From: "Luc Majno"

Here’s a batch of articles from the Russian perspective posted to yahoo group, stopnato. The Russians are being villified and provoked. With the US Navy ARMADA on its way to blockade Iran, things are very VERY tense. Get yourselves ready. Information is key. Use it or lose it.

US Blocks NATO-Russia Council Meeting On South Ossetia Message List

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http://www.itar–tass.com/eng/level2.html?NewsID=12951249&PageNum=0

Itar–Tass August 12, 2008

US blocks NATO–Russia Council meeting on S Ossetia–Rogozin

BRUSSELS – The United States has blocked a meeting of the NATO–Russia Council on the situation in South Ossetia, Russia’s Ambassador to NATO Dmitry Rogozin told Itar–Tass.

"I regard this demarche of the US delegation as the unwillingness to hold a serious discussion on the causes and consequences of the Georgian aggression against South Ossetia and as the American side’s unwillingness to answer in the presence of NATO countries’ delegation difficult questions about the degree of the US involvement in the preparation and development of these tragic events," the official said.

Caucasus War Ploy To Bring In NATO; Saakashvili Must Be Tried Message List

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http://en.rian.ru/analysis/20080812/115975302.html

Russian Information Agency Novosti August 12, 2008

What court will Saakashvili be taken to? Valentin Rakhmanov

–Georgia’s troop pullout from South Ossetia will not restore the status quo in the region because thousands of lives in Ossetia have already been lost. Hence, a troop withdrawal will not be enough. Georgia will have to be punished, most likely, by some international tribunal. –[T]housands of victims cannot be deleted from evidence against Saakashvili.

MOSCOW – Georgian troops entered Tskhinvali after lengthy artillery preparations and shootings. Was this an attempt to resolve the conflict with South Ossetia by force, as some experts see it? The answer is both "yes" and "no."

Russia and Abkhazia were likely to defend South Ossetia from a Georgian attack, and NATO was likely not to help the Georgian army directly. Tbilisi fully realized that, and for this reason Mikheil Saakashvili could hardly have hoped to resolve his territorial problem by a military operation. So, what was the point of what Vladimir Putin described as a "bloody venture?"

Before this conflict, Saakashvili often emphasized the need for NATO peacekeepers’ presence in the region. It would help him exert more pressure on Abkhazia, and particularly, South Ossetia with a view to bringing them back to Georgia.

Apparently, Georgia’s current aggression is designed to prove that Russia has failed as a peacekeeper, turn it into a side in this conflict, and eventually invite NATO peacekeepers to come to the region.

What will Russia do in this situation? It seems that it is ready only to prevent the occupation of South Ossetia by Georgian troops.

A spokesman for the Russian navy said that although the Black Sea Fleet has approached the conflict zone, it is not going to block Georgian ports because Russia is not at war with Georgia.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said more than once that Russia is carrying a peace–enforcement operation rather than fighting against Georgia. Moreover, Russia agreed to a ceasefire on condition that Georgian troops leave South Ossetia and the talks are resumed.

This strategy has its pros and cons. On the one hand, Russia is demonstrating that it controls the situation, and continues to be neutral.

However, the Western media and politicians may choose to ignore this position, if they wish. On the other hand, Georgia’s troop pullout from South Ossetia will not restore the status quo in the region because thousands of lives in Ossetia have already been lost.

Hence, a troop withdrawal will not be enough. Georgia will have to be punished, most likely, by some international tribunal.

Some experts are already toying with this idea, although Russian ombudsman Vladimir Lukin is the only official to have voiced it on the record. .… South Ossetia’s recent moves also show that Saakashvili may be punished by law.

Its investigation committee has instituted criminal proceedings against Georgia. In response, the Georgian leaders have taken the case against Russia to the Hague Tribunal. It is hard to say who will win the legal battle. But thousands of victims cannot be deleted from evidence against Saakashvili.

Abkhazian Forces Surround Georgian Troops In Kodori Gorge Message List

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http://www.itar–tass.com/eng/level2.html?NewsID=12950528&PageNum=0

Itar–Tass August 12, 2008

Abkhazian forces surround Georgian troops in Kodori Gorge

SUKHUMI – Abkhazia’s armed forces surrounded the Georgian troops in the Kodori Gorge, the chief of the General Staff of the armed forces, Anatoly Zaitsev, stated.

Zaitsev said 250 Abkhazian servicemen had landed near the settlement of Chkhalta, meeting resistance from Georgian units, who fired on them with small arms.

The second Abkhazian unit is due to land.

U.S. Nuclear Madness and Hypocrisy! U.S Instigates murderous Georgia Message List

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U.S. Nuclear Madness and Hypocrisy! U.S Instigates murderous Georgian attack on S. Ossetia and then threatens Russia over it’s just and legal response!

