US warship docks in Georgia

[cal04]

Source: The Australian

THE flagship of the US Navy's Sixth Fleet dropped anchor off Georgia's Black Sea port of Poti today, where Russian troops have been patrolling since last month's war with Georgia.

The USS Mount Whitney, a sophisticated command warship based in Italy, is the third US vessel to arrive on the Georgian coast with humanitarian aid for tens of thousands displaced by the conflict over Georgia's breakaway South Ossetia.

The oil and dry grain shipment port of Poti is patrolled by Russian troops, who Moscow says are carrying out peacekeeping duties.

Georgia and its Western allies say their presence is part of an illegal occupation.

US warship carries aid to Georgian port of Poti
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080905/ap_on_re_eu/georgia_russia

Read more: http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,24301186-12377,00.html

---

talking to a reporter
There is no talk of military action," he said after a reporter's question about what Russia's reaction will be. But he again questioned why the United States was using warships.

[AirmensMom]

1. OMG.

:scared:

[formercia]

2. Pencil dick mentality?

Trying to provoke WWIV?

[sellitman]

3. Election suspension coming right up!

Betcha!

[formercia]

8. A couple of Centuries from now

when the inbred descendants of a few Peruvian Gold miners that happened to be underground when the Northern Hemisphere of Planet Earth vaporized, figure out that the Russians had nothing to do with the sinking of the Mt. Whitney, it won't really matter.

No commander in their right mind would put an unarmed command and control vessel, the obvious first-strike target in any attack, on the front line, instead in some rear-echelon position where it could be properly defended.

[SpiralHawk]

19. "Hey, I'm The Decider. And I has Decided I'm a Military Genius. Smirk." - Commander AWOL

"Don't forget, I'm backed up by another Military Genius: Dickie 'Five Military Deferments' Cheney. Smirk."

- Commander AWOL

[formercia]

23. Hoka Hey!

Great White Father sucks.

[formercia]

4. Remember the Mt. Whitney !!

...to paraphrase a call to War from 1898.



http://www.wccusd.k12.ca.us/elcerrito/history/span-amerwar.htm

The event invokes a great deal of irony....

Skull and Bones rides again.....

[ohio2007]

25. Are you saying the Russians will shakedown the crew for protection money ?

Russian military troops looting coast guard base in Poti

http://ca.youtube.com/watch?v=uBlap1HclRc&feature=related

Russian Soldiers Looting the Georgian Military Base

http://ca.youtube.com/watch?v=HxLM7ua6LGQ&feature=related
I doubt they will get away with removing what isn't nailed to the deck of the Mt Whitney and imo, I doubt they have been given the OK from the higher ups


http://ca.youtube.com/watch?v=NdPOLRaonzs&feature=related

Drunk Russian Soldiers
http://ca.youtube.com/watch?v=hg80_5LBUnE&feature=related

A beer run in a T-72 tank !

LOL

[chelsea0011]

5. The media needs to do a better job about reporting this situation.

Most Americans, I would think, know very little about the issues in this region and are just being fed the line that Georgia is and should be the type of ally that American troops need to defend. Give me a % of how many Americans know that Georgia invaded a territory, South Ossetia, which wants to remain independent from Georgia. I say less than 1%. And if I were Kurdish, I'd be wary of the US showing such backing of Georgia. If the Iraqi government shows their might toward the Kurds, will the Use back them?

[Maryland Liberal]

6. I used to serve on the Mount Whitney

To call it a warship is a joke. No guns - no torpedo's - no missiles. Not very threatening at all.

[formercia]

7. Just a big, fat target.

Junior is just putting it in harm's way, hoping some crazy Xtian Zionist will ping it, and start a World War.

Enter Martial Law and the cancellation of elections.

[bushmeister0]

9. Check again.

Wiki:

"(The Mount Whitney (LCC-20) is) the command and control ship for Commander Joint Command Lisbon and Commander Striking Force NATO.

Considered by some to be the most sophisticated Command, Control, Communications, Computer, and Intelligence (C4I) ship ever commissioned, Mount Whitney incorporates various elements of the most advanced C4I equipment and gives the embarked Joint Task Force Commander the capability to effectively command all units under the command of the Commander, Joint Task Force.

Mount Whitney can receive and transmit large amounts of secure data from any point on earth through HF, UHF, VHF, SHF and EHF communications paths. This technology enables the Joint Intelligence Center and Joint Operations Center to provide the timely intelligence and operational support available in the Navy."

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

It's the flag ship of the US Sixth Fleet, you don't think it came alone, do you? Look for a Virginia, Maryland.

[formercia]

20. Perhaps they should let the Russians have it...

to go along with the advanced communications equipment on the Hummers the military left behind.

