Railroaders place to shoot the shit.

Members Login
Username 
 
Password 
    Remember Me  
Post Info TOPIC: Russia isn't listening to the lame duck


500 - Internal Server Error

Status: Offline
Posts: 36507
Date:
Russia isn't listening to the lame duck
Permalink  
 


Bush Seeks To Contain Violent Conflict In Georgia

BEIJING (AP) President Bush sought to contain the explosive conflict in Georgia on Sunday as the White House warned that "Russian aggression must not go unanswered."

The crisis over a breakaway province, South Ossetia, appeared to ebb as Georgian troops began retreating and honoring a cease-fire, a claim Russia disputed. U.S. officials said Moscow was only broadening its retaliation against Georgia for trying to take control of the region.

The sheer scope of Russia's military response has the Bush administration deeply worried. Russia on Sunday expanded its bombing blitz in areas of Georgia not central to the fighting.

Vice President Dick Cheney spoke Sunday afternoon with Georgian President Mikhail Saakashvili, Cheney press secretary Lee Ann McBride said. "The vice president expressed the United States' solidarity with the Georgian people and their democratically elected government in the face of this threat to Georgia's sovereignty and territorial integrity," McBride said.

Cheney told Saakashvili that "Russian aggression must not go unanswered, and that its continuation would have serious consequences for its relations with the United States, as well as the broader international community," McBride said.

A Russian official said more than 2,000 people had been killed in South Ossetia since Friday; the figure could not be confirmed independently.

The president was to end his weeklong stay to Asia by attending a baseball game and other events Monday at the Beijing Olympics. The trip was meant mostly for fun and games -- there have been plenty of both. But the fast-moving conflict in Georgia has grabbed his attention.

Bush, pressing international mediation, reached out Sunday to French President Nicolas Sarkozy, who heads the European Union. The two agreed on the need for a cease-fire and a respect for Georgia's integrity, White House spokesman Gordon Johndroe said.

In Washington, the chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee said the United States must work closely with Europe in condemning Russia's actions.

"We cannot just go out alone on this and talk and act unilaterally. We don't have much impact, I believe, in terms of our unilateral declarations anymore with the administration's approach to the world," said Sen. Carl Levin, D-Mich. "We've got to stand together with European allies."

Georgia, whose troops have been trained by American soldiers, began an offensive to regain control over South Ossetia overnight Friday, launching heavy rocket and artillery fire and air strikes that pounded the provincial capital, Tskhinvali. In response, Russia launched overwhelming artillery shelling and air attacks on Georgian troops.

"We're alarmed by this entire situation, and every escalatory step is a further problem," deputy national security adviser Jim Jeffrey told reporters.

The U.S. military began flying 2,000 Georgian troops home from Iraq after Georgia recalled the soldiers following the outbreak of fighting with Russia. The decision was a timely payback for the former Soviet republic that has been a staunch U.S. supporter and agreed to send troops to Iraq as part of the U.S.-led coalition. Georgia was the third-largest contributor of coalition forces after the U.S. and Britain, and most of its troops were stationed near the Iranian border in southeastern Iraq.

The risk of the conflict setting off a wider war increased when Russian-supported separatists in another breakaway region of Georgia, Abkhazia, launched air and artillery strikes on Georgian troops to drive them out of a small part of the province they control.

Also, Ukraine warned Russia it could bar Russian navy ships from returning to their base in the Crimea because of their deployment to Georgia's coast.

"If those Russian ships leave that port in the Black Sea and if Ukraine decides that it is not going to allow those ships back into that port ... that is a potentially much greater conflagration involving a wider regional area," Levin said.

The White House sought to reassure that the administration -- including Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Adm. Mike Mullen -- were talking to parties on both sides and trying for a diplomatic solution.

"We hope that there is no further bloodshed. There has been too much bloodshed already," Jeffrey said.

Asked about the possibility of sending the U.S. military or other aid to Georgia, Jeffrey said, "Right now our focus is on working with both sides, with the Europeans and with a whole variety of international institutions and organizations to get the fighting to stop."

Levin, too, did not see the chance of U.S. military involvement, though he said the U.S. needs to make clear to Russia that its action "is way out of line."

"It has to be condemned and the world needs to stand against it," Levin said.

Bush also tended to relations with China, again raising raised concerns to President Hu Jintao about how the host of the summer Olympics treats its own people.

Bush worshipped at a Beijing church and declared China has nothing to fear from expressions of faith. The message had the added punch of coming on China's turf, as Bush has done before.