[ "The military showdown has triggered a war of words between Bush and Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin. Bush, who was attending the Beijing Olympics, told NBC Sports that the Soviet offensive was unacceptable. ‘I’ve expressed my grave concern about the disproportionate response of Russia, and that we strongly condemn the bombing outside of South Ossetia’, Bush said. "I was very firm with Vladimir Putin’. Bush said he made the same point later in a phone call to Russian President Dmitri Medvedev. Vice President Dick Cheney was more blunt, telling Georgia's president that 'Russian aggression must not go unanswered, and that its continuation would have serious consequences for its relations with the United States." Asked to explain Cheney's phrase "must not go unanswered," White House spokesman Gordon Johndroe said, /It means it must not stand' White House officials refused to indicate what recourse the United States might have if the attacks continue. " ] =============================== ABC News http://abcnews.go.com Aug. 11, 2008

http://tinyurl.com/55ujte

Fighting Escalates Between Russia and Georgia Cheney Vows Russian Offensive Will ‘Not Go Unanswered’

By CLARISSA WARD TBILISI, Georgia, Aug. 11, 2008

President Bush held a press conference Monday denouncing Russia’s escalation of violence in the former Soviet republic of Georgia. In a Rose Garden statement, he pressed Moscow to accept an immediate cease–fire and to pull back its troops from the conflict zone.

"Russia has invaded a sovereign neighboring state and threatens a democratic government elected by its people. Such an action is unacceptable in the 21st century," Bush said.

Georgian President Mikhail Saakashvili signed a ceasefire pledge Monday, and at Georgia's request, the U.N. Security Council in New York called an emergency session – – the fifth meeting on the fighting in as many days.

Russian armored vehicles charged into Georgian territory on two fronts today, seizing a military base and four cities, despite diplomatic efforts to halt the fighting and Georgia's president signing a cease–fire agreement.

The Russian offensive had troops poised just inside the rebel province of South Ossetia at the border of central Georgia, but in a surprise maneuver, Russia sent armored units across the border into western Georgia.

A top Russian general told ABC News that the army had no intention of invading Georgian territory. The invading tanks spilled out of Abkhazia, a second province that has broken away from Georgia, to seize a Georgian military base and a couple of towns near the Black Sea.

Georgian officials and the Echo Moskvy radio station later reported that Russian troops had also surged across the South Ossetian border and taken the town of Gori in central Georgia, a move that could split Georgia in half.

An ABC News team left Gori just hours before the Russians arrived and reported the town was nearly empty except for Georgian soldiers, who were streaming out of town on armored personnel carriers and pickup trucks, yelling that the Russians were coming.

Saakashvili visited the town briefly with the French foreign minister before he was bundled into a car and driven away amid rumors of an imminent attack. The few civilians who remained ran from the streets in panic.

The two–pronged offensive came, despite calls by the European Union to halt the fighting and despite rising tensions between Russia and the United States.

The military showdown has triggered a war of words between Bush and Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin. Bush, who was attending the Beijing Olympics, told NBC Sports that the Soviet offensive was unacceptable.

"I’ve expressed my grave concern about the disproportionate response of Russia, and that we strongly condemn the bombing outside of South Ossetia," Bush said. "I was very firm with Vladimir Putin." Bush said he made the same point later in a phone call to Russian President Dmitri Medvedev.

Vice President Dick Cheney was more blunt, telling Georgia's president that "Russian aggression must not go unanswered, and that its continuation would have serious consequences for its relations with the United States."

Asked to explain Cheney’s phrase "must not go unanswered," White House spokesman Gordon Johndroe said, "It means it must not stand." White House officials refused to indicate what recourse the United States might have if the attacks continue.

Putin fired back at the U.S. today, indicating he was particularly upset at the American military for flying 2,000 Georgian troops from Iraq, where they were helping out their U.S. allies, back to Georgia.

"It is a shame that some of our partners are not helping us but, essentially, are hindering us," Putin said. "I mean … the transfer by the United States of a Georgian contingent in Iraq with military transport planes practically to the conflict zone."

Putin’s emotional speech said the U.S. was wrong to blame Russia for the outbreak of war. "The very scale of this cynicism is astonishing – – the attempt to turn white into black, black into white and to adeptly portray victims of aggression as aggressors and place the responsibility for the consequences of the aggression on the victims," he said.

The U.S. appears to have little leverage over Russia, however, in part because the Bush administration needs Russian cooperation in its negotiations with Iran over its nuclear program.

After Saakashvili signed a cease-fire agreement , he later held a news conference to accuse Russia of trying to overthrow his government.

"Russia made clear the goal of this operation is the regime change in Georgia, change of democratically elected government," he claimed. "It is quite clear what is happening. We are in the process of an invasion, occupation and annihilation of an independent democratic country."

He called the Russian offensive a "pre–planned, cold blooded, meditated murder of a small country." Saakashvili compared Russia's push to its invasion in 1968 of Czechoslovakia and Afghanistan in the 1990s.

"As we speak, there are people being shot, killed," he said. He later added, "What else can happen for the world to wake up and see what's at stake?"

Russia and Georgia accused each other today of carrying out campaigns of ethnic cleansing of the breakaway provinces. Despite facing an overwhelming military force, Saakashvili, when asked what he would do if Russian forces moved toward Tblisi, said, "We have no plan of surrender."

EU officials hope to convince Russia to also sign the cease-fire deal. The foreign ministers from the G-7, representing the world's seven largest economic powers, called on Russia to accept the cease-fire with Georgia, following a conference of all the ministers, including U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice.

Besides backing its Georgian allies, the U.S. is closely watching the conflict because of Georgia’s status as a major conduit of oil to Black Sea ports. Any disruption to Georgia's main pipeline could s end world oil prices soaring again, and, in turn, kick up the price of gas at U.S. pumps. So far, the pipeline has been untouched.

The outbreak of fighting has reportedly claimed the lives of 2,000 civilians caught in the crossfire, and thousands more are homeless, with many fleeing the area. The capital of South Ossetia has been devastated by shelling.

