Fireworks over Georgia

[Z'areh]

[/b]CCCP has create this bazzar of osetya abxazya artsax and javaxq it's working for today's russia, eventough we are free , we still are in russian hands directly or indirectly

 

if russia wishes to solve this bazzar he can start recognising osetya, abxazya artsax naxijevan and help to return to it's rightful owners

way didn't it recognize the osetya wan CCCP was splinting up ??

 

 

Where, then, is the Armenian propaganda machine to drive these points to the international public opinion?

 

IT IS TOTALLY ABSENT!!

 

We seem to think that as long as the truth is on our side we shall win. Believe me unless we start to delve into dirty tricks, like the rest of the world does, and most famously demonstrated by Azerbaijan every day, we WILL loose Artsakh.

 

then claim having won the moral vicrtory....

 

[MosJan]

Where, then, is the Armenian propaganda machine to drive these points to the international public opinion?

 

IT IS TOTALLY ABSENT!!

 

We seem to think that as long as the truth is on our side we shall win. Believe me unless we start to delve into dirty tricks, like the rest of the world does, and most famously demonstrated by Azerbaijan every day, we WILL loose Artsakh.

 

then claim having won the moral vicrtory....

 

 

Barekam im jisht es - mer karavarutyun@ miyayn athori k@riv e talis yev ir g@Rpanner@ l@Tsnum

 

isk et baroyakan haghtanaknerist arden shat shutvanits enq k@shtatsel - mi qani or araj @enkernerov z@rutsum eyinq yev mek@ asets te 20 milyon $$ e drvelu Los Angelosum nor ejmiyatsakan yekeghetsy karutselu hamar - isk yes arajarkum em - Shuhsin darstnel s@rbateghi !!! - ur mardiq Ughty pit yerdan - da mer Arajin vochBaroyakan Haghtanakn er

[MosJan]

Re “The New Chill” (editorial, Aug. 16):

 

The Bush administration has miscalculated the Russian response to American plans to station missiles in Poland. Instead of halting the advance of the Russians into Georgia, it has spurred them deeper into Georgian territory.

 

Every president since Harry S. Truman has understood the Russian mind-set except the current occupant of the White House, who has made missteps since the outset of the current crisis.

 

Thanks to President Bush, we are now on the verge of another cold war.

 

Michael Boyajian

Fishkill, N.Y., Aug. 16, 2008

[MosJan]

To prevent the “new chill” from becoming the “big chill,” it is useful to remember Russia’s historical concern about and terrible experience with being invaded.

 

Russia has endured the wrath of foreign armies from Napoleon’s to Hitler’s — the Soviets lost more than 20 million people in World War II, including about one million during Germany’s siege of Leningrad.

 

Stationing missiles in Poland and encouraging bellicosity in Georgia only feed Russian paranoia and may well lead to war. The Bush administration’s lack of knowledge of the wider world may cost America even more life and treasure.

 

Bruce Rider

Grapevine, Tex., Aug. 17, 2008

 

 

[MosJan]

Even Americans are saying, “Thank you Russia for standing up to the crackpots in control of our government.” As much as the corporate elitist media in the west blathers and carries on with lies and obfuscation about the events in Georgia and South Ossetia, as much as they try to cover up the facts and the truth and the war crimes committed by their puppet state, Georgia, they have failed to convince the world community.

Their all too numerous outlets are pummeling the world community with distortions, trying to shove the castor oil of the empire down our collective throats, but the gag reflex is well intact and their lies remain unpalatable. The empire is used to and expects everyone to jump when told to and to believe what they hear and read. They don’t expect and can’t understand when someone or some country tells them to back off with their egotistical, haughty, self important orders or pronouncements. But their “orders” and pronouncements have become irrelevant. We are again living in a multicolor world.

 

Comments from the World Community

 

In a recent Internet tally asking respondents who they favor, 75.8% were in favor of Russia and only 24.2% in favor of Georgia. Some American respondents actually came right out and thanked Russia for standing up to their government, referring to their government as “crackpots“ and “lunatics.”

 

One respondent said that South Ossetia and Abkhazia should become independent and the west lives under double standards. Another wrote, “the Abkhaz, Ossetian and Adjarian people will never agree to live under Georgian arrogant oppression.”

 

Yet another respondent said, “This is NATO's prime moment to show that it as an organization is not yet obsolete.” Of course we heard this when Yugoslavia was bombed too. In another comment he said, “I literally laughed out loud when President Bush made his speech toward Russia about how ‘bullying is unacceptable in foreign policy in the 21st century.’"

 

A respondent who considers himself a Republican wrote, “There is no reason that we should be antagonizing them on their border. It scares me that this oilman president will take us into another war with a much more deadly foe over an oil pipeline through Georgia. I am a registered Republican, but enough is enough. Impeach George Bush, if he gets us involved in the Russo-Georgian war.”

 

"I feel like I am living in the bizarro world. Do you people not realize that Georgia started the conflict. Do you people not realize that Georgia attacked civilians and peacekeeping troops in an INTERNATIONAL ZONE. Do you not realize that the news media has been caught showing footage of the destroyed cities in Ossetia (destroyed by Georgians) and claims it is Gori and Russian aftermath. Do you not realize that the Caucasus Region is an oil pipeline area. Do you not realize that the US armed and trained the Georgians.”

 

 

“Georgia’s president is the new Hitler. He is invading areas and his lies are so incredibly manipulative. The American Media is really showing stupidity here in hopes for new cold war ratings. Neo-cons and globalists are thrilled because now Russia has taken its eye off of the Iran situation."

 

Another poll taken in Greece yielded the following results:

 

Who is responsible for the war:

 

1. Georgia who started the attack and the US who encouraged them

 

(77.86%, or 3559 votes)

 

2. The Russians

 

(3.22 %, 147 votes)

 

3. All of them

 

(15.99 % , 731 votes)

 

4. I don't know

 

(2.93 %, 134 votes)

 

South Ossetia and Abkhazia broke away from Georgia in the 1990s when Georgia itself broke away from the Soviet Union. Saaskashvili was determined not only to reincorporate them into Georgia again, entirely against the will of their inhabitants, but to punish them for wanting to be independent. There are no military installations or targets in the city of Tskhinvali, none whatsoever. It is an industrial center, with quiet civilian residential areas. It was the home to 30,000 South Ossetians.

 

When Saakashvili ordered the city to be bombed by warplanes and shelled by heavy artillery, he knew that he would be killing hundreds of civilians in their homes and neighborhoods. But he was determined to have what he wanted and ordered the bombing anyway. What took place in South Ossetia was not merely an invasion or a siege, it was a bloody massacre, a genocide. The people had no way to defend themselves against a fully equipped modern army. It was a war crime and the world community is fully aware of that fact despite the best efforts of the western corporate media to conveniently omit reporting on the crime.