He managed time for a couple of marquee sporting events. With first lady Laura Bush, daughter Barbara and former President George H.W. Bush, he cheered from the stands of the Water Cube Olympic swimming venue. American Michael Phelps claimed the first of an expected string of gold medals by smashing his own world record in the 400-meter individual medley.

"God, what a thrill to cheer for you!" Bush told Phelps afterward.

At night, Bush watched the eagerly anticipated U.S.-China men's basketball game.

Before the contest, he huddled with U.S. players in a corridor of the Olympic arena, putting his hand in with theirs and joining in a cheer, "One, two, three, U.S.A, go!"

© 2008 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved



__________________

© Equal Opportunity Annoyer

Troll The Anti-Fast Freight Freddie

 

 

 

 



500 - Internal Server Error

Status: Offline
Posts: 36507
Date:
Permalink  
 

Russia Expands Georgia Bombing, Deploys Ships

TBILISI, Georgia (CBS News) Russia expanded its bombing blitz to the Georgian capital, deployed ships off the coast and, a Georgian official said, sent tanks from the separatist region of South Ossetia into Georgian territory, heading toward a border city before being turned back.

Russia also claimed its forces sank a Georgian missile boat that was trying to attack Russian ships in the Black Sea, news agencies reported.

The Russian Defense Ministry refused to comment to The Associated Press on the reports of the sinking and Georgian officials could not immediately be reached. If confirmed, it could mark a serious escalation of the fighting that has raged between Russia and Georgia over South Ossetia.

Georgia called a cease-fire and said its troops were retreating Sunday from the disputed province of South Ossetia in the face of Russia's far superior firepower, but Russia said the soldiers were "not withdrawing but regrouping" and refused to recognize a truce.

International envoys headed in to try to end the fighting between Russia and its small U.S.-allied neighbor that erupted last week in the Russian-backed separatist region.

The announcement of a retreat came after Russia expanded its bombing blitz Sunday - targeting the area around the Georgian capital's international airport. Russia also deployed a naval squadron off another of Georgia's separatist regions, Abkhazia, and according to Georgia landed thousands of troops.

Georgian President Mikhail Saakashvili said one of the Russian raids on the airport came a half hour before the arrival of the foreign ministers of France and Finland - in the country to try to mediate.

Georgian Interior Ministry spokesman Temur Yakobashvili said Russian tanks tried to cross from South Ossetia into the territory of Georgia proper, but were turned back by Georgian forces. He said the tanks apparently were trying to approach Gori, but did not fire on the city of about 50,000.

Russia also sent naval vessels to patrol off Georgia's Black Sea coast, but denied Sunday that the move was aimed at establishing a blockade.

The ITAR-Tass news agency quoted a Russian Defense Ministry spokesman as saying that Georgian missile boats twice tried to attack Russian ships, which fired back and sank one of the Georgian vessels.

Georgia's Foreign Ministry said its soldiers were observing a cease-fire on orders of the president and declared the move in a note handed over to Russia's envoy to Tbilisi.

"Georgia expresses its readiness to immediately start negotiations with the Russian Federation on cease-fire and termination of hostilities," the ministry said in a statement.

During a Security Council meeting today, Russia's ambassador said his country is "ready to put an end to the war."

The U.N. Undersecretary-General for Political Affairs, Lynne Pascoe, told the council that Georgian officials are "ready for immediate talks" with Russia. He also said Georgia's offer to create a safe travel zone - or "humanitarian corridor" - for civilians, refugees and troops would help the negotiations.

But British Deputy Ambassador Karen Pierce questioned why Russia is unwilling to agree to an immediate cease-fire. And U.S. Ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad accused Russia of resisting attempts to make peace.

Georgia, whose troops have been trained by American soldiers, began an offensive to regain control over South Ossetia overnight Friday, launching heavy rocket and artillery fire and air strikes that pounded the provincial capital, Tskhinvali.

In response, Russia, which has granted passports to most South Ossetians, launched overwhelming artillery shelling and air attacks on Georgian troops.

"The Georgian gambit of trying to push the Russians out of its breakaway border territories seems to have had the opposite effect of consolidating Russian control," reported CBS News correspondent Mark Phillips. "And it's still unclear whether this crisis can be contained with only the destruction and loss of life it has caused so far."

Russia has demanded that Georgia pull out its troops from South Ossetia as a condition to negotiate a cease-fire. It also urged Georgia to sign a pledge not to use force against South Ossetia as another condition for ending hostilities.

On Sunday, Russian jets raided a plant on the eastern outskirts of Tbilisi that builds Su-25 ground jets. The attack damaged runways but caused no casualties, said Georgia's Interior Ministry spokesman Shota Utiashvili.