Russia has deployed ships off the Georgian coast and claims to have sunk a Georgia missile ship, while swarms of Russian planes bombed sites near the Georgian capital of Tbilisi for the fourth straight day.

Russia claimed that Georgian artillery again shelled the South Ossetian capital Tskhinvali, and claimed that two more of its planes have been shot down, bringing the total of lost Russian planes to four. Russia insists that it was withdrawing from some of its positions in Georgia, but people remain fearful and expect more attacks. The shooting began when Georgian troops moved last week to reassert control of its breakaway province, South Ossetia. Georgian troops briefly occupied the South Ossetian capital before a powerful Russian force chased them back into Georgia.

The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report.

Start Topic Russia Strengthens Coast Guard On Its Black Sea Coast Message List

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http://en.rian.ru/russia/20080812/115977522.html

Russian Information Agency Novosti August 12, 2008

 

Russia beefs up coast guard on its Black Sea coast

YOSHKAR OLA – Russia’s border service has dispatched additional patrol vessels to protect the Black Sea coast near the city of Sochi, the service chief said on Tuesday.

Army Gen. Vladimir Pronichev said the border troops were also using aircraft, including unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV), as well as special monitoring equipment to oversee the situation in Georgia's breakaway republics of Abkhazia and South Ossetia.

On Monday, Federal Security Service (FSB) Director Alexander Bortnikov ordered additional measures to reinforce Russia's state border in the South Federal District.

Gen. Pronichev said the situation in the area was "under control" and said that the service was aware of "events in our area of responsibility."

He added that Russian border guards "have sufficient resources and the capability to ensure state border security."

Start Topic South Ossetia: US’s Georgian Stormtroopers’ Latest Handiwork Message List

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http://www.rbcnews.com/free/20080811195940.shtml

RosBusinessConsulting August 11, 2008

Georgian forces open fire on fleeing refugees

Tskhinvali – The Georgian military has opened fire on two convoys of refugees leaving Tskhinvali, the South Ossetian Interior Ministry reported.

The first light arms attack took place near a village of Kurta (this attack was warded off).

Later, another convoy fleeing the breakaway republic's capital was bombarded by the Grad multiple-launch rocket systems.

Casualty figures have not yet been revealed. ------------------------------------------------------ http://www.russiatoday.com/news/news/28872

Russia Today August 12, 2008

Civilians perish as Georgian troops torch church

The Regnum news agency is reporting that Georgian troops burned down a 10th century Orthodox church while terrified civilians perished inside.

The agency quotes eyewitness accounts of the atrocity after all–out fighting in Khetagurovo, a small village near the republic’s capital Tskhinvali.

Almost all of those fighting to defend the village were killed, but the report says the fate of others, mostly women and the elderly, turned out to be even more horrible.

Eyewitnesses report that Georgian tanks literally ran people down and that soldiers took almost all the women to another location. Their fate is still unknown.

Meanwhile, those who didn’t manage to escape found their shelter in a 10th century Orthodox church. Civilians hoped that Georgians of the same faith wouldn’t dare storm the building, one of the oldest of its kind in the country.

But Regnum reports that the Georgian troops set the church on fire and left those inside to perish.

It is the latest in a series of reports of the Georgian military attacking and killing civilians.

Shanghai Cooperation Organization To Discuss South Ossetia Message List

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http://www.ruvr.ru/main.php?lng=eng&q=30942&cid=47&p=12.08.2008

Voice of Russia August 12, 2008

SCO to consider situation in S. Ossetia

The Russian presidential point man at the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, SCO, Leonid Moisseyev, says in an interview with the Voice of Russia that the Organization is due to have a summit meeting in Dushanbe, Tajikistan, shortly to consider the situation in the Georgian-South Ossetian conflict area.

According to the official, the forthcoming summit will thus create a precedent of considering this kind of problems.

The SCO comprises Russia, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan and China, and has to date never agreed a common stand on the situations outside the Organization's boundaries.

The parties to the summit will also adopt a special document to determine joint politico–diplomatic moves to react to the situations that threaten security in world regions.

US, NATO Allies Move Strike Force Armada Into Persian Gulf Message List

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http://www.ruvr.ru/main.php?lng=eng&q=30932&cid=56&p=12.08.2008

Voice of Russia August 12, 2008

US AND ITS ALLIES BRING GREATER PSYCHOLOGICAL PRESSURE ON IRAN

More naval troops of the United States, Great Britain and France moved to the Persian Gulf.

This happened a week after military training exercises in the Atlantic Ocean whose aim was preparations for a possible blockade of Iran from the sea.

The strike force includes US aircraft carriers Theodore Roosevelt and Ronald Reagan, British Arc Royal and French Amethyst submarine.

There are already two US aircraft carriers in the Persian Gulf–Abraham Lincoln and Peleliu and a number of auxiliary vessels.

There is evidence that Kuwait began acting on the so–called emergency plan for the case of a military operation against Iran since it can found itself in an epicenter of the developments.

[O]bservers believe that the deployment of Western naval troops in the Persian Gulf can have the aim of gradually blockading Iran.…

Some experts say that consolidation of Western presence in the Persian Gulf is a means of psychological pressure brought to bear on the Iranian regime. This is what expert of the Russian Institute of Strategic Studies Sergei Demidenko said in an interview with the Voice of Russia broadcasters.

