Caucasus Crisis

[Deans]

The TU-22 Blinder (not Backfire) that was lost, is an aircraft of 60's vintage.

According to my knowlege all Tu-22s of old models were scrapped. The loss in the first day doesnt wonder me, since the main unknowns are at the starting. Isnt US stelth aircraft was hit at the early stage of Yugo conflict? The level of bombardement activity is high if they used strategic aviation and even ground-ground missiles, so some losses of crafts are inevitable, they can fall even due to the technical causes.

My mistake Igor.

Further development is that the Russian army has deployed an airborne brigade in South Ossetia last evening/ night.
Some shots of the fighting on TV: Salvoes of Artillery and rockets, Heli gunships in action.
1 shot of a downed Gerogian SU-25.
Lots of talk of the refugees streaming into North Ossetia (Russia) and the relief efforts conducted by the Russians.

[asprinzl]

The pipeline is controlled by British Petroleum. Ironically BP was only recently booted out of its Sakhalin Island project. Expect massive anti-Russian vitriolics from the BBC soon and other British and American publications that are controlled by BP.

If all goes according to Russia's way the biggest winner would be Gazprom. They already control a good part of the Azerbaijan oil business. The biggest loser would be Condi Rice for gross miscalculation. You will not sleep easy if Russia sets up a radar station in Cuba and a military base in Venezuela so why would Russia be comfortable with a radar station in Poland and a nato base in Georgia? If there is a missile threat from Iran, wouldn't it be more logical to set up a radar station in Turkey (Nato can't trust a slowly Islamizing Turkey anymore?)or even Greece?

Neville Chamberlaine told Hitler that an invasion to take Danzig from Poland would mean war and that Britain would come to help Poland. Well several months went by and not an iota of British war material nor British soldier landed on Polish territory. Chamberlaine was bluffing because Britain was in no position to even effectively defend herself. Poles (who with Hitler happily took part in the plunder of Czekoslavakia earlier) acted tough under false believe that England will help them. Hitler saw through the bluff and called it by ordering the jumpoff in 1939 after the Ribbentrop-Molotov deal.

The Georgian leader probably believed his own fantasy of Nato help. During 1999 Nato/Clinton/Wesley Clark orgy of violence against Serbia, Milosevic was demonized (though he was more calculated and less reckless), this monkey regardless of his US law degree though idiotically reckless is being potrayed as a victim.

I don't like this killing between fellow Orthodox Christians because a larger mortal enemy carrying the green banner of crescent and star is lurking just beneath the surface. Armenians, Georgians, Ossetians and Slavs need to put up a joint front against Islam. A Nato expansion into the caucasus would empower the Islamist due to the western humanitarian bullcrap.

Its funny that Condi puts pressure on the assorted gasoline-stans to give free space for islamist to roam in the name of human rights but is asking Musharaf to fight the same islamist in Fata-stan. That is the west for you. Always the panderer of Islam even since the days of Venician and Genaoese power.

In present day Afghanistan Nato troops are fighting and dying to up keep a Shariah constitution. At least should give the Soviets for genuinely attempting to replicate in Muslim Afghanistan the Bolshevification of Muslim Azerbaijan. They built or put effort to build music halls, opera house, sports arena etc. The pathetic attempt to build schools for girls is a sad story. There are a few token success but most other were abandoned. The poster child for female succes story are so tightly protected by walls of security that they are invisible to all while the soviets actually had a core group of modern trained females braving the enemy fire and actually put in time to improve the lot of Afghan females. Nato troops looked the other way when a group of shariah loving Pashtun officials under Karzai tried to close down some shops selling Indian movie dvds in Kabul. These guys only relented when the shops owners and their customers ganged up against them. Thats Bush and Condi way of bringing in democratic values to the Islamic world. Soviets almost succeeded if not for the western backing for the Mujaheedens. Karzai's power base is so tiny while the power base of the communist Afghans was preety wide. They would have held if not for active involvement of Pak-Is-Satan Army divisions during the civil war.

This is the Nato that should never be allowed into the Caucasus nor CAR. The saudi backed Wahabis would follow in their tracks and soon it would be another monkey circus just like England and France is now.

