CRISIS IN THE CAUCASUS. WHAT WERE THEY SMOKING IN THE WHITE HOUSE?

Eric Margolis | Archives | August 18, 2008

WASHINGTON DC- The Bush administration appears to have pulled off its latest military fiasco in the Caucasus. What was supposed to have been a swiftly and painless takeover of rebellious South Ossetia by America’s favourite new ally, Georgia, has turned into a disaster that left Georgia battered, Russia enraged, and NATO badly demoralized. Not bad for two days work.

Equally important, Russia’s Vladimir Putin swiftly and decisively checkmated the Bush administration’s clumsy attempt last week to expand US influence into the Caucasus, and made the Americans and their Georgian satraps look like fools.

We are not facing a return to the Cold War – yet. But the current US-Russian crisis over Georgia, a tiny nation of only 4.6 million, and its linkage to a US anti-ballistic missile system in Eastern Europe, is deeply worrying and increasingly dangerous.

Who Started Cold War II?

Patrick J. Buchanan | Taki’s Magazine | August 18, 2008

The American people should be eternally grateful to Old Europe for having spiked the Bush-McCain plan to bring Georgia into NATO.

Had Georgia been in NATO when Mikheil Saakashvili invaded South Ossetia, we would be eyeball to eyeball with Russia, facing war in the Caucasus, where Moscow’s superiority is as great as U.S. superiority in the Caribbean during the Cuban missile crisis.

If the Russia-Georgia war proves nothing else, it is the insanity of giving erratic hotheads in volatile nations the power to drag the United States into war.

War in the Caucasus: Towards a Broader Russia-US Military Confrontation?

Michel Chossudovsky | Global Research, August 10, 2008

In this image made from television, Russian military vehicles are seen moving towards the capital of South Ossetia, Tskhinvali, on Friday, Aug. 8, 2008. (AP / APTN)

During the night of August 7, coinciding with the opening ceremony of the Beijing Olympics, Georgia’s president Saakashvili ordered an all-out military attack on Tskhinvali, the capital of South Ossetia.

The aerial bombardments and ground attacks were largely directed against civilian targets including residential areas, hospitals and the university. The provincial capital Tskhinvali was destroyed. The attacks resulted in some 1500 civilian deaths, according to both Russian and Western sources. “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.” (AP, August 9, 2008). According to reports, some 34,000 people from South Ossetia have fled to Russia. (Deseret Morning News, Salt Lake City, August 10, 2008)

The importance and timing of this military operation must be carefully analyzed. It has far-reaching implications.

Georgia is an outpost of US and NATO forces, on the immediate border of the Russian Federation and within proximity of the Middle East Central Asian war theater. South Ossetia is also at the crossroads of strategic oil and gas pipeline routes.

Georgia does not act militarily without the assent of Washington. The Georgian head of State is a US proxy and Georgia is a de facto US protectorate.  

Who is behind this military agenda? What interests are being served? What is the purpose of the military operation. 

There is evidence that the attacks were carefully coordinated by the US military and NATO. 

NATO, EU to Hold Crisis Talks as Russia Advances in Georgia

As Russian troops and tanks advance further into Georgian territory, officials from NATO and the EU scheduled talks over the war in the Caucasus to show they can make a difference in their own backyard.

Tbilisi wants a stronger response from the West as Russian troops move across Georgia

 

Pleading for a hands-on approach from NATO and the European Union, Salome Samadashvili, Georgia’s ambassador to the EU, told journalists in Brussels on Monday, Aug. 11, that the organizations “need to show that there will be a political cost for this action in terms of the relationship of the Russian Federation with its Western partners,” DPA news agency reported.

 

“Either we find a way to respond to (Russia’s military action) together or we have to live with the decision that we will face a different world tomorrow,” she added.

 

Georgian forces retreated on Monday to Tbilisi from other parts of the country in order to defend the capital.

 

“The invading army of the Russian Federation has entered Georgian territory outside the conflict zones of Abkhazia and South Ossetia,” the Georgian government said in a statement. “The Georgian army is retreating to defend the capital. The government is urgently seeking international intervention to prevent the fall of Georgia and the further loss of life.”

 Russia’s Defense Ministry on Monday said Russia had no plans for its forces to advance on Georgia’s capital, Tbilisi, Interfax news agency reported.

“We do not have and have never had any plans to advance on Tbilisi,” the news agency quoted an unnamed defence ministry official as saying. “Clearly the Georgian leadership is gripped by panic.”

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.”