Posted on 08/08/2008 3:43:05 PM PDT by SolidWood
Georgian tanks and infantry, aided by Israeli military advisers, captured the capital of breakaway South Ossetia, Tskhinvali, early Friday, Aug. 8, bringing the Georgian-Russian conflict over the province to a military climax.
Russian prime minister Vladimir Putin threatened a “military response.”
Former Soviet Georgia called up its military reserves after Russian warplanes bombed its new positions in the renegade province.
In Moscow’s first response to the fall of Tskhinvali, president Dimitry Medvedev ordered the Russian army to prepare for a national emergency after calling the UN Security Council into emergency session early Friday.
Reinforcements were rushed to the Russian “peacekeeping force” present in the region to support the separatists.
Georgian tanks entered the capital after heavy overnight heavy aerial strikes, in which dozens of people were killed.
Lado Gurgenidze, Georgia's prime minister, said on Friday that Georgia will continue its military operation in South Ossetia until a "durable peace" is reached. "As soon as a durable peace takes hold we need to move forward with dialogue and peaceful negotiations."
DEBKAfile’s geopolitical experts note that on the surface level, the Russians are backing the separatists of S. Ossetia and neighboring Abkhazia as payback for the strengthening of American influence in tiny Georgia and its 4.5 million inhabitants. However, more immediately, the conflict has been sparked by the race for control over the pipelines carrying oil and gas out of the Caspian region.
The Russians may just bear with the pro-US Georgian president Mikhail Saakashvili’s ambition to bring his country into NATO. But they draw a heavy line against his plans and those of Western oil companies, including Israeli firms, to route the oil routes from Azerbaijan and the gas lines from Turkmenistan, which transit Georgia, through Turkey instead of hooking them up to Russian pipelines.
Saakashvili need only back away from this plan for Moscow to ditch the two provinces’ revolt against Tbilisi. As long as he sticks to his guns, South Ossetia and Abkhazia will wage separatist wars.
DEBKAfile discloses Israel’s interest in the conflict from its exclusive military sources:
Jerusalem owns a strong interest in Caspian oil and gas pipelines reach the Turkish terminal port of Ceyhan, rather than the Russian network. Intense negotiations are afoot between Israel Turkey, Georgia, Turkmenistan and Azarbaijan for pipelines to reach Turkey and thence to Israel’s oil terminal at Ashkelon and on to its Red Sea port of Eilat. From there, supertankers can carry the gas and oil to the Far East through the Indian Ocean.
Aware of Moscow’s sensitivity on the oil question, Israel offered Russia a stake in the project but was rejected.
Last year, the Georgian president commissioned from private Israeli security firms several hundred military advisers, estimated at up to 1,000, to train the Georgian armed forces in commando, air, sea, armored and artillery combat tactics. They also offer instruction on military intelligence and security for the central regime. Tbilisi also purchased weapons, intelligence and electronic warfare systems from Israel.
These advisers were undoubtedly deeply involved in the Georgian army’s preparations to conquer the South Ossetian capital Friday.
In recent weeks, Moscow has repeatedly demanded that Jerusalem halt its military assistance to Georgia, finally threatening a crisis in bilateral relations. Israel responded by saying that the only assistance rendered Tbilisi was “defensive.”
This has not gone down well in the Kremlin. Therefore, as the military crisis intensifies in South Ossetia, Moscow may be expected to punish Israel for its intervention.
If the article has truth to it, the war against Magog has begun.
The US has forces in Georgia. I read an article about the the Georgian Natl Guard and SOCOM being there.
The suggestions of the Russophiles here that Russia and the US or Israel will soon be best buddies flies into the face of the facts.
Considering pressure that US puts on Israel to give up land to Arabs
That has just as much to do with the Israelis own leadership as with the US. Olmert, Kadima, Labor, yes even Sharon gave up land to the Arabs and continue to do so. The US-Israeli alliance vs. Iran and it's masters won't break because of that. Of course I agree that the giveaway has to stop. But Russia doesn't come into this equation.
I doubt it -- the Russians are helping the Iranians.
And US is supporting all kind of Muslim garbage, all the same for Israel.
The Russians have entrenched themselves firmly on the side of Iran, Syria, North Korea, Venezuela and “organisations” like Hezbollah and Hamas. If the Russians want to approach the US/Israel they should first get out of the terrorist swamp in which the are stuck up to their ears.
How much oil does Israel have? None? Then Russia won’t be interested. Russia is too busy developing Iran’s nuclear weapons program.
I doubt it also...uh, what allegiance would they have to Russia who persecuted millions of Jews! Russia, unlike Georgia, has a long long long history of anti-Semitism!
Email that Russia has just bombed the main Georgian airbase, possibly where some U.S. forces and equipment are stationed [unverified!!!]
2 things come to mind:
1) Israel now is paying back the Russkies for all of those years when it had “advisors” helping the Arabs, and arming them to the teeth. While I don’t like to see a war, as long as one has started I hope that the Russkies bleed a bit.
2) This is going to shift the attention of the Russkies away from Iran for a while.
Neither of these are bad things.
No way. Russians hate Jews too much for that. Of course, they also hate every other group that isn’t Russian.
I understand what you are saying, but why would Israel get involved. Sorry if I am just ignorant.
Did I say it first?
Let's face it. The cooperation of the US with primarily scum in Saudi Arabia and Fatah draws no ire from Israel as it is a "peculiar cooperation" versus Iran and due to the fact that the alternatives (Al-Qaeda in SA and Hamas in PA) are considered worse by both the US and Israel.
The other Muslim trash the US is backing is in the Balkans. This is only of secondary interest to the Israelis, who did raise objections to the NATO war vs. Serbia (we all remember Sharon's quote), but the wrong US policy on the Balkans (we shoud have stayed out) is obviously not as dire as the open and blatant support of Russia for Iran and it's terrorist proxies who are hellbent on eradicating Israel.
While I don’t like to see a war, as long as one has started I hope that the Russkies bleed a bit. .............. The Russian Army lacks “Das Wille”. They are also not as strong (large) as they were in the 50’s and 60’s. They have a great defensive arsenal but they aren’t ready for a drawn out campaign where they can’t use their nukes.
You'll find that in every major occidental nation Jews are well represented in science. It says nothing about the state's policies towards Israel. Czarist Russia and Imperial Germany, also the France at fin-de-siecle were highly antisemitic yet had many Jews in science and academia. What does it tell us?
I have a bad feeling about this...
Things could spiral out of control real easy.
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