I have nothing against present day Turks or even Azeris but less than a hundred years ago the Turks, Kurds and Azeris all part of the Ummah took part in a bloody orgy of killing Orthodox christians- Ossetians, Georgians and Armenians. Lands where Armenians lived since the Roman times was cleansed and(present day western Turkey) was given to Kurds to settle as a reward for their service. It is these Kurds who are now waging a guerilla campaign against Turkey. Karma is a biatch. I have a special attachment for the Armenian people. I and half a dozen other Israelis (organized by some Armenian Americans) briefly took part in their war in the mid 1990s. Resourceless and land locked, Armenia is suffering from Turkish economic blockade due to Nogarno Karabakh. They are surviving with some support from Russia and Armenian-American diaspora. America is afraid of helping Armenia because of misguided Turkish sensitivities.

I am on Russia's side in this but Georgia and Russia must come under the same side for long term benefit of both.
Avram

[Igorr]

US position according to NYT:

Russia’s emerging aggressiveness is now also timed with America’s preoccupation with Iraq and Afghanistan, and the looming confrontation with Iran. These counterbalancing considerations mean that Moscow is in the driver’s seat, administration officials acknowledged.

“We’ve placed ourselves in a position that globally we don’t have the wherewithal to do anything,” Mr. Friedman of Stratfor said. “One would think under those circumstances, we’d shut up.”

[ASPuar]

Saakashvili video

He needs to work on his body language. Very easy to tell when he lies or speaks a half-truth.

This guy is a clown. And why does this joker have an EU flag in the background?

Did he really think that he can kill Russian soldiers and get away with it, just because NATO sniffed around his backyard for a moment or two? Hes scr*wed.

"This is like the law of the jungle... the stronger beats the weaker" - Thats life, buddy.

[Shivani]

This Ukrainian threat will put a deadline to Russian offensive, unless Russians find some other port(s) suitable for their needs in immediate future.

Ukraine threatens to bar Russian warships
Sun Aug 10, 2008 5:25am EDT


MOSCOW, Aug 10 (Reuters) - Ukraine said on Sunday it reserved the right to bar Russian warships dispatched to the Georgian coast from returning to their Ukrainian base of Sevastopol, Interfax news agency reported.

"Ukraine ... reserves the right to bar warships and vessels which could take part in the action (conflict with Georgia) from returning to Ukrainian territory until the conflict is solved," it said, quoting a Ukrainian Foreign Ministry statement.

Russia's Black Sea Fleet is based in the Ukrainian port of Sevastopol. (Writing by Oleg Shchedrov)

[John Snow]

If T-90 were to be used then IA would buy right away Arjuns instead of T-90s

[enqyoob]

Ukraine said on Sunday it reserved the right to bar Russian warships

There may be a lot of warships marked "Like New! One Owner!" available cheap for the IN too, since they have no base to which they can return.

Now I understand this conflict. Let's see...

The leaders in Province B decides that they have to declare independence from Nation A because they are too Pure to be part of A any more. They see themselves as "Westernized", more Caucasian than even the ppl of the Caucasus. This is pushed by the West, and succeeds. Then Country B (formerly Province B ) starts pogroms against the ppl of "A" ethnicity inside B. The ppl in region C which is on the border of A and B, decide that they want out of "B" and into "A", and so declare independence.

"B" decides on Tactical Brilliance and invades C and commits genocide - over 2000 civilians murdered in 2 days. 30,000 refugees escape to A.

A intervenes, putting paratroopers into B. The military of B now conducts Strategic Redeployment.

US, UK, UN call for Ceasefire. They are supporters of B to try to destabilize A.
******************

Somehow seems familiar, like I've seen this happen in history before. So have any lessons been learned from history? Will A finish the job NOW to save a constant nightmare for the next 1,700,000 years? Or will the UN Ceasefire cause a standoff where there is a war every time a new dictator starts feeling the heat on his musharraf?

Will B become a fine GUBO location for the West to destabilize A?

Will the West train a horde of wackos in B to go terrorize A, but will they then end up flying airliners into buildings in the West? Will the West then go bomb "D" because the POTUS and the Poodle need to show "tough response" and can't admit that their own creations in "B" are the problem?

Stay tuned on Pokrov Rodina Forum (PRF) for the answer, 50 years from now...

[enqyoob]

Presidential Debate: Russian Style

[enqyoob]

Strategic Redeployment.

Georgian troops retreated from the breakaway province of South Ossetia on Sunday and their government pressed for a truce, overwhelmed by Russian firepower as the conflict threatened to set off a wider war.... jets bombed the outskirts of Tblisi, the Georgian capital...

Russia has demanded that Georgia pull out its troops from South Ossetia as a condition to negotiate a cease-fire. It also urged Georgia to sign a pledge not to use force against South Ossetia as another condition for ending hostilities.

