate between "defending Georgia with troops in Georgia" and "attacking Russia", you need more help than I have time to give.
You're right. It's would be Dubya's remake of his father's betrayal of the Kurds.
Thus one of the dangers and risks of over-extending our military... It actually weakens our ability to respond to emergencies and other major needs.
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