It is crudely simplistic to cast Russia as the sole villain in the clashes over South Ossetia. The west would be wise to stay out.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2008/aug/09/georgia.russia1
In photos: 'Georgia South Ossetia Conflict - August 9th'
http://tinyurl.com/5o42r8
2008 South Ossetia War
This article documents ongoing warfare: Information may change rapidly, and might initially be unconfirmed, as the conflict evolves.
http://tinyurl.com/5rten4
'Bodies Are Lying Everywhere. It's Hell'
By Mark Franchetti, Moscow
A wave of shock and apprehension gripped the region as survivors asked themselves whether Georgia was about to follow Chechnya into another Caucasian war.
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article20474.htm
Petraeus: US is flying Georgian troops into battle zone
Exclusive: Deborah Haynes, Baghdad
US aircraft have started to fly some of Georgia's 2,000 troops in Iraq back home to join the fight in the breakaway province of South Ossetia, General David Petraeus, the top US commander in Iraq said today.
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article20475.htm
The Pipeline War: Russian Bear Goes for West's Jugular
By Svetlana Skarbo and Jonathan Petre
The war in Georgia escalated dangerously last night after Russian jets reportedly bombed a vital pipeline that supplies oil to the West.
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article20476.htm
Russia steps up attacks and blockade as Georgians offer ceasefire
The Russian army claims that Georgian forces were still active in South Ossetia, despite receiving a Georgian note declaring an end to military activities.
http://tinyurl.com/6dpyxp
Russia Prepares for Naval Blockade of Georgia
Ships are grouping in the Black Sea near the Georgian aquatic border. A unnamed naval source has said that the move is necessary to prevent arms deliveries to Georgia by sea. He added that the naval blockade of Georgia will help avoid escalation of military actions in Abkhazia.
http://www.kommersant.com/p-13063/r_500/South_Ossetia/
Ukraine threatens to bar Russian warships
Ukraine said on Sunday it reserved the right to temporarily bar Russian warships dispatched to the Georgian coast from returning to their Ukrainian base of Sevastopol.
http://www.reuters.com/article/asiaCrisis/idUSLA480092
Georgia Wants U.S. to Restrain Russia
Five days after Georgian troops stormed into South Ossetia to reclaim control of the tiny breakaway territory, they were in retreat on Sunday after being battered by Russian forces. But the Russians have not confined themselves to pushing Georgian forces out of South Ossetia, and ongoing Russian attacks have hit close to the Georgian capital and along its coastline.
http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,1831244,00.html?xid=rss-world
US condemns 'dangerous' Russian response in South Ossetia
American official calls Moscow's military action against Georgia 'disproportionate' and warns of lasting damage to relations.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/aug/10/georgia.russia2
U.S. suggests Russia wants "regime change" in Georgia
The United States suggested on Sunday that Russia was interested in "regime change" in Georgia after Moscow rejected Tbilisi's offer of a cease-fire in the separatist enclave of South Ossetia.
http://tinyurl.com/6zs4sz
Georgia: Vladimir Putin leads from front to send US a bullish message
The fighting in Georgia has answered the question that world leaders have been asking since Vladimir Putin stepped down as President this year: who runs Russia?
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/europe/article4499726.ece
U.S. has few options to deter Russia
Most of the key cards, including the power to veto any United Nations, were held by Russia, which appeared to be using the crisis to ram home to the United State and its allies that it will not accept further expansion of NATO. Both Georgia and the former Soviet republic of Ukraine are seeking to join the alliance.
http://www.ledger-enquirer.com/254/story/398835.html
Did the U.S. Prep Georgia for War with Russia?
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?"
http://blog.wired.com/defense/2008/08/did-us-military.html
'US incited Georgia offensive in S. Ossetia'
The White House has orchestrated the current conflict between Russia and Georgia in South Ossetia, a high-ranking Russian official says. In a Friday press conference, Chairman of Russia's State Duma Security Committee Vladimir Vasilyev said without US aid, Tbilisi would have been unable to start military operation in South Ossetia.
http://www.presstv.com/detail.aspx?id=66208§ionid=351020602
Abkhazia declares 'state of war'
The separatist region of Abkhazia has declared a 10-day 'state of war' in its territories close to the de facto borders with Georgia.
http://www.presstv.com/detail.aspx?id=66172§ionid=351020606
Russia Georgia War
Washington Risks Nuclear War by Miscalculation
By F William Engdahl
The dramatic military attack by the military of the Republic of Georgia on South Ossetia in the last days has brought the world one major step closer to the ultimate horror of the Cold War era-a thermonuclear war between Russia and the United States-by miscalculation. What is playing out in the Caucasus is being reported in US media in an alarmingly misleading light, making Moscow appear the lone aggressor.
