Russia Attacks Georgia

God I hate politicians! It always seems that the one person not to believe when it comes to things like this are the ones in charge. Well them ,the media and lawyers LOL.

 

Emmm I take it you hate voting as well?

 

LOL Sometimes. Its hard when you have to choose between two evils LOL. About the subject at hand I dont think either side is totally innocent and lily white in what is happening.

 

Slon, I'm trying to find out more info on the arrangement from 92 on the security forces, but all I found is that a security force made up from all three where to keep checkpoints. Could you maybe provide me with a little more info.

I'm really trying not to take sides on this but I would like to point out, that the way I read the report, seemed like the US did not condemn the operations in S. Ossetia, but the use of force outside the conflict zone.

My largest question is what is Ukraine doing in this. I read that they will block the Black Sea fleet from returning to port. I do hope they don't escalate this by getting involved militarily.

 

Does this have anything to do with

??

 

And on a brighter side I found this. At least not everything has gone to hell in a handbasket.

Monday, August 11, 2008

Updated at 11 August 2008 0:53 Moscow Time. The Moscow Times



Paderina, left, and Salukvadze embracing each other at the medal ceremony of the 10-meter air pistol final Sunday.

Ossetia Conflict Stays Out of Games
Sergey Ponomarev / AP

11 August 2008BEIJING -- Their countries may be in a conflict, but a Russian and a Georgian shared a podium and an embrace after winning Olympic medals Sunday.

A day after Georgian athletes were considering leaving because of violence at home, Nino Salukvadze won the country's first medal of the games in the women's 10-meter air pistol.

Russia's Natalia Paderina took the silver, and after the medal ceremony, Salukvadze put her arm around Paderina and the two posed together for photographs. Paderina than gave Salukvadze a kiss on the cheek.

"This medal is good for Georgia, especially during times like this," Salukvadze said. "I am very nervous today. It's very difficult for my people."

The Georgian government has decided to keep its 35-member team at the Olympics, although the competitors have been understandably distracted by recent events.

Russia sent hundreds of tanks and troops into the separatist province of South Ossetia and bombed Georgian towns Saturday in a major escalation of the conflict.

Georgia launched a major offensive Friday to retake control of the province. Russia, which has close ties to the province and posts peacekeepers there, responded by sending in armed convoys and military combat aircraft.

The death toll has been reported to be more than 1,500.

A team spokesman said the Georgian athletes were ready to leave the Olympics if it would help, but the International Olympic Council announced Sunday morning that both the Georgia and Russia teams had decided to remain in Beijing.

Georgia has now won 13 Olympic medals in its history, including a pair of golds in Athens in 2004. This was the country's first shooting medal.

"It's very difficult for us as Georgians because of everything that's going on at home. It was nice that Natalia Paderina came up to me after and gave me a handshake," Salukvadze said. "Yesterday, I thought the Georgian Olympic team might withdraw."

Georgian Luba Golovina, an 18-year-old who competes in the gymnastics trampoline event, said that was a distinct possibility.

"We almost went yesterday, but we stay," she said. "It's very difficult for us but we stay here."

Golovina was standing with her father and coach, Vladimir Golovin. She said she has been in touch with her mother and other family members back home by telephone.

She said there should be no difficulties while competing with the Russians.

"I think it's not a problem with sportsmen. It's politics," Golovina said. "Sports and politics are different. For sportsmen, it should not be a problem."




Mods, If you feel this don't belong go ahead and move it to the Olympics thread. Just thought it would be nice to show that even in conflict two groups can still come together.

 

Well in short..... In 1992 after a mild war which left several thousand dead and turned countless more into refugees, the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) set up a Mission in Georgia to monitor the peacekeeping operation. Russia was to play the role of the UN police force and ensure peace between the sides and in case of another outbreak, protect the victim. While small skirmishes have known to spark between the two, it has been reletively peaceful for over a decade.

Recently Georgian forces have been building up near the border of the breakaway region. Both South Ossetia and Russia have voiced their concerns to the world only to have them fall upon deaf ears.

Georgia then launchend their attack ( most likely with the uproval of certain powers as they are simply to weak for such an action by themselves especially coming up against Russia )

 

Seen in another military / current affairs forum:

Hmm, and I used to think that Gorky had reverted to being named Nizhny-Novgorod, but heck, it's your country

 

I'm trying to figure out why the West and the media has a agenda against Russia. This has been one of the most disgraceful things I have ever witnessed. They have been calling good evil and evil good. What has happened to us? Georgia has started this entire episode and they are doing everything to make Russia out to be the bad guy.

