Russian blockade on Georgia
Vladimir Radyuhin, the Hindu Times
U.S. behind Tbilisi: Putin
MOSCOW: Russia has imposed a total economic blockade on Georgia even as the latter decided to release the four Russian military officers whose arrest on spy charges last week triggered the worst crisis between the two countries.
Russia is cutting land, sea and air transport links with Georgia, as well as postal services, the Russian Government said on Monday.
Shortly after Moscow announced the sanctions, Georgia said it would hand over the arrested Russians to the head of the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe, Belgian Foreign Minister Karel De Gucht, who arrived in Tbilisi on Monday.
Russia's Defence Minister Sergei Ivanov described the spy charges filed against the Russian officers as "absurd." He said three of the four arrested officers had arrived in Georgia only three months ago. Russian President Vladimir Putin over the weekend denounced the arrests as an act of "state terrorism" and likened Georgia's domestic and foreign policies to those of Lavrenti Beria, the feared head of the Soviet secret police under Joseph Stalin. Both were ethnic Georgians.
Mr. Putin said he held the United States responsible for encouraging Georgia's anti-Russian policies.
"Foreign sponsors"
"These people [in Georgia] think that they are safe and comfortable under the umbrella of their foreign sponsors," Mr. Putin said at a meeting with key Government Ministers on Saturday.
The Republican majority in the U.S. Senate on Saturday tabled a bill to support early NATO membership for Georgia and some East European countries.
To tighten Georgia's economic blockade, the Russian Parliament plans to approve a bill on Wednesday allowing the Government to ban money transfers to Georgia. The ban will hit an estimated one million Georgian migrant workers in Russia who send back home money.
I said yesterday we needed to get some US warships into the Black Sea on joint exersices with the Georgians..Putins go'in for the take down and pin. And we coulda slowed it way down.
ReplyDeleteDamn there goes some good potential American bases.
Everyone is lining up to take their shots while we are streched out over Iraq. Bush should jump on this fast and hard. He could sieze the moment and save both the Senate and The House
ReplyDeleteOK NEWBY's and LURKERS..here's your chance to jump right in and use the template below..this story has legs...gitty up
ReplyDeleteNEWBY'S AND LURKER'S GUIDE (con't)
Advanced lessons.
1. Here is a template you can use to get started since writers block often occurs just prior to the fingers hitting the keyboard.
Let's say the general topic is "The World is A Mess" ok here we go...when you see parentheses insert a word of your choice or follow suggestions from lurker wife or husband or significant other. Let's get started.
I think the world is a mess(choose a pastel color,tribal faction fighting, or bad hygene...or your own idea)
and that the USA could do better if(it quit the UN,NATO,NASCAR or all references to pastels colors..or your own idea).
We should instead (March for Peace, Kill Everybody we don't like,move to Vancouver,BC,nuke somebody...or your own idea) because this would help us.
The current situation will (get better,get worse,get much worse, we're all gonna die ..or your own idea) if we continue doing (nothing,allowing Congressmen to use email or quit flossing after each meal).
Now add your final thoughts and you're done ..congrats and good luck!!
maybe this is Putin's solution to bumping up the futures oil market.
ReplyDeleteThe Kremlin cares.
ReplyDeleteNo one in the World cares or cared about Somalia, Sudan, Afghanistan, Warizistan, either.
It is just the people that go to train and fight there, in those carefree places, that care about US and the world.
What the world cares about does not make a difference to them. That is the "lesson" of 9-11.
We should be more interested in current and future terrorist training camps, at least as much as the historic ones.
ReplyDelete'Cause the beat goes on,
it's not on auto repeat
Once again, our adversaries smell blood in the water.
ReplyDeleteWe're war weary, soldiers really weary and no end in sight and it's apparent that in the middle of our Transformationalist Defense Department we can no longer project power.
This is just the start.
The unintended consequences of the let US garrison Iraq and the Middle East "Master Plan" are far grander than had been envisioned.
ReplyDeleteThe positive and foreseen consequences were obtained a couple of years ago. The unforeseeen, the unknowable, are slowly becoming known, many of those consequences are negative, to say the least.
Georgia and the Ukraine are just two European examples of US being played by the Russians.
yeah. we DID that ..past tense..project power now? no can do..don't have the men or material in our arsenal
ReplyDeleteBaku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan (BTC) pipeline is one reason it is important.
ReplyDeleteThe broader area of the Caspian contains massive reserves of oil that are still largely untapped. guess who wnts them.
ReplyDeleteEvery time we step backwards, rufus, that is what you say.
ReplyDelete"Oh, 'fill in the blank', doesn't count."
Baghdad, Ramadi, Somalia, Pakistan etc.