Then the Russians could have a complete set of now compromised crypto capable gear.

Just being sarcastic.

[Igel]

21. Surface-ship access to the Black Sea is controlled by the Montreux Convention.

IIRC, there are two other US warships there, which might just be one more than allowed. On the other hand, the Whitney is C&C, and might just not qualify. For instance, one aspect of a warship is having guns: when cruise missiles came into vogue, the USSR tried to claim they were guns and put them in the same category as battleships; they lost that fight (and pitched a fit).

One typical response, since only one warship could be in the Dardanelles at a shot, was to park a Russian cruiser there. Turkey was prohibited from allowing passage of any other military ship, and military transit through the Dardanelles were effectively blockaded, without Turkey's being able to do squat about it. This kind of pressure helped push Turkey into NATO in the late '40s and early '50s. (As with Polish and other East European attitudes, we often act like they have no volition and don't react to Russia/USSR's moves--anything they do they must only do out of common sense or because they're US puppets).

Turkey's the gatekeeper, Russia rides Turkey like it were a donkey, to preserve its backyard. It's one reason to sink the few Georgian ships in the Black Sea: They're allowed to be there, since they had a port, and mitigate Russia's monopoly on power. US, Polish, French, etc., ships are allowed in very limited numbers, but Russia always complains.

Currently Russia's conducting detailed inspections of almost everything that Turkey exports. Detailed. As in inspect every article, even if it means that a shipment that took a few hours to clear customs now takes a month. Why? Punish Turkey for not interpreting the Montreux Conventions as Russia dictates. Turkey'll fold, don't worry. Russia's good at exerting power, just like the US was in the 1910s-1960s, maybe early '70s.

One of Russia's complaints about the Mt. Whitney is precisely that it has lots of hi-tech surveillance equipment. They don't like it, not one bit. Turkey apparently had surveillance reports showing Russian overflights before the big dust up, and neither Georgia nor the US much appreciated having the information withheld--there being no special reason to release it, either. With the Whitney there, they can listen to Russian communications, monitor aircraft, etc., etc. Russia doesn't like being spied on, even if it's their occupation force on Georgian territory. All hush-hush. (Then again, it's also illegal to buy in-print dictionaries or reference books in Moscow bookstores and bring them back to the US: something about stealing the country's "cultural heritage". It's often done, but the threat's there; of course, you could just buy them in the US for a 1000% markup through a company controlled by a FOP, "friend of Putin".)

[bushmeister0]

10. Moving into Poti, coupled with Cheney's threats, is a provocation.

What was wrong with Batumi?

The NYT:

"Standing beside President Mikheil Saakashvili on Thursday, Mr. Cheney said that the United States had strongly supported Georgia since protests in 2003 ushered a democratic government to power and that it would continue to do so despite Russia’s proclamations that Mr. Saakashvili’s government was illegitimate.

'I assured the president as well of my country’s strong commitment to Georgia’s territorial integrity,' Mr. Cheney said after meeting with Mr. Saakashvili, without aides, for more than an hour, twice the scheduled time. 'Georgia has that right, just as it has the right to build stronger ties to friends in Europe and across the Atlantic.' . .

'Given Cheney’s reputation in Moscow, given his rhetorical history, sending him to Georgia risks escalating the situation,' Clifford Kupchan of the Eurasia Group, a consultancy in Washington, said. 'We’re in a stage of mutual overreaction.'"

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/06/world/06cheney.html?_r=1&hp&oref=slogin

I'd say!

Beyond all this, there's still the guestion of whether the US is violating the 1936 Montreaux Convention, which limits the amount of shipping into the Black Sea.

[formercia]

16. Cheney negotiating with Ukraine for air space rights

to overfly Ukraine en route to attack Russia in retaliation for the 'attack. on the Mt. Whitmore.

Just speculation, but from what I know of Cheney, this is his mindset.

[bushmeister0]

11. self delete

[AlphaCentauri]

12. we are in danger vote Mc*

:sarcasm:

[TaffyMoon]

13. Humanitarian Guns, Ammo, Grenades, Mines, etc., LOL.

[tuckessee]

14. Not just any warship but the flagship itself.

Whether the significance is tactical or symbolic or both I can only speculate.

[ogneopasno]

15. Wait, so did it dock or did it drop anchor?

There is, of course, a difference.

[Robbien]

17. They anchored, but will actually dock and offload supplies on Saturday

Russia said it will allow the docking and no military response is planned.

[MadrasT]

18. Fuck it. I'm building a fallout shelter. n/t

[nini]

22. Thank God we have Palin who is an expert from Alaska!!

who of course is an expert on Russia - so she can handle this.

THAT'S the reason that ridiculous statement was put out there.

[Xenotime]

24. Another occupation begins