 

 

 

 

 

 

By the time the Georgians along with their American and Israeli enablers were driven out, the city’s downtown area was in engulfed in flames and strewn along streets and sidewalks were the bodies of those who had been killed by sniper fire. Those who did not flee and stayed behind were simply too old, handicapped or infirm to leave. They had to seek shelter in basements waiting for the shelling to stop. It was a bloodbath. The city's only hospital was deliberately targeted and destroyed, another war crime. Over 2,000 people were killed in an operation that was clearly engineered with the full knowledge, planning and assistance of the Bush White House.

 

 

 

 

 

n independence referendum was held in 2006: 99% of South Ossetians said they wanted independence from Georgia. The voter turnout was 95% and the balloting was monitored by 34 international observers from the west. No one has challenged the results. The province has been under the protection of Russian and Georgian peacekeepers since 1992, and has been a de facto independent state ever since.

 

If Russia applied the same standard as Bush did in Kosovo, he would unilaterally declare South Ossetia independent from Georgia and then thumb his nose at the empire and anyone else objecting.

 

The representative of Russia to NATO, Dmitry Rogozin, was quite blunt in announcing some home truths. "If we all respect the territorial integrity of Serbia in regards to its Kosovo province, then we are also going to honor the territorial integrity of Georgia. But if someone doesn't respect Serbia's territorial integrity and sovereignty over Kosovo and Metohija, then they better shut up about the territorial integrity of Georgia", Rogozin said.

 

Meanwhile it is absurd to listen to Bush, Rice and Gates jump up and down about borders, territorial integrity and sovereignty when they have shown no respect for any international laws, treaties or agreements they have made. Borders and sovereignty are only concepts they talk about when convenient for their interests. Hypocritically they speak of “bullying” and of the 21^st Century as one where nations don’t go around invading other nations…while they themselves have done so seemingly with impunity and certainly with the complete disapproval of the world community.

 

Lisa KARPOVA

 

PRAVDA.Ru

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[MosJan]

 

Russia temporarily closes border with Azerbaijan, Georgia

10:12 | 19/ 08/ 2008 http://img.rian.ru/i/b_print.gif MOSCOW, August 19 (RIA Novosti) - Russia has temporarily closed its borders with Azerbaijan and Georgia to all foreigners with the exception of CIS nationals, the Rossiiskaya Gazeta government daily said on Tuesday.

 

Under an August 12 government resolution, nationals from what Russia calls "the far abroad" will be "temporarily" banned from crossing Russia's border with the two ex-Soviet republics as part of "measures to prevent members of foreign terror organizations from crossing into Russia and to thwart the smuggling of arms."

 

The CIS is an alliance of all the former Soviet republics with the exception of the Baltic states of Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania. Turkmenistan is an associate member.

 

Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili announced on August 12 that Tbilisi would withdraw from the Russian-dominated organization amid a conflict with Moscow over breakaway South Ossetia. The Georgian parliament approved the decision two days later.

 

 

[MosJan]

http://img.rian.ru/images/11437/56/114375694.jpg

Russia

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Russia could not let Georgia get away with S. Ossetia - Medvedev

21:27 | 18/ 08/ 2008 http://img.rian.ru/i/b_print.gif VLADIKAVKAZ, August 18 (RIA Novosti) - Georgia could not be allowed to act with impunity in its breakaway province of South Ossetia, Russia's president said Monday.

 

Georgia launched a major ground and air offensive to regain control of South Ossetia on August 8, prompting Russia to send tanks and thousands of troops to the region.

 

"What the Georgian authorities have done is beyond human understanding. It cannot be justified or allowed to go unpunished," President Dmitry Medvedev said, adding that the Georgian authorities were "political freaks."

 

He vowed revenge, adding that Russia would do all it could to ensure stability in South Ossetia.

 

"We will see to it that this crime does not go unpunished," Medvedev said.

 

He said that the operation in South Ossetia showed the strength and efficiency of the Russian Armed Forces.

 

"Our Armed Forces have overcome the crisis of the 1990s, are battle-worthy and can perform any peacekeeping mission," the president said.

 

NATO has accused Russia of disproportionate use of force in South Ossetia, while U.S. officials have called into question Russia-NATO military cooperation programs.

 

 

[MosJan]

 

NATO to discuss relations with Russia at crisis summit

11:23 | 19/ 08/ 2008 http://img.rian.ru/i/b_print.gif MOSCOW, August 19 (RIA Novosti) - NATO foreign ministers are to discuss the military alliance's response to the recent conflict between Russia and Georgia at an emergency session in Brussels on Tuesday.

 

The meeting was called last week by Washington, which has accused Russia of a "disproportionate" response to Georgia's attack on breakaway South Ossetia on August 8.

 

During its subsequent counter operation to expel Georgian troops from the de facto independent republic and to reinforce Russian peacekeepers, Moscow sent some 10,000 troops and several hundred armored vehicles into the area.

 

Speaking on Monday, U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said that "We have to deny Russian strategic objectives, which are clearly to undermine Georgia's democracy, to use its military capability to damage and in some cases destroy Georgian infrastructure and to try and weaken the Georgian state."

 

Russian troops are widely reported to remain in parts of Georgia, including the town of Gori, despite a pledge by Russian President Dmitry Medvedev that they would begin pulling out from the South Caucasus state on Monday.

 

"It didn't take that long for the Russian forces to get in and it really shouldn't take that long for them to get out," Rice said.

 

"We are not going to allow Russia to draw a new line at those states that are not yet integrated into the trans-Atlantic structures," Rice also said, referring to Georgia and Ukraine.

 

In April, at the organization's summit in Bucharest, both former Soviet republics were denied a NATO Membership Action Plan that would have put them on the road to membership of the military alliance. NATO has however pledged to review the decision in December, and has also stated that both countries will in the future be accepted into the 26-nation alliance.

 

Both Tbilisi and Kiev had received strong U.S. backing for their bids. However, Washington's enthusiasm for accepting Russia's neighbors into the alliance was tempered by concern from Germany and France that doing so would unnecessarily antagonize Moscow.

 

Poland and Lithuania, both members of NATO, called on Tuesday for the military alliance to speed up its acceptance of Georgia and Ukraine into the organization in the interests of "regional security."

 

Rice also called Russia's recent policies, including a return to Cold-War era patrols by strategic bombers off the coast of Alaska, "a very dangerous game and perhaps one the Russians want to reconsider."

 

Washington's position that NATO must undertake a complete review of ties with Russia is expected to be backed by the majority of former Communist bloc NATO members, while Germany and France, again wary of harming relations with Moscow, are likely to take a softer approach.

 

A NATO spokeswoman said however that ministers would deliver "a very clear message of solidarity to Georgia," at the meeting.

 

NATO Secretary General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer had also earlier described the Russian response to the attack on South Ossetia as "excessive."

 

Responding to the secretary general's criticism, Russian NATO envoy Dmitry Rogozin told the Russian government newspaper Rossiiskaya Gazeta that, "These are not credible allegations, especially coming from the head of an organization like NATO, which has itself used not just disproportionate force, but force against civilian targets and the civilian population, especially in its conflict with Yugoslavia in 1999."