Maybe so, but doubtful that we can turn the world's security situation around just operating in the sweet spots.
You are of a mind that each little conflict "stands alone" as local problems. Much like the Supremes in the Hamadan Decision.
I totally disagree, always will, unless you were to change your mind.
Rufus..ok who or what you gonna send to a high on the list NATO maybe member?
ReplyDeleteAre you gonna let Putin just start gobbling up former Soviets? What would stop him from taking Latvia, Lith, and Poland?
Yep, those Democrats are sound more "realistic" every day.
ReplyDeleteWell, rufus, ain't that an interesting observation.
I have yet to be convinced that siding with one Muslim group against another has a pay-off. If I were convinced, I doubt I would have sided with the Shiite side as long as the mullahs are in charge of Teheran. We supported the Shah because we saw him as a bulwark against the Soviets. Now we have an emerging Russian Imperial power. Do we want to triangulate against Russia? Russia is not going to help us anywhere, ever. They are the real evil empire.
ReplyDeleteThe Russians could reconstitute the Soviet Union tomorrow with no opposition and I beleive that is what Putin is positoning for just such an eventuality.
ReplyDeleteAll those KGB,GRU, and Soviet troops are salivating to be "great" again.
And you always move when your enemy is tied down.
We currently spend anywhere from 3-5% of GDP on defense, which if were your household budget would cover the cost of insuring a new car or your dental insurance or DVD rentals..
ReplyDeleteRufus, I care about the children in those countries. I care about the fact that with a Georgian coastline on the Black Sea we're losing a valuable opportunity to build desalinization plants and nice casinos.
But mostly it's the children.**
** Lurkers note..you can always use the "it's for the children"line in just about any argument, except with you Congressman who might misinterpret the "caring" part.
Right now it is all about Iraq.We really have ourtit in the ringer.
ReplyDelete2164th & habu,
ReplyDeleteIn reference to your contributions at the BC to Trish, it appears that Senator Frist has thrown in the towel on Afghanistan, after consulting with “commanders on the ground”, as opposed to those in trees, I suppose.
Frist Says We Can't Win
c/o Ace of Spades
ReplyDeletehabu, you'll love this one, at 36 days and counting to your proposed US attack against Iran.
ReplyDeleteIt also dispels the idea that Israel could disarm Iran's nuclear capacity.
HOW AN ATTACK WOULD UNFOLD
A military assault on nuclear plants in Iran remains an option for U.S.
First the British General negotiates "Local Ceasefire".
ReplyDeleteThen Mr Frist sees the path to Victory in Afghanistan as being
"A political solution is how it's all going to be solved," Mr Frist said
Johnny comes marchin' home again? hoorah???
O'Reilly is just starting on the Foley matter, Michelle Milkan and another lady. Michelle & Bill rejects analogy to 80's bad behaviour.
ReplyDelete"Naughty" e-mails meme, O'Reilly says that storyline is a "no go"
Damage will get worse for the Republicans, sats Michelle.
The Sudetenland, Austria, Poland all so far away, who really cares?
ReplyDeleteSaipan, Iwo Jima worthless rocks, who could care?
ReplyDeleteAnd what helped to provoke the Bear, last time?
ReplyDelete"On January 12, 1950 United States Secretary of State Dean Acheson told the National Press Club that America's Pacific defense perimeter was made up of the Aleutians, Ryukyu, Japan, and the Philippines implying that the U.S. might not fight over Korea. This omission, though not deliberate, is said to have encouraged the North and the Soviets. ..."
Korea, was just to far away for US to care, it was outside our Zone.
Foley voted for the Defense of Marriage Act, so America is safe from the spectacle of having two little bride figurines stuck in the frosting on the top of wedding cakes, but whether teenaged page boys are safe is another matter. Hugh Hewitt's spin is to separate the emails from the IM's, because the emails could be read as fairly innocent (Congressmen are not generally assumed to be pervs), but the IM's put the emails into proper context so in the voter's mind they're all the same thing. Foley's name will still appear on the ballot, so that seat is a loss for the 'Pubs. The Senate is in play but the House was the GOP's to lose. And Foleygate could be just the first scandal waiting on the runway for the Main Stream Media with five weeks to go until the election.
ReplyDeleteI do not see the Foley thing going very far. It is a one week story unless the dems overplay it then it could come back at them.
ReplyDeleteOne Russian View on Georgia
ReplyDeleteGeorgia - and not Georgia alone - is guaranteed massive American support in the near future. The guarantee of this lies in the new rivalry between Moscow and Washington, through the prism of which one increasingly regards events involving third countries. It does not matter any more whether it is about Georgia or Ukraine, Syria or Iran, China or Venezuela. Russian-American relations, which are returning to the principle of an eye for an eye, have become a key to understanding a large part of international politics.
