Georgia: Russia has invaded and we are under attack; 1,400 reported dead.

[laststeamtrain]

Georgia: Russia has invaded and we are under attack

1,400 reported dead. Georgia to withdraw troops from Iraq for use in South Ossetia.

By Gary Fennelly
Friday, 8 August 2008

Russia sent troops and tanks into the breakaway Georgian province of South Ossetia today as Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin declared "the war has started".

Putin's spokesman Dmitry Peskov said: "War started today in South Ossetia when Georgia attacked Russian peacekeepers in the disputed region."

Earlier an official in Georgia's National Security Council said Russia invaded Georgia.

Kakha Lamaia said: "If it's not war, then we are very close to it. The Russians have invaded Georgia and we are under attack."

Georgian President Mikhail Saakasvili told CNN: "Russia is fighting a war with us in our own territory.

<more>

http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/world-news/georgia-russia-has-invaded-and-we-are-under-attack-13934899.html



(A column of Russian armored vehicles, headed towards the breakaway republic of South Ossetia's capital Tskhinvali, is seen in North Ossetia, Russia, Friday, Aug. 8, 2008)

[shireen]

1. just before the olympics?

smart move, putin.


:wtf:

[GeneCosta]

3. Putin is in China

It would probably be the current president.

[TheWraith]

5. Who's Putin's right-hand-man and chosen sucessor.

Putin's still on top, one way or another.

[Caliman73]

10. Dimitry Medvedev

Yep Putin's hand picked, hand trained successor. As prime minister Putin still holds a great deal of "legitimate" power in the country, but we all know he is still in complete control of Russia.

[malaise]

2. I watched a superb interview with former Ambassador

Robert Hunter. He said there is no doubt that Saakashvili started this by attacking civilians in South Ossetia. When you slaughter twelve Russian peacekeepers in their barracks, expect consequences.

I hope there's a ceasefire immediately, but many innocent people are already dead.

Georgia won't be making it into NATO or the EU anytime now.

[Tommy_Carcetti]

4. Who cares about that trivial stuff? John Edwards had an affair!

An affair!

:sarcasm:

[laststeamtrain]

6. Timeline of Russia-Georgia tensions over separatists

Timeline of Russia-Georgia tensions over separatists

Agence France-Presse

Posted date: August 08, 2008

MOSCOW—Following is a timeline of Russian-Georgian tensions, which have spiralled with Georgia attacking the capital of breakaway South Ossetia and Russia reportedly bombing Georgian territory.

1991 The Soviet Union collapses and Georgia, which was absorbed into the Russian empire in the 19th century, then taken over by the Soviet Bolsheviks in the next century, becomes independent.

1992-4 Minority ethnic groups in the provinces of South Ossetia and Abkhazia fight separatist wars to end Georgian rule, resulting in thousands of deaths. Both rebel statelets have significant Russian financial and political backing, but have not been recognized by any foreign government and officially remain part of Georgia.

1994 Under a shaky ceasefire agreement, a mainly Russian peacekeeping force is deployed in Abkhazia. Russian troops also lead a joint peacekeeping force in South Ossetia.

2000 Russia's new president, Vladimir Putin, imposes visa requirements on Georgians going to Russia, unlike citizens from other countries in the 12-member Commonwealth of Independent States.

2002 After repeated accusations by Russia that Georgia is sheltering Chechen rebels, an air raid takes place on the Pankisi Gorge just inside Georgia. Russia denies being behind the attack, which killed one person.

Georgia applies to join the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, angering Russia. Georgia also becomes a key US ally after agreeing to host oil and gas pipelines from the Caspian Sea to Turkey, avoiding Russia.

2003 The peaceful "Rose Revolution" ousts Eduard Shevarnadze and brings to power Mikheil Saakashvili, who immediately launches a strongly pro-Western policy aiming at NATO membership and economic and governmental reforms.

2005 Despite growing tensions with Saakashvili's government, Moscow agrees to remove Soviet-era military bases from Georgian territory by the end of 2008.

2006 Georgia is briefly left with severe gas shortages after a pipeline explosion inside Russia destroys a key export route. Those behind the bombing are never discovered.

Georgia arrests four Russian military personnel on spying charges. Moscow responds with sweeping economic sanctions, cutting all travel links, deporting hundreds of ethnic-Georgians from Russia, and stopping Georgian imports.

August 8, 2008 After weeks of tension and low-level clashes Georgia says it has taken control of the South Ossetian capital of Tskhinvali. Russia sends reinforcements into the territory, saying Georgian attacks killed more than 10 of its peacekeepers. Russian warplanes also reportedly bomb Georgian targets.

[Dover]

7. Another flare up over whose energy/pipeline transit will dominate E. Europe/Asia

It has been going on for quite some time now. What might ignite this ongoing tension into full blown war throughout that region is anyone's guess. There are so many players.
You can read Brzezinski's Chess Game book, or do a google on the oil and gas activity and planned
pipeline transits by different parties to see what's at stake. Georgia is critical to Russia's plans. The U.S. and Russia have been trying to plant their own puppet governments and insurgencies in Georgia, and the U.S. has also been building up troops in the region which is a threat to Russia's pipeline through Georgia. Then there is that troublesome missile defense system that the U.S. wants to plant at Russia's doorstep....



...The crisis, the first to confront President Dmitry Medvedev since he took office in May, looked close to spiraling into full-blown war in a region emerging as a key energy transit route, and where Russia and the West are vying for influence.

..snip..


Saakashvili, who wants to take his small Caucasus nation into NATO, has made it a priority to win back control of South Ossetia and Abkhazia, another rebel region on the Black Sea.

The issue has bedeviled Georgia's relations with Russia, which is angered by Tbilisi's moves towards the Western fold and its pursuit of NATO membership.


http://www.moscowtimes.ru/article/600/42/369683.htm

[Ichingcarpenter]

8. Good Timeline synopsis it should have its own thread if you chose to.

Also add this:





http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/news/article-23529182-details/Russia+on+brink+of+war+with+Georgia+after+its+peacekeepers+killed+in+South+Ossetia+fighting/article.do

[erpowers]

9. Bush Was Wrong

Not that anyone who posted on this site did not know that Bush was wrong when he said that the Iraq war would make countries think twice about invading their neighbors; however, this definitely proves that he was wrong on that point. The Iraq War has done nothing to make the world a safer place.