 

I have just done some research on South Ossetia.

It is remarkable that when it declared independence in the early 1990's the only nation to formally recognise it's so called independence was Russia, no other nation within the United Nation formally recognised it's independence, also during this so called declaration of Independence Russia authorised to freely hand out Russian Passports to all within the disputed region who declared themselve Russian, this began to fuel the fire of war. It makes sense.

Just like Bosnia & Herzigovina the Russians backed Ethnic Cleansing there and now they are doing the same in Georgia.

If i had my way i would automatically announce that not only Byelorussia, Ukraine and Moldovva but i would admit Georgia into NATO and deploy NATO troops say half a million and send in at least two carrier battlegroups into the Black Sea, See how far Russia is prepared to go, is Russia prepared to go to war against NATO over South Ossetia, and once Russia backs down evict all those who have so called Russian passports back to Russia.

Oh and the ultimate slap in the face to Russia, expell them from the Eurovision Song Contest.

 

I am baffled by your ingnorance and hatred for Russia. If you had your way as you claim above, their would be nuclear holocaust.

Believe it or not, NOT everyone wants to be a member of NATO. Belarus does not, half of Ulkraine is threatening civil war if the other half joins and same thing with Georgia.

What you fail to realize Von, is that these countries are completely foreign when it comes to Western Europe, they dont speak the same language, follow the same religion or even have the same alphabet. These people have much closer ties ethnically and culturally closer to Russia and not the West.

Not to mention that Europe receives half of their natural gas from Russia and a third of all of their oil which complicate things just as bit.

Why would Europe ever want to choose Ukraine and Georgia as friends over Russia?

 

Well in that case then why don't nation such as Byelorussia, Ukraine, Moldova and Georgia give up their independence and once an for all merge with Russia. And i do agree with you on the reliance on Russian oil and gas it sure does complicate things.

It may surprise you that i don't dislike Russians, just their leadership, like i love America i have an American girlfriend, but i dislike the American Government i could go on, i met two of the funniest guy's while i was in America at a summer camp that i worked at and both were Russian, one of them tried so hard to mimic the Aussie accent, it was a gas, as i tried to mimic the Russian accent, ah good days.

v.R

 

I dunno Sloniksp. Could be that "Cold War" thing and Soviet oppression in some countries that happened awhile back LOL.

 

Von, it is not only a choice of either NATO or Russia, there is a middle and that is an independent state.

WBelarus for example is Russia's main ally. There has in fact been attemps to unite the to countries but Lukashenko has been dragging his legs. The U.S. has already said that it would not recognise the unification.

As for Ukraine, the eastern part has threatend to secede and join Russia. As for Georgia, well do u not remeber the civil unrest there a year ago because of their dislike of their president.

 

But are they truely independent, sometimes a view from the outside looking in has a better perspective than those who are right there, We get this constant picture of a Russian Leader that is acting like a regional dictator, willing to crush his opponents as he sees fit.

Just because the Ukraine has civil unrest and doesn't like their president, does that give Vladimir Putin the right to inflame the situation by attempting to assasinate the Ukrainian President, the same goes in South Ossetia, the United Nation recognises that South Ossetia rightfully belongs to Georgia, it does not belong to Russia, giving all South Ossetians Russian Passports is inflaming ethnic tensions, how would Russia act if say The United States of America decides to hand out American Passports to anyone who wants them in Western Ukraine and then those in Eastern Ukraine rise up against this and so America decides to bomb Eastern Ukrain back into the stoneage.

I will stand by my comment that Vladimir Putin will by force return those breakaway Soviet Socialist Republic back to the fold and resurrect the Soviet Union, i never trust anyone that served in the KGB.

