quote:

TSKHINVALI, Georgia - Russia sent tanks and reportedly bombed Georgian air bases Friday after Georgia launched a major military offensive Friday to retake the breakaway province of South Ossetia, threatening to ignite a broader conflict.

A White House spokesman said that President Bush and Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin had discussed the situation in Beijing, where both are attending the Olympic Games.

Bush later pledged U.S. support for Georgia's territorial integrity.

quote:

ORIGINAL: HighPlainsDrifter

Bush's fault...yeah, that's the ticket.

quote:

With less than ten months to go in office, Bush is looking to add some luster to a foreign policy legacy seen by many as little short of disastrous. His latest initiative is to give a hefty push to the ambitions of two former Soviet Union states, Ukraine and Georgia, to become members of NATO.
The only snag for Bush in his latest ambition is that his eagerness to welcome the former Soviet Republics into NATO is not shared by several of the other 25 members of NATO. It is also bitterly resented by Russia.

quote:

by Patrick J. Buchanan
Article V of the NATO treaty declares that "an armed attack against one or more [allies] shall be considered an attack against them all." Added language makes clear that the commitment to assist an ally is not unconditional. Rather, each signatory will assist the ally under attack with "such action as it deems necessary, including the use of armed force."

Yet, it was understood during the Cold War that if a NATO ally like Norway, West Germany, or Turkey, which bordered on the Soviet Union or Warsaw Pact, were attacked, America would come to its defense.

Can any sane man believe the United States should go to war with a nuclear-armed Russia over Stalin's birthplace, Georgia?

Two provinces of Georgia, Abkhazia and South Ossetia, have seceded, with the backing of Russia. And there are 10 million Russian-speaking Ukrainians in the east of that country, and Moscow and Kiev are at odds over which is sovereign on the Crimean Peninsula.

To bring Ukraine and Georgia into NATO would put America in the middle of these quarrels. We could be dragged into a confrontation with Russia over Abkhazia, or South Ossetia, or who owns Sebastopol. To bring these ex-republics of the Soviet Union into NATO would be an affront to Moscow not unlike 19th century Britain bringing the Confederate state of South Carolina under the protection of the British Empire.

quote:

Far from being some sort of freak occurrence, the Georgian military assault against the autonomous region of South Ossetia appears to be blowback from bringing Georgia into the coalition of the willing. As a benefit of their willingness to send troops to Iraq, the Georgians have been the recipients of large quantities of military training and aid. Ostensibly this was intended to prepare Georgian forces for action in Iraq, but its likely that the Georgians had an ulterior motive.

As Sergei Shamba, the foreign affairs minister of Abkhazia, told me in 2006: "The Georgians are euphoric because they have been equipped, trained, that they have gained military experience in Iraq. It feeds this revanchist mood... How can South Ossetia be demilitarized, when all of Georgia is bristling with weaponry, and it’s only an hour’s ride by tank from Tbilisi to Tskhinvali?"

One of the U.S. military trainers put it to me a bit more bluntly. "We’re giving them the knife," he said. "Will they use it?"

quote:

This is not about democracy vs dictature, brave freedom lovers vs evil oppressors, but a nasty brawl by power-hungry figures on both sides, with large slices of corruption. The fact that this is turned into a cold-war-like conflict between good and evil is a domestic political play by some in Washington to reinforce their power and push certain policies that have little to do with Russia or Georgia. That needs to be understood.

quote:

ORIGINAL: scutus

That's a bit overblown don't you think? This is Russia looking out for its own. Any other country would send in its troops if its peacekeepers have been attacked and indiscriminate, mass-rocket attacks have been fired into people who hold Russian passports. Georgia has killed hundreds of people, Russia is protecting them.

quote:

Bush's fault...yeah, that's the ticket.

quote:

ORIGINAL: 3cappuccinosmom

I heard this morning that Russia has gone deep into Georgia now. That's a little bit beyond defending one's own--more like invasion.

quote:

But while the immediate causes and the intensity of the Russian invasion had caught Georgia and the Western foreign policy establishment by surprise, there had been signs for years that Georgia and Russia had methodically, if quietly, prepared for conflict.

At senior levels, the United States helped rewrite Georgian military doctrine and train its commanders and staff officers. Georgia, meanwhile, began re-equipping its forces - with Israeli and U.S. firearms, reconnaissance drones, communications and battlefield-management equipment, new convoys of vehicles and stockpiles of ammunition.

The public goal was to nudge Georgia toward NATO military standards. Privately, Georgian officials welcomed the martial coaching and buildup and made clear that they considered participation in Iraq as a sure way to prepare the Georgian military for "national reunification" - the local euphemism of choice for restoring Abkhazia and South Ossetia to Georgian control.

quote:

All of these policies collided late last week. One American official who covers Georgian affairs, speaking on the condition of anonymity while the United States formulates its next public response, said that everything had gone wrong.

Mr. Saakashvili had acted rashly, he said, and had given Russia the grounds to invade. The invasion, he said, was chilling, disproportionate and brutal, and it was grounds for a strong censure. But the immediate question was how far Russia would go in putting Georgia back into what it sees as Georgia’s place.

There was no sign throughout the weekend of Kremlin willingness to negotiate. A national humiliation was under way.

“The Georgians have lost almost everything,” the official said. “We always told them, ‘Don’t do this because the Russians do not have limited aims.’ ”

quote:

Kapa_brn

quote:

ORIGINAL: Georgian_

Yes, Russia is bombing capital of Georgia but if I leave, if my friends leave, who will stay? who will protet my country?

Tskhinvali was bombed by Russia, Georgia has been only protecting itself.

Russias main goal is to re-create Soviet Union!

Tskhinvali is Georgias territory and people who live their are our beloved brothers!

I think if Russia is not stoped today, after Georgia other post soviet union countries will be attacked!
Georgia is the first pro european country in this region thats why Russia is attacking us! Georgia wants to become NATO member! But Russia does not want it, because Russia hates NATO.

quote:

Kapa_brn