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article20489.htm
Bush's War in Georgia
Will it be the Flyswatter or the Blunderbuss?
By Mike Whitney
Sometimes war provides clarity. That's certainly true in this case. After this weekends fighting, everyone in the Russian political establishment knows that Washington is willing to sacrifice thousands of innocent civilians and plunge the entire region into chaos to achieve its geopolitical objectives.
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article20478.htm
From Stupid to Moronic to Evil
By Paul Craig Roberts
The Endowment for Democracy purchased Georgia as a US colony. The affront to Russia was extreme, but at the time Russia was weak. Oligarchs with outside money had grabbed control over Russian resources, and Russia was in dire straits and could not resist American imperialism.
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article20483.htm
Getting Georgia's War On
By Mark Ames
The outbreak of war in Georgia on Friday offers a disturbing and somewhat surreal taste of what to expect from John McCain should he become our nation's Commander in Chief.
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article20479.htm
The War in Georgia Is a War for the West
By MIKHEIL SAAKASHVILI
President of Georgia
Why this war? This is the question my people are asking. This war is not of Georgia's making, nor is it Georgia's choice.
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article20490.htm
The west can no longer stand idle while the Russian bully wreaks havoc
The clashes with Georgia follow years of aggressive Kremlin policy. Moscow needs to be told its G8 place is not unconditional.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2008/aug/11/russia.georgia
US diplomat blames Russia of planned invasion of Georgia
'We have listened to statements from the Russian side, that the railroad troops, introduced to Abkhazia months ago were deployed there with a humanitarian mission. Now we know the truth...
http://www.focus-fen.net/?id=n149002
Putin blames US govt for encouraging aggression
Prime Minister Vladimir Putin on Monday flayed the US for encouraging Georgia's "aggression" as Russia and the Tbilisi government accused each other of launching fresh attacks, amid stepped up EU diplomatic efforts to end the conflict over the disputed territory of South Ossetia.
http://tinyurl.com/5e3alh
Putin complains over US Georgia troops lift
Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin today accused the United States of adding to the chaos in Georgia by airlifting home its troops serving in Iraq.
http://tinyurl.com/6ztmp2
Russians decry Western "propaganda" over crisis
The West is drumming up anti-Russian propaganda and its media unfairly portraying Russia during the crisis with Georgia, ordinary Russians, officials and news outlets said on Monday.
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3581108,00.html
Russians Have Introduced Ballistic Missile Launchers Into South Ossetia
Democracy Now Interviews Col. Sam Gardiner, retired Air Force Colonel. - Transcript and Audio
The Russians put into their doctrine a statement, and have broadcast it very loudly, that if the United States were to use precision conventional weapons against Russian troops, the Russians would be forced to respond with tactical nuclear weapons.
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article20492.htm
From his office in clouded cuckoo land:
Cheney: "Russian Aggression Must Not Go Unanswered"
"The vice president expressed the United States' solidarity with the Georgian people and their democratically elected government in the face of this threat to Georgia's sovereignty and territorial integrity," Cheney's office said in a statement.
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article20491.htm
Propaganda And Presstitute Alert
McCain Accuses Russia of Bidding to Wipe Out Georgia
By AFP
Republican White House hopeful John McCain said Monday Russia appears bent on extinguishing Georgia's independence as he demanded a united Western front to protect the former Soviet republic. - "In the face of Russian aggression, the very existence of independent Georgia and the survival of its democratically elected government are at stake," the Arizona senator said.
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article20494.htm
A Path to Peace in the Caucasus
By Mikhail Gorbachev
What happened on the night of Aug. 7 is beyond comprehension. The Georgian military attacked the South Ossetian capital of Tskhinvali with multiple rocket launchers designed to devastate large areas. Russia had to respond. To accuse it of aggression against "small, defenseless Georgia" is not just hypocritical but shows a lack of humanity.
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article20493.htm
US, Allies Weigh Punishment for Russia
By MATTHEW LEE
Scrambling to find ways to punish Russia for its invasion of pro-Western Georgia, the United States and its allies are considering expelling Moscow from an exclusive club of powerful nations and canceling an upcoming joint NATO-Russia military exercise, Bush administration officials said Tuesday.
