Bush warns Russia over disputed Georgian provinces

[maddezmom]

Source: AP

CRAWFORD, Texas (AP) — President Bush sent a stern warning to Russia on Saturday that it cannot lay claim to two breakaway provinces in neighboring Georgia, a U.S. ally. "No room for debate on this point," the president said.

Searching for signs of progress, Bush said Russian President Dmitry Medvedev's signing Saturday of a cease-fire plan was "an important development. That's a hopeful step," Bush told reporters at his ranch. "Russia now needs to honor that agreement" and withdraw forces from the much smaller former Soviet state.

The Russian foreign minister said Thursday that Georgia could "forget about" getting back the two separatist regions, South Ossetia and Abkhazia. Medvedev also met with their leaders in Kremlin this past week, raising the prospect that Moscow could absorb the regions even though the territory is internationally recognized as being within Georgia's borders.

Bush disputed the claim that two areas may not be part of Georgia's future. They are of Georgia now, he said at the ranch, and reaffirmed that they are within recognized borders. There is "no room for debate on this," the president said.



Read more: http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5hjBmrcS80ZYJJmdXZc_lmUwRJPxgD92JEJE80

[Cooley Hurd]

1. And we'll do WHAT if they don't comply to our demands?

Oh, that's right... NOTHING, we'll do nothing.:eyes:

The "sleeping giant" (as Yamamoto allegedly called the US at the beginning of WW2) has become a pathetic paper tiger.:eyes:

[rpannier]

8. He'll follow in the steps of our vaunted Congressional *ahem* leadership

Issue a sharply worded letter of disapproval to Mendeleev.

Although Col Mustard (john bolton) is saying we should throw them out of the G-8 and the World Trade Organization(as if we have that authority.)

[unkachuck]

26. hey....

....maybe bush and his corporate buddies could sell a naval blockade around Georgia to the American people, waist more of our tax dollars trying and have his historic confrontational moment with the Soviet Union, I mean, Russia?....

[HopeHoops]

27. "Y'all stop that or we'll cut off ya supply of Levis"

Levi jeans had more to do with the breakup of the USSR than Ronald Reagan. Bush could use that as a threat if it weren't for the fact that Levi jeans aren't made in the US anymore.

[Submariner]

2. Bush is a weak pussy and Putin knows it

The U.S. is not going to war over this pissant country.

[tridim]

3. Whatever, Mr. war criminal..

Just shut up, jerk.

[bahrbearian]

4. W stands for Whimp

If chimpy had any balls he would be redeploying our troops in Iraq to, Georgia and Iran. I can't wait till McShame is our leader.

[Popol Vuh]

28. And we all know what "BUSH" stands for.

Its a weak pseudonym for PUSSY. n/t

[Mark E. Smith]

5. Bush has turned this country into a paper tiger

Georgie is the Mr. Whipple of war presidents.

[sourmilk]

6. "No room for debate on this point."

What an ignorant POS. I wonder just what the USA could possibly hope to do? I believe that Curious George will have to read the agreement again...Russia retains the right to peacekeeping forces in BOTH areas. There is nothing in them about Georgian Peacekeepers. Russia also retains the right to expand military zones to enhance the security of BOTH regions. It is purposefully vague because this is the only way Sarkozy could get Lavrov to sign ANYTHING.

"Bush disputed the claim that two areas may not be part of Georgia's future."

They have not actually been part of Georgia since 1992! There have been TWO SEPARATE Independence Referendums in BOTH regions (neither of which was accepted by international bodies), the last one just in Nov., 2006.

I just can't wait until Lieberman and Graham get there and restore sanity to the situation.
:sarcasm:

[Dr.Phool]

7. Tough guy is drinking on vacation again, huh?

[awoke_in_2003]

12. When isn't he?

Wonder which one he does more, drinking or vacations?

[KansDem]

17. Yeah, he'd better me careful of what he says, or it's no more vodka for him...(nt)

[IndianaGreen]

9. When it comes to Bush telling Israel to get out of Palestinian territory, we hear crickets!

Bush is as credible as Hitler when he told the Reichstag on Septmeber 1, 1939, that Germany had been attacked by Poland and that German forces were defending the Motherland.

[ohio2007]

10. on a side note, Why is Russia sending 50 yr old pilots into battle?

a small snipit of info sifted from this article;

War is absurd, says Russian pilot shot down over Georgia

snip
Flying Officer Zinov, 50, who suffered more serious injuries than his compatriot, refused to be interviewed, saying that he was in pain and did not want to talk. He confirmed that he was being treated well by Georgian doctors and had been visited by representatives of the Orthodox Church and the Red Cross. He suffered severe burns and was lying, unshaven and weary, in a white vest.

snip



Major Markovich, 42, said he had more than two decades of experience in the Russian air force, but claimed that this was his first mission into a combat zone. Although he was flying a Tupolev 22 bomber, capable of carrying nuclear warheads, he said his mission was to carry out reconnaissance over South Ossetia and Gori.

snip

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/war-is-absurd-says-russian-pilot-shot-down-over-georgia-898991.html

TU-22 Blinder
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tupolev_Tu-22

to me, ..old pilots and old planes speaks volumes about training and expirence being in short supply

hmmm...

