Posted on 05/06/2008 8:13:28 AM PDT by jhpigott
BRUSSELS (Reuters) - Russia's deployment of extra troops in the breakaway Georgian region of Abkhazia has brought the prospect of war "very close", a minister of ex-Soviet Georgia said on Tuesday.
Separately, in comments certain to fan rising tension between Moscow and Tbilisi, the "foreign minister" of the breakaway Black Sea region was quoted as saying it was ready to hand over military control to Russia.
"We literally have to avert war," Temur Iakobashvili, a Georgian State Minister, told reporters in Brussels.
Asked how close to such a war the situation was, he replied: "Very close, because we know Russians very well."
"We know what the signals are when you see propaganda waged against Georgia. We see Russian troops entering our territories on the basis of false information," he said.
Georgia, a vital energy transit route in the Caucasus region, has angered Russia, its former Soviet master with which it shares a land border, by seeking NATO membership.
An April summit of the U.S.-led Western alliance stopped short of giving it a definite track towards membership but confirmed it would enter one day. Russia has said its troop build-up is needed to counter what it says are Georgian plans to attack Abkhazia, a sliver of land by the Black Sea, and has accused Tbilisi of trying to suck the West into a war -- allegations Georgia rejects. Continued...
ping
That would be really, really stupid on Georgia’s part...
Are they closer to war than the last time this article was posted?
“Are they closer to war than the last time this article was posted?”
Did they give you a badge when you joined the posting police?
Bambi vs. Godzilla.
There’s a badge?
Cool!
Baaches? Baaches? We don’ need no steenkin’ baaches.
NATO military expansion for energy prospects have spurred a Russian military reaction to preserve her economic interests. This is a very poor diplomatic road to take. Damn fools. All of them.
Obviously they want to completely collapse Russia by taking away the Russian sphere of influence. Forget about what hands the nuclear arsenal will fall under.
Drill in Alaska. There will be plenty of gas and oil. The only problem with that is that it's bad for the arms business.
This won’t turn out well for Georgia.
Waal, eye’l tell ya. Them ruskies best thank twicet ‘afore they bes comin’ ta Gawgah! We’uns got lots ‘o ammanisshin heah!
Even its in the Caucasus region, the term Balkanization comes to mind. This ethnic conflict goes on and off forever. Abkhazia was inside of the borders of Georgia, but they are not Georgians. Since the disintegration of the USSR, they made a case for independence. As in all such cases, the bigger players are not keen of supporting such claims, because there are hundreds of similar compact ethnic enclaves everywhere on the globe that would claim the same.
Only because Georgia displayed a fierce independence from Russia (that it got officially as a former full-fledged Republic, and not an autonomous region/autonomous republic, like smaller entities that did not become countries), Russia plays on the Abkhaz side. I am sure that if Georgia enters Russian fiefdom tomorrow, they would drop any support for Abkhaz right away.
BTW, its not that far from the site of Sochi Olympic games (2014). Who would want a hot war nearby?
“..... we know Russians very well.”
As do the Hungarians.
The unintended results aka Kosova Solution...the EU/NATO idiotcy will get us all killed or possibly just carved up for organs.
Death to the barbarian Russian invaders! Send them limping home defeated with American weapons, like they were defeated in Afghanistan!
Down with Fascist Russia!
Death to the Chekist maggot Putin!
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.