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Title: Russia Sends Troops Into Rebel Enclave in Georgia [it begins]
Source:
New York Times
URL Source: http://www.nytimes.com/2008/08/09/w ... en=d4c414f9c450e60e&ei=5087%0A
Published: Aug 8, 2008
Author: Nikolai Khalip and Ellen Barry
Post Date: 2008-08-08 11:27:02 by a vast rightwing conspirator
Keywords: None
Views: 361
Comments: 26
Russia Sends Troops Into Rebel Enclave in Georgia A TV image of what Russian Channel 1 says is a convoy of Russian tanks moving towards Tskhinvali on Friday. MOSCOW — Russia sent troops rolling into a breakaway region of Georgia on Friday, after Georgian troops entered the capital of the pro-Russian enclave, in a sharp escalation of the conflict. As Georgian forces declared they had won control of the enclave’s capital, Tskhinvali, Russian Prime Minister Vladimir V. Putin declared that “war has started” and President Mikheil Saakashvili of Georgia accused Russia of a "well-planned invasion," according to Bloomberg. One unconfirmed report said Georgian forces had shot down two Russian planes in the breakaway region, South Ossetia, and Georgia said that its aircraft had bombed a convoy of Russian tanks that moved into the area. Russia’s Channel 1 television showed Russian tanks entering South Ossetia. It reported that two battalions reinforced by tanks and armored personnel carriers were approaching Tskhinvali. It was unclear how the United States might react to a Russian attack on Georgia, a strong American ally, whose shift toward the West and pursuit of NATO membership has deeply angered Russia. South Ossetia is a pro-Russian enclave of Georgia that has enjoyed de facto autonomy since 2004. Since then an uneasy truce has reigned, although fighting between South Ossetia and Georgian forces has erupted sporadically. The tensions increased sharply in 2004, when Mr. Saakashvili came to power. Mr. Saakashvili made national unification a centerpiece of his agenda. Earlier this year, Russia announced that it was broadly expanding support for the separatist region and would establish legal connections with the region’s de facto government. The latest round of fighting between the Georgian military and separatist forces began last weekend. South Ossetia accused Georgians of firing mortars into the enclave after six Georgian policemen were killed in the border area by a roadside bomb. As tensions grew, South Ossetia began sending women and children out of the enclave. The refugee crisis appeared to intensify Friday as relief groups said thousands of refugees, mostly women and children, were now streaming across the border into the North Caucasus city of Vladikavkaz in Russia in an attempt to escape the fierce fighting. The United States, European Union and NATO called on Russia and Georgia to end the hostilities. The White House spokeswoman, Dana Perino, told reporters that the Bush administration had been talking to both sides to resolve the crisis. "We urge restraint on all sides -- that violence would be curtailed and that direct dialogue could ensue in order to help resolve their differences," she said. But President Dmitri A. Medvedev of Russia promised to “punish” those responsible for what he called “a deep violation of international law” by Georgia that he said had led to the deaths of Russian citizens and Russian peacekeepers stationed in Tskhinvali. “I am obligated to defend the lives and dignity of Russian citizens, wherever they are located,” he said in an address carried on Russian state television. “We will not allow the unpunished killing of our fellow citizens. Those who are guilty will suffer the punishment they deserve.” The fighting presented the most dangerous crisis in years in the Caucasus region, a key conduit for the flow of oil from the Caspian sea to world markets and an area where violent conflict has flared along the Russia’s outskirts for centuries, most recently in Chechnya. By midday Friday, Georgian army units were trying to seize Tskhinvali using heavy machine guns and mortars in firefights with separatist paramilitary fighters, Shota Utiashvili, an official at the Interior Ministry of Georgia, said in an interview. “Now, the army will have to take the capital,” he said, citing “massive fire” aimed at Georgian troops by fighters inside the city. The head of a Russian peacekeeping force in the city, Marat M. Kulakhmetov, said in a telephone interview that the city had come under “massive attack” by the Georgians and that civilians had been wounded. As he spoke, shooting could be heard in the background. Mr. Utiashvili, the Georgian official, said Georgians had seen Russian forces, including “hundreds of soldiers and dozens of armored vehicles, including tanks,” move up the military highway into the Caucasus Mountains that ties the separatist enclave to Russia. By morning, they had passed through a mountain tunnel into the northern portion of the enclave, he said. “They are on Georgian territory now.” 
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#18. To: (#0)
DEBKAfile’s geopolitical experts note that on the surface level, the Russians are backing the separatists of S. Ossetia and neighboring Abkhazia as payback for the strengthening of American influence in tiny Georgia and its 4.5 million inhabitants. However, more immediately, the conflict has been sparked by the race for control over the pipelines carrying oil and gas out of the Caspian region. The Russians may just bear with the pro-US Georgian president Mikhail Saakashvili’s ambition to bring his country into NATO. But they draw a heavy line against his plans and those of Western oil companies, including Israeli firms, to route the oil routes from Azerbaijan and the gas lines from Turkmenistan, which transit Georgia, through Turkey instead of hooking them up to Russian pipelines. Saakashvili need only back away from this plan for Moscow to ditch the two provinces’ revolt against Tbilisi. As long as he sticks to his guns, South Ossetia and Abkhazia will wage separatist wars. DEBKAfile discloses Israel’s interest in the conflict from its exclusive military sources: Jerusalem owns a strong interest in Caspian oil and gas pipelines reach the Turkish terminal port of Ceyhan, rather than the Russian network. Intense negotiations are afoot between Israel Turkey, Georgia, Turkmenistan and Azarbaijan for pipelines to reach Turkey and thence to Israel’s oil terminal at Ashkelon and on to its Red Sea port of Eilat. From there, supertankers can carry the gas and oil to the Far East through the Indian Ocean. Aware of Moscow’s sensitivity on the oil question, Israel offered Russia a stake in the project but was rejected. Last year, the Georgian president commissioned from private Israeli security firms several hundred military advisers, estimated at up to 1,000, to train the Georgian armed forces in commando, air, sea, armored and artillery combat tactics. They also offer instruction on military intelligence and security for the central regime. Tbilisi also purchased weapons, intelligence and electronic warfare systems from Israel. These advisers were undoubtedly deeply involved in the Georgian army’s preparations to conquer the South Ossetian capital Friday. In recent weeks, Moscow has repeatedly demanded that Jerusalem halt its military assistance to Georgia, finally threatening a crisis in bilateral relations. Israel responded by saying that the only assistance rendered Tbilisi was “defensive.” This has not gone down well in the Kremlin. Therefore, as the military crisis intensifies in South Ossetia, Moscow may be expected to punish Israel for its intervention.
Israel/AmeriKa/NATO went and started a war with Russia! WOW ;-)
Pentagon closely monitoring Georgia situation
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#19. To: swarthyguy (#18)
Georgian tanks and infantry, aided by Israeli military advisers, captured the capital of breakaway South Ossetia, Tskhinvali, early Friday, Aug. 8, bringing the Georgian-Russian conflict over the province to a military climax.
#23. To: Rotara (#19)
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