U.S. Attacks Russia Through Client State Georgia

While U.S. media obsesses about John Edwards' extramarital shenanigans

Paul Joseph Watson
Prison Planet
Friday, August 8, 2008

Georgian forces, trained and equipped by the Pentagon and the U.S.
government, killed 10 Russian peacekeepers early this morning in a
provocation attack that has escalated into military conflict, but the
subsequent corporate media coverage would have us believe that the
U.S. and NATO-backed client state Georgia is a helpless victim, when
in actual fact a far more nuanced geopolitical strategy is being
played out.

Original reports early this morning detailed how Georgian forces had
killed 10 Russian peacekeepers and wounded 30 others, which was the
provocation for Russian forces to begin military operations, but the
fact that Georgian forces were responsible for starting the
conflagration has been completely buried in subsequent media coverage.

"Georgia and the Pentagon cooperate closely," reports MSNBC, "Georgia
has a 2,000-strong contingent supporting the U.S.-led coalition in
Iraq, and Washington provides training and equipment to the Georgian
military."

The latest exercise, Immediate Response 2008, which took place last
month, involved no less than one thousand U.S. troops working with
Georgian troops in a war game scenario.

Moreover, the very "Rose Revolution" that brought the Harvard trained
pro-US Georgian president Mikhail Saakashvilli to power in 2003 was
wholly aided and abetted by the Central Intelligence Agency.

Russian fury at U.S. support for Georgia and Georgia's aspirations of
becoming a NATO member have flared regularly in recent months, with
tensions also rising following U.S. attempts to place missile defense
shield technology in Poland and the Czech Republic, which most
observers agree has nothing to do with Iran and is in fact aimed at
countering Russian military superiority in the region.

In addition, the pro-Israeli news source DebkaFile reports that
Georgian infantry units were "aided by Israeli military advisors" in
capturing the capital of breakaway South Ossetia, Tskhinvali earlier
today.

DebkaFile elaborates on the true geopolitical significance behind
today's events.

DEBKAfile's geopolitical experts note that on the surface level,
the Russians are backing the separatists of S. Ossetia and neighboring
Abkhazia as payback for the strengthening of American influence in
tiny Georgia and its 4.5 million inhabitants. However, more
immediately, the conflict has been sparked by the race for control
over the pipelines carrying oil and gas out of the Caspian region.

The Russians may just bear with the pro-US Georgian president
Mikhail Saakashvili's ambition to bring his country into NATO. But
they draw a heavy line against his plans and those of Western oil
companies, including Israeli firms, to route the oil routes from
Azerbaijan and the gas lines from Turkmenistan, which transit Georgia,
through Turkey instead of hooking them up to Russian pipelines.

Jerusalem owns a strong interest in Caspian oil and gas pipelines
reach the Turkish terminal port of Ceyhan, rather than the Russian
network. Intense negotiations are afoot between Israel Turkey,
Georgia, Turkmenistan and Azarbaijan for pipelines to reach Turkey and
thence to Israel's oil terminal at Ashkelon and on to its Red Sea port
of Eilat. From there, supertankers can carry the gas and oil to the
Far East through the Indian Ocean.

Former Treasury Secretary under Ronald Reagan, Paul Craig Roberts,
told The Alex Jones Show today that the entire scenario smacked of a
maneuver on behalf of the Neo-Con faction controlling the White House,
led by Dick Cheney. Roberts said the date was precisely picked due to
the distraction of the Olympics and Bush being out of the country.

Both Condoleezza Rice and John McCain have today demanded Russia
withdraw its forces from Russia immediately.

Meanwhile, the U.S. media networks are seemingly more interested in
the complete non-story of John Edwards having an affair, while a
conflict that could have devastating and thunderous geopolitical
consequences fizzes on the verge of explosion.

As of early Friday evening, Edwards' extramarital shenanigans were
dominating CNN and Fox News, while Drudge also afforded the story more
prominence that the situation in Georgia, which was also deemed less
important than the opening ceremony of the Beijing Olympics.

One of our readers contributed the following, which explains in detail
exactly what is unfolding.

Most folks on here can not or will not look up the history or
facts for themselves �morons..
Those who dont learn from history are destined to repeat it..