(er... Tashkent .. Simla ... Lahore... Agra... )

Russia's Deputy Foreign Minister Grigory Karasin said that Moscow now needs to verify the Georgian withdrawal. "We must check all that. We don't trust the Georgian side," he said.

On Sunday, Russian jets raided a plant on the eastern outskirts of Tbilisi that builds Su-25 ground jets. The attack damaged runways but caused no casualties, said Georgia's Interior Ministry spokesman Shota Utiashvili.

"We heard a plane go over and then a big explosion," said Malkhaz Chachanidze, a 41-year old ceramics artist whose house is located just outside the fence of the factory, which has been running since the Soviet era. "It woke us up, everything shook."

The risk of the conflict setting off a wider war increased when Russian-supported separatists in another breakaway region of Georgia, Abkhazia, launched air and artillery strikes on Georgian troops to drive them out of a small part of the province they control. Fifteen U.N. military observers were told to evacuate.

[Singha]

I realize Ukraine has the old big naval ports from soviet era like sevastopol and the
famous nikolayev shipyard. but from the map Russia has a black sea coast too.
I wonder why they keep their black sea fleet based in ukraine rather than build
themselves a big comfy new port on russian soil.

my prediction - we could see scud/iskander and alcm strikes on vital georgian
static targets soon like power plants and water purification facilities.
these were after all deemed dual use by NATO and bombed viciously in serbia
when their initial bombardment of mil targets did not work.

[enqyoob]

Maybe the Russians keep their fleet at / near Ukrainian ports precisely for that, and the Ukrainians will take any good Euro/USD -compensated chance to get rid of them.

[Kati]

Great going by Russia. Pound and hammer Unkil's chamcha Georgia to send a
powerful message.

This guy - Shakasvili (Georgian Prez) is really a dumbo. Just because 100 US
marines trained its puny army last month, and it gets a
few dollars of bakhshish for placing 2000 havildars in Iraq, it thought it has
the muscle to show off its bravado. Apart from the demands already made
by Russia for a pledge not to use forces in future in South Ossetia, it should
also make two more demands:
(i) War reparation of several hundred billions of dollars to reconstruct South
Ossetia;
(ii) set us several miles' wide buffer zone inside Georgia along Abkhazia and
South Ossetia to present peace-keepers, and prevent future misadventure.

The biggest loser is Unkil. Look at the track record for the last six months:
a string of bumblings - Myanmar, Tibet, Lebanon, and now Georgia. It's
great to see that Russian pounding will make other Chacha's chamchas to
think twice before becoming a hanky.

[enqyoob]

The clincher for me is that the Georgians are mass murderers. They didn't just roll tanks into S. Ossetia. They murdered the Peacekeepers and then over 2000 civilians in 2 days. This was, as Putin says, genocide. Many of those murdered were Russian citizens.

This was not some action to stop terrorist attacks, or to STOP secession. S.Ossetia seceded in 1992.

Russia had no choice but to respond right then, to stop the genocide of its people. I think the President of Georgia should be arrested, put on war crimes trial (OK, 7 or 8 years of torture from now is fine, as shown in the case of Bin Laden's chauffeur who did not murder or order the murder of anyone), and then hanged along with his whole junta. The notion that murder is a war crime only if it is done against US/UK chamchas, must be exploded.

[Singha]

NYT excerpts.

An official at Georgia’s Interior Ministry, Shota Utiashvili, said Sunday that Georgian troops had completely withdrawn from South Ossetia.

Georgian soldiers leaving the area described said they had been ordered early Sunday morning to leave Tskhinvali, the South Ossetian capital, at about 1:30 a.m.

Sergeant Georgy Diakonoshvili, leaving South Ossetia with his Georgian tank crew, said they had been exchanging fire with Russian tanks until their unit of 10 tanks was ordered to withdraw at 1:30 a.m. One infantryman with his unit was killed.

Near the border, Georgian soldiers were bewildered that they had been pushed out. Exhausted troops, their faces covered with stubble, said they were angry at the United States and EU for not coming to Georgia’s aid.

A Georgian major who only gave his name as Georgy, said, “Over the past few years I lived in a democratic country, and I was happy. Now America and the European Union spit on us.” He was driving an armored truck out of South Ossetia.

.....
.....
With Russia’s Black Sea fleet, warplanes and tanks bearing down on the small, mountainous country, Georgian officials acknowledged they were taken by surprise by the intensity of the Russian response.