Wonder what kind of staying power they will have as occupiers against a possible low intensity insurgency.
http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2008/08/16/europe/EU-Georgia-South-Ossetia.php






Can they hold on to Georgia over the winter into '09 ?



Visions of Ollie North

[awoke_in_2003]

13. Good article...

it is nice to know that some people still know how to treat POWs.

[daleo]

24. The U.S. has lots of soldiers over 50 years of age in Iraq

GRAY ELEGY -- The War's Oldest Casualties; In Iraq War, Death Also Comes To Soldiers in Autumn of Life

By EDWARD WYATT
Published: July 18, 2004

Master Sgt. Thomas R. Thigpen was 52 when he fell dead of a heart attack during a touch-football game in Kuwait on March 16 -- a casualty that does not quite fit the standard template of wartime tragedy: the fresh-faced 18-year-old cut down with the promise of a full life ahead.

He was not the oldest to die since the invasion of Iraq. That would be Staff Sgt. William D. Chaney, 59, who operated the machine gun in the door of his unit's Black Hawk helicopters -- the same job he performed in Vietnam -- and died after surgery for an intestinal problem. Sgt. Floyd G. Knighten Jr., 55, serving in Kuwait in the same unit as his 21-year-old son, died of heat stroke while driving a Humvee without air-conditioning across the scorching Iraqi desert.

In all, 10 soldiers age 50 or older have died in the Iraq war, some of medical ailments that might have excluded them from earlier conflicts, others under fire in the heat of battle. That is a small percentage of the nearly 900 American service members who have died since the Iraq war began, but it is 10 times the percentage of men in that age group who died in Vietnam. It is nearly as many as those of that age who died in the entire Korean War.

http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9C01EEDB123AF93BA25754C0A9629C8B63

That article is from 2004.

[ohio2007]

30. How many 50 yr old combat pilots are driving US bombers/fighters daelo ? "lots"?

lol
you missed the point of my excerpt.
Training and flight time is costly.That one pilot shot down said he was 50 .I'll bet he isn't the most senior flight officer either.
imo, Russia most likely has 60 yr olds flying 70's airframes.
I'll bet the average age of senior US soldiers is 10- 15 yrs younger then Russian counterpart conscripts who stay on for what ? The vodka ration offered ? The Russian military isn't all that it appears to be


When it comes to youth, Russia must rely on the draft and the attitudes they bring into the services.

But one good thing that comes out of this for sure; the 50yr old got his face in the media,if it is shown in Russia, his grandchildren will see gran pa is ok and in good hands.

[LisaL]

25. Are you for real?

How old are some American soldiers in Iraq?

[ohio2007]

29. I didn't expect many to catch the meaning between the lines of that article

Combat pilots

never mind :eyes:

[jimlup]

11. Idiot Bush

is always making pronouncements he can't back up. The man is an uniformed fool but we all knew that already.

[Larry Ogg]

14. Allow me to remove the psychopathic babble from Bushes speech

and translate it into the language of normal people. Simply put, what the commander and chief unelected occupant of the White House and hypocrite is saying is this, “Move over Russia and acquiesce, the new world order is coming too town.

[Tutonic]

15. US overplayed its hand on this issue. Putin just regained two

territories and Russia's standing in the world. Heard anything from the sleeping giant China regarding this conflict?

[ohio2007]

31. China is all olympics in coverage. go figger nt

[fascisthunter]

16. George Bush and all these Neo-cons should be Sent to the Hague

I don't care if it takes years to do, we need a massive movement to hold these sick bastards accountable!!!

[bhikkhu]

18. So Abkhazians and Ossetians must bow to their Georgian overlords

In spite of having fought them to a standstill many years ago, maintained their independence since then, and formed strong ties with their very strong neighbor who says it will guarantee and protect their continued independence.

...* just repeats the old theme I have hated for decades - the world as a big game of master and slave, and we as the masters of all. If we name the Ossetians and Abkhazians as subjects of their Georgian Lords, then the same Georgian Lords will bow to us in turn.

[sattahipdeep]

19. South Ossetia's bombed-out capital.

"They are cleaning up after themselves," said Mikhail Mindzayev, South Ossetia's interior minister.


"Labor even turns monkeys into humans," the Russian officer said. He threatened to arrest an AP photographer if he took pictures, and would not give his name.



Their city is in pieces and still has no electricity. To find clean water, residents drive or hitch rides to creeks several miles (kilometers) away, and they are struggling to find food. Many complained about the late arrival of humanitarian aid. Many refugees are coming back to find their homes destroyed, and then they leave again.


http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2008/08/16/europe/EU-Georgia-Forced-Laborers.php

[northernlights]

20. it's only been a week

and it was a surprise attack and a lot of infrastructure destroyed.

Or, I could say, "Gee how pathetic The Ruskies are. They should follow the Bush model demonstrated by Katrina. Plenty of warning, yet weeks to respond while people and animals were trapped and starving."

[Joe Chi Minh]

21. "There is 'no room for debate on this,' the president said."

Oh well, that's good, everyone knows where they stand now.

[still_one]

22. what are you going to do cowboy? this isn't Iraq. This is just like your

bullshit threat when China shot down one of our spy planes early in your term. You spoke loud, but backed down

You can only do things to countries who can't defend themselves

[daleo]

23. Oh, a stern warning

Next comes a good talking to.