Oh, I think if FL16 is one of the 16 seats that "flip", it'll have been huge. Mr Reynolds(R), in NY is in a tight race, and was in the "cover up" chain of command. May be enough to make a difference, If it does, that would be a HOGE. With at least two years worth of impact.
ReplyDeleteo/t, bombshell Murtha video (courtesy Hannity & Colmes).
ReplyDelete2164 just hit a triple. The Russians in power want to return to greatness. They've modified Marxism down to our type of modified Capito-Marxist economics...using the central government to redistribute the countries wealth ie. DR's do'in ok so we'll hit him hard and give the money to some MS-13 members family in Detroit..But we're back to a rapidly developing bipolar world. For us to have a base IN THE BLACK SEA would strategically and tactically be worth gold. The listening posts the naval presents would frustrate the Soviets and once again cause them to SPEND much more on the military than they can afford..thus they need us out of there. We would be able to monitor their missile development since a good deal of it is launched from Tyuratam to Siberia.
ReplyDeleteI'd love to have Georgia on our side.
I think Murtha is pretty well gerrymandered, buddy.
ReplyDeleteBut who knows, a wave of moral indignation sweeps across Ameirica?
Is this where everyone went?
ReplyDeleteHey 2164th / Whit: Nice place you've got here - I see a few friendlies from over at BC...
Did something, ah, happen over there that prompted a decamping to new digs?
It seems like a lot of familiars are missing over at BC.
Triton
Mr Drudge says this across his site
ReplyDeleteWASHINGTON TIMES ON TUESDAY WILL CALL FOR SPEAKER HASTERT'S RESIGNATION, NEWSROOM SOURCES TELL DRUDGE... DEVELOPING... Editorial titled: 'Resign, Mr. Speaker': 'House Speaker Dennis Hastert must do the only right thing, and resign his speakership at once... Mr. Hastert has forfeited the confidence of the public and his party, and he cannot preside over the necessary coming investigation, an investigation that must examine his own inept performance'... -- Washington Times, October 3, 2006...
Dr, that was a well constructed piece on the Iranian options, or should I say option . It looks like air strikes all the way.
ReplyDeleteAnd even though we would not kill their program the ELINT after the strikes would be so valuable and no doubt give away a good deal of info on where things are(provided we didn't get them).
It would also disrupt the functioning of the country far beyond the impact on the military targets.
Repercussions in the immediate ME are within our ability to handle, and it would definitley signal other ME countries to follow the Ghaddafi move and fold up any plans they might have.
The positives far outweigh the negatives cause we can't get it wrong, not even once, or the entire region will go nuke.
A week, duece?
ReplyDeleteTony Blankly's paper--
ReplyDeleteAmongst others, buddy.
ReplyDeleteHow connected is Rev. Moon to that paper, now-a-days?
That's quite a bank shot, for Mr Newt, regardless. Worthy of a potential President.
Totally payback, plus deniability.
Blood's in the water, that's for sure.
o/t but imp.
ReplyDeleteengineering and intel
a very interesting read
My answer to the Engineering BLUE I put up is this..we pay reenlistment and sign up bonuses in the tens of thousands of dollars.
ReplyDeleteSo we start paying kids to take engineering..whatever it takes. We also limit the number of foreign students who can come study engineering in this country...also by a big number.
Wonder what a Mini-Cooper would get?
ReplyDeletetriton, you old dawg--we were over-chatting over on Belmont, and Wretchard sorta invited us to shape up or ship out. 2164 was nimble enough--not knowing how long or if forever BC comments would be disabled--to keep the group together with a quick alternative. Now everybody's happy!
Love that mini cooper..Buddy do you have one?
ReplyDeleteWhy I can barely believe the MSM misquoted a Republican leader..shocking
ReplyDeleteRufus..PossumTater says "hi" but he wants outside and I got the sandman beat'n on me.
ReplyDeletetomorrow my friend
best
Naw--I wish i did, though. Have a Mini. Perfect form-function. We have a lot of rough road in these parts, so a pick-em up is about all that's practical. My 'Classical' needs are met by my old 1976 Toyota Land Cruiser, which I need to get running again. I was working on it when my mom got sick, back in Louisiana, and time I got back here, I had lost my restoration impulse. So I just store tools in it for now. It died backed up to my office door--damn convenient--I may build a gallery and incorporate it into the house as a sort of objay de art.
ReplyDeletetime to do your lessons, chaps:
ReplyDeleteThanks Buddy,
ReplyDeleteJust wondering...