Posted on 08/21/2008 2:09:21 AM PDT by maquiladora
POTI, Georgia (AP) — Russian forces blocked the only land entrance to Georgia's main oil port city on Thursday, a day before Russia promised to complete a troop pullout from its ex-Soviet neighbor.
Armored personnel carriers and troop trucks blocked the bridge to the Black Sea port city of Poti, and Russian forces excavated trenches and set up mortars facing the city. Another group of APCs and trucks were positioned in a nearby wooded area.
Although Russian President Dmitry Medvedev has promised that his forces would pull back by Friday, Russian troops appear to be digging in, raising concern about whether Moscow is aiming for a lengthy occupation of its small, pro-Western neighbor.
Georgian President Mikhail Saakashvili told The Associated Press that Russia was thinning out its presence in some occupied towns but was seizing other strategic spots. He called the Russian moves "some kind of deception game."
"(The Russians) are making fun of the world," he declared.
An EU-sponsored cease-fire says both Russian and Georgian forces must move back to positions they held before fighting broke out Aug. 7 in Georgia's separatist republic of South Ossetia, which has close ties to Russia. The agreement also says Russian forces can work in a so-called "security zone" that extends more than four miles into Georgia from South Ossetia.
Poti is at least 95 miles west of the nearest point in South Ossetia. It's also Georgia's key oil port.
(Excerpt) Read more at ap.google.com ...
Either Medvedev is being disengenuous, or he doesn’t have full control of his military.
Even Condi and Sarko must be beginning to suspect that they’ve been flim-flammed....
Some forces have been pulling out of Gori and moving north but other forces like these in Poti seem to be digging in for the long haul.
” Lack of credibility will make each of these situations worse and ultimately more bloody. “
I’ve maintained from the beginning that the geo-strategic purpose of this exercise was to demonstrate to our shakier ‘friends’ that the US is an unreliable ally...
(Making Iran’s task in the ME that much easier...)
That may be Putin's intention - but if Medvedev doesn't control the military, then Russia look like the fool.
I think most of the world views Medvedev as a proxy for Putin and that Putin is in charge including the military. That view was bolstered by Putin flying from the Olympics to North Ossetia to comfort the troops and other injured.
Russian President Dmitry Medvedev promised to pull almost all troops from Georgia by the weekend, but there was no immediate sign of movement yesterday.
LOL, Maybe we can offer them a stack of papers with the words
“We promise to pull out by _________” and they can make out a new one each morning.
Oh that’s ok Misha, because much of the world is making fun of Russia right now.
Pay no attention to what Medvedev promises, Putin is in control, and looking to rebuild the Soviet Union.
Can't disagree with him on that at all. The Russians are playing the West for cowards and fools. They must be laughing their rear ends off at us as they continue to make promises, then openly defy the promises they make, then make new promises, then defy them, and then repeat that cycle endlessly. They are using the West's desire to avoid conflict at all costs to show what paper tigers we really are, and they're doing it in a most humiliating way.
It's embarrassing.
Using the common vernacular, I’d call this stage of negotations “strip poker” or even truth/dare.
Isn’t it just the funniest coincidence that Russia is the one helping Iran with their nuclear program? /s
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