No doubt, US military exercises in the Persian Gulf should be seen as attempts to being greater pressure to bear on Iran; they are, notably, linked to the recent developments round Iran’s nuclear programme.

Greater military presence in the Persian Gulf should also been seen as the means of psychological pressure on the Iranian regime.

As for a possibility of a military operation against Iran, I do not think that the United States will dare to unleash yet another war. Yet military training exercises will continue since the United States cannot put up with the existence of a regime independent from US will. And it will certainly take efforts to topple down that regime. But the process can take much time.

Meanwhile, Iran has once again demonstrated that it is not influenced by any pressure brought to bear.

At a meeting with his Algerian colleague in Teheran president Mahmud Ahmadinejad said that nuclear activity of his country would never be stopped despite all threats and sanctions of some great powers.

President Mahmud Ahmadinejad underlined that those countries could not hamper progress of the Iranian nation.

Georgian AntiWar Movement Message List

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PEACE COMMITTEE OF GEORGIA 0182. Apt. 2, quarter 8, house 10, massif 3, Tbilisi, Georgia Tel: ++ 995 93 761363 Fax/Tel: ++ 995 32 731516 E-mail: pc_of_georgia@…

 

Declaration of the Georgian Peace Committee

 

Once more Georgia was launched into a situation of chaos and bloodshed. A new fratricidal war exploded with renewed strength on Georgian soil.

 

To our great disappointment, the alerts of the Georgian Peace Committee and of progressive personalities of Georgia on the pernicious character of the militarization of the country and on the danger of a pro–fascist and nationalist policy had no effect.

 

The authorities of Georgia once again organized a bloody war, feeling the support of some western countries and of regional and international organizations. It will take decades to cleanse the shame poured by the current holders of the power over the Georgian people.

 

The Georgian army – – armed and trained by U.S. instructors and using also U.S. armaments– – subjected the city of Tskhinvali to a barbaric destruction. The bombings killed Ossetian civilians, our brothers and sisters, children, women and elderly people. Over 2,000 inhabitants of Tskhinvali and of its surroundings died.

 

Hundreds of civilians of Georgian nationality also died, both in the conflict zone as well as on the entire territory of Georgia.

 

The Georgian Peace Committee expresses its deep condolences to the relatives and friends of those who have perished.

 

The entire responsibility for this fratricidal war, for thousands of children, women and elderly dead people, for the inhabitants of South Ossetia and of Georgia falls exclusively on the current President, on the Parliament and on the Government of Georgia. The irresponsibility and the adventurism of the Saakashvili regime have no limits. The President of Georgia and his team, undoubtedly, are criminals and must be held responsible.

 

The Georgian Peace Committee, together with all the progressive parties and social movements of Georgia, will struggle to assure that the organizers of this monstrous genocide have a severe and legitimate punishment.

 

The Georgian Peace Committee declares and asks broad public opinion not to identify the current Georgian leadership with the people of Georgia, with the Georgian nation, and appeals to all to support the Georgian people in the struggle against the criminal regime of Saakashvili.

 

We appeal to all the political forces of Georgia, the social movements and the people of Georgia to unite in order to free the country from the Russian-phobic and pro-fascist anti popular regime of Saakashvili!

 

The Georgian Peace Committee Tbilisi, Aug. 11, 2008

 

Georgian Govt. Minister Praises Israel for supplying weapons and tra Message List

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Georgian Govt. Minister Praises Israel for supplying weapons and training; calls for direct U.S. military intervention.

1) (Jerusalem Post) "Georgian MP lauds IDF military training"

2) ( Electronic Intifada) "Tel Aviv to Tbilisi: Israel's role in the Russia–Georgia war "

================================= 1) The Jerusalem Post http://www.jpost.com Aug 11, 2008 23:15 Updated Aug 12, 2008 3:22

http://tinyurl.com/6l4u72

Georgian MP lauds IDF military training

By YAAKOV LAPPIN

Georgian Integration Minister Temur Yakobashvili told The Jerusalem Post Monday he "felt proud as a Jew," thanks to the training Israelis had provided to units in the Georgian military.

Yakobashvili spoke while being driven to a meeting with a Russian general who had led ground forces into Georgia. The minister described the general as being "excessively aggressive."

"I’m going to ask him myself what he thinks he was doing," he said. Yakobasvili’s comments confirmed reports to the Post by an Israeli defense official Sunday that a small number of Georgian elite troops had been trained by Galilee Div. commander Brig.-Gen. Gal Hirsch, who founded the Homat Magen company.

"I have to underline that this was not a government–to–government thing," said Yakobashvili. "This was between the Georgian government and a private Israeli company. They have provided highly qualified training." The effects of the training were "visible," the minister added.

Asked whether he was satisfied with the Israeli government's stance on the conflict with Russia, Yakobashvili said he was not fully aware of "what the Israeli government is doing or not doing."

"At this stage, I wouldn’t expect much, other than to provide political support for Georgia’s case," he said. "Israel probably understands our situation more than others. But I wouldn't expect more than diplomatic support."

Yakobashvili said members of Georgia's Jewish community were affected by the war in the same way as the rest of the population.

"The Jewish community is an integral part of Georgia. We are all part of this country," he said. Yakobashvili described the state of affairs in the region as "difficult." "We have the Russian air force bombing civilian targets, the Russian army invading [our territory], and the Russian Navy blocking our ports," he said.

