Russia Today reports: The United States has been providing military and technical support to independent Georgia for almost 15 years. During this period, the overall amount of annual aid from Washington has increased by more than several hundred times, and reached its peak in the financial year till 2006. It has meant that Georgia’s army was well prepared for an attack on South Ossetia. RT offers a brief history of
By Robert Scheer for Truthdig (thanks to CJ for this article) Is it possible that this time the October surprise was tried in August, and that the garbage issue of brave little Georgia struggling for its survival from the grasp of the Russian bear was stoked to influence the U.S. presidential election? Before you dismiss that possibility, consider the role of one Randy Scheunemann, for four years a paid lobbyist
by Stephen Lendman for Global Research (via The People’s Voice) After the Soviet Union’s 1991 dissolution, Georgia’s South Ossetia province broke away and declared its independence. So far it remains undiplomatically recognized by UN member states. It’s been traditionally allied with Russia and wishes to reunite with Northern Ossetes in the North Ossetia-Alania Russian republic. Nothing so far is in prospect, but Russia appears receptive to the idea. And for
Kate Connolly for the Guardian The former US national security adviser, Zbigniew Brzezinski, has called on the world community to isolate Russia in protest over its campaign in the Caucasus, likening its tactics to those of “Hitler or Stalin”. Brzezinski, who was the national security adviser under President Jimmy Carter from 1977 to 1981, and is now an occasional adviser to the Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama, said the Russian
According to the website Stop War on Iran a major US naval force is headed for Iran. I have no conformation of this (can anyone confirm this info?). Here is the email they sent out today: Growing threat – Join us in mobilizing to Stop War on Iran! As we write, the arrival of new U.S. warships will mark the largest build-up of Naval forces in the Gulf since the
Press TV reports: The US military has been taken aback by the speed the Russian military managed to dispatch forces to South Ossetia, official says. According to US defense sources, Russia has deployed 8,000 to 10,000 soldiers in South Ossetia. The Russian military has also flown SU-25, SU-24, SU-27 and TU-22 fighters and bombers during the campaign. “We were tracking it earlier in that week and we knew that things
Russia Today reports: Russia’s President Dmitry Medvedev and his French counterpart Nicolas Sarkozy have drawn up a six point peace plan for settling the conflict in South Ossetia. Non-use of force and stopping all military action are among the conditions which must be met if the proposal is to succeed. At a meeting in Moscow, the Russian and French presidents called for the sides to sign up to the following
A very good commentary by Pepe Escobar: Pepe Escobar, born in Brazil is the roving correspondent for Asia Times and an analyst for The Real News Network. He’s been a foreign correspondent since 1985, based in London, Milan, Los Angeles, Paris, Singapore, and Bangkok. Since the late 1990s, he has specialized in covering the arc from the Middle East to Central Asia, including the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. He
Russia Today reports: Russian President Dmitry Medvedev has ordered an end to the military operation in Georgia. He said the objective – “to compel Georgia to peace” – has been achieved. Meanwhile, Georgian President Mikhail Saakashvili has announced his country is to leave the CIS (Commonwealth of Independent States), an alliance of former Soviet republics.
Thanks to ‘anonymous’ (I wish you guys would use some kind of handle when posting anonymously) for this cartoon:
In one of its news bulletins CNN has shown Russian tanks and ruined buildings which they claimed are in the Georgian town of Gori. Russian cameraman of the Russian TV channel, who did the footage in reality in South Ossetian city of Tskhinvali says CNN aired footage of Tskhinvali district close to former Russian peacekeepers headquarters, nearly all of them were killed by Georgians after the footage was made.
“Of course, Saddam Hussein ought to have been hanged for destroying several Shiite villages, and the incumbent Georgian leaders who razed ten Ossetian villages at once, who ran elderly people and children with tanks, who burned civilian alive in their sheds — these leaders must be taken under protection.” Vladimir Putin, source: AP
The great Georgian leader, protected by Blackwater-type goons and armored Hummers, sees the *empty* great blue sky and suddenly runs in a total panic… Sorry, this is not serious at all. I just couldn’t resist…
Press TV reports: Georgia says Russian forces have occupied the Georgian city of Gori amid an armed conflict in the breakaway region of South Ossetia. “Russian forces are occupying Gori”, 76 kilometers west of Georgia’s capital Tbilisi, the secretary of Georgia’s security council, Alexander Lomaia, told AFP Monday. Lomaia said “Georgian armed forces received an order to leave Gori and to fortify positions near Mtskheta to defend the capital. This
Russian forces, probably the airborne troops which were deployed to Abkhazia yesterday, have seized the Senaki air base (42°16′8″N 42°4′045″E) 40km away from the Abkhaz border. This military airport with its 2’400m (click on photo for better view) long runway will be able to accommodate any type of Russian fixed and rotary wing aircraft and will enable the Russian forces to establish a convenient forward HQ.
Russia Today reports: 11:24 GMT – Kiev doesn’t plan to provide military aid to Tbilisi – Ukrainian Deputy Foreign Minister. 10:48 GMT – Georgia’s preventing Russian citizens from leaving ‘totally illegal’ – Medvedev.| 10:44 GMT – Putin blames the U.S. for hampering Russian peace efforts in South Ossetia by airlifting Georgian troops from Iraq to Georgia. 10:38 GMT – Oil giant BP (British Petroleum) denies Georgian reports alleging Russian planes
Thanks to the absolutely fantastic work done by Pavel on his website Aviapedia.com, here is the latest news from the war in South Ossetia and Georgia: Russian VDV (airborne) enters Zudid region, Georgia to prevent Georgia-Abkhazia conflict escalation. Deputy head of the Russian peacekeepers Aleksandr Novitskiy announced Russia doesn’t want situatuin with Russian peacekeepers in Tskhinvali to repeat. USA transport aviation started to transfer 2000 Georgian soldiers from Iraq to
Today, the Russian representative at the UNSC, Vitalii Churkin, made an extremely important, I would even say historical, statement at the UN Security Council. I am (desperately) trying to find the English language transcript of his statement, but for the time being all I can offer is the Russian language video of his statement: UPDATE !: (Note: An *immense* “thank you!’ to qwerty and jtapp for locating this transcript!) Transcript
According to the Interfax news agency (via the website lenta.ru) Russian airborne forces have been airlifted to Abkhazia. They landed on military transport aircraft at the Sukhumi airport. Due to the Georgian blockade of Abkhazia, this is the first time in 15 years that aircraft have landed at the Sukhumi airport. Lenta.ru, quoting Agence France Presse, also reports that the Georgian city of Gori has been bombed by the Russian
