Saakashvili "planned S. Ossetia invasion" -ex-minister

[inanna]

Source: Reuters

PARIS, Sept 14 (Reuters) - Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili had long planned a military strike to seize back the breakaway region of South Ossetia but executed it poorly, making it easy for Russia to retaliate, Saakashvili's former defence minister said.

Irakly Okruashvili, Georgia's leading political exile, said in a weekend interview in Paris that the United States was partly to blame for the war, having failed to check the ambitions of what he called a man with democratic failings.

Saakashvili's days as president were now numbered, he said.

The former defence minister's remarks are significant because Saakashvili has always maintained Russia started the war by invading his country. The Georgian president said he handed EU leaders last week "very strong proof" that Moscow was to blame, though he did not give details.

Read more: http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/LD123780.htm

[formercia]

1. Junior's Crusader buddy.

It was bound to happen when Bush Gang promotes right-wing reactionaries and puts them in power. What's next? Restoring the monarchies?

[Hissyspit]

2. "We are all Georgians."

Invading countries we don't have any business invading.

McCain was right in this sense - our tax dollars make us complicit.

[1Hippiechick]

3. "And I speak on behalf of all Americans today when I say...." if Obama had said that, the Repukes

would have CRUCIFIED him as being "presumptous"...again. But McCain can speak on behalf of all Americans and go unchallenged?

[PSPS]

4. Get your facts straight

Georgia's unprovoked bombing of the mostly-Russian South Ossetia forced Russia's hand. You should ask yourself why this occurred immediately after Cheney visited Georgia. Saakashvili is a US puppet and McSame's blathering was an embarrassment we all had to endure because he thought it would "sound good" for his campaign.

[Hissyspit]

5. I know. I was being facetious.

Sorry, I should have used the sarcasm icon.

[heliarc]

6. I hate this kind of campaigning...

Its one of the reasons Kissinger should be executed for treason... When he and Nixon influenced ongoing negotiations btw N. and S. Vietnam he effectively prolonged the War and killed millions more people, just because they thought it would get them elected. This sort of thing is beyong evil.

[IndianaGreen]

7. The Left has been saying this all along. This was a neocon invasion of an autonomous region.

with a wink and a nod from Bush regime officials.

[fascisthunter]

8. Well, Well, Well... the Left Has Been Proven Right Again.....

I'm sure we'll be reading more about this in the future.

[Igel]

9. By a political opponent in exile, operating on

either anonymous leaks or old info.

If this fed the other side's biases and they accepted it uncritically, we'd cry bullshit. And we'd be right.