 

Mediation efforts to end Georgia-Russia conflict step up

by Adam Plowright
2 hours, 1 minute ago


TBILISI, (AFP) - International efforts to mediate an end to the conflict between Georgia and Russia were set to intensify Tuesday, but Moscow signalled it opposes a peace plan calling for an immediate truce.
President Nicolas Sarkozy of France, which currently holds the rotating EU presidency, was due in Moscow to hold talks with Russian President Dmitry Medvedev on a plan to end the conflict.
But Russia's ambassador to the UN on Monday rejected the proposed Western draft resolution in the Security Council based on a three-point French peace plan.
"I cannot see us accepting this French draft," Vitaly Churkin told reporters, referring to a French-drafted text agreed by Western ambassadors.
The plan, which Tbilisi accepted, calls for an immediate truce, respect for Georgia's territorial integrity and a return to the status quo that prevailed before Georgian troops punched into South Ossetia last week to wrest control from Moscow-backed separatists.
Earlier on Monday Russian Deputy Prime Minister Sergei Ivanov dismissed the EU efforts.
A "ceasefire agreement is signed by two sides when they meet," he told CNN television , adding that Georgia must make an accord first with South Ossetia and Abkhazia, another breakaway region, which has rejected talks with Georgia's current leaders.
Sarkozy was also expected to travel to Tbilisi to meet with Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili.
Russian forces pushed further into Georgia on Monday, moving briefly into the western city of Senaki, destroying a military base, Russian and Georgian officials said.
Georgia initially claimed Russian soldiers had occupied Gori, a key city linking the western and eastern parts of the country, but officials later said Russian troops were stationed nearby.
The UN refugee agency said that 80 percent of the 50,000 population of Gori had fled because of Russian attacks.
Russian forces also entered Georgia's Black Sea port of Poti on Monday, Georgian and Russian officials said, but Moscow described it as a reconnaissance mission.
Saakashvili said in an address to the nation that "the majority of Georgia's territory is occupied."
Georgian armed forces were moved back to Mtskheta, about 25 kilometers (15 miles) from Tbilisi to defend the capital.
In a phone interview with CNN later Saakashvili said Russia was menacing the capital Tbilisi but vowed: "Georgia will never surrender."
The "Georgian people will never surrender freedom and democracy, because democracy is stronger than any of their tanks, any of their bombings, any of their brutal equipment."
Meanwhile, the South Ossetian separatist government said Georgia had resumed an artillery bombardment of its capital, Tskhinvali, where residents reported many deaths.

A Russian military spokesman said 9,000 troops and more than 350 armoured vehicles would be deployed inside of Abhkazia.
Russia's military acknowledged it had lost 18 soldiers and four planes in the conflict but gave no details of its latest operations. It has said 2,000 people have been killed in South Ossetia -- a figure Georgia disputes.
There were growing international calls for a halt to the fighting which has left hundreds reported dead and driven tens of thousands out of their homes.
US President Bush, Georgia's staunchest ally, on Monday urged Russia to accept the French-EU peace plan.
"Russia's government must respect Georgia's territorial integrity and sovereignty. The Russian government must reverse the course it appears to be on and accept this peace agreement as a first step toward resolving this conflict," he said following a crisis meeting with his national security team.
In his sharpest-yet condemnation of the violence, Bush called Russia's actions "unacceptable".
"Russia has invaded a sovereign neighboring state and threatens a democratic government elected by its people. Such an action is unacceptable in the 21st century," said Bush.
An extraordinary Russia-NATO council meeting was set to be held in Brussels on Tuesday at Moscow's request to discuss the conflict, according to an Alliance spokeswoman.
Russia's ambassador to NATO insisted on the meeting after Georgia announced that its Foreign Minister Eka Tkeshelashvili was scheduled to attend a meeting of NATO's North Atlantic Council in Brussels on Tuesday. "A war is underway and our colleagues need to listen before consulting with their capitals and making decisions. They need to listen to each party," Rogozin said.

Mediation efforts to end Georgia-Russia conflict step up - Yahoo! News

 

Today refuges were attacked by georgians! Russian troops which support refuges kiled geogian's troops. There are many mercenaries there. It seems that Georgia want war long ago!

 

Huh?? surely you cant be serious??

Unfortunately, such a precedent has been established by the U.S. in Kosovo. Russia is only playing by the same rules.

Not to mention that Georgia started this conflict by breaking a treaty which she signed more then a decade ago and by doing so also killed Russian peacekeepers.

 

Well I must admit that depsite the hot topic you have managed to keep this gentle so far (more or less) , so I shall let you go on. May I just advise to answer according to what you read in the postings, not accordign to the name of the poster. You may dissagree with him (her) here and have the same opinion in another thread, so don' tmake things personnal.

 

Russian president halts military action in Georgia - Yahoo! News