Posted on 07/25/2006 2:48:27 PM PDT by sergey1973
July 25, 2006 -- Tensions are rising on the Georgian border amid claims that Georgia is deploying soldiers in a bid to disarm a militia leader.
Georgia's Imedi television channel says 500 Georgian troops headed to the Kodori Gorge early on July 25, lending credence to claims by authorities in the breakaway republic of Abkhazia that Georgia is building up its military presence near its border.
News agencies report Russian peacekeepers as saying they have stopped a dozen soldiers and two armored vehicles at a checkpoint on the way to the Kodori Gorge.
The Kodori Gorge district is the only part of Abkhazia still nominally under Tbilisi's control.
Its control, though, is limited by the presence in the district of a militia set up in the late 1990s by a former local leader, Emzar Kvitsiani.
The Georgian government last year ordered Kvitsiani's militia to lay down its arms, but he says his militia is prepared to fight if the central government uses force to disarm it.
Tensions resurfaced when, on July 22, Kvitsiani warned that he would "start a civil war" if Vano Merabishvili were reappointed Georgia's interior minister. Kvitsiani is angered by the unsolved murders of a number of prominent members of the local community.
Kvitsiani later also claimed that Defense Minister Irakli Okruashvili was preparing to try and occupy the section of the Kodori Gorge over which Georgia still has nominal control, with troops due to enter the territory on July 27. Kvitsiani called for talks with authorities in Tbilisi, a suggestion the government dismissed.
Leaders of Abkhazia's separatist government claimed the movement of troops into the region violates a 1994 ceasefire agreement and a further agreement signed in 1998.
Russia has called on Georgia to "restrain from armed action that could incite new conflict in the region."
Two post-Communist Christian powers fighting for a breakaway region at a time when Jihadists are active throughout Caucasus region.
Putin regime wants to keep control over breakaway Abkhazia as a trump card against Georgia, but such policies will only exacerbate tensions and create an ideal environment for Jihadists to expand their activities throughout Caucasus and strenghthen the influence of countries like Iran in the region. It will be Putin first and foremost to blame for the conflict if it takes place.
It's useful to remember that recently killed Chechen warlord-terrorist Shamil Basayev and other Chechen Islamic Terrorists started their careers in the early 1990's Georgian-Abkhazian separatist war. Russia's backing of Abkhaz separatist regime backfired with Abkhazian volunteers--armed, equipped and trained by Russia--were later found fighting in the first and second Russian-Chechen wars, including Basayev.
If Heaven forbid, there will be Russian-Georgian war, it will be the war between those who MUST BE ALLIES. Truly, whom Gods want to destroy, they deprive of sanity. I have every hope that common sense will prevail and Russia will stop aiding separatists against Georgia and starts cooperating with Tbilisi.
I would imagine it would also be asymmetrical.
Russia/Georgia PING ! Pls read my comments under the article too--praying there won't be another Russian-Georgian war over Abkhazia and Russia and Georgia will become good neighbors and partners in Caucasus region.
This is very painful for me as well.
requesting some prayers ping
You got 'em!
Sounds like a muddled mess.
Christians again unable to unite against evil.
It would be paybacks on Georgia for the war one of its
"illustrious" sons, Stalin, conducted against the whole of Russia.
They are so kind and welcoming that they have a reputation for it throughout Europe.
Right now many of them are eating from trash to survive. Over half the country lives far below the poverty line. There is truly no medical care there to speak of, and many of them suffer a great deal. Last winter the pipeline was blown up which supplied them with heat, and the entire country went without during one of their coldest winters ever. The press was unable to find one to quote who complained, from my reading.
I routinely overpaid for everything when I was there last year and once had a woman through her arms around me in gratitude when I gave her five dollars.
I have emailed some Georgian people online and they always offer me their homes to stay in when I return to their country.
Blaming them for Stalin is similar to blaming us for Klintoon. When I was abroad during his time in the White House it was embarrassing, but the people did not blame me for his office.
No its true, I haven't to my knowledge met anyone from Georgia. However, I have followed events in Georgia and it was heartening when the "Rose" revolution enveloped the proud, plucky, nation of Georgia. Abkhazia has been a thorn in the little nation's side for years. While reading a bit about shamil baseyev, the chechen terrorist ringleader, I was surprised to learn that he was recruited by the Russians back in 1994 to fight the Georgians in Abkhazia. My point being that the Russians have stirred up trouble in Georgia for some time, dating back to the Yeltsin years, and I don't think things have changed under rasPutin's tutelage. When I remarked about the Russian paybacks concerning Stalin, I wasn't making a value judgement about Georgia and it's people. I wonder however if this isn't in the back of the Russian psyche, that's all. I think the far more important thing for the Russians is the fact that Georgia has always been a part of Pax-Sovietica for most of the 20th Century, and I don't think the descendants of that odious regime are happy that Georgia has escaped from the Russian straightjacket.
Once again, I wasn't blaming the Georgians for Stalin. History has shown that Stalin was as brutal if not more brutal to his own people in Georgia. I was merely remarking about what I had found when I was in Russia in 1993 and 2002. There's still a lot of hatred for and love of Stalin on the part of the Russians. I found the people that hate Stalin are rabid haters of Stalin.
Thank you for your interesting post. I didn't realize the depth of the poverty. Sometimes reading the statistics doesn't have the same impact of hearing first hand stories from those that have actually experienced that poverty and misery. I commend you for your interest and compassion, and hope that you go back to Georgia soon. When you go back to Georgia, I hope you will let me know what you experienced. Once again, thank you for taking the time to send me your thoughts.
Thanks for reading and replying to my post. I very much fell in love with the people there and do plan to return. It's a place of much suffering but also of much inspiration, I think, because the Georgians are tremendous witnesses for Christ, and for non-blaming of others, and for dealing with hardship with dignity and kindness.
That is true.. it's strange when you think about it - the two most brutal dictators of the 20th century both came from neighbouring countries of the countries they subjugated - Stalin from Georgia, Hitler from Austria.
Yes IT, and think about Napoleon being from corsica, an island that had been heavily influenced by Italia. Even Napoleon's last name Buonoparte is Italian, and he certainly looked more Italian than French.
Thanks, I forgot that Napoleon came from Corsica!!
But he was almost good guy :)
...when compared to Hitler!! :)
A guy who fought against Germans and Russians simply cannot be that bad. :) Of course it depends from which perspective different people analyze the problem.
True.. but he had plans for a proto-EU... that couldn't be good!
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