But Russia, too, found itself facing resistance. Russia acknowledged that Georgian forces had shot down two Russian warplanes, while Mr. Lomaya said the Georgians had destroyed 10 Russian jets.

A close ally of Mr. Saakashvili’s, Gigo Bokarianot, a Parliament member, said Georgia was shifting its tactics to focus on air defenses. In Gori, people cheered as a Russian pilot ejected from an airplane that was shot down. Georgian television later showed a pilot’s bloody helmet and said a pilot had been captured.

Russian strategic bombers were seen over Georgia for the first time in the three-day conflict. Georgian tanks attacked the lone road linking South Ossetia to Russia, trying to cut off Russian supply routes. But Russia continued to flow forces into Georgia, and appeared on track to at least double the number of troops there. Georgian officials said at least 2,500 Russian troops were already in South Ossetia.

Along a military highway entering Georgia from Russia, military transports and armored vehicles were backed up for several miles. They were flying both Russian flags and plain red flags. The mood was buoyant.

“I am going to help our people,” said Zelimkhan Gagiev, 27, an irregular fighter in a maroon four-wheel drive who said he had family trapped in Tskhinvali. “If I can, I’ll fight to the death.”

The columns were headed to the Roki Tunnel, which gives access to South Ossetia.

Civilians came under fire on both sides. Georgian troops shelled the South Ossetian capital, Tskhinvali, with artillery. Russian television footage showed damaged houses and apartment buildings.

Russian warplanes struck at least five Georgian cities. Witnesses said they struck a train station in Tsenakhi, five apartment buildings in Gori, and the Black Sea port of Poti.

Georgian officials said that Russian warplanes had attacked the major Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan oil pipeline, operated by British Petroleum, that carries oil to the West from Asia, but that the pipeline had not been struck.

The Russian authorities said their forces had retaken the South Ossetian capital from Georgian control during the morning hours, while Georgian officials said they had withdrawn from the area voluntarily. But heavy fighting resumed there later Saturday, with Georgian tanks and heavy artillery attacking from the south, Russian television reported.

[Singha]

CNN:

Russia's Navy leases the bases from Ukraine through an agreement signed in 1997 which expires in 2017.

Russian soldiers in the breakaway Georgian province of Abkhazia warned Georgian troops to move out of their way as they intend to advance into Georgia's western region, Georgian Interior Ministry spokesman Shota Utiashvili said Sunday.

The Russian forces plan to move into the city of Zugdidi, which is beyond the border of the breakaway province of Abkhazia, Utiashvili said.

White House Deputy National Security Advisor Jim Jeffrey said the United States was urgently looking into the report, saying that it would be a very serious escalation for Russia to move into Georgia beyond the Abkhazia region.

[Singha]

I think the russian response has been amazingly fast and firm considering unkil managed to get
a half dozen cia types into afghanistan in immediate aftermath of 911 and potus smoked cigars
with prince bandar to work out a goat strategy, plus FBI teams handled the evacuation of the
bin laden family members on special jet

Rus got slapped and within 6 hrs the NSC met and authorized whatever happened. Putin
flew back from beijing probably directly into the region to shape the strategy.

comparing to what happened in kargil, we were a lot slower to muster the political directives.
and MMS would just stay put in beijing to not "spoil the atmospherics" rather than rushing
home to defend his turf.

[Raj]

According to Russia Today Channel on livestation.com
Russian Defense Ministry confirming that Georgian troops are leaving South Ossetia.
Russia pledges 400m to South Ossetia.
Georgia says it handed a ceasefire note to Russian embassy in Tbilisi. Russia has not confirmed this yet.

[asprinzl]

“I am going to help our people,” said Zelimkhan Gagiev, 27, an irregular fighter in a maroon four-wheel drive who said he had family trapped in Tskhinvali. “If I can, I’ll fight to the death.”

Igorr, is that a Chechen name? Still has Jihadi mindset.

[Igorr]

“I am going to help our people,” said Zelimkhan Gagiev, 27, an irregular fighter in a maroon four-wheel drive who said he had family trapped in Tskhinvali. “If I can, I’ll fight to the death.”

Igorr, is that a Chechen name? Still has Jihadi mindset.

Year, look like Chechen and Russian loyalist. Not think wahhabi or fundamental. To be remamber that as a half of Chechen population all time were remained loyal to Russia starting from XIX century.

