Posted on 08/10/2008 3:40:28 PM PDT by flyfree
When violence broke out in the Caucasus on Friday morning, John McCain quickly issued a statement that was far more strident toward the Russians than that of President Bush, Barack Obama and much of the West.
But, as Russian warplanes pounded Georgian targets far beyond South Ossetia this weekend, Bush, Obama and others have moved closer to McCain's initial position.
(Excerpt) Read more at politico.com ...
Nah... those regulations are for the little people to follow.
A top political adviser in Sen. John McCain's presidential campaign helped arrange an introduction in 2006 between McCain and a Russian billionaire whose suspected links to anti-democratic and organized-crime figures are so controversial that the U.S. government revoked his visa.
Rick Davis, who is now McCain's campaign manager, helped set up the encounter between McCain and Russian aluminum magnate Oleg Deripaska in Switzerland during an international economic conference.
At the time, Davis was working for a lobbying firm and seeking to do business with the billionaire.
There is no evidence that McCain did anything for Deripaska after they met at a social gathering over drinks and dinner. Deripaska was grateful for the introduction, writing a thank-you note to Davis and his partner and offering to assist them in a subsequent business deal, according to a copy of the note obtained by The Washington Post. (Excerpt) Read more at washingtonpost.com ...
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(snip) This is not the first time that Oleg Deripaska, the owner of RusAl aluminum giant, is being accused of ordering international espionage, computer hacking, wiretapping and subversion against his rivals or former partners. In 2006 a London High Court claim was brought by Ansol Company and its consultants, Ashton Investments. Deripaska's RusAl and Ansol were formerly partners in a joint venture to supply alumina to TadAZ, a smelter in Tajikistan. Ashton alleged that in January 2006 it discovered its computer had been hacked.
That "netspionage" was traced back to IP addresses registered to Rusal. Deripaska denied the allegations, but the British court found the computer forensic evidence convincing and Deriapska hurried to settle with Ansol out of court... (/snip)-- SOURCE Israel Police: Oleg Deripaska Wiretapped Chernoy, Lieberman By Isadore Levy Israel News Agency November 20, 2007
(snip)
Saakashvili, now 36, was an only child with an absent father. He was raised by a divorced, domineering, and ambitious mother, and his tough-talking Dutch-born wife, Sandra Roelof, appears to follow in that tradition. (Saakashvili married her in lower Manhattan in 1993 while he was attending Columbia for a year on a U.S. taxpayer-funded scholarship.) In February, Roelof gave an interview to a Dutch magazine for a breathless Vanity Fair-like profile headlined "Sandra Roelof's Fairy Tale: From a Zeeuws Girl to First Lady of Georgia."
Roelof seems to have taken to Georgian politics:
Georgia has produced strong leaders. Stalin, Beria, Gamsakhurdia. Even Shevardnadze, before he got addicted to power. They looked beyond Georgia. My husband does the same; he fits in the tradition. This country needs a strong hand. It is incredibly important that respect for authority returns. That laws are less frequently broken, that people simply pay their bills for once. There is hardly a sense of responsibility here. . . . I think my husband is the right person to frighten people. That is not to say it is immediately fascism or something. Should he develop extremist traits he will be alerted to that. All eyes are looking at us now.What a roll call! Stalin's birthplace in Gori, Georgia, close to the Saakashvilis' home in Tbilisi, is still maintained as a public museum, though the crimes of the man against his own people, particularly native Georgians, are beyond repeating, and Sandra Roelof's citation appears demented. One would think Stalin's house would have been burned down long ago, the ashes scattered to the cold Caucasus winds--and I'm not speaking just metaphorically. If Saakashvili wants to really make some democratic bones, he might drive to Gori and light the ceremonial match.
The second man to whom Sandra Roelof compares her husband is Lavrenty Beria, Stalin's secret police czar and the Georgian-born father of the Soviet Gulag. Beria, a notorious pedophile, was responsible for the deaths of millions of Soviet citizens. He was executed on Khrushchev's order after Stalin's death in 1953.
Next on Roelof's list is Zviad Gamsakhurdia, the first elected president of Georgia, a rabid nationalist completely intolerant of any opposition. He was deposed in a coup in the early '90s and later shot himself in the head (or was murdered). Two weeks ago Saakashvili announced that 2004 would be "the year of Gamsakhurdia," whatever that is intended to mean.
The last of Roelof's major players is Shevardnadze, the mentoring father figure Saakashvili never had, who brought him into parliament, appointed him to his cabinet, and guided him along until Saakashvili turned and stabbed him. Despite the relentless encomiums from the last three U.S. administrations, Shevardnadze was brutal and corrupt. (Saakashvili, who lives around the corner from Shevardnadze in Tbilisi, has never had him arrested.)
