See other War, War, War Articles
Title: Georgian President says 'Russia fighting war' [complaining about the US not jumping to defending Georgia]
Source:
Reuters
URL Source: http://www.reuters.com/article/europeCrisis/idUSN08472548
Published: Aug 8, 2008
Author: Reuters
Post Date: 2008-08-08 11:49:10 by a vast rightwing conspirator
Keywords: None
Views: 340
Comments: 21
Georgian President says 'Russia fighting war' WASHINGTON, Aug 8 (Reuters) - Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili said on Friday that Russia was fighting a war with his country and that Georgians were "looking with hope" to America, but he did not specifically appeal for U.S. help. "We have Russian tanks moving in. We have continuous Russian bombardment since yesterday ... specifically targeting the civilian population," Saakashvili said in an interview with CNN. "Russia is fighting a war with us in our own territory." Russian forces rolled into Georgia's breakaway South Ossetia region and were approaching its capital, Tskhinvali, on Friday, Russia's RIA news agency quoted a Russian military commander as saying. "This was a very blunt Russian aggression. ... We are right now suffering because we want to be free and we want to be a multiethnic democracy," Saakashvili said in the interview. Saakashvili, whose country is pushing to join NATO, said the conflict "is not about Georgia anymore. It's about America, its values." "I ... thought that America stands up for those freedom-loving nations and supports them. That's what America is all about. That's why we look with hope at every American," the U.S.-educated president said. Neither the White House or the Pentagon had any immediate reaction to the situation. The U.S. Defense Department has less than 120 personnel in Georgia. They are involved in training Georgian forces. Saakashvili said Russia had been preparing for the war for years, amassing troops on Georgia's border for months. "They made no secret. The are unhappy with our closeness with the United States, with the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, with the West in general," he said. The president said Russian artillery had been shelling Georgian positions for weeks, but he ordered a response only after Russian tanks moved in. Saakashvili rejected Russian assertions that the fighting was sparked by events in South Ossetia, where Moscow accuses Georgian forces of aggressive action against Russian peacekeepers and others. He compared the situation to the Soviet invasions of Afghanistan in 1979 and Czechoslovakia in 1968. Georgia and Russia were both part of the Soviet Union until its breakup in 1991. "We are in this situation of self-defense against a big and mighty neighbor. We are a country of less than 5 million people and certainly our forces are not comparable," the president said. "It would be suicidal for us to provoke Russia." Saakashvili said Georgian forces had shot down two Russian aircraft. "One of the aircraft was specifically attacking a civilian hospital wounding doctors and patients with no real purpose," he said. Saakashvili said he witnessed a Russian air attack -- two jets flying low, looking for "a marketplace in a very busy afternoon, and hitting it, hitting the crowd of people."
Fri Aug 8, 2008 10:37am EDT
Post Comment Private Reply Ignore Thread
Top • Page Up • Full Thread • Page Down • Bottom/Latest
Begin Trace Mode for Comment # 19.
#1. To: All (#0)
I'm wondering what got him the most impressed. The Abu Ghraib sex shows? The Gitmo vacation club? The human falafels in Fallujah? The Green zones? Anyways, Bush can't do a thing. Georgia is Russia's bitch to slap around in frustration because Russia can no longer slap Poland or even Afghanistan.
There's your sign ;-)
A full-blooded African never would have fell for it. He'd go home, declare himself king, and eat a few of his neighbors.
A full-blooded African never would have fell for it. He'd go home, declare himself king, and eat a few of his neighbors. LOL
Raw Video: Russia Battling Georgia
Georgia says Russian tanks mean 'war' in South Ossetia
Bob Chapman on w/AJ saying that Zbig's fingerprints all over this: engaging Russia.
There's also this interesting thing from www.globals http://ecurity.org/military/world/georgia/army.htm It's undated so I don't know when it was written. ========================================================= "In its report for 2005, Georgia's International Security Advisory Board (ISAB) noted that previous reviews identified a total strength of 13,000-15,000 active- duty personnel as an optimum for the Georgian armed forces. A four-brigade structure, along with an increased reserve force, represent an increase of 25- 30 percent on earlier planning figures in the Individual Partnership Action Plan (IPAP) agreed with NATO in 2004. Observers suggested that the rationale for reversing the downsizing of recent years was to launch a new military offensive to bring the unrecognized breakaway Republic of South Ossetia back under the control of the Georgian government. In addition to upping manpower, Georgia greatly increased its defense spending, from 79 million laris ($43 million) in 2004 to 317 million laris in 2005. The increase was consistent with the requirement that countries aspiring to NATO membership spend at least 2 percent of GDP on defense. The weaponry purchased reportedly includes armored personnel carriers, self- propelled artillery, helicopters, and T-72 tanks. The latter three items called into question earlier statements that Georgia has no aggressive intentions and plans to strengthen its armed forces exclusively for defensive purposes, to repel any external invasion. These weapons are well suited for an offensive against the Ossetians. From mid-June to mid-July 2005, some 800 Georgian troops conducted large-scale tank exercises using some 170 battle tanks. One year earlier, Georgia had only 76 T-55 and T-72 tanks. Georgia had succeeded, with assistance of the United States, Turkey, and other allies, in transforming the paramilitary National Guard into a trained, disciplined, and well-equipped fighting force qualified for NATO membership. " ======================================================= What we're seeing could fairly easily turn into a much larger affair. This could be in some respects similar to the way WWI expanded, as mutual defense agreements brought in more and more players until they were all too far along in preparations to be able to step away without appearing weak. Since it wouldn't involve their own deaths, they decided it was better to appear strong and stupid (and get many millions of their subjects killed) rather than appear weak and prudent. Couple that with the Baku-Tibilsi-Ceyhan pipeline, and what I see as an ominous warning from the Georgian President, saying that the US needs to understand that Georgian security is in US interests, the list of dumb things the arguably most idiotic administration in human history might do is quite long.
There are no replies to Comment # 19. End Trace Mode for Comment # 19.
Top • Page Up • Full Thread • Page Down • Bottom/Latest"I ... thought that America stands up for those freedom-loving nations and supports them. That's what America is all about. That's why we look with hope at every American," the U.S.-educated president said.
#2. To: a vast rightwing conspirator (#1)
the U.S.-educated president
#5. To: Rotara (#2)
There's your sign ;-)
#6. To: Tauzero (#5)
There's your sign ;-)
#7. To: All (#6)
The Russian Army is as good at murdering civilians as anyone else.
#9. To: Rotara (#7)
#15. To: TwentyTwelve (#9)
Georgia started the war bump
#17. To: Rotara (#15)
#19. To: historian1944, All (#17)
Replies to Comment # 19.