Too interesting info:

1) One afro-american mercenary captured in Tshinvali by S.Osetians.
2) The captured pilot of downed Georgian plane speaks English only

[Raj]

Zalmay Khalilzad. US ambassador to UN:
US Condemns Russian "attack" on Georgia and calls for ceasefire.

Russian ambassador to UN :
100 US troops were participating in training in "Immediate Response" with Georgia.
127 US advisers were in Georgia.
Georgia increased its military budget 30 times last few years.
Georgia attacked with tanks against South Ossetia.
Georgia is ethnic cleansing. 1/3rd of South Ossetia population has become refugees.
Do you think our peacekeepers will run away like in Somalia?
We are not occupying South Ossetian territory.
Nobody limited the bombing in Kosovo only to Kosovo but bombed Belgrade and other areas.
We know what US did to Iraq. US statements against Russia are unacceptable.
Ru has started patrolling Black sea coast of Georgia.

Signal lost for the channel

[Surya]

Thought I saw a pic of Vostok battalion members heading for the front.

That would be interesting

[Raj]

Continued:
We are not refusing international efforts to bring peace to region.
Georgian has withdrawn from South Ossetia.
Georgian must sign a non-use of force agreement in South Ossetia.
We are not hampering Georgian military from withdrawing. (Zalmay said that Russia is stopping withdrawal)
UN is biased.

[Vick]

If Saakashvili is allowed to continue as leader of Georgia, NATO expansion into Georgia is a fait accompli.

For as smart as deft as Russia seems to be, it certainly is creating a lot of enemies right on its doorsteps. Ukraine, Poland, Czech Rep., Baltic Reps., Georgia, etc.

C. Asia is still Russia's playground but that may change over time as well. The smaller Russian neighbors are seeing first hand what it means to live in the Bear's den.

[Raj]

UK, Karen Pierce:
Russia should stop cold war rhetoric.
Kosovo situation was different. Russian actions are not similar to NATO.
Russian and Georgian sides should end hostilities immediately.
Russian should stop enlarging the conflict.

[Raj]

Italy:
We support the restoration of Georgian Territorial integrity.
Immediate action needed.

Croatia:
Situation in conflict zone seems to be getting worse.
Supports Georgian territorial integrity
Diplomatic efforts making no progress.
Supports UK and France ideas about ending conflict.

[Singha]

if Ru is smart they will formate and train the abkhazians and ossetians into "vostok-mki"
batallions attached informally into the Ru main army or interior ministry. the people who
will fight with the most ferocity for their turf will be the locals themselves. but they will
need lot more training in sabotage, comms, guerilla warfare, weapons, anti tank weapons,
WLRs, MSTA howitzers and EW gear to survive some serious contests with the regular
georgian army.

---
The Vostok battalion is made of Chechen recruits, but formally answers to the Russian Army’s Main Intelligence Directorate (GRU). The Borozdinovskaya raid has raised concerns of possible troubles between the Chechen and Avar communities.

Also named “Yamadayevtsy” after their commander, Sulim Yamadaev, members of the Vostok battalion have gained a reputation in eastern Chechnya of unyielding ferocity.

Yamadaev is a former separatist field commander who switched to the Russian side at the beginning of the second Chechen war.

[Raj]

Georgia:
Russia is indulging in Soviet Style propaganda.
Russia has no grounds for bombing Georgia.
Russia wants to exterminate Georgian people.
Russian exterminated Chechens.


Russia:
On many occasions we drew attention to problems in South Ossetia.
Our intention is to protect people in Caucasus.
Georgian and Russian have friendly feeling in the past, not currently, but will have in future.
Chechen are flourishing in Russian.

[Karan Dixit]

Well, the S. Ossetians are "separatists" hey? Apparently they triggered the attack from Georgia, and anyway, per the Georgians they were simply protecting the integrity of the country. Its not so clear where the real blame is, and simplistic answers are not to be found. Were Russian "peacekeepers" providing cover for insurgent attacks on the Georgian civilians? What would you expect the Georgian army to do under those circumstances? They may have decided to take the risk and do a hot-pursuit. Brave.

Good point! At the moment it is just "he said she said".

[Baljeet]

comparing to what happened in kargil, we were a lot slower to muster the political directives and MMS would just stay put in beijing to not "spoil the atmospherics" rather than rushing
home to defend his turf.

Singhaji
It was not MMS but Daru Piyo aur Jiyo Vajpayee who did everything possible to avoid taking charge and defend his nation. He was too busy eating Pakoris, pakoras, chat and other fried food.