(snip)
Oh, my! And McCain is lauding this mans “reforms”????
From the same article (pg 1)
http://www.weeklystandard.com/Content/Protected/Articles/000/000/004/104ygtvi.asp?pg=1
Late last fall, Saakashvili led thousands of “spontaneous” demonstrators, bused in from around Tbilisi, brandishing flowers as they invaded the president’s palace. This was during the freezing Georgian winter when any roses not black and brittle had to be flown or trucked in, courtesy of the same bankroll that funded the fleet of rented buses for demonstrators: that of George Soros, the Hungarian-born billionaire and egotist. A former member of the Georgian Parliament said that in the three months before the “Rose Revolution,” “from August through October, Soros spent $42 million ramping-up for the overthrow of Shevardnadze.”
Soros has publicly committed himself to funding the “democratic” presidency of Mikhail Saakashvili, just as he has publicly committed himself and his money to the destruction of the presidency of George W. Bush, whom he has compared to Yasser Arafat and Hitler. Soros and the United Nations are paying the wages of all of Saakashvili’s top government officials—ministers, deputies, the road police, and others—on the grounds that this will keep them from stealing. As if bribery and corruption were simply a problem of immediate financial need, not greed.
Once again you provide a good service CalCowGirl. It is so hard to know who to back at times like this. I knew Soros had his grubby little fingers all over the region, but I didn’t realize he was propping up this government. Good grief!
And Bush was on board too. Now McCain lauds the guy. Well that makes sense, sinc he was in Soros hip pocket.
Thanks, D1. I usually do a *lot* of research before forming a conclusion.
I don’t like being led around by what appears to be a huge propaganda campaign(s)—from both Russia and the West.
This one is stinky all over.
With this in mind, do we allow Georgia to fall? It seems like a very risky thing to do, because it sends a terrible message to our friends and the leadership of Russia?
It seems like we’re stuck with this guy, like it or not.
What’s your take?
Yes it is. In fact, I posted a question. It’s stinky, but we may have to hold our nose.
I told ya... i have to do a lot of reading before reaching a conclusion. I’m not done yet. lol
My gut feel is they should have told Russia to get out and for Georgia to knock it off. South Ossetia has been basically independent since 1993. Some 90% of the population are Russian citizens. Short of killing them all, I doubt there will be much ‘love’ from that region—so they shouldn’t be storming in there demanding that they “unite.”
As far as I can tell, the critical pipeline route does *not* go through So. Ossetia. If the pipeline is to be preserved without a major war with Russia, perhaps they should just let Ossetia be. Which begs a big question for me. What prompted this squirmish now? Why did Saakashvili take the actions he did that appear to have ignited the whole affair?
Like I said—I’m not done reading, but Saakashvili’s past actions and associations don’t exactly endear me the man. At best, this would be like supporting our great “ally”, Stalin against Hitler. ;-)
S’ok. Shevie was a russian puppet and worse. Surprisingly, Soros has been unable to make any changes to the Georgian society. And we have given the Georgians FAR more cash than Soros, trust me. Huge amounts of foriegn aid.
Only because Russian went in and handed out passports right and left to them like candy. Duh.
The Russkies planned this weeks ago, anyone can see that the amount of equipment moved in could not be moved that quickly. And, then they got separatists to provoke the Georgians into the initial assault.
Says who? It is a part of Georgia and has never been recognized as a sovereign country. Do your homework.
For the same reasons that Israel goes in and pops the palis a few times after they keep provoking them.
Says who? Learn to read english. I didn't say it was a sovereign country.
It didn't address Soros and Shevardnadze. But it does appear Saakashvili is a Soros puppet.
Surprisingly, Soros has been unable to make any changes to the Georgian society.
LOL. I'm sure his bottom line has been greatly enhanced.
Good thread. Thanks to you both for the unfiltered information.
Says who? It is a part of Georgia and has never been recognized as a sovereign country. Do your homework.Learn to read english. I didn't say it was a sovereign country.
Nor is it independent, in any possible way.
It is a bankrupt and gangster-ridden place which Russia props up financially.
There is no industry or statehood.
You have an agenda, whatever. I know Georgia extremely well and in fact, was about to go there again. I have been studying the language for some time now.
Soros--likeable. Oxymoron, in my book.
You have an agenda, whatever.
I have no agenda other than learning the truth. This propaganda campaign is suspicious, and Soros's involvement makes it even more so.
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