In 1992, Georgia was forced to accept a ceasefire to avoid a large
scale confrontation with Russia. The government of Georgia and South
Ossetian separatists reached an agreement to avoid the use of force
against one another, and Georgia pledged not to impose sanctions
against South Ossetia.

A peacekeeping force of Ossetians, Russians and Georgians was
established at the time. And late in 1992 the OSCE set up a mission in
Georgia to monitor the peacekeeping operation.

From then, until mid-2004, South Ossetia was generally peaceful.

In June 2004, tensions began to rise as the Georgian authorities
strengthened their efforts against smuggling in the region. Hostage
takings, shootouts and occasional bombings left dozens dead and wounded.

A ceasefire deal was reached on August 13, but it has been
repeatedly violated.

Tensions in the region soared in 2008 and outbreaks of violence
became increasingly frequent in the border area.

Georgia said it was an internal affair as the breakaway republic
had never been recognized internationally.

The Georgian side repeatedly insisted the conflict could be
resolved without outside interference.

However, early on August 8 Georgia launched a massive military
offensive to take control of the republic.

A quote from another Reuters

At an emergency session of the United Nations on Thursday night,
Russia failed to push through a statement that would have called on
both sides to stop fighting immediately.
Council diplomats said a phrase calling on all sides to "renounce
the use of force" had been unacceptable to the Georgians, backed by
the United States and the Europeans.

UK Times online:
Mr Saakashvili, a US-educated lawyer who succeeded Eduard
Shevardnadze in 2004 and has since tried to align it more closely to
the West, compared the Russian action with the invasion of Afghanistan
in 1979 and appealed to the outside world to intervene.

"Russia is fighting a war with us in our own territory," he told
CNN as Russian armour rolled into South Ossetia.

"It's not about Georgia anymore. It's about America, its values:
we are a freedom-loving nation that is right now under attack.

https://www.prisonplanet.com/us-attacks-russia-through-client-state-georgia.html


And now, here's the Chicago Tribune version of the story, compliments of the Associated Press:

Russia sends more troops into South Ossetia; scores dead from bombing of Georgian town

By MISHA DZHINDZHIKHASHVILI | Associated Press Writer
7:40 AM CDT, August 9, 2008

GORI, Georgia (AP) _ 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 that has left scores of civilians dead and wounded.

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

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov told reporters in Moscow that some 1,500 people have been killed, with the death toll rising Saturday.

The figure could not be independently confirmed, but witnesses who fled the fighting said hundreds of civilians had probably died. They said most of the provincial capital, Tskhinvali, was in ruins, with bodies lying everywhere.

The air and artillery bombardment left the provincial capital without water, food, electricity and gas. Horrified civilians crawled out of the basements into the streets as fighting eased, looking for supplies.

Russian Gen. Vladimir Boldyrev claimed in televised comments Saturday that Russian troops had driven Georgian forces out of the provincial capital. Witnesses confirmed that there was no sign of Georgian soldiers in the streets.

Georgia's President Mikhail Saakashvili proposed a cease-fire Saturday. As part of his proposal, Georgian troops were pulled out of Tskhinvali and had been ordered to stop responding to Russian shelling, said Alexander Lomaia, secretary of his Security Council.

Russia did not immediately respond to Saakashvili's proposal. Russian President Dmitry Medvedev had said earlier that Moscow sent troops into South Ossetia to force Georgia into a cease-fire.

Lomaia said there had been direct fighting between Russian and Georgian soldiers on the streets of Tskhinvali. He estimated that Russia sent 2,500 troops into Georgia. The Russian military has not said how many of its troops were deployed.

Russian military aircraft also bombed the Georgian town of Gori on Saturday. An Associated Press reporter who visited Gori shortly afterward saw several apartment buildings in ruins, some still on fire, and scores of dead bodies and bloodied civilians. The elderly, women and children were among the victims.

"Georgia is facing Russia's military aggression," Saakashvili said, noting that Russian forces were attacking areas outside South Ossetia. "Georgian authorities support a cease-fire and separation of the warring parties."

It is the worst outbreak of hostilities since the province won de facto independence in a war against Georgia that ended in 1992.

