Georgian-South Ossetian conflict

[Armanen]

Re: Georgian-South Ossetian conflict

Yeah I really hate that buck toothed bi*ch!

[yerazhishda]

Re: Georgian-South Ossetian conflict

This is so f'ucked up. I knew there was something wrong with Condi the Genocide Denier but who knew it was this bad? Russia faces isolation? Because they're helping the Ossetians gain independence from the corrupt Georgian government? Why doesn't Medvedev/Putin say that US faces "isolation" if it doesn't recognize the 'territorial integrity' of Serbia (their fav phrase nowadays - as if borders are rigid as to not change throughout history)? Why doesn't America stick to the one war that it can't even win and NATO keep their nose out of Caucasia!


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The little paper tiger that couldn't: Condi the Genocide Denier says Russia faces isolation

source: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/7559905.stm

The US secretary of state has warned Russia that it risks isolation abroad if does not observe a ceasefire with Georgia and withdraw its troops.

"We expect Russia to meet its commitment to cease all military activities in Georgia," she said.

Condoleezza Rice is to visit France for talks with President Nicolas Sarkozy, who currently chairs the EU, before visiting Georgia itself on Friday.

The US has begun delivering aid by air to the ex-Soviet republic.

Washington is showing unwavering support for Georgia in its conflict with Russia, a BBC correspondent notes.

Russian forces briefly moved out of the breakaway Georgian province of South Ossetia on Wednesday to destroy military hardware at an abandoned Georgian military base in the nearby town of Gori.

Thousands of Russian troops remain in South Ossetia since they drove out a Georgian force which tried to regain control of the de facto independent province in a surprise attack one week ago.

They are also deployed in force in Abkhazia, Georgia's other breakaway province, where separatists ejected Georgia's remaining troops this week.

'Isolation' for Russia

Dispatching Ms Rice to Europe, President George W Bush called on Moscow to withdraw its forces from Georgian territory.


"The [US] stands with the democratically elected government of Georgia, insists that the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Georgia be respected," he said at the White House on Wednesday, flanked by the secretary of state and Defence Secretary Robert Gates.

Ms Rice said Russia faced international "isolation" if it refused to respect the truce.

"We expect all Russian forces that entered Georgia in recent days to withdraw from that country," he said.

There was, she said, a "very strong, growing sense that Russia is not behaving like the kind of international partner that it has said that it wants to be".

Ms Rice is to discuss with Mr Sarkozy the five-point peace plan he personally brokered with Russian President Dmitry Medvedev and Georgian President Mikhail Saakashvili on lightning visits to Russia and Georgia on Tuesday.


A US military transport plane landed in Tbilisi airport on Wednesday evening, delivering what the US said was medical supplies, bedding and other items for internally displaced people.

The US special envoy to the region, Matthew Bryza, said the consignment was the first of many that would be arriving by sea and air.

The provision of US aid to Georgia follows a promise by President Bush that the US military would play a role in delivering emergency supplies to Georgia.

Kim Ghattas, the BBC's correspondent at the US state department, says that while Washington has been warning Russia of the consequences of its military action in Georgia, so far little has happened apart from the cancellation of a joint military exercise.

But the view from Washington is that Russia has more to lose from a deterioration in ties with the West.

US officials insist that Moscow does care if concrete moves are taken to isolate it on the international scene, our correspondent says.

'Civilised country'

The Georgian government says that 175 people, mainly civilians, were killed during the conflict with Russia and South Ossetian separatist forces.

Russia, which says that 74 of its troops were killed, reports that more than 2,000 people died in South Ossetia, the vast majority civilians allegedly killed in the Georgian attack.

While none of the casualty figures have been verified independently, the UN refugee agency estimates that some 100,000 people have been displaced by the fighting, both from South Ossetia and Georgia proper.

Russia says its forces dismantled and destroyed military hardware and ammunition at an undefended Georgian base near the town of Gori on Wednesday.