Still, he maintained Russia had made an "historic mistake" by choosing to invade and occupy Georgia. "Georgia will recover and regain its territory, if not tomorrow than the day after tomorrow. We have patience and determination. But what will happen with the Russian Federation? Even the Russian people should realize that they have gotten into a very deep problem," the minister said.

Of international efforts to reach a cease–fire agreement, Yakobashvili said, "international mediators are trying to address this issue, but not much is being done beyond talking and naming and shaming. We will reach an agreement, but time matters," he added.

"We’re a small democratic European country being attacked by big autocratic Russia and democracies are doing nothing," Yakobashvili said.

"I am still hopeful that there will be a timely and meaningful intervention by the US, and that we will see a different picture." Yakobashvili said he thought Russia was deliberately under-reporting its losses. "You will never hear the Russian media talk about their own casualties. We shot down 13 aircraft and not all of the pilots can be alive. They have suffered heavy casualties in human lives and damage to armored carriers and tanks, which they are hiding," he said.

"The Russian media is so manipulated we were forced to shut it down in Georgia because this is part of the international warfare. The war here is on three fronts; the guns and aircraft, the media war and the diplomatic war." On a more positive note, the minister added "In Tbilisi, things are calm. There is no panic, the economy is running and life continues." ----------------------------------------------------- 2) The Electronic Intifada, http://electronicintifada.net 12 August 2008

http://electronicintifada.net/v2/article9756.shtml

Tel Aviv to Tbilisi: Israel's role in the Russia–Georgia war

By Ali Abunimah,

From the moment Georgia launched a surprise attack on the tiny breakaway region of South Ossetia last week, prompting a fierce Russian counterattack, Israel has been trying to distance itself from the conflict. This is understandable: with Georgian forces on the retreat, large numbers of civilians killed and injured, and Russia's fury unabated, Israel's deep involvement is severely embarrassing.

The collapse of the Georgian offensive represents not only a disaster for that country and its US–backed leaders, but another blow to the myth of Israel’s military prestige and prowess. Worse, Israel fears that Russia could retaliate by stepping up its military assistance to Israel's adversaries including Iran.

"Israel is following with great concern the developments in South Ossetia and Abkhazia and hopes the violence will end," its foreign ministry said, adding with uncharacteristic doveishness, "Israel recognizes the territorial integrity of Georgia and calls for a peaceful solution."

Tbilisi’s top diplomat in Tel Aviv complained about the lackluster Israeli response to his country's predicament and perhaps overestimating Israeli influence, called for Israeli "diplomatic pressure on Moscow." Just like Israel, the diplomat said, Georgia is fighting a war on "terrorism." Israeli officials politely told the Georgians that "the address for that type of pressure was Washington" (Herb Keinon, "Tbilisi wants Israel to pressure Russia," The Jerusalem Post, 11 August 2008).

While Israel was keen to downplay its role, Georgia perhaps hoped that flattery might draw Israel further in. Georgian minister Temur Yakobashvili – – whom the Israeli daily Haaretz stressed was Jewish – – told Israeli army radio that "Israel should be proud of its military which trained Georgian soldiers." Yakobashvili claimed rather implausibly, according to Haaretz, that "a small group of Georgian soldiers were able to wipe out an entire Russian military division, thanks to the Israeli training" ("Georgian minister tells Israel Radio: Thanks to Israeli training, we're fending off Russian military," Haaretz, 11 August 2008).

Since 2000, Israel has sold hundreds of millions of dollars in arms and combat training to Georgia. Weapons included guns, ammunition, shells, tactical missile systems, antiaircraft systems, automatic turrets for armored vehicles, electronic equipment a nd remotely piloted aircraft. These sales were authorized by the Israeli defense ministry (Arie Egozi, "War in Georgia: The Israeli connection," Ynet, 10 August 2008).

Training also involved officers from Israel’s Shin Bet secret service – – which has for decades carried out extrajudicial executions and torture of Palestinians in the occupied territories – – the Israeli police, and the country's major arms companies Elbit and Rafael.

The Tel Aviv–Tbilisi military axis appears to have been cemented at the highest levels, and according to YNet, "The fact that Georgia’s defense minister, Davit Kezerashvili, is a former Israeli who is fluent in Hebrew contributed to this cooperation." Others involved in the brisk arms trade included former Israeli minister and Tel Aviv mayor Roni Milo as well as several senior Israeli military officers.

The key liaison was Reserve Brigadier General Gal Hirsch who commanded Israeli forces on the border with Lebanon during the July 2006 Second Lebanon War. (Yossi Melman, "Georgia Violence – A frozen alliance," Haaretz, 10 August 2008). He resigned from the army after the Winograd commission severely criticized Israel’s conduct of its war against Lebanon and an internal Israeli army investigation blamed Hirsch for the seizure of two soldiers by Hizballah.

According to one of the Israeli combat trainers, an officer in an "elite" Israel army unit, Hirsch and colleagues would sometimes personally supervise the training of Georgian forces which included "house–to–house fighting." The training was carried out through several "private" companies with close links to the Israeli military.

As the violence raged in Georgia, the trainer was desperately trying to contact his former Georgian students on the battlefront via mobile phone: the Israelis wanted to know whether the Georgians had "internalized Israeli military technique and if the special reconnaissance forces have chalked up any successes" (Jonathan Lis and Moti Katz, "IDF vets who trained Georgia troops say war with Russia is no surprise," Haaretz, 11 August 2008).

