I Can't Believe

Bi-Polar Bear wrote:

well, I think it was an obvious provocative move against the US... but the US among others. I also agree with you that bush and his cronies and their maneuvering does us no good.

Well, Russia had 500 lightly armoured troops in South Ossetia on a "peacekeeping mission" - partly backed by Western countries. Russia had also, just on Thursday, introduced a motion in the UN Security Council to "appeal for an immediate ceasefire, an end to the fratricidal conflict and the resumption of talks".

Now, among the things that happened following this was that Georgia declined the Russian proposal. Following that, the Georgian Army started shelling the South Ossetian capital Tskhinvali using heavy artillery, and, in the wee hours of Friday, apparently sent tanks and fighters to attack and capture the city.

According to South Ossetian sources, more than 1,600 people died in the Georgian attacks.

Russia's reaction was to sent troops, which had been gathering on the Russian side of the border to Georgia/South Ossetia for a while, into the province.


So, even if this was a provocative move against the US, I certainly wouldn't call it an "obvious" one. All it does is getting us into the post-9/11 territory, where any kind of action was seen and reported as an "Attack On America" - be it anthrax, Afghanistan or Iraq.

I don't think that the hyperbole has done anyone any good.

Russia presses attack as Georgia pulls back from key city
United States holds little leverage over Russia in Georgia conflict
By Tom Lasseter | McClatchy Newspaper
8/10/08

BATUMI, Georgia ?- Georgian military units pulled back to new positions near Tskhinvali, the capital of breakaway South Ossetia, after a night of heavy Russian bombing, a Georgian official said Sunday. But the move was unlikely to halt an escalating Russian assault on the U.S.-allied former Soviet republic.

Russia and its allies pressed a multi-prong attack, pounding Georgian soldiers from the air in the north and unleashing a new front from the west by separatist forces. Russia's powerful Black Sea fleet moved into position to blockade Georgia's ports to prevent any resupply.

In the west, the rebel province of Abkhazia resumed "massive artillery fire" against Georgian units there, an Abkhaz defense official told Interfax, a Russian state news service.

The repositioning of the Georgian soldiers in Tskhinvali, which Georgia tried to wrest from separatist control in a blitz of rocket and artillery fire beginning Thursday night, might have opened the way for a ceasefire. But Russian officials gave no indication they were interested.

After two days of television news coverage showing defiant Georgian troops pushing into South Ossetia, which has many Russian citizens, and hearing Russian analysts ponder whether Russian soldiers might have a hard time handling the U.S.-trained Georgian military, the Kremlin set out to make a point.

On Saturday, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Labrov told reporters that his nation was "not in the bargaining businsess." He said that the situation would be resolved only when Georgian forces withdrew completely from the Russian-backed rebel areas and signed a binding non-agression agreement ?- measures that would be difficult for the Georgian government to accept.

On Sunday, Interfax reported that Georgia had 7,400 troops and about 100 tanks outside Tskhinvali that were under attack by Russian and South Ossetian separatist forces.

TBILISI, Georgia - Russia's foreign minister is disputing Georgia's claim that its troops have pulled out of South Ossetia, the separatist region where fighting with Russian forces has killed hundreds this weekend.

Earlier Sunday, Georgia said its troops were withdrawing and President Mikhail Saakashvili said he was calling a cease-fire.

But Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov disputed that in a telephone call with his Georgian counterpart Eka Tkeshelashvili, a ministry statement said.

In the call, "the Russian side brought in facts about the presence of Georgian forces in certain neighborhoods of Tskhinvali," the South Ossetian capital where fighting has been heaviest, the statement said.

THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE.