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Thursday, August 14, 2008 |
RussiaToday: "Russia held a day of mourning for those killed during the five days of fighting in South Ossetia on August 13. People from the capital Tskhinvali, which became a battlefield after being attacked by Georgia, are recovering from a nightmare. It's hard to find a citizen who hasn't lost a relative in the conflict. "
Not a word about this in the mainstream media. The BBC prefers to send out rumours and refuses to show images of what is really happening. Like CNN they showed images of Tskhinvali while telling us this was the bombing of Gori. Of course, the BBC is a state controlled institution and the British government at present is anti-Russia. Britain is still heavily engaged in a cold war and doesn't even shrink from allowing nuclear trafficking.
NYTimes: "President Mikheil Saakashvili of Georgia, who has appeared repeatedly on Western television during the days of conflict with Russia, made frantic and apparently overstated warnings on Wednesday that Russian troops were poised to enter the Georgian capital, Tbilisi.
In an interview on CNN, the Georgian president said the Russians 'are closing on the capital, circling', with the intention of establishing their own government.
'We will protect our capital with our last drop of our blood,' he said. 'We will never surrender.'
But he also blamed the West for not intervening more forcefully, nearly a week after hostilities broke out between Georgia and its much larger neighbor."
Saakashvili is by all means trying to involve the West into a war. He has deliberately defied the instructions given to him by the Americans. So now his paranoiac mind is spreading rumours and lies wherever he can. Western reporters have free access all over Georgia. Yesterday we saw videos of reporters filming the Russian tanks, even asking the soldiers questions and being answered politely. No fighting. Just a show of power. And where irregularities occur the Russian troops arrest the criminals. On the other hand Saakashvili had again ordered a real attack on South Ossetia, something which has not been reported on the BBC, CNN or any other important channel.
Lefti: "CNN has an article about Georgian president Mikheil Saakashvili calling on John McCain and other American leaders [sic] to 'move from words to deeds'. But the most interesting thing in the article is the next to last sentence:
'We should realize what is at stake here for Americans,' he said. 'America is losing the whole region.'
That wasn't McCain talking. That was Saakashvili."
That gives it all away: Saakashvili sees himself as a US stooge. He is not a Georgian, he is an American.
But he doesn't seem to realize he is going against the intentions of his masters and ruining the whole game. Russia did the right thing by coming to the rescue of the South Ossetian people.
The West needs Russia, so they will not help Georgia militarily and openly. Saakashvili's dirty game has been exposed. We all know he is lying and lying big. Saakashvili has committed war crimes.
USNews: "War became unavoidable in the Caucasus when Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili sent the country's military to 'liberate' the autonomous region of South Ossetia from its Moscow-backed local authorities. While Georgia and Russia bear principal responsibility for a conflict that both have been courting for years, the United States also shares the blame. And now America's interests will suffer, not only in Georgia and the former Soviet Union but around the world.
America contributed to the war in Georgia in two important ways. First, together with its European allies, Washington established two precedents: use of force without approval of the United Nations Security Council and the division of a sovereign nation without U.N. consent.
Both precedents emerged out of Kosovo's quest for independence from Serbia, which led in 1999 to U.S.-directed NATO airstrikes against Serbia to drive Serbian military and police forces out of its Kosovo province. The Clinton administration and NATO conducted the strikes - both in Kosovo and in Serbia proper, where the attacks targeted not only security units but also civilian infrastructure, like power stations - over Russia's strong opposition in the Security Council. Russia today is repeating NATO's 1999 justification of its action in arguing that Georgia conducted ethnic cleansing and genocide in South Ossetia and that Moscow was obliged to respond because of its role as a peacekeeper.
More recently, in 2007 and 2008, the United States and some European governments endorsed Kosovo's desire for independence, despite the fact that it remained a part of Serbia, and recognized it earlier this year.
Second, Bush administration officials, especially the vice president's office and some (but definitely not all) in the State Department, recklessly encouraged Saakashvili and other senior Georgian officials to believe that Tbilisi had a blank check from Washington. They do not appear to have done this deliberately; in fact, American officials have repeatedly told the Georgian government that the status of South Ossetia and Abkhazia should be resolved peacefully. But the United States regularly undermined this important message by routinely siding with Georgia in its frequent spats with Moscow, providing hundreds of millions of dollars in foreign aid, and essentially ignoring Saakashvili's growing authoritarianism. More important, the United States provided extensive military aid and training for Georgian troops. Some have argued that this help increased Georgian leaders' confidence that military action in South Ossetia could succeed."
Reuters: "Georgians are rallying behind the country in its conflict with Russia but voices of dissent are being raised against President Mikheil Saakashvili for taking Tbilisi into a war it could never win.
But there is a growing sense in Tbilisi that Saakashvili, who sent in troops to retake the South Ossetian capital Tskhinvali by force last week, gambled on his Western allies intervening to halt a Russian counter-offensive.
He lost heavily and as a result the country's bid for NATO membership also looks more forlorn than ever."
FinancialTimes: "For some of those witnessing the fighting in the Caucasus over the past few days, the narrative is straightforward and easy. The plucky republic of Georgia, with just a few million citizens, was attacked by its giant eastern neighbour, Russia. Add to this all the stereotypes of the cold war era, and you are presented with a truly David and Goliath interpretation - with all its accompanying connotations of good and evil. While this version of events is being written in much of the western media, the facts present a different picture.
Let me be absolutely clear. This is not a conflict of Russia's making; this is not a conflict of Russia's choosing. There are no winners from this conflict. Hours before the Georgian invasion, Russia had been working to secure a United Nations Security Council statement calling for a renunciation of force by both Georgia and South Ossetians. The statement that could have averted bloodshed was blocked by western countries.
Last Friday, after the world's leaders had arrived at the Beijing Olympics, Georgian troops launched an all-out assault on the region of South Ossetia, which has enjoyed de facto independence for more than 16 years. The majority of the region's population are Russian citizens. Under the terms of the 1992 agreement to which Georgia is a party, they are afforded protection by a small number of Russian peacekeeping soldiers. The ground and air attack resulted in the killing of peacekeepers and the death of an estimated 1,600 civilians, creating a humanitarian disaster and leading to an exodus of 30,000 refugees. The Georgian regime refused to allow a humanitarian corridor to be established and bombarded a humanitarian convoy. There is also clear evidence of atrocities having been committed - so serious and systematic that they constitute acts of genocide.
There can be little surprise, therefore, that Russia responded to this unprovoked assault on its citizens by launching a military incursion into South Ossetia. No country in the world would idly stand by as its citizens are killed and driven from their homes. Russia repeatedly warned Tbilisi that it would protect its citizens by force if necessary, and its actions are entirely consistent with international law, including article 51 of the UN charter on the right of self-defence.
Russia has been entirely proportionate in its military response to Georgia's attack on Russian citizens and peacekeepers. Russia's tactical objective has been to force Georgian troops out of the region, which is off limits to them under international agreements. Despite Georgia's assertion that it had imposed a unilateral ceasefire, Russian peacekeepers and supporting troops remained under continued attack - a fact confirmed by observers and journalists in the region. Russia had no choice but to target the military infrastructure outside the region being used to sustain the Georgian offensive. Russia's response has been targeted, proportionate and legitimate."
That is a perfect analysis of the situation. And Saakashvili has lost it completely. His raving won't wash. Those with any moral integrity left in the West have already condemned Georgia. Saakashvili is a dangerous war-monger. And it's only the ridiculous remnants of a degraded, immoral West, like Fox News, CNN and BBC, that still maintain the anti-Russia smearing campaign.
We don't fall for it!
Reuters: "Ever since Russia launched a massive counter-offensive in response to Georgia's attempt to retake the pro-Russian, breakaway region of South Ossetia, Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili has been omnipresent in Western media. He has appeared on CBS, CNN, BBC and pretty much every other English-language TV channel to accuse Russia of penetrating Georgia far beyond Ossetia, planning an assault on the capital and plotting his overthrow.
At the start of the conflict the verdict was unequivocal. Saakashvili was winning the media war hands down. While the Kremlin's press operation was largely silent, Saakashvili, an urbane, U.S.-educated lawyer, was assured in putting Georgia's case. The world's media and many political leaders swung behind him (in words if not deeds).
But is the tide turning? Saakashvili's wall-to-wall media coverage may be starting to work against him and the Russians have become more nimble in dealing with the media and countering Saakashvili's accusations.
Even close ally the United States has reined him in, knocking down his assertion that U.S. forces would take control of Georgia's airports and ports.
Is Saakashvili's well-oiled public relations machine starting to work against him? Is he losing sympathy internationally?"
Saakashvili has shown himself the man he is, a war criminal. Nobody can deny that, unless they resort to a flagrant denial of truth. But it's the Georgian people who will have to decide on him and put him on trial for mass murder.
11:17:12 AM 
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Haaretz: "The American administration has rejected an Israeli request for military equipment and support that would improve Israel's ability to attack Iran's nuclear facilities.
A report published last week by the Washington-based Institute for Science and International Security (ISIS) states that military strikes are unlikely to destroy Iran's centrifuge program for enriching uranium.
The Americans viewed the request, which was transmitted (and rejected) at the highest level, as a sign that Israel is in the advanced stages of preparations to attack Iran. They therefore warned Israel against attacking, saying such a strike would undermine American interests. They also demanded that Israel give them prior notice if it nevertheless decided to strike Iran."
Wired: "The Air Force is about to suspend its controversial effort to reorganize its forces to 'dominate' cyberspace. The provisional, 8,000-man Cyber Command has been ordered to stop all activities, just weeks before it was supposed to be declared operational."
Do I feel a new wind blowing in American politics? Has the military told Bush to stand off? Or is it just a tactical retreat to let others pull the chestnuts out of the fire for them? Like allowing Georgia to attack South Ossetia? And then washing their hands in 'innocence'?
As long as Bush is in power I don't trust all this for a minute.
10:26:48 AM
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CrooksandLiars: "Investigative journalist Ron Suskind dropped by 'The Daily Show' Monday night to talk about the blockbuster revelation in his new book, The Way of the World, in which he was able to confirm through high-ranking CIA sources that the Bush administration ordered US intelligence agencies to fabricate a letter justifying the invasion of Iraq after the original case was revealed to be a fraud."
Do you want four more years of misspeak?
10:17:47 AM
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Telegraph: "Naked workers suspended after crowd witnesses sex in office window
The naked pair could not hear the cheering from the group of dozens of passing workers, taxi drivers, and at least two police community support officers, but continued undeterred.
The staff were from a company called Unity Partnership, which is contracted by Oldham Metropolitan Borough Council to improve public services."
The Tories under Thatcher were screwing the British public, Tony Blair screwed globally, Gordon Brown is screwing the world, the BBC is screwing its public (it looks like a mouthpiece of the neocon government - a blowjob comes to mind when we look at their reporting on Georgia). And we were all watching.
10:13:29 AM
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© Copyright 2008.
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