 

Rogozin has also warned that cooperation between Russia and NATO will suffer if the organization fails to reach a "reasonable decision" at its meeting on Tuesday.

 

"We don't want to hear that Saakashvili is a saint," he warned.

 

Moscow has said that some 1,600 people died during the Georgian offensive on Tskhinvali, the capital of South Ossetia.

 

Russia withdrew on Monday its request for an emergency session of the Russia-NATO Council to address the situation in Georgia's breakaway province of South Ossetia, blaming Washington's "unconstructive" approach.

 

 

[MosJan]

News Send to friend | Print version http://www.russiatoday.com/media/news/4/48aa679f97177.jpg August 19, 2008, 9:53

Russia calls off meeting with NATO

Russia’s envoy to NATO, Dmitry Rogozin, has called off a meeting of the Russia-NATO council due to follow today’s meeting of the heads of the 26 members of the alliance on the situation in Georgia in Brussels. Rogozin also warned of Russia possibly reconsidering its relations with NATO if its members take a biased stand on the Georgia-South Ossetia conflict.

 

He specifically emphasised that if NATO chooses to take such a position, Russia will not be able to maintain the high level and quality of Russia-NATO relations, and the blame for the collapse of the current global security system would fall on Washington and its allies.

 

“We cannot wait for an ambulance which does not care to arrive for a week,” he said.

 

Rogozin also said that high-ranking NATO officials’ saying that the crisis in the Caucasus won’t influence Georgia’s prospects for NATO entry is unacceptable.

He added that Russia would closely look into the decisions the council takes.

 

This follows the news that for the first time during the whole period of Russia-NATO co-operation the alliance has refused to provide a conference hall so that the Russian envoy can hold a news conference. NATO claims all the halls are currently occupied with the alliance’s activities.

 

The U.S. has been blocking a meeting of the Russia-NATO council on the conflict between Georgia and South Ossetia throughout the past week.

 

 

[MosJan]

News Send to friend | Print version http://www.russiatoday.com/media/news/2/48a9b18dbbf21.jpgUN Security Council August 19, 2008, 0:35

U.S. frustrating diplomatic dialogue

Russia's foreign ministry claims the U.S. and U.K. are resisting a Russian-French proposed resolution on South Ossetia at the UN's Security Council. Moscow and Paris are seeking to draw up a document including the six-point peace plan agreed by the conflicting sides. According to Russia's Foreign Ministry, the U.S. is doing all in its power to mispresent the document.

 

It says the United States is ignoring the need to start talks on the future status of Georgia's breakaway republics.

 

Joint Russia-NATO meeting called off

 

Russia has withdrawn its request for an emergency Russia-NATO meeting, according to Russian envoy Dmitry Rogozin. The decision comes ahead of an emergency meeting of the alliance’s foreign ministers on Tuesday, called by the United States.

 

Last Tuesday a planned emergency Russia-NATO meeting initiated by Russia was blocked by a no-show from the U.S.

 

On Monday, Rogozin was prevented from holding a news conference by the NATO press office, after it said all of its rooms were in use.

 

Rogozin believes the United States is reluctant to answer questions from Russia in the presence of their European partners.

 

"Today, there is a great temptation to question all our potential co-operation with NATO. Today, some hotheads have decided to assume the role of devil’s advocate. They want to show solidarity with Saakashvili to such an extent that it can cause grave damage to international and European security," said Rogozin on Monday.

 

Meanwhile, French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner said on Monday that France is not going to change its position over Georgia joining NATO. France and Germany were against Georgia's accession at the Bucharest NATO summit.

 

Kouchner's comments came during a news conference on the Georgia-South Ossetia conflict in Paris. He also said he expects strength not threats from foreign ministers of NATO members who are meeting tomorrow.

 

 

OSCE stalemate

 

The Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe has announced that no agreement has been reached on whether to send more monitors to South Ossetia.

 

There are currently 200 OSCE monitors in the region. Delegates at a meeting in Vienna were discussed sending one hundred more.

 

Russia said it supported the proposal in principle and claimed Georgia was blocking progress.

 

Talks will continue on Tuesday.

 

 

[MosJan]

News Send to friend | Print version http://www.russiatoday.com/media/news/3/48aa8002e641a.jpgTwo Georgian armour crewmen captured during Georgia's aasault on South Ossetia August 19, 2008, 11:50

Russia and Georgia exchange POWs

Russia and Georgia have exchanged prisoners of war according to the Georgian news agency “News-Georgia”. Russia handed 15 POWs captured during a peacekeeping operation in South Ossetia over to Georgia, in exchange for five Russians, including two pilots brought down by Georgian air defence. According to the agency the exchange took place in Igoety settlement, just 40 kilometres from the Georgian capital, Tbilisi. The Georgian prisoners consisted of 13 servicemen and two civilians.

 

The exchange was due to take place on Monday but did not take place because Georgia put forward additional political demands which Russia refused to meet.

 

 

[MosJan]

News Send to friend | Print version http://www.russiatoday.com/media/news/b/48aa80637df0d.jpg August 19, 2008, 11:54

Georgia’s last Russian-language TV channel off air

Georgia has closed its last remaining Russian-language television channel, RTVi, after it broadcast an interview with the Russian Foreign Minister, Sergey Lavrov. The move was reported on Monday by Russian radio channel Ekho Moskvy, an affiliate of RTVi. "The Union of Cable Television of Georgia has informed RTVi management that it will temporarily stop the operation of this channel in the country and suggested suspending the broadcasting agreement," the radio station newscaster said.

 

The Chief Editor of Ekho Moskvy, Aleksey Venediktov, called the closure of channels and the ban on free access to other media an attempt “to conceal the truth from its citizens and to save face”. “Only authoritarian and totalitarian leaders are afraid of independent and professional media,” Venediktov was quoted as saying.

 

After the start of the armed conflict in South Ossetia, Georgia stopped the broadcasts of all Russian-language television channels and blocked access to Russian-language websites.

[MosJan]

should be interesting to knwo what stalinashvili is trying to hide or not let it's people see on TV or on Web

[MosJan]

RT Guest http://www.russiatoday.com/media/guests/4/4788f90eeefa9.jpgAugust 16, 2008, 23:31

Eduard Shevardnadze

In an exclusive interview with RT, Georgia's ex-President Eduard Shevardnadze said it was ‘a big mistake’ of Mikhail Saakashvili to send Georgian forces into Tskhinvali.

 

RT: Were you surprised by this war?

 

Eduard Shevarnadze: It surprised everybody, not only me. It surprised everyone because nobody expected that suddenly war would break out, and that this war would involve not only Georgia but other countries as well.

 

RT: What do you think of President Mikhail Saakashvili’s decision to go into South Ossetia?

 

E.S.: When Saakashvili made the decision to send Georgian forces into Tskhinvali, I didn’t know about it. Nobody asked me. But if it were up to me, I would never have made that decision. I didn’t approve of that move, and even now I think it was a big mistake of our president.