The fighting threatens to ignite a wider war between Russia and Georgia, which accused Russia of bombing its towns, ports and air bases. Georgia, a former Soviet republic with ambitions of joining NATO, has asked the international community to help end what it called Russian aggression.

It also likely will increase tensions between Moscow and Washington, which Lavrov said should bear part of the blame for arming and training Georgian soldiers.

Moscow has said it needs to protect its peacekeepers and civilians in South Ossetia, most of whom have been given Russian passports. Ethnic Ossetians live in the breakaway Georgian province and in the neighboring Russian province of North Ossetia.

Overnight, Russian warplanes bombed the Vaziani military base on the outskirts of the Georgian capital and near the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan oil pipeline, Georgian Interior Ministry spokesman Shota Utiashvili said. He also said two other military bases were hit, and that warplanes bombed the Black Sea port city of Poti, which has a sizable oil shipment facility.

Georgia, meanwhile, said it has shot down 10 Russian planes, including four brought down Saturday, according to Kakha Lomaya, head of Georgia's Security Council.

The first Russian confirmation that its planes had been shot down came Saturday from Russian Col. Gen. Anatoly Nogovitsyn, deputy chief of the General Staff, who said two Russian planes were downed. He did not say where or when.

Russian military commanders said 15 peacekeepers have been killed and about 150 wounded. Russian troops went in as peacekeepers but Georgia alleges they now back the separatists.

Russian military spokesman Col. Igor Konashenkov accused Georgian troops of killing and wounded Russian peacekeepers when they seized Russian checkpoints. Konashenkov's allegations couldn't be independently confirmed Saturday.

Russia's foreign minister said that Georgia brought the airstrikes upon itself by bombing civilians and Russian peacekeepers, and warned that the small Caucasus country should expect more attacks.

"Whatever side is used to bomb civilians and the positions of peacekeepers, this side is not safe and they should know this," Lavrov said.

Asked whether Russia could bomb the Georgian capital, Tbilisi, Lavrov answered: "I don't think the bombing is coming from Tbilisi, but whatever part of Georgia is used for this aggression is not safe."

It was unclear what might persuade either side to stop shooting. Both claim the battle started after the other side violated a cease-fire that had been declared just hours earlier after a week of sporadic clashes.

Diplomats have issued a flurry of statements calling on both sides to halt the fighting and called for another emergency session of the U.N. Security Council, its second since early Friday morning seeking to prevent an all-out war.

President Bush said Saturday the outbreak of fighting is endangering peace throughout the volatile region, and he urged an end to the deadly outbreak of violence.

"I'm deeply concerned about the situation in Georgia," Bush said in a statement to reporters while attending the Olympics in Beijing. "The attacks are occurring in regions of Georgia far from the zone of conflict in South Ossetia. They mark a dangerous escalation in the crisis.

"The violence is endangering regional peace, civilian lives have been lost and others are endangered. We have urged an immediate halt to the violence and a stand-down by all troops. We call for an end to the Russian bombings, and a return by the parties to the status quo of Aug. 6."

Russia, which has granted citizenship to most of the region's residents, appeared to lay much of the responsibility for ending the fighting on Washington.

Georgia, which borders the Black Sea between Turkey and Russia, was ruled by Moscow for most of the two centuries preceding the breakup of the Soviet Union. Georgia has angered Russia by seeking NATO membership — a bid Moscow regards as part of a Western effort to weaken its influence in the region.

Georgia's President Mikhail Saakashvili, a U.S.-educated lawyer, long has pledged to restore Tbilisi's rule over South Ossetia and another breakaway province, Abkhazia. Both regions have run their own affairs without international recognition since splitting from Georgia in the early 1990s and have built up ties with Moscow.

Georgia has about 2,000 troops in Iraq, making it the third-largest contributor to coalition forces after the U.S. and Britain. But Saakashvili has called them home in the face of the South Ossetia fighting. The Georgian commander of the brigade in Iraq said Saturday they would leave as soon as transport can be arranged.

___

Associated Press writers Douglas Birch and Musa Sadulayev on the Russian-Georgian border, George Abdaladze in Gori, Georgia, and Vladimir Isachenkov and Lynn Berry in Moscow contributed to this report.