Posted on 09/05/2008 11:24:49 PM PDT by Schnucki
A US Navy flagship carrying humanitarian aid yesterday steamed into a Georgian port where Russian troops are still stationed, stoking tensions once again in the tinderbox Caucasus region.
A previous trip by US warships was cancelled at the last minute a week ago amid fears that an armed stand-off could intensify in the Black Sea port of Poti.
The arrival of the USS Mount Whitney, flagship of the 6th Fleet in the Mediterranean, came as Moscow accused Dick Cheney, the hawkish US Vice-President, of stoking tensions during a visit to Tbilisi this week. After meeting President Saakashvili, Mr Cheney vowed to bring Georgia into the Nato alliance. Russia sees such moves as Western encroachment on its traditional sphere of influence.
Russia’s leaders have accused previous US warships that docked at the port of Batumi, to the south, of delivering weapons to re-arm the smashed Georgian military — charges that Washington denied.
While Russia again questioned the deployment of what it described as “the number one ship of its type in the US Navy” in the Black Sea, it said that it planned no military action in response. The Russian Army has kept a small component of soldiers in Poti, where Georgian officials accuse them of looting port authority buildings.
“Naval ships of that class can hardly deliver a large amount of aid,” said Andrei Nesterenko, a Russian Foreign Ministry spokesman. “Such ships have a hold for keeping provisions for the crew and items needed for sailing. How many tonnes of aid can a ship of that type deliver?”
(Excerpt) Read more at timesonline.co.uk ...
Biased coverage for a candidate is one thing but spiking coverage at the expense of an informed electorate is an abdication of their raison d'tere.
To paraphrase Don McClean, When Edward R. Murrow, Huntley & Brinkley passed (not Cronkite), it was the Day the News died.
I hope Russia is careful and I hope they don’t think we are over-extended in our wars. We could out spend them in one week.
Depends on what you consider ‘aid’. If you mean foodstuffs and blankets, granted not as much as a defenseless freighter, but if you extend the term ‘aid’ just a bit to include bring hope to a people that's been thoroughly beat down by a much larger bully for decades then then ‘a ship of that type’ is just what the doctor ordered!! In fact, I would recommend using the USS Iowa for future such missions. Sale that baby right into the heart of the Russian ships ‘guarding’ the harbor. Maybe even fire a few blanks from the 16-inch guns, just to let them know you're there.
Deep in my subconscious I am hoping against hope that John McCain still has some of the fire he had as a navy pilot and will not be able to resist the temptation to do things just to aggravate our enemies.
It also might remind Russia to return those Hummers they seized under right of angary.
How true, but they are still impressive! Nothing says ‘diplomacy’ like a battleship. Granted one of today's guided missile frigates is a miracle, but to a relatively backward people those guns make a statement.
I fear that over the years Dubya has become gun shy. The Lefties/MSM made such an issue of his cowboy ways that he decided they weren't a useful armament. And of course, he had no one in State or CIA to back him up and keep the traitors in check.
My dad taught me early in life that when you're in a fight you're gonna have to win quickly and decisively or you're just end up fighting the same fight over and over and in the long run you'll take more punishment than you would have had you done it right the first time. He said look at the weapon your opponent has chosen and you get one just like it only bigger and better. They chose it because they have faith in that weapon and they'll be a lot likely to back down when faced with a bigger and better weapon of their choice.
If I were profiling John McCain I would have to assume that he has lots, and I mean LOT'S, of pent up aggression from all those years he had to take and couldn't give in return. My guess is he's pretty much a hair-trigger and I think that's going to work to our advantage in today's world.
Sure would love to see and hear those 16-guns one time before I shuffle off this mortal coil!
So would I but I'm told that it would be impossible to crew one of them today - the skills are going away with the veterans who served before.
And, to GAB...thanks, I learned a word.
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