Russia's First Deputy Prime Minister, Sergei Ivanov, said attacks by Russian forces on Georgian military targets outside South Ossetia were legal and necessary.

He said Russia had to destroy Georgian artillery, and bomb military airfields, in order to protect its peacekeepers in South Ossetia.

Speaking to the BBC, he also said he was surprised at the international condemnation of Russia's response to the crisis:

"Any civilised country would act same way. I may remind you [that on] September 11 [2001], the reaction was similar. American citizens were killed. You know the reaction."

Meanwhile, Georgians fleeing Gori reported widespread shooting and looting by South Ossetian separatists.

[RSNATION]

Re: Georgian-South Ossetian conflict

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/08/14/world/europe/14gori.html?ref=world

The last paragraph is key. The Azeris are scared.

[North Pole]

Re: Georgian-South Ossetian conflict

YouTube - McCain shows his age - he cannot even pronounce a name of the Georgian president



Did Scheunemann Engineer McCain’s 2005 Nobel Prize Nomination Of Georgian President For Financial Gain?»

The Washington Post reports today that Sen. John McCain’s senior foreign policy adviser Randy Scheunemann may have used his position in the McCain campaign for his own financial benefit by advancing the interests of his former lobbying client, the Georgian government:

Sen. John McCain’s top foreign policy adviser prepped his boss for an April 17 phone call with the president of Georgia and then helped the presumptive Republican presidential nominee prepare a strong statement of support for the fledgling republic.

The day of the call, a lobbying firm [Orion Strategies] partly owned by the adviser, Randy Scheunemann, signed a $200,000 contract to continue providing strategic advice to the Georgian government in Washington.

The McCain campaign responded saying, “Georgia’s lobbying contract with Orion Strategies had no bearing on the candidate’s decision to speak with President Mikheil Saakashvili and did not influence his statement,” they said.

But there appears to be more evidence of Scheunemann using McCain for financial gain. In 2005, operating as Georgia’s lobbyist, Scheunemann may have engineered McCain’s nomination of Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili for the Nobel Peace Prize just before his contract with the Georgian government was due to expire. Here are the details:

– In March 2004, Scheunemann signed his first contract worth $150,000 with the Georgian government to provide “advice and consulting services concerning Georgia’s full integration into Western institutions.” By the time the contract was signed, McCain had become a favorite target of Scheunemann’s lobbying.

READ MORE -- http://thinkprogress.org/2008/08/13/...-mccain-nobel/

[North Pole]

Re: Georgian-South Ossetian conflict

YouTube - McCain shows his age - he cannot even pronounce a name of the Georgian president


Just take a look how the anti-Russia machine is set up in the West.....

McCain adviser's work as lobbyist comes to light

By Matt Kelley, USA TODAY



Foreign policy adviser Randy Scheunemann, left, chats with John McCain aboard the candidate's chartered plane last week.
By Jeff Chiu, AP

WASHINGTON — John McCain's top foreign policy adviser lobbied the Arizona senator's staff on behalf of the republic of Georgia while he was working for the campaign, public records show.

Randy Scheunemann, founder of Orion Strategies, represented the governments of Macedonia, Georgia and Taiwan between 2003 and March 1, according to the firm's filings with the Justice Department. In its latest semiannual report, the firm disclosed that Scheunemann had a phone conversation in November about Georgia with Richard Fontaine, an aide in McCain's Senate office.

Orion Strategies earned $540,000 from its foreign clients over the year ending on Dec. 1, reports show. Scheunemann also received $56,250 last year from March to July from McCain, according to campaign finance records.
The campaign consulting fees ended at a time when McCain was under financial pressure to cut costs, but Scheunemann remained the campaign's top foreign policy adviser. He represented McCain throughout last fall — including an appearance at a Republican xxxish Coalition event during the same week he lobbied McCain's Senate office.

