11 Comments

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  Taka313 at 06:37 PM JST - 16th August

  Here's hoping it sticks.

  Taka

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  JoeBigs at 07:43 PM JST - 16th August

  Let us see how long it takes the Russians to move into another Soviet ex-occupied nation. This is like reading about how Hitler pushed Chamberlain around. I wonder what nation Bush will surrender next?

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  romulus3 at 09:49 PM JST - 16th August

  On Friday, Mr Bush said Russia's actions in Georgia were "completely unacceptable".

  "The world has watched with alarm as Russia invaded a sovereign neighbouring state and threatened a democratic government elected by its people," he said.

  and Rocky seven will be born soon. the return of Drakov. Oh Bush, do you know who you are and what you are doing? If you did it, don't complain if someone else does it. I mean every fool understands this. Well, almost.

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  LFRAgain at 01:49 AM JST - 17th August

  Georgia used military force under the guise of peacekeeping to try and incorporate two break-away provinces that preferred to stick with Russia. Russia responded in kind. And Russia's wrong why exactly? How is it that so many seem to be missing the hypocrisy here? Russia's response was certainly overkill, but Georgia asked for it with a bullhorn.

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  Betzee at 02:40 AM JST - 17th August

  And Russia's wrong why exactly?

  To assert they have the right to protect ethnic Russians living outside their borders. If every government claimed such a right as part of legitimate national self-defense, how many foreign governments could claim the right to invade Los Angeles alone, with its numerous immigrant communities? (Actually that was part of the rationale for Reagan's invasion of Grenada in 1983, to protect American medical students studying on the small Caribbean island. But we got out quickly and that remains one case of successful regime change.)

  These conflicts between groups which can't seem to live together peacefully, and there's no shortage of them, are difficult to resolve. You can create more states, but then that presents its own problems (as anyone who's worked on Central Asian-Caucasus issues can attest).

  In fact many people thought that the show down would come between Russia and its neighbor to the east, China, which has made inroads into Kazakhstan, also an ally of the US incidentally. It's a source of energy resources; the Chinese are establishing transportation linkages to send oil in one direction and industrial goods in the other along what was once "the Silk Road." (Present-day Kazakhstan was historically the buffer against Chinese expansion into Europe.) As someone cautioned, "If Russia starts to feel that China is becoming too assertive in what it regards as its sphere of influence, it could respond militarily to Chinese economic power." And that may still happen.

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  undecidedbout08 at 07:59 AM JST - 17th August

  As someone cautioned, "If Russia starts to feel that China is becoming too assertive in what it regards as its sphere of influence, it could respond militarily to Chinese economic power." And that may still happen.

  That someone appears to be George Friedman. Why the reluctance to cite your source? Is it his conservative Republican credentials, or his "deep and abiding hatred of totalitarianism" ?

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  reddragonguy at 10:57 AM JST - 17th August

  Nato got the messages no more advancing to the caucasus!

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  reddragonguy at 10:58 AM JST - 17th August

  Georgia was nobody... it was the struggling between the advancing Nato and Russia's protection of her interests,oil!

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  Betzee at 02:00 PM JST - 17th August

  That someone appears to be George Friedman. Why the reluctance to cite your source? Is it his conservative Republican credentials, or his "deep and abiding hatred of totalitarianism" ?

  It's from the weekly Stratford briefings (which is a good source of insight), don't know if he wrote it. Yet when something he wrote was pasted in on this www site full text explaining why the USA dropped the ball on this it was dismissed as "political porn for the left." Can't win for losing here....

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  Betzee at 02:24 PM JST - 17th August

  "The political decision [to invade Georgia] was made in April," said Pavel Felgenhauer, a military analyst in Moscow who writes for the Jamestown Foundation, a Washington think tank, and Russian publications. "It was final. Preparations were being put in place for a year beforehand."

  Many say the Georgians, with the United States in their corner, became overly confident of their capabilities.

  "These are the most romantic people in the world. They're very gallant, in the stupid sense," said Bruce P. Jackson, a close Bush administration ally who has worked extensively with Saakashvili and other leaders in the emerging democracies of the former Soviet bloc. "Do they really listen? They're very much 'the Charge of the Light Brigade' people. It has a lot to do with personal honor."

  At any moment, analysts say, Georgia might have staved off a full-on military attack by heeding Moscow's warnings and renouncing or at least qualifying its desire to join NATO.

  Instead, Saakashvili reportedly made jokes about Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin's height....

  http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-warprep17-2008aug17,0,3594295.story

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  rajakumar at 05:32 PM JST - 17th August

  Ceasefire had many deals in Georgia/Abkhazia/Ossetia/Russia.

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