 

We already see the consequences. They are grave. Thousands have been killed. Many have been wounded. Many of those who were killed in Tskhinvali haven’t been buried yet.

 

RT: How do you believe this conflict will affect the future popularity of Mr. Saakashvili and his government?

 

E.S.: This kind of unsuccessful move never makes a politician more popular. But now that Russia demands that Saakashvili step down and be replaced with somebody else, Russia actually makes him more popular.

 

RT: There have been claims, which are supported by Russia, of genocide against the South Ossetians. Have you heard anything about this?

 

E.S.: This catastrophe affected not only Ossetia, but Georgia in general. South Ossetia, Tskhinvali District, isn’t a state. It’s a part of the Georgian territory. The same goes for Abkhazia. Thus, in principle, Saakashvili had the right to send the army to Tskhinvali. However, results of the war make it very clear that the operation was not neither well-founded nor well-prepared.

 

I think we shouldn’t have started this war at all. I don’t know who is to blame here. I guess the president made the decision without consulting his people first.

 

RT: Do you believe it is good for Georgia to join NATO and after this conflict, after this war, what do you believe are the chances of Georgia being able to do so?

 

E.S.: This question has been discussed for a long time and there was a referendum on this issue. Seventy percent of eligible voters said that Georgia should join NATO. This is a decision made not just by Saakashvili or Shevardnadze. I believe anyway Georgia will be part of NATO. It is a European country and it should stay among its kin.

 

RT: Had Georgia been in NATO, what do you think would have happened this past week?

 

E.S.: The NATO countries made a big mistake when they considered whether to allow Georgia to join NATO for the first time. They should have made the right decision right then. However, most of the European countries voted against Georgia joining. Had they accepted us then, this war could have been averted.

 

RT: Do we have a new cold war on our hands, especially now with the U.S. deploying anti-missile defence systems in the Czech Republic and Poland?

 

E.S.: When Georgia was not accepted to NATO, it was not fair. But today those countries that didn’t accept us to NATO, helped us in this conflict in every way, providing both material and moral support. But at that time they made a big mistake.

 

If you are trying to make parallels between what happened now and when the Soviet Union sent its forces to Czechoslovakia or to Hungary, well, those actions were not fair from the soviet side as well.

 

I cannot say that Russia today initiates another cold war. But the fact that radars are being installed in the Czech Republic and Poland is a sign of a new cold war. Radars are similar to nuclear weapons. Russia is fully able to create similar weapons. Today we see all the symptoms of a new cold war, and I, myself, and Gorbachev and other politicians from my generation, all our lives we worked to prevent this cold war from happening again. We have no reason to start this war. The question you’re asking, it’s better to ask our American friends. Yes, they are friends, they supported Georgia in the past, and they support us now, they support us financially and morally but I cannot understand at all why the Americans now have started to put these radars on European territory. I cannot understand it, I just cannot understand their motives. I'm not young and I am a very experienced politician and when I make analysis of their behavior, I cannot see any logical reason why they need this now.

 

RT: It seems as though the West fears Russia going back to Soviet times. Would you agree with this analysis?

 

E.S.: Russia is being forced to go back to soviet times. And we are one of those who’s forced them to do it. When we went with our forces to Tskhinvali, why was it necessary to do it now? I don t see any reason why we had to do it now. But what’s happened, you can’t change, and a mistake is a mistake.

 

RT: You and Gorbachev worked to bring about the end of the cold war. Why do you think it’s coming back now?

 

E.S.: I don’t know, it’s a very difficult question to answer now. In the time when I and Mr. Gorbachev worked to solve the world’s problems, including the problem of finishing the cold war, we agreed to destroy intermediate-range missiles, like ss-20s, that could strike in the middle of New York. We succeeded to agree to destroy these weapons, and then we started work to reduce conventional weapons. After this, the world became a peaceful place. Germany united, and we solved all the other European problems. I don’t understand why they're installing these new radar systems. Who needs them? They say it’s against Iran, but look where is Iran and where is the Czech republic? If Iran is to be punished, punish it. All the power is in your hands today.

 

RT: You don’t think that you and Gorbachev’s moves left the impression with the west that you are weak, and that is why we are seeing them behaving like this now?

 

E.S.: No, we took our decisions together with the west. In the beginning the situation was we have the Soviet Union, very heavily armed and with a very big army, with very big military and scientific potential. And on the other side was the United States of America with the same potential. But me and Gorbachev, at this time, decided no matter what the price, we had to calm down the situation in the world, and make a good relationship with the United States because our moves determined the future for Europe and the world. And I’m proud that in some way I was part of this process. But now they started again all this mess.

 

RT: How do you see the future relationship between Georgia and Russia?

 

E.S.: Whatever the price, we have to fix the relationship between Georgia and Russia. Whatever the price. For two centuries we have lived together. It's true that we used to be a Russian colony, but anyway, Russia has done a lot of good things for Georgia.

 

Many famous Georgian people served the Russian Empire. One of them is Bagration, and there were a lot of Georgian generals who served under Suvorov and Kutuzov. And Georgians were always loyal assistants to Russian Tzars and the Russian generals.

 

And what I am saying now, I'm going to say for the first time. Georgia is a civilised country, but in its history there were times when it had to sell its children on the Istanbul markets - they were then taken to Egypt. And it was not only boys, but girls too. Their mothers tried to convince them how sweet their lives would be there.

 

When the Russians came, they banned this slavery. And I can't but say this - that the Russians actually saved Georgia. Why is it, that today America is the only country who has influence on Georgian politics? Do they really need to put us at war with Ossetia? It's logically not right. It was our leaders' decision to do all this aggression. It was exclusively the decision of the Georgian state. And I believe we made a mistake, a very serious mistake.

 

RT: So why is the relationship so bad today after it was close for so long?

 

E.S.: You know what mistake the Russian leadership is making when they say they don't want to deal with Saakashvili - that he should resign and only when there is a new president, they will start a new conversation with Georgia? Previously, when the military campaign in Tskhinvali failed, and Georgians subjected Saakashvili to serious criticism, most of the people were against the president. But when Russia began to ask for his resignation, most of the people began to support him. It is the Georgian nature, you have to understand.

 

RT: Mr. Shevardnadze, thank you very much for joining us here on Russia Today.

[MosJan]

 

If NATO punishes Russia, Russia will punish NATO back

 

US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said on her way to an emergency NATO foreign minister meeting on the crisis in South Ossetia and Georgia that the alliance would “punish Russia for its invasion of Georgia.” Western sources believe that Ms. Rice was talking about a suspension of defense cooperation. Russian experts say that Georgia is a uniting factor for NATO, and the alliance can stand up against Russia in a cohesive way.

 

Rice also said that Russia “was playing a very dangerous game” with the USA and its allies. The Secretary of State emphasized that the United States would not allow Moscow to win in Georgia, destabilize Europe and draw a new Iron Curtain through the continent.