While not illegal or a breach of Senate ethics rules, Scheunemann's lobbying of McCain's staff as he was advising the campaign comes to light a week after McCain announced a new policy to avoid such conflicts. The new conflict-of-interest policy prohibits campaign workers from being registered lobbyists or foreign agents and bans part-time volunteers from policy discussions on issues involving their clients.

Scheunemann, who was McCain's foreign policy adviser during the 2000 presidential campaign, serves as McCain's spokesman on international issues, including those involving his former clients. For example, Scheunemann gave an interview in April to U.S. government-funded Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty about Georgia.

"The Georgian example has inspired Americans and American leaders in their dedication to democracy. … It's really about shared values, and it's something that Sen. McCain feels particularly deeply," Scheunemann said.
Georgia paid Orion Strategies $240,000 in the year ending Dec. 1, reports show.
"The fact is, John McCain's campaign is being run by Washington lobbyists and paid for with their money," Obama said Monday in Billings, Mont.

READ MORE -- http://www.usatoday.com/news/politic...nadviser_n.htm

[North Pole]

Re: Georgian-South Ossetian conflict

YouTube - McCain shows his age - he cannot even pronounce a name of the Georgian president

McCain Adviser Paid By Georgia To Lobby Senator

WASHINGTON — John McCain's chief foreign policy adviser and his business partner lobbied the senator or his staff on 49 occasions in a 3 1/2-year span while being paid hundreds of thousands of dollars by the government of the former Soviet republic of Georgia.

The payments raise ethical questions about the intersection of Randy Scheunemann's personal financial interests and his advice to the Republican presidential candidate who is seizing on Russian aggression in Georgia as a campaign issue.

McCain warned Russian leaders Tuesday that their assault in Georgia risks "the benefits they enjoy from being part of the civilized world."

On April 17, a month and a half after Scheunemann stopped working for Georgia, his partner signed a $200,000 agreement with the Georgian government. The deal added to an arrangement that brought in more than $800,000 to the two-man firm from 2004 to mid-2007. For the duration of the campaign, Scheunemann is taking a leave of absence from the firm.

Randy Scheunemann, top foreign policy adviser for Republican presidential candidate, Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., facing camera, holds a map of Georgia, while speaking to the senator, Wednesday, Aug. 13, 2008, on board the Straight Talk Air campaign airplane while waiting on the runway to take off in Newark, N.J. (AP Photo/Mary Altaffer)


READ MORE -- http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/0..._n_118641.html

[North Pole]

Re: Georgian-South Ossetian conflict

The US approved Georgia attack, Russia says.

Wed, 13 Aug 2008 09:25:19 GMT

Russia says that Georgia's attack on the independence-seeking region of South Ossetia was likely executed with the United States' approval.

"It is hard to imagine that (Georgian President Mikheil) Saakashvili embarked on this risky venture without some sort of approval from the side of the United States," Russian Ambassador to the UN, Vitaly Churkin, told Russia's NTV television on Wednesday.


Russia's troops overran their Georgian enemy, forcing them out of South Ossetia and helping the separatists drive out Georgian forces in another independence-seeking region, Abkhazia, before moving further into Georgian territory.

READ MORE -- http://www.presstv.com/detail.aspx?i...onid=351020602

[North Pole]

Re: Georgian-South Ossetian conflict

They even set up a lobbying firm in Washington DC.

From Washington Post:

McCain, Georgia and Lobbying

John McCain's strong anti-Russia comments on the Georgia situation and the fact that his top foreign policy adviser is part owner of a lobbying firm that provides strategic advice to the Georgian government in Washington have produced a surge of anti-McCain comments.
A few commenters have whacked "WaPo" for keeping the lobbying information out of the story on McCain's remarks. The lobbying connection was reported in a separate article, which our Internet readers wouldn't necessarily have seen. Both articles were packaged on page A3 or the The Washington Post's print edition. But the way articles get found on the Internet has little to do with newspaper design. Another lesson for how we in the MSM still have much to learn about the difference between internet and broadsheet presentation.

http://voices.washingtonpost.com/dot.comments/2008/08/mccain_and_georgia.html

[yerazhishda]

Re: Georgian-South Ossetian conflict

These look like Abkhazians to me.