Yet on the ground, the Israeli–trained Georgian forces, perhaps unsurprisingly overwhelmed by the Russians, have done little to redeem the image of Israel’s military following its defeat by Hizballah’s in July–August 2006.

The question remains as to why Israel was involved in the first place. There are several reasons. The first is simply economic opportunism: for years, especially since the 11 September 2001 attacks, arms exports and "security expertise" have been one of Israel’s growth industries. But the close Israeli involvement in a region Russia considers to be of vital interest suggests that Israel might have been acting as part of the broader US scheme to encircle Russia and contain its reemerging power.

Since the end of the Cold War, the US has been steadily encroaching on Russia's borders and expanding NATO in a manner the Kremlin considers highly provocative. Shortly after coming into office, the Bush Administration tore up the Anti–Ballistic Missile treaty and, like the Clinton administration, adopted former Soviet satellite states as its own, using them to base an anti–missile system Russia views as a threat. In addition to their "global war on terror," hawks in Washington have recently been talking up a new Cold War with Russia.

Georgia was an eager volunteer in this effort and has learned quickly the correct rhetoric: one Georgian minister claimed that "every bomb that falls on our heads is an attack on democracy, on the European Union and on America." Georgia has been trying to join NATO, and sent 2,000 soldiers to help the US occupy Iraq. It may have hoped that once war started this loyalty would be rewarded with the kind of round–the–clock airlift of weapons that Israel receives from the US during its wars. Instead so far the US only helped airlift the Georgian troops from Iraq back to the beleaguered home front.

By helping Georgia, Israel may have been doing its part to duplicate its own experience in assisting the eastward expansion of the "Euro-Atlantic" empire. While supporting Georgia was certainly risky for Israel, given the possible Russian reaction, it has a compelling reason to intervene in a region that is heavily contested by global powers. Israel must constantly reinvent itself as an "asset" to American power if it is to maintain the US support that ensures its survival as a settler–colonial enclave in the Middle East. It is a familiar role; in the 1970s and 1980s, at the behest of Washington, Israel helped South Africa's apartheid regime fight Soviet-supported insurgencies in South African-occupied Namibia and Angola, and it trained right-wing US–allied death squads fighting left-wing governments and movements in Central America. After 2001, Israel marketed itself as an expert on combating "Islamic terrorism."

Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez recently denounced Colombia – long one of the largest recipients of US military aid after Israel – – as the "Israel of Latin America." Georgia’s government, to the detriment of its people, may have tried to play the role of the "Israel of the Caucasus" – – a loyal servant of US ambitions in that region – – and lost the gamble. Playing with empires is dangerous for a small country.

As for Israel itself, with the Bush Doctrine having failed to give birth to the "new Middle East" that the US needs to maintain its power in the region against growing resistance, an ever more desperate and rogue Israel must look for opportunities to prove its worth elsewhere. That is a dangerous and scary thing.

Co–founder of The Electronic Intifada, Ali Abunimah is author of One Country: A Bold Proposal to End the Israeli–Palestinian Impasse (Metropolitan Books, 2006).

---------------- Photo: " Israelis wave both Georgian and Israeli flags as they chant anti–Russian slogans during a demonstration outside the Russian embassy in Tel Aviv, 11 August. (Gali Tibbon/AFP/Getty Images) http://tinyurl.com/6mpnh9

Abkhazia: Georgian Troops Ousted From Kodori Gorge Message List

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Russian Information Agency Novosti August 12, 2008

Abkhazia says Georgian troops pushed out of upper Kodori Gorge

SUKHUMI – Abkhazia’s operation to force Georgian troops from the upper part of the Kodori Gorge has been completed, the Abkhaz deputy defense minister said on Tuesday.

"The armed forces of Abkhazia have reached the border with Georgia in the Kodori Gorge," General Anatoly Zaitsev said.

Georgia's breakaway republic of Abkhazia started early Tuesday a full–scale onslaught to force Georgia's troops from the northern part of the gorge, the only part of the province still controlled by Georgia.

The move came a day after Abkhazia issued an ultimatum to Georgia to leave the strategic region, three days after Tbilisi began a ground and air offensive in its other separatist republic, South Ossetia.

Abkhaz President Sergei Bagapsh told a Security Council session in Sukhumi the operation in the Kodori Gorge, located in the breakaway republic and which Georgia occupied in 2006 in violation of a 1994 ceasefire agreement, would continue until the "jurisdiction" of Abkhazia was restored.

Georgia now faces the prospect of permanently losing all control over both its breakaway regions, following its costly attempt at seizing South Ossetia.

Russia, which supports both regions and has given Russian citizenship to most of their residents, retaliated to the Georgian offensive by sending in hundreds of tanks and thousands of troops, and striking military targets across Georgia.

Around 1,600 people in South Ossetian capital, Tskhinvali, were killed by Georgian forces, according to Russia, and at least 34,000 locals fled north across the Russian border.

Abkhazia, which has an agreement with South Ossetia on military assistance in the event of armed conflicts, imposed martial law on Sunday in the areas bordering Georgia, and announced partial mobilization.

Russia has committed more than 9,000 paratroopers and 350 armored vehicles to Abkhazia in an attempt to prevent the South Ossetian conflict spreading, and to guard against a potential Georgian attack on Abkhazia.