 

"We are determined to deny them their strategic objective," Rice told reporters aboard her plane, adding that any attempt to re-create the Cold War by drawing a "new line" through Europe and intimidating former Soviet republics and ex-satellite states would fail.

 

"We are not going to allow Russia to draw a new line at those states that are not yet integrated into the trans-Atlantic structures," she said, referring to Georgia and Ukraine, which have not yet joined NATO or the European Union but would like to.

 

NATO ministers will also consider Georgia’s request about the comprehensive aid to restore the nation’s military and other infrastructure. NATO will send experts to Tbilisi to help the Georgian authorities to plan and organize the restoration of the destroyed infrastructure. These activities will begin only after Russia’s withdrawal from Georgia.

 

Russian experts believe that there can be only one positive outcome of the emergency NATO meeting for Russia. France, Italy, Slovakia, Turkey and several other countries interested in maintaining stable and normal relations with Russia may block the anti-Russian resolution.

 

This outcome, no matter how weak it may seem, would become a serious defeat for the diplomacy of the incumbent US administration. However, NATO’s spokeswoman Carmen Romero said that all the ministers of the alliance would make a clear statement of Georgia’s support.

 

Russian experts hope that NATO will find itself lost in contradictions between Anglo-Saxon hawks and Old European doves. It is not ruled out, though, that Paris, Berlin and Rome may waver this time. The USA has made its allies face a tough choice – either the USA or Russia.

 

Turkey may show Russia its support at the meeting. Turkey, which owns the third largest army in the alliance, did not allow US battleships enter the Black Sea during the armed conflict.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Slovakia and the Czech Republic also supported Russia in its military actions in South Ossetia. Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico and vice speaker Anna Belousovova said that Georgia committed an act of genocide in South Ossetia. The two countries accused the US administration of inadequate behavior.

 

Russian President Dmitry Medvedev said that Russia would strike a destructive blow against any external force which may attack Russian citizens.

 

“If someone may think that they can murder our citizens, kill our soldiers and officers, who act as peacemakers, we will never let this happen. Anyone, who tries to do it, will face a destructive blow from Russia,” Medvedev told a group of WWII veterans in Kursk.

 

“Russia has economic, political and defense opportunities for such a response. No one has any illusions left on this matter,” he added.

 

Russia’s ambassador to NATO Dmitry Rogozin said that Russia had recalled its bid for an emergency meeting of the Russia-NATO Council.

 

“We do not consider it possible to wait for the first aid which does not arrive for a week already,” Rogozin said.

 

Afterwards, NATO’s press service declined a press conference of the Russian envoy in the Brussels headquarters. Rogozin’s meeting with journalists was supposed to take place on August 19.

 

NATO’s decision to cancel the meeting of the Russia-NATO Council on the situation in the Georgian-Ossetian conflict zone became the first sanction, which the alliance imposed against Russia. In addition, the alliance barred a Russian ship from joining its multi-national anti-terrorism exercise in the Mediterranean Sea.

 

In the meantime, Georgia has refused to accept Russia ’s humanitarian aid for the town of Gori.

 

A column of trucks of Russia’s EMERCOM set off to Gori from Tskhinvali on Monday. The trucks were carrying 50 tons of food – vegetables, grains, macaroni products and preserves.

 

The column arrived in Gori, and people began to unload the cargo, when a person, who introduced himself as a spokesman for the municipal administration, strongly ordered to cease the humanitarian action. The official said that the residents of Gori did not need any help from the outside. A crowd of people was standing near the trucks, expecting to receive the humanitarian aid. The trucks had to return to Tskhinvali unloaded.

 

Deputies of the Russian parliament had their holidays cut for one week because of the situation in South Ossetia . The first session of the State Duma devoted to the issue will take place on August 25, not September 3, as was previously scheduled.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Deputies will discuss questions of South Ossetia’s restoration and recognition of its independence. Experts say that Russia ’s President Medvedev will need to recognize the independence of the republic, although the decision will have no legal force anyway. Russia’s single-handed recognition of South Ossetia’s independence will entail absolutely no legal force for other countries.

 

 

 

 

 

In the meantime, the Union of Cable Television of Georgia informed the administration of Russia's RTVi channel of ending its broadcast in the country, Echo of Moscow radio station said.

 

It was the only Russian channel, the programs of which were broadcast in Georgia since the beginning of the armed conflict in South Ossetia.

 

Georgia decided to cease the broadcast of the channel after it aired an interview with Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, who harshly criticized the actions of the Georgian government in the unrecognized republic.

 

It is worthy of note that the Georgian government banned the broadcast of Russian radio and TV channels in the country and denied access to all .ru domain websites.

 

The informational isolation of Georgia from Russia is connected with the politics of its administration to conceal the truth about events in South Ossetia, Aleksei Venediktov, the general director of Echo of Moscow told Interfax.

 

Pravda.ru forum. The place where truth

[MosJan]

U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice is heading to Europe on Monday to talk with NATO allies about what message the West should send to Russia following its invasion of Georgia.

 

Russia cannot use "disproportionate force" against Georgia and still be welcomed by international institutions, Rice said.

 

"It's not going to happen that way," she said. "Russia will pay a price."

 

But neither Rice nor Defense Secretary Robert Gates would be specific about what punitive actions the U.S. or the international community might take.

 

"There is no need to rush into everything," Gates said Sunday. "We don't want to do it unilaterally."

 

The White House does not want to damage existing relations with Russia or discourage its government from further integrating itself into global economic and political institutions. At the same time, U.S. officials say Russia cannot be allowed to get away with invading its neighbor.

 

"I think there needs to be a strong, unified response to Russia to send the message that this kind of behavior, characteristic of the Soviet period, has no place in the 21st century," Gates said.

 

Fighting broke out after Georgia launched a massive barrage Aug. 7 to try to take control of the separatist province of South Ossetia, which is heavily influenced by Russia. The Russian army quickly overwhelmed Georgia's forces, then drove deep into the country, bombed Georgian ports and military installations and tied up an east-west highway through the nation.

 

The New York Times, citing anonymous U.S. officials who were familiar with intelligence reports, reported Sunday that the Russian military moved missile launchers into South Ossetia on Friday.

 

The U.S. officials told the Times that Russia deployed several SS-21 missile launchers to positions north of Tskhinvali, the South Ossetian capital. That would put the missiles within range of Georgia's capital, Tbilisi, the Times reported on its Web site.

 

"There's no doubt there will be further consequences," said Rice, who briefed U.S. President George W. Bush on the fast-changing crisis over the weekend at his Crawford, Texas, ranch.

 

Rice's meetings with her European counterparts, including French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner and European Union High Representative Javier Solana, are taking place in Poland.

 

Rice is then flying to Warsaw, Poland, where she will sign a formal agreement for the establishment of a missile interceptor site there. Moscow has protested the U.S. plans for such a base so close to its borders.

 

Rice and Gates pressed the administration's case during appearances on five Sunday television talk shows - Rice on "Fox News Sunday," CBS' "Face the Nation" and NBC's "Meet the Press," and Gates on ABC's "This Week" and CNN's "Late Edition."