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article20497.htm
Propaganda And Presstitute Alert
Brzezinski: Russia's Invasion of Georgia Is Reminiscent of Stalin's Attack on Finland
By Nathan Gardels
Fundamentally at stake is what kind of role Russia will play in the new international system. Unfortunately, Putin is putting Russia on a course that is ominously similar to Stalin's and Hitler's in the late 1930s. Swedish foreign minister Carl Bildt has correctly drawn an analogy between Putin's "justification" for dismembering Georgia -- because of the Russians in South Ossetia -- to Hitler's tactics vis a vis Czechoslovakia to "free" the Sudeten Deutsch.
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article20496.htm
The Reality Behind Western Propaganda Regarding War In Georgia
By Damian Lataan
Georgia would not have made any such move into South Ossetia without the backing of the US. It now seems, though, that both the US and Georgia have badly misjudged the Russian reaction and the US are unable to move.
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article20495.htm
Putin Walks into a Trap
By Mike Whitney
The Georgian army had no chance of winning a war with Russia or any intention of occupying the territory they captured. The real aim was to lure the Russian army into a trap.
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article20508.htm
Why Russia's Response to Georgia was Right
By Sergei Lavrov
For some of those witnessing the fighting in the Caucasus over the past few days, the narrative is straightforward and easy. The plucky republic of Georgia, with just a few million citizens, was attacked by its giant eastern neighbour, Russia. Add to this all the stereotypes of the cold war era, and you are presented with a truly David and Goliath interpretation - with all its accompanying connotations of good and evil. While this version of events is being written in much of the western media, the facts present a different picture.
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article20505.htm
Sympathy For The Aggressor
By LARRY DERFNER
Now that Georgia has lost the war, the world is saying that President Mikheil Saakashvili made a "miscalculation" by starting it. Again, the world is wrong. Starting a war of conquest that kills and maims thousands of people is not a miscalculation, it's a horrible, detestable crime. The world should save its sympathy for South Ossetia and Abkhazia.
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article20506.htm
Russia: US Allowed Georgia to Attack
"It is hard to imagine that (Georgian President Mikheil) Saakashvili embarked on this risky venture without some sort of approval from the side of the United States," Churkin told Russian NTV television on Wednesday.
http://www.novinite.com/view_news.php?id=96083
Russia: US must choose Moscow or 'project Georgia'
Russia's foreign minister said on Wednesday the United States had to choose between partnership with Moscow and the Georgian leadership which he described as a "virtual project."
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3582207,00.html
Tension mounts between US and Russia as Russian tanks move deeper into Georgia
As Russia continued flexing its military muscles even after agreeing to a ceasefire that technically ended a war that humiliated Georgia, tensions continued to mount between Russia and Western nations such as the U.S. The United States displayed its first concrete response to the armed conflict in Georgia by canceling its upcoming joint military exercises with Russia.
http://tinyurl.com/5pvtvd
Bush orders U.S. military to help Georgian "civilians"
President Bush said Wednesday he is dispatching U.S. military personnel to Georgia in a "vigorous and ongoing" mission to provide humanitarian aid to victims of the fighting between Russian and Georgian troops.
http://tinyurl.com/5ljcmn
Destruction in Tskhinvali
'I've never heard anything so monstrous as people shelling a hospital'
By Tom Parfitt
A convoy of three buses and an escort of armed Russian Special Forces soldiers travelled across the border with Russia into South Ossetia yesterday, in a trip organised by the Kremlin for foreign media to witness first hand the destruction in Tskhinvali.
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article20509.htm
In the guise of humanitarian aid
Bush Dispatches US Military Forces to Georgia
By Barry Grey
In a major escalation of the conflict with Russia over Georgia, President George W. Bush on Wednesday announced a "vigorous and ongoing" deployment of US military forces to its key ally in the Caucasus. Bush appeared in the White House Rose Garden for the second time in three days, this time flanked by Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and Defense Secretary Robert Gates, and announced the military buildup, casting it as a humanitarian relief operation.
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article20513.htm
Russia Warns US Against Encouraging New "Tragic Scenario"
By AFP
Russia on Thursday warned the U.S. against encouraging Georgia's leaders to take action that might lead to a repeat of the "tragic scenario" of recent days.
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article20514.htm
Russia Vows to Support Two Enclaves, in Retort to Bush
By ELLEN BARRY and C.J. CHIVERS
The comments did not stake out a new position, but together, they offered a sharp retort to President Bush's insistence a day earlier that "the sovereign and territorial integrity of Georgia be respected." The Russian rebuke came as Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice headed to the region to work for a settlement and to show support for the Georgian president, Mikheil Saakashvili.