The West And Georgia: 21st Century Disciples Of Joseph Goebbels Message List

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http://en.fondsk.ru/article.php?id=1539

Strategic Culture Foundation August 12, 2008

Georgia and the West: Goebbels Would Have Been Happy Elena Ponomareva

-Operation Storm and Operation Flash launched by the Croatian army in May–August, 1995 against the unrecognized Republic of Serpska Krajina were particularly similar to the Georgian offensive in South Ossetia. -One of the results of the above operations was the total (and, as I firmly believe, deliberate) demise of the entire UN system of peacekeeping and region security measures. The world literally watched the flight of 250,000 Serb civilians and the bombardment of refugee convoys by Croatian warplanes. –On August 9, the Georgian Fuhrer gave a 10–minute interview to CNN, which opened an obviously synchronized anti–Russian campaign in the Western media. Currently, the main theme is that Russia used all of its military might against tiny Georgia. Having such dedicated followers could make Nazi propaganda Minister Joseph Goebbels happy. -German philosopher Arthur Schopenhauer would have explained the current policies adopted by Western media as follows: "invariably, the source of lies is the intention to dominate others by suppressing their will in order to reaffirm one’s own. Consequently, lies as such stem from injustice, greed, and anger".

 

The war in South Ossetia is a war of medieval atrocity unleashed by a country whose culture is based on Orthodox Christianity, a country claiming to be "a young democracy" and seeing itself as part of "humane" Europe.

The aggression launched by the current Georgian regime and its puppeteers is marked by extraordinary cruelty and cynical lies. Tbilisi would have never dared to do what it did without the support of the US.

Even in Ancient Greece, there was an understanding that wars can be fair or unfair. The civilized West, part of which Georgia is trying to be, is obsessed by human rights and believes itself to be superior to the Greeks, but this does not prevent some (Georgia) from perpetrating genocide and others (Europe and the US) from encouraging the aggressor.

The analysis of the way the aggression began - without a formal declaration of war – and of the overall conduct of the Georgian leadership makes one ask a number of questions.

One of them is: can a crazy fanatic be regarded as a human being? The answer is – definitely not! The crimes committed in South Ossetia – the killings of women, children, and senior citizens, the deliberate extermination of civilians – are instances of inhuman conduct.

Specialists in ethical anthropology (Boris Didenko) either explain this type of behavior by brain disease or attribute it to the specifics of the conduct of super–aggressive human species. In the latter case, their intentions simply cannot be changed. In the Russian language, such individuals are called non-men. These are monstrous creatures more dangerous than any wild beasts.

The protracted standoff in South Ossetia is something much greater than just a regional conflict.

Nor has it ever been exclusively a conflict between Georgia and South Ossetia.

It also has axiological, moral, and geopolitical dimensions.

The unexpectedness and unjustifiable atrocity of the current war, the careful planning of its military and informational offensives show clearly that one of the objectives was to provoke Russia’s inadequate response.

Moscow was expected to act inadequately, and those who planned the aggression calculated the options open to Russia.

Option 1: Russia’s nonintervention and a withdrawal of the peacekeepers (or the limitation of their activity to the defense of their checkpoints).

By the way, this mode of behavior was typical for peacekeeping forces of various levels throughout the conflict in Yugoslavia.

Operation Storm and Operation Flash launched by the Croatian army in May-August, 1995 against the unrecognized Republic of Serpska Krajina were particularly similar to the Georgian offensive in South Ossetia.

One of the results of the above operations was the total (and, as I firmly believe, deliberate) demise of the entire UN system of peacekeeping and region security measures. The world literally watched the flight of 250,000 Serb civilians and the bombardment of refugee convoys by Croatian warplanes.

The Serb population in the region decreased by 90.7% following the Croatian offensive which was silently OKed by the international community. (1)

Confident of the US support, Saakashvili's regime hoped to achieve a similar result in South Ossetia.

Croatia practically turned into a mono–ethnic state.

No matter what had been promised, at that time Serbs saw no help from either the Serbian Republic or Belgrade. It is well–known what happened to the Pale and Belgrade leaders later – betrayal is never rewarded by happiness.

Russia chose to act otherwise.

In the horrible days of the tragedy, Russians not only truly fulfilled their peacekeeping obligations, but - above all – they also did not betray their countrymen in South Ossetia. This means a lot.

Option 2: desired by the US instigators of the war and the Georgian aggressor: Russia’s direct involvement in an armed conflict with Georgia. The failure of the expectation made Saakshvili change his plans on the first day of the war.

On August 9, the Georgian Fuhrer gave a 10-minute interview to CNN, which opened an obviously synchronized anti–Russian campaign in the Western media.

Currently, the main theme is that Russia used all of its military might against tiny Georgia.

Having such dedicated followers could make Nazi propaganda Minister Joseph Goebbels happy.

As for Saakashvili, he has learned by heart not only Goebbels's notorious commandment "A lie repeated 100 times becomes the truth", but also the ninth comandment of national socialism which said "Do what must be done in the name of the New Gemany without shame! " (2).

In the case of Saakashvili, it could read the same but with "the New Georgia" instead.

Over the past several days, the independent and objective Western media have been launching an all-out mankurtization campaign.

The term mankurt was introduced into modern languages by well-know Soviet–era novelist Chinghiz Aitmatov in his The Day Lasts More Than a Hundred Years.

According to an ancient Turkic myth, a fresh raw camel hide would be put as a cap on the thoroughly shaven head of a captive meant to be turned into a slave.