 

Read more news

 

 

[MosJan]

http://img.rian.ru/images/10555/73/105557368.jpg

World

Russia shuns Baltic drills, refuses to receive U.S. ship

19:24 | 19/ 08/ 2008 http://img.rian.ru/i/b_print.gif MOSCOW, August 19 (RIA Novosti) - Russia said on Tuesday it will not participate in the NATO-led Open Spirit 2008 naval exercise in the Baltic Sea, and will refuse to receive a U.S. warship in the Far East port of Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky.

 

"In accordance with a decision taken by the Russian defense minister, the Navy command has sent a notification via diplomatic channels to Lithuania that Baltic Fleet mine sweepers will not take part in the Open Spirit 2008 international naval exercises in the Baltic Sea," Capt. 1st Rank Igor Dygalo said.

 

The exercise has been held annually since 1997 within the framework of NATO's Partnership for Peace program, with the aim of sweeping Baltic States' coastal areas for old WWI and WWII explosives.

 

Russia's Baltic Fleet ships have been participating in the Open Spirit international exercise since 2003.

 

Dygalo said diplomats will also notify the U.S. of the "impossibility" of receiving a U.S. Navy frigate, which is due to pay a business visit to the Kamchatka Peninsula on September 5-9.

 

Last week the U.S. and Britain officially pulled out of a Russia-NATO naval exercise, FRUKUS 2008, slated for August 15-23 in the Sea of Japan.

 

A Pentagon official on Thursday said the United States would stay away from the drill because of the South Ossetia-Georgia conflict.

 

Washington and London have condemned Russia's response to a Georgian offensive on Tskhinvali, the capital of breakaway South Ossetia. Russia sent troops and armored vehicles into the region last week to expel Georgian troops following the attack.

 

Previously named RUKUS, the exercises were launched in 1988 as a vehicle for dialogue between the Soviet Union, the United Kingdom, and the United States. The exercise name was changed to FRUKUS in 2003, when France formally joined the group.

 

 

[MosJan]

 

Moscow says NATO 'protecting' Georgia's Saakashvili

22:02 | 19/ 08/ 2008 http://img.rian.ru/i/b_print.gif MOSCOW, August 19 (RIA Novosti) - Russian Foreign Minster Sergei Lavrov said Tuesday that NATO had taken Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili under its protection.

 

NATO foreign ministers said after talks earlier Tuesday that the alliance was freezing contacts with Russia until it pulled its troops out of Georgia.

 

"The North Atlantic Treaty Organization has in fact taken Saakashvili under its protection," Lavrov said, adding that NATO had taken a biased position on the conflict in South Ossetia.

 

He said getting Georgia involved in NATO activities results from anti-Russian sentiments in the military alliance.

 

Lavrov said the encouragement for Georgia joining NATO "is dictated by an intention which I cannot describe as being anything but anti-Russian and supportive of the aggressive regime."

 

He warned that Moscow would draw appropriate conclusions from NATO's pro-Georgian stance.

 

"To be sure, there will be consequences. There will evidently be no business as usual, as we said a week ago... I think that we will draw appropriate conclusions," he said.

 

He said the Russia-NATO Council was not established to "lecture to Russia" on how to behave with regard to Georgia, but to ensure security in Europe and the Euro-Atlantic region.

 

He stressed that Russia stands by the six-point peace plan and will fully comply with it.

 

Russia came under severe criticism from NATO countries, notably the United States and Britain, after its major operation to expel Georgian forces from South Ossetia, and its peace enforcement mission in areas of Georgia proper.

 

A joint declaration after the NATO ministerial talks in Brussels said: "We have determined that we cannot continue with business as usual" with Russia, and that the alliance "is considering seriously the implications of Russia's actions for the NATO-Russia relationship."

 

NATO Secretary General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer said: "The future of our relations with Russia will depend on the concrete actions Russia will take to abide by the words of President Dmitry Medvedev... which is not happening at the moment."

 

Russian troops are widely reported to remain in parts of Georgia, including the town of Gori, despite a pledge by President Medvedev that they would begin pulling out from the South Caucasus state on Monday.

 

Scheffer said the bloc had suspended Russia-NATO Council sessions at all levels until Moscow fully complies with the peace plan.

 

Lavrov said he agreed with the NATO chief's assessment that "business as usual" could not continue. "We said this a week ago - when NATO representatives came forward with biased assessments, we made the necessary conclusions."

 

"NATO is trying to turn an aggressor into a victim, is attempting to whitewash a criminal regime and save a fallen regime, and is taking a course toward re-arming the current Georgian leaders," the diplomat said.

 

Georgia's bid to join NATO was rebuffed at the alliance's April summit in Bucharest. However, the NATO ministers on Tuesday decided to create a joint NATO-Georgia commission similar to that already in place with Ukraine, and reaffirmed their plans to eventually accept Georgia as a NATO member.

 

Soon after the NATO declaration, Russia announced that it would not participate in the NATO-led Open Spirit 2008 naval exercise in the Baltic Sea, and would refuse to receive a U.S. warship in the Far East port of Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky.

 

 

[MosJan]

 

OSCE to send another 20 military observers to Georgia

17:48 | 19/ 08/ 2008 http://img.rian.ru/i/b_print.gif VIENNA, August 19 (RIA Novosti) - The Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) decided on Tuesday to immediately send 20 unarmed military observers to Georgia's buffer zone near the border with South Ossetia.

 

The OSCE currently has eight observers in the conflict zone, and plans to raise the number to 100 in mid-August, bringing the OSCE regional mission up to 300 people, the acting Russian envoy to the OSCE said.

 

"This will be done after the format of their presence in the region has been approved," Vladimir Voronkov told RIA Novosti.

 

Heikki Talvitie, Europe's special representative for the South Caucasus, said last week that additional monitors would be supervising openness of humanitarian aid channels, as well as the implementation by all sides of all obligations concerning ceasefire and troop withdrawal.

 

During a telephone conversation with his Finnish counterpart President Tarja Halonen last Saturday, Russian President Dmitry Medvedev said he backed a larger role of the OSCE in mediating the Georgian-South Ossetian conflict.

 

Finland currently holds the rotating OSCE presidency.

 

 

[MosJan]

 

Germany doubles aid to conflict-torn Georgia to 2 mln euros

20:59 | 19/ 08/ 2008 http://img.rian.ru/i/b_print.gif BERLIN, August 19 (RIA Novosti) - Germany has decided to double its humanitarian aid to Georgia following the recent conflict to 2 million euros, the German foreign minister said Tuesday.

 

Thousands of South Ossetians and Georgians have become refugees following a major offensive by Tbilisi on secessionist Tskhinvali on August 8 and Moscow's subsequent "peace enforcement" operation that sent Russian tanks and troops into the region.

 

"After the end of military action our main goal is to meet the needs of the many people who were wounded or displaced from the conflict regions of South Ossetia and Abkhazia," Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier told journalists. "We should do more for the over 150,000 refugees, so Germany is allocating another 1 million euros for immediate aid."