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article20515.htm
Russian Triumph as Saakashvili's Gamble Fails
By Gwynne Dyer
The three-day war in South Ossetia is settled, and the Georgians have lost. There may be some more shooting yet, but it is now clear that Georgia will never regain control of the rebel territories of South Ossetia and Abkhazia. Also that President Mikhail Saakashvili has handed Russia a major victory, and that Georgia's hopes of joining NATO are gone. Pretty impressive work for one long weekend.
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article20517.htm
Rice: This isn't 1968 Czechoslovakia Invasion
By Associated Press, THE JERUSALEM POST
The Bush administration demanded Wednesday that Russia end all military activities in neighboring Georgia and sent US aid to devastated Georgians. "This is not 1968 and the invasion of Czechoslovakia, where Russia can threaten a neighbor, occupy a capital, overthrow a government and get away with it," Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said. "Things have changed."
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article20512.htm
From Information Clearing House
--------
Taunting the Bear
James Traub reports for The New York Times in an analysis of the violent events unfolding between Russia and Georgia: "The hostilities between Russia and Georgia that erupted on Friday over the breakaway province of South Ossetia look, in retrospect, almost absurdly over-determined. For years, the Russians have claimed that Georgia's president, Mikheil Saakashvili, has been preparing to retake the disputed regions of South Ossetia and Abkhazia, and have warned that they would use force to block such a bid. Mr. Saakashvili, for his part, describes today's Russia as a belligerent power ruthlessly pressing at its borders, implacably hostile to democratic neighbors like Georgia and Ukraine. He has thrown in his lot with the West, and has campaigned ardently for membership in NATO. Vladimir V. Putin, Russia's former president and current prime minister, has said Russia could never accept a NATO presence in the Caucasus."
http://www.truthout.org/article/taunting-bear
Russia Pushes Deeper Into Georgia, Rejects Ceasefire
Tom Lasseter and Jonathan S. Landay report for McClatchy Newspapers: "Russia pressed its invasion of Georgia by land, sea and air for a third day Sunday, striking far beyond contested South Ossetia as the Kremlin brushed aside a cease-fire offer and disputed Georgia's claim to have pulled its forces out of the rebel enclave. Russian jets bombed near Tbilisi, the Georgian capital, including civilian housing, military bases, factories and the international airport, according to Georgian officials. Russian warships deployed off the Black Sea coast sank a Georgian missile boat that approached them, state-run Russian news media said."
http://www.truthout.org/article/russia-pushes-deeper-into-georgia-rejects-ceasefire
Bush Sends Army, Navy, Rice to Georgia on "Aid Mission"
Ellen Barry, The New York Times: "The United States, Mr. Bush said, 'stands with the democratically elected government of Georgia and insists that its sovereignty and territorial integrity be respected.' He said a transport plane was already on its way to Georgia, carrying medical supplies and a contingent of Army and Navy forces to carry out an aid mission."
http://www.truthout.org/article/bush-sends-army-navy-rice-georgia-aid-mission
US Troops in Georgia; Russia Not Backing Down
Ellen Barry and C.J. Chivers, The New York Times: "President Dmitri Medvedev of Russia on Thursday said that Russia would act as an international guarantor of South Ossetia and Abkhazia, the two pro-Russian enclaves at the center of the crisis that have long desired separation from Georgia. As Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice headed to the region for discussions on the crisis and to show support for Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili, the Russian position seemed to be a direct challenge to President Bush who said a day earlier that he 'insists that the sovereign and territorial integrity of Georgia be respected'.... On Wednesday, the United States and Georgia called the Russian advances into Gori and another strategic Georgian city a violation of the cease-fire agreement struck only hours earlier. In response, Mr. Bush sent American troops to Georgia to oversee a 'vigorous and ongoing' humanitarian mission, in a direct challenge to Russia’s display of military dominance over the region. Mr. Bush demanded that Russia abide by the cease-fire and withdraw its forces or risk its place in 'the diplomatic, political, economic and security structures of the 21st century.' It was his strongest warning yet of potential retaliation against Russia over the conflict."
http://www.truthout.org/article/us-troops-georgia-russia-not-backing-down
--------
Georgia War a Neocon Election Ploy?