[Raj]

US:
We did not hear any comments about the ceasefire.
Churkin has attacked UN.
Churkin referred to Rice conversation with Lavrov(Russian foreign minister), where Lavrov said that the Georgian president should go.
Russian is threatening territorial integrity.


Russia:
I have explained very clearly that ceasefire can happen when Georgian troops leave and sign no use force agreement.
Regime change is American experiment.
Zalmay has brought into in this council confidential meeting with Lavrov.


Zalmay:
Is the goal of RUssia to change leadership of Georgia?

Georgian:
Is Russia seeking change of leadership?

Russian:
May be he didn't have his ea rpeice when I gave my response.

UN Security council meeting is over

[Raj]

Russia Today show:
US invaded Grenada for 110 medical students.
Russia is protecting south Ossetians from genocide.

They are interviewing some US citizens in Ossetia, who seem to support that idea that Georgian planes have bombed South Ossetia. They claim it is war crimes. Georgia is killing

Q Should US step in?
US Citizen: I will tell Americans to call their senators and congressman to stop US support to Georgia. Georgia has cut-off water supply to South Ossetia for the past month. Georgians have killed innocent children and women. War is supposed to fought between armies not civilians. This is like Hitler's genocide against Jews.

Q ....
US Citizen: Georgian president should be tried for war crimes

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Invasion_of_Grenada

[Raj]

LIve telecast of Vitaly Churkin press conference.
I don't eavesdrop on private conversation between Rice and Lavrov.
Immediate ceasefire is not feasible until Gerogia withdraws and signs no-use force.
Zalmay is a high flying politician. US feels very vulnerable because of its involvement in Georgian.
We do not believe but some people believe that US encouraged the attack on South Ossetia.
In 2006 during Lebanon war: US stopped humanitarian ceasefire called by Russian for 30 days.
So a simple call for ceasefire will not do it.

[Karan Dixit]

Saakashvili video

In my humble opinion the guy lacks conviction and is a very flaky person. News host asked him repeatedly that what he would like US to do for Georgia. The guy could not give a straight answer. He should have said, "Georgia would like US to intervene on behalf of Georgia".

[Raj]

Russian President Medvedev: Georgia's actions can only be classified as genocide. We are collecting evidence against those we are involved in this.

[Raj Malhotra]

Does somebody remember the US pretext for invading Panama?

[Raj]

* Safeguarding the lives of U.S. citizens in Panama. In his statement, Bush claimed that Noriega had declared that a state of war existed between the United States and Panama and that he also threatened the lives of the approximately 35,000 US citizens living there. There had been numerous clashes between U.S. and Panamanian forces; one US Marine had been killed a few days earlier and several incidents of harassment of US citizens had taken place.

* Defending democracy and human rights in Panama. Earlier that year the government insisted that they won the presidential election that in theory was won by U.S.-backed candidates from opposition parties.[6]
* Combating drug trafficking. Panama had become a center for drug money laundering and a transit point for drug trafficking to the United States and Europe. Noriega had been singled out for direct involvement in these drug trafficking operations, although the U.S. had turned a blind-eye to Noriega's involvement since the 1970s.
* Protecting the integrity of the Torrijos-Carter Treaties. Members of Congress and others in the U.S. political establishment claimed that Noriega threatened the neutrality of the Panama Canal and that the United States had the right under the treaties to intervene militarily to protect the Panama canal

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_Sta ... _of_Panama

[Gerard]

[Karan Dixit]

Israel is to stop selling military equipment to Georgia after a complaint from Moscow. The arms ban includes sales of unmanned spy planes – several of which have been shot down over Abkhazia during recent tensions between Georgia and its breakaway republics.

http://www.russiatoday.ru/news/news/28500

[Raj]

http://www.russiatoday.com/news/news/28788/video
American says U.S. and Georgia to answer for violence in South Ossetia

[Shivani]

You know, we should not criticize Saakashvili for his ~seemingly~ suicidal actions. As an individual he might say many things in public but ultimately no one acquires and retains his level of political position by being so rash and imprudent.

He was coached to start this conflict. And has ~seemingly~ been left hung out to dry. He might not like the fact that there has not been any active military back-up from US -yet-, but he also does not have any other options but to stay fiercely loyal to US. More so now than ever before. And in future. This was his final exam, and so far he's done very well.

This Ossetia operation is not one man's tactical brilliance gone sour any more than Kargil was one Pervez Musharaff's solitary quest for glory. These men are puppets. Russia should learn from Indian experience and focus more energy in destroying the puppeteers rather than expendable toys.