 

Germany earmarked 1 million euros last week. The UN High Commissioner for Refugees took charge of half the amount, with the remainder transferred to the International Committee of the Red Cross.

 

The Foreign Ministry will also send a group of experts to Georgia, including to the conflict zones, to assess the situation and deliver humanitarian aid.

 

 

[MosJan]

August 19, 2008, 22:04

Rights group fails to prove Saakashvili claims

Aid workers from Human Rights Watch have cast doubt over Georgian claims that Russian forces destroyed the South Ossetian capital, Tskhinvali. In interviews with Western broadcasters, Georgian President Mikhail Saakashvili has consistently accused Russian troops of leveling the city. The Georgian president is seen in many ways. And for one Youtube contributor it’s as a liar, or someone who is willing to do anything to get his country into NATO and the EU and keep the US at his side.

 

He is accused of saying anything to win the West’s support - even when he knows it’s not true. He has claimed that Russian forces ‘leveled’ Tskhinvali. And he says the well-respected independent organisation –Human Rights Watch – has the data to prove it.

 

However, Human Rights Watch itself has a different take on events. It says eyewitness accounts suggest Georgian fire wrecked the city.

 

“Human Rights Watch cannot definitely attribute specific battle damage to a particular belligerent, but witness accounts and the timing of the damage would point to Georgian fire accounting for much of the damage,” its website said.

 

Those who were in Tskhinvali also tell a completely different story.

 

Tatiana Lukshena is a Russian researcher with Human Rights Watch.

 

“I’ve just returned from Tskhinvali and I was quite surprised by Mr. Saakashvili's comments to CNN, saying that it was the Russian side that destroyed Tskhinvali. HRW never had any such evidence!”

 

Just before the attack on South Ossetia the Georgian president called for peace and dialogue on national television. But the shelling began soon after.

 

Saakashvili continues to make daily appearances on Western media networks.

 

 

[Z'areh]

Shuhsin darstnel s@rbateghi !!! - ur mardiq Ughty pit yerdan - da mer Arajin vochBaroyakan Haghtanakn er

 

 

Mosjan, Hamatsayn em

 

But so long as our political leadership is more passionately interested in fighting for "ators", as you correctly mention, we are left open to such leadership as LTP, who will not hesitate to declare to the world that Armenia is "ampopvads" within 29 900 sq Kms, and this in the middle of Artskh "mahou yev genats" war.

 

And because of this, the threat of loosing Artsakh is always present. Do not misunderstand me, Loosing Artsakh can be an Armenian doing as much as the enemy's doing. Unfortunately the evidence of such losses in our history of millennia is plenty, I am not trying to be pessimistic, just worried.

 

[MosJan]

NATO hit the USA in the face. Its allies said that they were not going to scale down their cooperation with Moscow. The statement showed that the USA was no longer NATO’s master and that Washington was not the city where all fundamental decisions were made.

 

The US administration hoped that the alliance would back its condemnation of Russia’s “invasion of Georgia.” However, Great Britain, a staunch ally of the United States, was the first country of NATO which said that the alliance should not isolate Russia. Condoleezza Rice’s counterpart in Britain, David Miliband, offered to expand the bilateral cooperation with Russia. It was later revealed that Britain did not support the suggestion to exclude Russia from the Group of Eight.

 

Natalia Boyarskikh, an expert for Russia’s relations with NATO, believes that there was nothing surprising in the fact that NATO did not support USA’s anti-Russian stance.

 

“The USA continues to wage the informational war against Russia. Americans are now acting indirectly, through Georgia. They have no true allies left except for several countries of East Europe, which they support financially,” the expert said.

 

It is an open secret that politics can be very dirty, just like prostitution. However, it is impossible to bribe everyone. German Chancellor Angela Merkel does not personify the whole of Germany with her statements. She mostly expresses the interests of German rightist forces. German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier openly supports Russia and condemns Georgia.

 

The Czech Republic, Greece, Slovakia and France expressed their support to Russia too. In this situation, Russia needs to explain to European NATO members that Georgia’s membership in the alliance would be highly inadequate.

 

Yesterday’s emergency meeting of NATO ministers in Brussels marked the most serious political failure of the US administration in recent years.

 

NATO Secretary General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer said that NATO was not going to close doors for its dialogue with Russia.

 

“No cooperative programs have yet been axed but one can presume ... this issue will have to be taken into view,” the official said.

 

"There can be no business as usual [with Russia] under present circumstances," Scheffer said at a news conference after an emergency meeting of NATO foreign ministers in Belgium. "The future of our relations will depend on the concrete actions Russia will take to honor the words of President Medvedev to abide by the six-point peace plan, which is not happening at the moment,” Scheffer said.

 

Russia's immediate response was dismissive.

 

 

"The mountain gave birth to a mouse," said Dmitry Rogozin, Moscow's ambassador to NATO, The Associated Press reported.

 

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov called NATO's response to the crisis biased and accused the alliance of allowing Georgian President Mikhail Saakashvili to dictate its policies.

 

 

"It's Mr. Saakashvili telling NATO countries what they should do, so he can meet his ambitions," Lavrov said in Moscow. "NATO is trying to make a victim of an aggressor and whitewash a criminal regime ... and is taking a path to the rearmament of the current leaders in Georgia."

 

Lavrov stated that the alliance had virtually taken Georgian President Saakashvili under its wing. The minister stated that NATO’s statement on South Ossetia was biased.

 

“It says nothing about how it all began and what actually happened, which countries armed Georgia and who encouraged Georgia not to sign the agreement excluding the use of force in the region,” the minister said.

 

“NATO adopts a course to rearm the current leaders of Georgia. It is obvious that the Georgian administration purchases weapons to continue its attempts to solve the problem of Georgia’s territorial integrity,” Lavrov said.

 

“The line of making Georgia a member of NATO is not based on Tbilisi’s conformity to NATO’s standards. It is based on the aspiration, which I can only refer to as anti-Russian, and which is aimed at supporting the aggressive regime,” Lavrov said.

 

The minister stressed out that Moscow would draw its conclusions from the pro-Georgian position of NATO.

 

“There will be consequences, of course. It will hardly be possible to run business as usual - we said that a week ago. I think we will draw adequate conclusions,” the Russian diplomat said.

 

“The Russia-NATO Council was not established to teach Russia on how to behave towards Georgia, but to ensure security in Europe and in the Euro-Atlantic region. We still believe that these goals are actual,” Lavrov said.

 

In the meantime, Russia blocked the draft Security Council resolution on Georgia. The document contains at least two fundamental aspects, which Russia cannot agree upon. First off, the resolution urges for an immediate withdrawal of Russian troops from Georgia. Secondly, the document declares a need to observe the territorial integrity of Georgia within the borders recognized by the international community. Neither statement makes a part of the peace plan

 

The Russian Foreign Affairs Ministry also asked foreign leaders not to bite on granite. Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov stated that the pull out of Russian troops would depend on Georgia’s actions, because it also signed the peace agreement with Russia. If Tbilisi proceeds adequately, the Russian troops will be withdrawn during two or three days.