The slave with his hands tied and with a large wooden stock around his neck preventing him from reaching his head would be left in a desert for several days.

Once the hide would start drying it would shrink and bind to the head, thus causing intolerable sufferings further strengthened by thirst. In a while the victim either died or lost the memory of the past life and became a perfect slave having no independent will and totally subdued by its master.

In the modern world, the complex procedure of suppressing human will and ability to think and to analyze has become extremely simple and is known as brainwashing.

Judging by the dirty lies about the war waged by the Georgian leadership against civilians and Russian peacekeepers in South Ossetia, the biased Western media and political leaders of the Euro-Atlantic civilization regard their own citizens as mankurts.

The global success of brainwashing during the Croatian, Bosnian, Kosovo, Chechen, Iraqi, Crimean, Transdnistrian and other crises is renowned. The aggression of mankurts was invariably directed at the nations designated by the masters – Serbs, Russians, Iraqis. What could prevent Georgia from resorting to the familiar technology?

Here is an example: the interview given to CNN by Russian envoy to the UN Security Council V. Churkin, in which he condemned the barbarian conduct of the Georgian aggressor, was aired with a caption saying that Russia was bombing Georgian towns, and the title remained on the screen throughout the broadcast.

German philosopher Arthur Schopenhauer would have explained the current policies adopted by Western media as follows: "invariably, the source of lies is the intention to dominate others by suppressing their will in order to reaffirm one’s own. Consequently, lies as such stem from injustice, greed, and anger".

Western journalists who never visited South Ossetia and used the footage from Russian media consistently avoided mentioning the following appalling figures: 2,000 people – over 15% of the population of South Ossetia – had been killed in less than 24 hours. The international community so preoccupied with human rights issues does not seem to be concerned about the people trapped without water, electric power, and food under the ruins of Tskhinvali.

Why is it that Russia is the only country to supply humanitarian aid to South Ossetia? What has happened to your hearts, humane Europeans? Have you forgotten how to use Internet? Do you no longer have satellite TV? Are you really so afraid of alternative information sources?

*** To an extent, my criticism of the Western media and their audiences applies to Russian news agencies and TV channels as well. We must be doing a fairly poor job if it is so easy to portray Russia as the aggressor and the suppressor of the Caucasus!

It is common knowledge that whoever has information has power. In the case of Russia, the issue is extremely serious: its national security and the protection of its national interests are impossible without informational security, which must be promoted by everyone here from the President to a provincial newspaper journalist. Anyhow, we are people, not mankurts! ____________________ (1) Z. Lilic. Prospects for Peace and Cooperation. Serbia, Belgrade, 1996, #29, p. 7.

(2) Thus Spoke Goebbels. Selected Papers of the Reich Minister of Public Enlightenment and Propaganda. //Goebbels J. Die ausgewählte Reden und Artikel. – http://hedrook.vho.org/download/goebbels.rar

Scheffer Says Georgia Will Join NATO; Alliance Endorses Ally’s War C Message List

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Russian Information Agency Novosti August 12, 2008

NATO refuses to rule out future membership for Georgia

 

–26 NATO ambassadors at [a] meeting with the Georgian envoy to the alliance, Revaz Beshidze, expressed their support for Georgia’s recent measures and "condemned and deplored [Russia’s] excessive, disproportionate use of force." "Georgia is a respected partner and friend and one day Georgia will join NATO," Scheffer said.

BRUSSELS – NATO refused on Tuesday to rule out the prospect of Georgia joining the military alliance in the future, despite recent fighting in its breakaway region of South Ossetia.

"I think that the Bucharest communique stands. The allies have said in Bucharest that one day Georgia will join NATO," Secretary–General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer told a news conference following NATO talks with Georgia in Brussels.

At a summit in Bucharest in April, NATO members decided against offering Ukraine or Georgia a Membership Action Plan but promised to review the decision in December. The ex-Soviet republics had received strong U.S. backing for their bids.

He said that the 26 NATO ambassadors at the meeting with the Georgian envoy to the alliance, Revaz Beshidze, expressed their support for Georgia’s recent measures and "condemned and deplored [Russia’s] excessive, disproportionate use of force."

"Georgia is a respected partner and friend and one day Georgia will join NATO," Scheffer said.

Georgian forces launched an attack on the South Ossetian capital of Tskhinvali last Friday. Russia has said that around 1,600 people died in the Georgian assault. Some 34,000 people also fled the fighting into Russia. Most residents of South Ossetia have Russian citizenship.

During the subsequent Russian military operation to force Georgian troops out of the de facto independent republic and to reinforce its peacekeepers in the region, Moscow sent some 10,000 servicemen and several hundred armored vehicles into South Ossetia. Russian jets also carried out strikes against Georgian military infrastructure. Western and Georgian media reported that Russia had bombed civilian targets in Georgia, including in the city of Gori, but Moscow denied the allegations.

Scheffer said NATO had no plans or ambitions to play a role in the resolution of the conflict between Georgia and South Ossetia.

The secretary general said a Russia–NATO session on the situation in South Ossetia would be held in the nearest future, but it should be thoroughly prepared.

Russian President Dmitry Medvedev ordered an end to the "peace enforcement" operation in Georgia earlier in the day, after five days of fighting that followed Georgia's military offensive to seize South Ossetia. He said, however, that Georgia had to pull its troops back before a peace settlement could be reached.

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