http://www.commondreams.org/archive/2008/08/13/10959/
Russia and Georgia: All About Oil
http://www.commondreams.org/archive/2008/08/13/10977/
Institute for Public Accuracy (IPA): Bush Policy on Russia and Georgia
http://www.commondreams.org/news2008/0813-12.htm
Putin's War Enablers: Bush and Cheney
http://www.commondreams.org/archive/2008/08/14/10994/
--------
The real aggressor
AntiWar.Com
by Justin Raimondo
08/11/08
The anti-Russian bias of the Western media is really something to behold: ‘Russia Invades Georgia,’ ‘Russia Attacks Georgia,’ and variations thereof have been some of the choice headlines reporting events in the Caucasus, but the reality is not only quite different, but the exact opposite. Sometimes this comes out in the third or fourth paragraph of the reportage, in which it is admitted that the Georgians tried to ‘retake’ the ‘breakaway province’ of South Ossetia. The Georgian bombing campaign and the civilian casualties — if they are mentioned at all — are downplayed and presented as subject to dispute. The Georgians have been openly engaging in a military buildup since last year, and President Mikhail Saakashvili and his party have been proclaiming from the rooftops their aim of re-conquering South Ossetia (and rebellious Abkhazia, while they’re at it). Avid readers of Antiwar.com saw this coming...
http://www.antiwar.com/justin/?articleid=13285
Putin’s dangerous power politics
Salon
by Jorg Himmelreich
08/11/08
The South Ossetia conflict has been simmering since March, but it had taken the form of the controlled instability that had governed Russian-Georgian relations ever since the standstill agreement of June 24, 1992. The Georgian attack on the South Ossetia capital of Tskhinvali on Aug. 8 turned this ‘frozen conflict,’ as diplomats call it, into a hot proxy war. At present its potential for escalation seems virtually unlimited and has direct consequences for Europe’s security. Protecting South Ossetia’s national culture and identity isn’t the issue here. This is more about the local business dealings of the self-declared president of South Ossetia’s de facto regime — Eduard Kokoity, who isn’t recognized by any government. His dealings play into the hands of Russian geopolitical interests and also serve Georgia, Europe and the United States...
http://www.salon.com/opinion/feature/2008/08/11/putin_politics/
This war has been approved by your government
CounterPunch
by Dave Lindorff
08/13/08
We read that President Bush condemned the Russian invasion of another nation and called for an immediate ceasefire. Yet there was not one word of astonishment or challenge from reporters or commentators or editorial writers at this stunningly cynical statement coming from a leader who himself is responsible for the blatantly illegal and much more destructive invasion of another nation. And remember, while Georgia is on Russia’s border, and was at least possibly guilty of oppressing and attacking and perhaps even killing members of the Russian minority in two of its provinces, Iraq is half a world away from America and was minding its own business, not threatening Americans in any way. Russia, thus far, has at most killed a few thousand Georgians. America has, by most accounts killed hundreds of thousands and perhaps as many as 1.2 million Iraqis, very few of them combatants...
http://counterpunch.org/lindorff08132008.html
The seeds of another Cold War?
Independent Institute
08/12/08
Russia should not have attacked Georgia, especially Georgia proper, and some of its animosity toward Georgia is clearly not noble. But it is fascinating how the American establishment and media have portrayed this conflict as just another case of Good vs. Evil, with the U.S. ally, Georgia, clearly in the right and Moscow clearly in the wrong. Some accounts barely even take note of the proximate provocation behind Russia’s attacks. On August 8, after shelling South Ossetia’s capital city, Tskhinvali, Georgia invaded...
http://www.independent.org/blog/?p=159
Informant: Thomas L. Knapp
--------
Half of Georgia's Iraq troops are back in Tbilisi
http://www.ufppc.org/content/view/7810/
Georgia timeline, Aug. 10, 2008
http://www.ufppc.org/content/view/7811/
Two lessons from the South Ossetia conflict
http://www.ufppc.org/content/view/7821/
Informant: jensenmk
From ufpj-news
--------
Bill Kristol and the Menshevik myth of democratic Georgia
http://www.antiwar.com/justin/j081308b.html
Informant: Lew Rockwell
--------
Ein Konflikt mit Ansage
Bei einem schnellen Ende des Konflikts zwischen Russland und Georgien könnte sich Deutschland als Vermittler profilieren.
http://www.heise.de/tp/r4/artikel/28/28503/1.html
Konflikt im Kaukasus eskaliert
Georgien und Russland werfen sich gegenseitig ethnische Säuberungen vor, während die Situation in Südossetien noch unüberschaubar ist.
http://www.heise.de/tp/r4/artikel/28/28502/1.html
Zwei Kriege - zwei Welten?
Was hat der Konflikt in Georgien mit dem in Afghanistan zu tun?
http://www.heise.de/tp/r4/artikel/28/28521/1.html
Auf dem Weg zum neuen Kalten Krieg?
Selbst wenn es zu einem Waffenstillstand zwischen Russland und Georgien kommt, ist der Konflikt nicht beendet.
http://www.heise.de/tp/r4/artikel/28/28518/1.html
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