 

President Dmitry Medvedev stated that the troops would be pulled out from Georgia to South Ossetia and Russia by August 22. The president added that 500 Russian peacemakers would stay near South Ossetia’s borders.

 

Russia said that it would not participate in the Open Spirit 2008 international naval exercise in the Baltic Sea. In addition, Russia informed the USA of the impossibility to receive the U.S. warship in the Far East port of Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky. The ship was due to pay a business visit to the Kamchatka Peninsula on September 5-9.

 

The exercise has been held annually since 1997 within the framework of NATO's Partnership for Peace program, with the aim of sweeping Baltic States' coastal areas for old WWI and WWII explosives, RIA Novosti says.

 

 

[MosJan]

 

Condoleeza Rice and the insult to international diplomacy

 

http://english.pravda.ru/img/idb/cc1-2.jpg

 

 

In the equation which makes up the odious, criminal and murderous Bush regime and its murderous, criminal and odious foreign policy, the constant factor is constituted by a teacher, promoted to positions way above her personal and intellectual station by a gullible fool of a President. This teacher, whose sheer incompetence as National Security Advisor and as Secretary of State is today so blatantly apparent, goes by the name of Condoleeza Rice.

 

The fact that Rice was National Security Advisor at the time of 9/11 speaks for itself, period.

 

As Secretary of State, she is supposed to be responsible for her country’s diplomacy, she is supposed to be Washington’s leading diplomat. But can anyone think of a figure less qualified for the post? Starting with the face (set in a constant snarl, with a scar for a mouth, lips pursed back in a sneer, piggy eyes looking as though something evil is lunging behind them), continuing with the body language (aggressive stance, butch, defensive posture as though she is hiding something or afraid) and ending with the discourse (about as diplomatic as a raspberry and a fit of giggling at a funeral ceremony), she cuts a sorry figure.

 

The constant arrogance and hypocrisy of this failed female makes it that much more apparent that here is a person way out of her depth. Instead of regarding sensitive issues from a balanced viewpoint as she is supposed to do, this incompetent loud-mouthed, bad-mannered, bullshit-mongering bimbo takes one side, ignores the other and then speaks down from a holier-than-thou platform as if she were on a lecture dias.

 

This is not a classroom, Condoleeza Rice, and you are not a diplomat. You are a liar, a cheap, shallow, failed, wannabe actress on the diplomatic stage. This is the real world and out here, you have to be prepared to face up to your responsibilities.

 

For a start, you have failed to mention one single time the Georgian war crimes against 2.000 Russian civilians on the night of 7/8 August. Why have you systematically refused to admit they happened? Why have you not mentioned the devastation of Tskhinvali by your allies’ forces? Why do you continue to support the Saakashvili regime?

 

You therefore support war crimes? You therefore support the Georgian devastation of civilian structures? You side with Saakashvili against the 2.000 civilians murdered? Do you wish they had killed more Ossetians that night? Do you think it is right to target civilian structures with military hardware? Why have you failed to refer to a single item of these odious crimes?

 

 

Is it because you are a balanced diplomat ready to look at both sides and find a solution? Or is it because you are an incompetent frumpish hysterical female, wholly out of her depth, who instead of acting in a civilised manner as one would expect from someone in your position, instead gives lectures which are downright rude, pig-headedly arrogant and most unladylike?

 

So instead of mouthing off about NATO and Russia, how about you shut the hell up, put a sock in it and go back to inflict yourself on your students? Rumour has it you were pretty much hated in academic circles as well, perhaps not as much as in the area of diplomacy, which your very presence insults.

 

You, personally, are the reason why Washington has been divorced from the international community; you, personally are the reason why so many millions of people hate the idea of the United States and all it stands for; you, personally, are responsible for driving a wedge of sullen hatred into the hearts and mind of the international community. You have done more damage to your country, to its international standing, to the history and the noble precepts of your founding fathers than any other American in history.

 

And now you say you are not going to let Russia “win” in Georgia? Russia already has won! Nobody believes the lies you have spun in the western press circles. The readership of PRAVDA.Ru has never been higher, in all its language versions, since we have hundreds of thousands of readers flocking to us daily, with comments against the nonsense and lies paraded as “news” by the likes of yourself.

 

In a nutshell, Georgia invaded South Ossetia and slaughtered 2.000 civilians in one night. You cannot admit that because it would be admitting that Georgia’s President Saakashvili is incompetent. So the two of you stick together, hoping it will blow over if you keep repeating the same thing.

 

You have lost, Condoleeza Rice. Your ally Saakashvili is responsible for thousands of murders and war crimes, your military advisors, training and equipment have been proven to be wholly inferior to the Russian Armed Forces and this, the nearest we ever got to direct conflict, has proven that your forces were utterly thrashed.

 

So if you want to bring it on, you will find Russia saddened but by no means afraid and perfectly ready. As an alternative, get back behind a desk where you belong, you rude, insolent, bad-mannered, man-hating apology for a lady before you get your allies into trouble.

 

 

http://english.pravda.ru/opinion/columnists/106149-1/

 

 

 

[MosJan]

Georgian war leaves 1,492 Ossetians dead - local authorities

The total number of casualties of the Georgian – South Ossetian conflict has been revealed. According to local authorities the conflict has claimed the lives of 1492 Ossetians.

 

According to Anatoly Nogovitsyn, Deputy Chief of Staff at the Russian Defence Ministry, who was speaking at a news conference on Wednesday, 64 Russian soldiers were killed in action and 323 were wounded.

 

To watch the full news conference click here.

 

Meanwhile, more than 5,000 people from South Ossetia are still in refugee camps in the south of Russia.

 

Approximately 30,000 people fled from Georgia’s offensive on August 8. According to officials, some 15,000 of them have returned over the last week.

 

Tskhinvali restoration

 

Russia's Emergencies Ministry says it needs the help of local people to rebuild South Ossetia's devastated infrastructure. Progress is being made and restoration work is in full swing, with the water supply to the capital Tskhinvali having been almost been fully restored. Another key task is to repair broken windows before cold weather sets in.

 

The authorities have pledged to restore schools before September 1 and hospitals are also at the top of the reconstruction list.

 

Many foreign journalists have received accreditation to work in the region and are being given guided tours by local officials to show them the scale of the damage and devastation.

 

Locals’ reaction to the pull-out of Russian troops from Georgia has been negative. They fear with Russian forces out of the region, Georgia might attack again.

 

Russian combat engineers are still involved in mine-clearing operations in South Ossetia and they're still finding unexploded mines and artillery shells across the region.

 

Russia is to spend $US 60 million by the end of the year on the reconstruction of South Ossetia’s infrastructure.

 

The Chechen Republic has also joined the humanitarian aid programme for the region. It is providing food and construction materials.