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| Caucasus/Russia/Central Asia |
| Russian warships sent to Abkhazia |
| 2008-08-28 |
| Russia has sent a missile cruiser and two other ships to a Georgian port, while a US military ship has docked at another southern port in a show of force amid an escalating standoff with the West over a nation devastated by war with Russia. The dockings came a day after Dmitry Medvedev, the Russian president, recognised the two Georgian breakaway territories of South Ossetia and Abkhazia as independent states, prompting harsh criticism from Western nations. Georgia reacted by recalling all but two diplomats from its embassy in Moscow. The US Coast Guard cutter Dallas, carrying 34 tons of humanitarian aid, docked in the Black Sea port of Batumi, south of the zone of this month's fighting between Russia and Georgia. The arrival in Batumi avoided Georgia's main cargo port of Poti, which is still controlled by Russian soldiers. The US embassy in Georgia had earlier said the ship was headed to Poti, but then retracted its statement. Zaza Gogava, the head of Georgia's joint forces command, said the port in Poti could have been mined by Russian forces and still contained several Georgian ships sunken in the fighting. |
| Posted by:Fred |
| #18 No, I don't think they will rape and murder in full view. Do you think that the Russians and their helpers won't rape and murder? This is not a greenpeace fest where he who gets the best press coverage wins This is true war and the Russians have no intentions of playing fair or nice. They just intend to win. Sure, we care about human rights and are affected by that kind of coverage. They have already made it clear they don't give a &**^ |
| Posted by: Betty Grating2215 2008-08-28 23:19 |
| #17 Abkhazia is were Shamil Basaev got his start leading the Russian and muslim forces that massacred thousands of Georgians. That he then turned on his Russian benefactors is rather ironic. |
| Posted by: ed 2008-08-28 20:10 |
| #16 Dear Russians Good luck with your new people http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sukhumi_massacre |
| Posted by: European Conservative 2008-08-28 19:49 |
| #15 Then you do the march during the day, and at night bus them back to Batumi or Tbilisi. Or make camps with lights and cameras. Gandhi, but updated, |
| Posted by: liberalhawk 2008-08-28 16:15 |
| #14 LH, no, but the will send Chechens and Cossacks out during night to exact a retribution. |
| Posted by: Spike Uniter 2008-08-28 15:30 |
| #13 Yeah, nothing like marching your family in to be beaten, raped or murdered for good international PR. You first Didnt say it was easy. How badly do they want to be independent? Im betting the Russians are gonna stick to tear gassing and knocking heads though - you really think they will rape and murder in full view of the world? Even I dont think they would do that. |
| Posted by: liberalhawk 2008-08-28 15:00 |
| #12 A column of Georgian civilians marches into Poti. Accompanied by TV cameras. Let the Russians do what they think appropriate Yeah, nothing like marching your family in to be beaten, raped or murdered for good international PR. You first. |
| Posted by: Betty Grating2215 2008-08-28 13:33 |
| #11 Any member of the UN Security Council can do whatever they want and not suffer the ridicule of sanctions, reproach or universal aggression When the UN was formed, the decision was made to have the veto to preserve great power interests. While I dont accept great powers right to pursuse aggression, I personally think that having the UNSC reflect the real existence and interests of great powers is very good to insure such credibility and influence as the UNSC has. Meanwhile there are other forms of recourse when one of the P5 goes too far. |
| Posted by: liberalhawk 2008-08-28 12:30 |
| #10 Another example of why the UN, like Global Warming, is a money sucking hoax. Any member of the UN Security Council can do whatever they want and not suffer the ridicule of sanctions, reproach or universal aggression. For the US to show some force using its naval power and air power at this time would I believe convince the Soviets cum Russians to back down. Deep down they are basically bullies and chicken shit cowards that need a good spanking. |
| Posted by: Jack is Back! 2008-08-28 11:38 |
| #9 how to get them out short of war. A. A column of Georgian civilians marches into Poti. Accompanied by TV cameras. Let the Russians do what they think appropriate B. Surround Poti with civilians in tent camps. I mean, cmon, wheres creative non-violence when you need it? And yeah, Im quite aware the Russians may go ahead and use tear gas and billy clubs and say to hell with the bad PR. But you inflict a COST on them, and you prepare for the next steps. In this sense delivering supplies to Batumi was a brilliant idea. We need MORE good ideas, to keep embarrassing the Russians, uniting the Georgians, shaming the world, WITHOUT starting a shooting war. |
| Posted by: liberalhawk 2008-08-28 10:03 |
| #8 They're more likely to watch as the cutter hit a mine and say "See what the nasty georgians did to you? Why do you even bother." |
| Posted by: Abdominal Snowman 2008-08-28 08:41 |
| #7 A Russian cruiser isn't something to take lightly. Especially not their supersonic antiship missiles, something that will cut any ship smaller than an aircraft carrier in two. Reuters 8/25: Russia's flagship cruiser re-entered the Black Sea on Monday for weapons tests hours after the Russian military complained about the presence of U.S. and other NATO naval ships near the Georgian coast. The 'Moskva' had led a battle group of Russian naval vessels stationed off the coastline of Georgia's breakaway region of Abkhazia during Russia's recent conflict with Georgia and sank smaller Georgian craft. The assistant to the Russian Navy's commander-in-chief told Russian news agencies the cruiser had put to sea again two days after returning to its base at the Ukrainian port of Sevastopol. |
| Posted by: ed 2008-08-28 08:03 |
| #6 It would be stupid for a CG cutter to take on a destroyer or frigate. Very different weapons systems, the cutter would be toast. Not to say the Coasties don't have the guts - they do, but they do have more brains. A slugging match would be very one sided. That said, the Russians are unlikely to fire on the cutter, given the same one sidedness. They would be more likely to bump it, damage it. |
| Posted by: Whiskey Mike 2008-08-28 06:57 |
| #5 sooo.. if their rust-bucket navy is anything like it used to be, does that mean that our coast guard cutter could kick the a** of one of their warships? Hmmm, I don't know, but I suppose that's probably asking too much. For some reason I get the image of an aggressive little yappy dog and a big doberman having a stand off. The only question is which will tuck its tail and run first. |
| Posted by: Betty Grating2215 2008-08-28 02:10 |
| #4 Steve, one problem, war is there already, it's just in a ceasefire stage. You mean widening the war, I presume. A lotsa international observers and peacekeepers (real ones) would go a long way to effectively contain RA and possibly displace it out as it would become ineffective, eventually, from Georgian held territory. |
| Posted by: Spike Uniter 2008-08-28 01:52 |
| #3 Not sure how we'd do that without starting a war ... |
| Posted by: Steve White 2008-08-28 01:02 |
| #2 The US needs to force them out of Poti - it is an illegal act of war and agression for them to occupy that terriroty and to have demolished it and mined it. |
| Posted by: OldSpook 2008-08-28 00:56 |
| #1 Just a note, Zaza Gogava is an Ossetian. More than 60% of South Ossetians live within Georgia, compared to less than 40% within S Ossetia territory. |
| Posted by: Spike Uniter 2008-08-28 00:09 |