In fact, I'm 100% positive they are Abkhazians.

I wonder why the mainstream media is portraying them as Russians.

RUSSIA: DON'T STOP TIL YOU REACH TBLISI! AND THAT'S REAL, SON!

[Federate]

Re: Georgian-South Ossetian conflict

Separatist fighters grab land in Georgia
Abkhazian fighters stake claim in South Ossetia in brazen land challenge

GANMUKHURI, Georgia - A few dozen fighters from the separatist region of Abkhazia crossed a thin slice of land dotted with Georgian villages Wednesday and planted their red, white and green flag in Georgian territory in a brazen challenge to the country's sovereignty.

The land grab came after days of battling between Georgian and Russian troops over another separatist region of Georgia, South Ossetia. The Abkhazian fighters are also backed by Russian military might.

"This is Abkhazian land," one of the fighters proclaimed, planting the flag on the Georgian side of a bridge across the Inguri river. "The border has been along this river for 1,000 years," separatist official Ruslan Kishmaria said at the bridge on the outskirts of Ganmukhuri, a village previously held by Georgia.

The separatists made their move hours after Georgia's president said he accepted a cease-fire plan brokered by France. Russian President Dmitry Medvedev said Tuesday that Russia was halting military action because Georgia had paid enough for its attack last Thursday on the pro-Russian breakaway province of South Ossetia.

Officials in the Georgian town of Zugdidi, near Abkhazia, alleged the separatists' move was a violation of the cease-fire. They said Abkhazian forces crossed the border and occupied villages on the Georgian side.

"They breached the agreement. They occupied territory that belongs to Zugdidi district," said Tengiz Shanava, aide to the district chief. Shanava spoke Wednesday from his office in Zugdidi while briefing three U.N. military officials in blue berets, and showing them locations on a map.

The fighters said they were laying claim to what has historically been Abkhazian territory and that Georgian troops left without challenging them. Kishmaria said Georgia would have to accept the new border and taunted the Georgian forces who had left in recent days, saying they had received "American training in running away."

'Goodbye America'
Several dozen Abkhazian fighters in camouflage stood near their flag, some holding AK-47 assault rifles. One had a dagger sheathed on his hip. Some wore running shoes with a camouflage pattern. Several old, olive-colored jeeps were parked nearby.

"Goodbye America," one said derisively as an American reporter approached.

A dozen Russian military vehicles, including tanks, were in Zugdidi on Wednesday afternoon, and another dozen were heading into the town from the south. Further south, along the road to the port city of Batumi, about 50 vehicles were parked.

Later in the day, a Georgian official said the Russians had left Zugdidi.

Near the bridge over the Inguri, a group of Georgian men watched sullenly. One said the Abkhazians had promised to provide food to people in Ganmukhuri, but that they had instead asked local women to prepare food for their forces.

Georgians said most residents of Ganmukhuri had fled, though the Abkhazian fighters told The Associated Press that they had not entered people's homes and that people were free to come and go from Georgian territory.

People in panic
On Tuesday, Abkhazian forces moved to take control of several villages in the area of the Inguri River dam, and control a bridge leading to the town of Jvari. Four truckloads of security personnel with the Abkhazian police insignia on their uniforms were in the area, and detained three Georgian policemen.

In Ganmukhuri, southwest of Zugdidi and on the Black Sea coast, Abkhazian forces "robbed" a Georgian police post and have occupied the village, Shanava said.

"The people of Gamukhuri are in a panic and they are leaving under very heavy psychological pressure from the other side," he said.

Shanava also said "a few very important buildings were occupied by the Russians" in Zugdidi and that they had removed documents and computers.

"Our law enforcement bodies are unarmed," he said, noting that Georgian authorities were now poorly equipped to police the area.

From http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/26182907/