Posted on 08/14/2008 11:17:55 PM PDT by Schnucki
US raises the stakes with missile shield pact to defend Poland
The United States accused Russia yesterday of waging a campaign to cripple Georgia’s ability to defend itself in the future.
As American military transport aircraft landed in Tbilisi to strong complaints from Moscow, the Russian Army undertook search-and-destroy missions on Georgian soil, defying the ceasefire agreement brokered by President Sarkozy of France.
Tanks and soldiers continued to occupy Gori despite promising to leave by yesterday. A Georgian military base in the city was destroyed and the Georgian Ambassador to the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe accused the Russians of laying mines before a withdrawal.
The Pentagon vented its anger with Moscow by cancelling two joint naval exercises involving Russian ships. In a clear sign that the Georgia crisis was escalating into a broader superpower conflict, the US reached agreement with Poland last night over the controversial missile defence shield.
Under the deal, the US will beef up Polish defences with Patriot rockets and place ten missile defence interceptors in Poland. Donald Tusk, the Polish Prime Minister, said that the US had pledged to come to the aid of his country if it came under attack.
In Georgia, Russian troops destroyed four coastguard vessels and radar facilities in the Black Sea port of Poti, which is critical to the country’s economy, and scoured forests and fields outside the city for Georgian military equipment.
(Excerpt) Read more at timesonline.co.uk ...
The Russians have never used a different strategy than that of scorched earth. It’s all they can do. In fact that’s how they also defended themselves against invaders.
The Russians burned down Moscow so that Napoleon couldn't have it.
They abandoned the Polish Resistance Movement during their fight against the Nazi occupation of Warsaw, and they were also extremely brutal toward German civilians during the end of the war.
Russian atrocities during the Cold War are too numerous to mention, but their murderous response to the 1956 Budapest uprising was particularly horrific.
Reports of Chechen “irregulars” operating with the Russian columns suggests that this is how the Russians are ‘paying’ for the extra infantry — “Take what you can carry, Boys, and burn the rest.”
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