"We heard a plane go over and then a big explosion," said Malkhaz Chachanidze, a 41-year old ceramics artist whose house is located just outside the fence of the factory, which has been running since the Soviet era. "It woke us up, everything shook."

The risk of the conflict setting off a wider war increased when Russian-supported separatists in another breakaway region of Georgia, Abkhazia, launched air and artillery strikes on Georgian troops to drive them out of a small part of the province they control. Fifteen U.N. military observers were told to evacuate.

Both South Ossetia and Abkhazia have run their own affairs without international recognition since splitting from Georgia in the early 1990s and have built up ties with Moscow. Russia has granted its passports to most of their residents.

At the core of this conflict is Russian mistrust of Georgia's western leanings and its desire to join NATO, reports CBS News' Phillips.

President Bush called for an end to the Russian bombings and an immediate halt to the violence.

"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," Bush said in a statement to reporters while attending the Olympic Games in Beijing.

"President Bush has talked with French President Sarkozy, who's also the head of the EU right now, and officials say that the two men are on the same page, and that sort of gives us a sense of the parameters of what they expect to have happen," reports CBS News White House correspondent Jim Axelrod. "They say that what they must see in Georgia right now is a cease-fire, a de-escalation on the part of the Russians, and respect for Georgia's territorial integrity. So that gives you some sense of what the US and the West's position will be as they start to engage with the Russians."

In Brussels, NATO Secretary General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer said Russia has violated Georgia's "territorial integrity" in South Ossetia using excessive force.

The NATO chief urges Russia and Georgia to agree to an "immediate cease-fire," said NATO spokeswoman Carmen Romero.

De Hoop Scheffer is calling for talks to restore Georgia's control over its breakaway province.

In yet another sign that the conflict could widen, Ukraine warned Russia on Sunday it could bar Russian navy ships from returning to their base in the Crimea because of their deployment to Georgia's coast.

Karasin said the ships were sent toward Abkhazia as a deterrent.

"The deployment is quite natural. We don't want a repeat of what happened in South Ossetia," he said at a news conference.

The foreign ministers of France and Finland were to arrive in Georgia Sunday to discuss ways to end the conflict.

Russian jets have been roaming Georgia's skies since Friday. They raided several air bases and bombed the Black Sea port city of Poti, which has a sizable oil shipment facility. The Russian warplanes also struck near the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan oil pipeline which carries Caspian crude to the West, but no supply interruptio

__________________

© Equal Opportunity Annoyer

Troll The Anti-Fast Freight Freddie

 

 

 

 



500 - Internal Server Error

Status: Offline
Posts: 36507
Date:
Permalink  
 

They know the war president has American troops spread out.....Is the King ready to open a 3rd front to help US ally Georgia? Afterall, Georgia sent troops to Iraq to help us out.

__________________

© Equal Opportunity Annoyer

Troll The Anti-Fast Freight Freddie

 

 

 

 



Force Majeure

Status: Offline
Posts: 23396
Date:
Permalink  
 

"God, what a thrill to cheer for you!" Bush told Phelps



__________________

Tinhorn Dictator

Uke


Cured

Status: Offline
Posts: 26926
Date:
Permalink  
 

I relized that the ongoing fighting between Georgia and Russia is the furthest thing from our minds right now, what with our own problems...and Dubya's status, and HIS wars...

But just in case you're the least bit piqued by the news from eastern Europe of late, the BBC News has the most in depth coverage you'll find on the 'net.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/7554507.stm


__________________

Hmm. That address doesnt look right.
It looks like the link pointing here was faulty.

Gah. Your tab just crashed.



500 - Internal Server Error

Status: Offline
Posts: 36507
Date:
Permalink  
 

Putin is pissed because the US is flying the Georgian troops home from Iraq.....maybe the Rhode Island National Guard will be called up to fill the void.

__________________

© Equal Opportunity Annoyer

Troll The Anti-Fast Freight Freddie

 

 

 

 



Unstable & Irrational

Status: Offline
Posts: 10777
Date:
Permalink  
 

I see on the map how close it is to Turkey. I wonder......

__________________

I started ophph with nuthin, and I can safely say I have most of it left....
<img



Force Majeure

Status: Offline
Posts: 23396
Date:
Permalink  
 

Is it south of Denver?

__________________

Tinhorn Dictator

Page 1 of 1  sorted by
 
Quick Reply

Please log in to post quick replies.

Chatbox
Please log in to join the chat!