Posted on 08/14/2008 2:46:11 AM PDT by maquiladora
American official says Russia is damaging Georgian airfields
12 minutes ago
WASHINGTON — A U.S. official says that Russia apparently is sabotaging airfields and other military infrastructure in Georgia as its forces pull back.
The official described witnesses accounts for The Associated Press on condition of anonymity. This official said the Russian strategy seems like a deliberate attempt to cripple the already battered Georgian military.
The official also tells of reports from the scene indicating that retreating Russian forces are doing what they can to disable Georgia’s ability to fight a future conflict.
http://canadianpress.google.com/article/ALeqM5gKKyTz3BvpjxEKM-qCUKIy4u7lRg
Fairly obvious that the bear will be back soon unless NATO drops some heavy armor into Georgia. Gonna be hard to convince the populace to move back into those pillaged areas which represent about 1/3 of Georgia.
Russia forces are also reported to be mining western Georgia as they pull back.
all this talk of “pulling back”, but from what i’ve read this morning they have actually reinforced Gori, gone back into Poti and are massed outside of the Western Georgia city (Zibihad (sp)
gSteve HArrigan on Fox said that most of the extracurricular activity seemed to be on South Ossetian irregulars. News reports don’t seem to be able to make the distinction, though, admittedly, it’s a distinction without a difference in this case as nothing is happening without Moscow’s imprimateur.
I dunno, I think it’s something common to armies through history. If you don’t pay or train your troops, they live off the land. They look at times like this as payday. Especially as conscripts.
It sucks for them when they come up against a well trained, well disciplined force.
I *thought* he’d back off yesterday after the president’s announcement. I *thought* he was reconning for the main line of resistance. He has NOT backed off, and indeed seems to be stepping up the tempo. I wouldn’t count on anything now.
I would suspect that the missile shield bases planned in Poland and the Czech Republic won't get build and the pipelines across Georgia will fall under effective Russian (nee Soviet) control.
Russia is also preparing the geopolitics to separate the Crimean peninsula from the Ukraine. NATO needs to see he larger picture fast.
Gonna be an interesting weekend. Condi arrives in Tbilisi on Friday and Gates either also arrives or is there already. All this, while the Russian Hordes are still moving this way and that trying to get as much spoils as they can.
For the last 3 days I’ve heard that the Russians are in Gori then that they’re heading toward Gori, that they’re not in Gori. What’s up?
Here’s my strategy on the Cold War: We win, they lose
- Ronald Reagan
Don’t know if this is news, but were hearing via KFI Los Angeles that there is wide spread looting being committed by Russian Troops.
It makes me wonder how quickly they would panic and run if they ran across a battle hardened military that could match their firepower.
Breaking News >> Secretary of Defense Gates Says U.S. Re-Examining All Relations With Russia
I’m listening to the Sec Gates briefing now. Sounds like he’s mostly downplaying things. He’s said that it appears that the Russians are withdrawing now, he says a lot of reports have been inaccurate. He also mentioned that the port at Poti wasn’t blocked and can still be used. Mentioned there is no longer any Russian air activity over the region.
He did mention that a number of traning excercises with Russia have been cancelled and how Russia acts in the next few days with dictate how things go in that regards.
I don’t know about running. Russian officers notorious for setting up behind troops to shoot any that run, at least that’s what they did in the old days.
He also mentioned that the port at Poti wasn’t blocked and can still be used.
Seems to be a lot of misinformation being reported.
that’s what you get for not listening live I guess
FWIW -
‘Russia Troops On Wrecking Mission’
Russian forces are wrecking Georgian military installations as they move through the country, according to the US.
The Russian checkpoint on the road into Gori from Tbilisi, the country’s only major east-west road link, has become a flashpoint between Russian and Georgian troops, raising fears that fighting could break out again.
http://news.sky.com/skynews/Home/Wor...2BGeorgia%2527
Interesting that the earlier references to wrecking the countryside “as the Russians pull back” have been removed. Now it’s just “wrecking the countryside.”
I learn far more on FreeRepublic than I do from any MSM source. I’m so grateful for this site. The quality of discussion on threads like this one is excellent.
Bad link? I receive an error message that says the page does not exist.
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.