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DID SAAKASHVILI LIE? The West begins to doubt Georgian leader
Spiegel ^ | 15 September 2008 | by SPIGEL Staff

Posted on 09/17/2008 4:02:34 AM PDT by Doctor13

The West Begins to Doubt Georgian Leader

Five weeks after the war in the Caucasus the mood is shifting against Georgian President Saakashvili. Some Western intelligence reports have undermined Tbilisi's version of events and there are now calls on both sides of the Atlantic for an independent investigation.

But now, five weeks after the end of the war in the Caucasus, the winds have shifted in America. Even Washington is beginning to suspect that Saakashvili, a friend and ally, could in fact be a gambler -- someone who triggered the bloody five-day war and then told the West bold-faced lies. "The concerns about Russia have remained," says Paul Sanders, an expert on Russia and the director of the conservative Nixon Center in Washington. His words reflect the continuing Western assessment that Russia's military act of revenge against the tiny Caucasus nation Georgia was disproportionate, that Moscow violated international law by recognizing the separatist republics of South Ossetia and Abkhazia and, finally, that it used Georgia as a vehicle to showcase its imperial renaissance.

As it appears, it is still difficult to separate truth and lies about the brief war in the Caucasus.

RALF BESTE, UWE KLUSSMANN, CORDULA MEYER, CHRISTIAN NEEF, MATTHIAS SCHEEP, HANS-JÜRGEN SCHLAMP, HOLGER STARK

Translated from the German by Christopher Sultan

(Excerpt) Read more at spiegel.de ...


TOPICS: Foreign Affairs; Russia
KEYWORDS: caucasus; easterneurope; geopolitics; georgia; nato; russia; saakashvili; southossetia; war
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To: FreeInWV
you can delude yourself to your shell and pretend that the picture you have painted for yourself actually is a representation of anything remotely resembling truth, but it is not. I certainly cannot drag you out of your delusional world! Besides, if you do not want to read my post, it's one thing and it is up to you - an entirely different point is that you cannot seem to deduce the meaning behind the source you yourself treat as unbiased, which only unmistakably demonstrates bias on your side; which, consequently, also points to a very systematic syndrome - you accuse others of what you really are and think you can get away with that!
41 posted on 09/20/2008 7:23:50 AM PDT by Lasha
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To: Lasha; FreeInWV
Some people prefer to live with their eyes closed and evade the truth at every turn.

For them ignorance is bliss.

42 posted on 09/20/2008 4:17:00 PM PDT by MarMema (regime change in Russia!!)
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To: gandalftb; FreeInWV; Doctor13; Lasha
RUSSIANS IN OSSETIA BEFORE HOSTILITIES

"The Georgian Government has leaked extracts from some telephone conversations which reveal that Russian troops crossed the border into South Ossetia several hours before Tbilisi's military intervention against Tskhinvali got under way."

43 posted on 09/20/2008 4:54:51 PM PDT by MarMema (regime change in Russia!!)
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To: MarMema; Lasha

“Some people prefer to live with their eyes closed and evade the truth at every turn.”

Just because I do not refute some ridiculous assertions does not mean that I or others do not understand, or that we are living with our eyes closed, or that we are ignorant. Your Georgian friend made some spectacular claims. It was Baghdad Bob’esque. For example, it would hardly be difficult to refute his claims that Georgians living in Ossetia were denied the right to vote. One would only need to look at the reports by the international observers, or look at the 95% voter turnout. I am sure that neither of you would accept these facts however. You would likely contrive another incredulous story. Maybe its denial. Maybe he is too close to the situation. He is obviously someone who hates the S. Ossetians and wants them gone. Maybe he is the president of Georgia. I don’t know, but his stories don’t don’t sound reasonable.

You also might wanna check your above post about claims that Russian armor crossed into S. Ossetia prior to the Georgian invasion. Satellite surveillance is more than sufficient to prove this if there is any merit to it. I am sure that the US (or Georgia, or Nato) would immediately post the images, or at least make the claim if it were true.

I doubt I will read or post any more info on this thread. There is too much misinformation here. It all pretty irrelevant anyway since Russia is gonna do whatever it wants, and nobody else is in a position to project any power into the region anyway. Even if we could, it would be a really hard sell to the US people as a just war. It would likely cost the GOP everything in the upcoming election.

Have a nice day.


44 posted on 09/21/2008 9:01:05 PM PDT by FreeInWV
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To: FreeInWV
I doubt I will read or post any more info on this thread

And thanks for proving my point.

45 posted on 09/21/2008 10:02:14 PM PDT by MarMema (regime change in Russia!!)
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To: FreeInWV
how about the newyork times?

"Georgia also provided audio files of the intercepts along with English translations to The New York Times, which made its own independent translation from the original Ossetian into Russian and then into English."

"But at a minimum, the intercepted calls, which senior American officials have reviewed and described as credible if not conclusive, suggest there were Russian military movements earlier than had previously been acknowledged, whether routine or hostile, into Georgian territory as tensions accelerated toward war."

46 posted on 09/21/2008 10:07:10 PM PDT by MarMema (regime change in Russia!!)
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To: FreeInWV
internation herald tribune

Calls intercepted from Georgian cellphone network

Plenty more out there for those who really want to know the truth. Obviously you do not.

47 posted on 09/21/2008 10:09:53 PM PDT by MarMema (regime change in Russia!!)
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To: FreeInWV
Russia has not disputed that troops moved through the tunnel before the main Georgian assault.
48 posted on 09/21/2008 10:13:19 PM PDT by MarMema (regime change in Russia!!)
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To: FreeInWV

I have seen way to many groundless statements, but you have surpassed anything! US department of state acknowledged that their satelites were not monitoring the situation in a briefing held in Tbilisi. I simply cannot hate Ossetians (dude, get into your head, there is no such thing as S. Ossetians) because I have relatives you are Ossetians, neighbors who are ossetians, best friend who’s mother is Ossetian. the 95% turnout you are referring to was recorded by Russians, the ONLY monitoring entity there and was recorded ONLY in villages that were under control of Kokoyty - how about other villages that did not even have polling stations there? If you do not want to read more posts here - it’s up to you - as I told you, cannot grad you out of your shell!


49 posted on 09/22/2008 4:09:37 AM PDT by Lasha
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To: Lasha

Probably Russian.


50 posted on 09/22/2008 10:54:15 AM PDT by MarMema (regime change in Russia!!)
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To: MarMema

I really do not know - it’s possible, although I think it’s unlikely: I think this is more like someone who has Russian friends, heard some stories and never bothered checking the veracity thereof.


51 posted on 09/22/2008 1:09:36 PM PDT by Lasha
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