90,000 tons of " humantarian aid "
Posted on 08/13/2008 11:52:34 AM PDT by MNJohnnie
President Bush has directed the U.S. military to lead a humanitarian mission to Georgia where tens of thousands have been forced out of their homes following a Russian invasion last week that has been described by Georgia's president as an "ethnic cleansing."
A U.S. C-17 aircraft with humanitarian supplies already has arrived in the Georgian capital of Tbilisi and another C-17 will arrive there Thursday with additional medical and humanitarian aid, White House spokeswoman Dana Perino said after the president's announcement.
Speaking from the White House Rose Garden with Defense Secretary Bob Gates and Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, Bush said the aid mission will be "vigorous and ongoing." He warned Russia not to interfere.
(Excerpt) Read more at foxnews.com ...
It would nice to see them drop candies for the children.
Those are the exact words I uttered when I heard about this.
God, please keep them all safe.
Absolutely not.
Plus, Georgia is 9 hours ahead of us. It’s almost tomorrow there now.
Sorry, nothing personal but that's like comparing apples and oranges.
Facts are that S. Ossetia has been relatively stable since the early 1990's until the last few years when there have been clashes. But Georgia was the one launch the attack on S. Ossetia that spurred Russia to act in response -- and that was completely predictable -- like a Chihuahua set loose on a Rottweiler, everyone knew what the outcome would be.
Georgia is so far into our pocket that doesn't burp without US permission, so why would we allow (or encourage) such a move, knowing that it would mean one of our allies getting mauled?
I know that Russia is militarily a real bastard. That's not a question mark. It's one of the few things about them that is predictable. But I have yet to figure out why Georgia would throw itself in front of the Russian bus, for no good reason -- because S. Ossetia and Abkhasia doesn't really mean that much to Georgia, socially, religiously or economically. So why would Georgia subject itself to such punishment for no good reason?
Yeah, I see your point. Perhaps a carrier group off the coast of Greece, with a few fly overs or something.
Personally, I don’t think air lifts alone will do much to get the attention of the Bear. And I don’t think Europe can or will do anything much.
Tinfoil hat, drugs, lots of beer. Step away from the computer, radio, tv for a while. These all might help.
I have a wild imagination, but I think your theory is nuts.
That’s one of the problems with this situation. We can’t get an aircraft carrier into the black sea. We don’t have any clear path for our planes to fly through except maybe Turkey and that might be dicey to get permission to fly through their airspace.
If we wanted to do air support type of stuff (for combat missions), we would have to get their permission to fly through their airspace and probably do it out of Incirlick. Of course, if Georgia was a part of NATO, Turkey (a member of NATO) would have to give us permission.
OBAMA/PUTIN for the Democrat ticket 2008
Come on dude. The rebels in S. Ossertia shelled the Georgians. They did this at Putin/Moscows order. The way Russia attacked, this has been planned and setup for some time. The Olympics might actually had been part of the plan to help divert attention from Putehead.
Some reports are getting it right in putting quotes around Putin’s “peacekeeping” forces.
It could be nothing more than poor communication and poor intelligence.
And just like he's doing with Medvedev, Putin would be pulling Obama’a strings.
YES! YES! The US feigned pressure on Iran when the real target was Russia! Why go after a country of 66 million people when you have 140 million waiting next to Georgia. Insightful!
Wonder what is ‘escorting’ those C-17’s into possible unfriendly airspace. I bet there is some close contact going on.
Hopefully part of that aid is hundreds of anti-tank and anti-aircraft weapons.
WSJ ^ | 081308 | YAROSLAV TROFIMOV and LOUISE RADNOFSKY
Posted on Wednesday, August 13, 2008 3:56:40 PM by Fred
President George W. Bush announced the dispatch of a U.S. military aircraft carrying medical supplies to the Georgian capital of Tblisi on Wednesday morning, warning Russia that he expected it to be allowed to deliver its aid by air and sea.
I am an AF type for sure, I understand the capability and the limits of air power, but now I am confused about “aid by air and sea”. Perhaps some of you Navy types can help clear up my confusion here. It has been stated and I believe it now that getting a carrier in to the Straits is not possible, so what is meant by “sea” in this statement?
Thanks
AR
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