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About a year ago, I saw a Russian television broadcast in which Vladimir Putin, riding a noble steed, reaches the edge of a lake, deftly removes his shirt and in an impressive display of muscle, leans over and washes his face in the crystal clear water. That is when I began to worry. The leader determined to restore the great nation's lost honor and days of glory was playing the macho worship card. It reminded me of an old Italian propaganda film in which Il Duce - Mussolini - is riding in his official car when he sees a farmer...

<p>TSKHINVALI, Georgia, Aug. 16 -- Nine days ago, late in the afternoon of Aug. 7, Georgian tanks, artillery and infantry began moving out of bases in Georgia and toward South Ossetia, a zone long held by separatists who are backed by Moscow.</p>

Virtually everyone believes Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili foolishly provoked a Russian invasion on August 7, 2008, when he sent troops into the breakaway district of South Ossetia. “The warfare began Aug. 7 when Georgia launched a barrage targeting South Ossetia,” the Associated Press reported over the weekend in typical fashion. Virtually everyone is wrong. Georgia didn't start it on August 7, nor on any other date. The South Ossetian militia started it on August 6 when its fighters fired on Georgian peacekeepers and Georgian villages with weapons banned by the agreement hammered out between the two sides in 1994. At...

<p>IGOETI, Georgia - Russian forces pulled out of positions deep inside Georgia on Friday, two weeks after thousands of troops roared into the small Caucasian nation aboard hundreds of armored vehicles.</p> <p>The movements came after Russia's defense minister said President Dmitry Medvedev had ordered a pullback and promised that Russian forces would withdraw to separatist regions and surrounding security zones by the day's end.</p>

The line separating good and evil passes not through states, nor between political parties either -- but right through every human heart … Alexandr Solzhenitsyn Western Europe can accept at least part of the blame for Vladimir Putin’s strategic ruthlessness. Nearly a year ago Western Europe dragged its feet in allowing Ukraine and Georgia into NATO, partly as a result of Putin applying oil-supply-related pressure to the Germans. No surprise there. Western Europe prefers incessant bureaucratic quibbling to action, or even real diplomacy, anymore. So Putin rightly figured that, having been denied current membership in NATO, Georgia’s chance of...

The U.S. ambassador to Russia has told a Russian daily that Washington strongly urged Georgia not to invade its breakaway province of South Ossetia . . . .

WASHINGTON, Aug. 14, 2008 – Countries around the world are looking at Russia "through new lenses" following its aggression against the former Soviet republic of Georgia, Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates said today. VideoMeanwhile, the United States continues humanitarian efforts to help Georgians affected by the conflict. Two U.S. Air Force C-17 cargo jets have delivered supplies to Georgia, and another aircraft delivered a U.S. military survey team to the country. “During these humanitarian relief operations, the United States expects Russia to ensure that all lines of communication and transport -- including seaports, airports, roads and airspace -- remain...

This is the dramatic moment a TV reporter was shot by a sniper as she reported live from war-torn Georgia. Tamara Urushadze took a bullet to her left arm in the flashpoint town of Gori as Russian forces continued their illegal occupation. Bravely, or foolishly, the 32-year-old brunette continued her report after a few moments as other journalists and aid workers dashed for cover.

US Presidential Candidate Declares Russia Not the Aggressor  

The Sun witnessed the latest horror as a blood-splattered tot was rushed screaming to a shattered hospital in the gateway city of Gori. It was 5pm — four hours after fighting should have stopped. The one-year-old boy with an ugly head wound was carried from a police car. With him was his uninjured sister, three — smeared with his blood. Minutes later, a second cop car screeched to a halt. Inside was the children’s mother, in agony from gunshot wounds in her right shoulder and leg. She was loaded on to a trolley. After a brief examination all three were...

President Medvedev said the EU peace plan contained "good principles to settle the problem," but that Russia would also add proposals and that it was "up to Georgia now". He said that President Saakashvili, whom he described as a "lunatic," had lied about his side's respect for a ceasefire during the conflict. "You know, lunatics' difference from other people is that when they smell blood it is very difficult to stop them. So you have to use surgery," President Medvedev said. Asked about the progress of the peace plan, President Sarkozy said: "The night is young. We are not at...

LONDON (AFP) — British energy giant BP said Tuesday that it has closed two more oil and gas pipelines in Georgia because of the ongoing conflict with Russia. "We have closed two other pipelines in Georgia -- Baku-Supsa and the South Caucasus pipeline, which is a gas pipeline," a BP spokesman told AFP. The key Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan (BTC) pipeline, which BP also operates, was shut last week after a blast occurred in a pump at a section in eastern Turkey. Russia's armed forces on Tuesday denied deliberately targeting the strategic BTC conduit running through Georgia after Tbilisi claimed it had been...

YORK, Pennsylvania (AFP) — Republican White House hopeful John McCain Tuesday stepped up a fusillade against Russian "aggression" and declared that today, "we are all Georgians." Addressing voters in Pennsylvania, McCain said he had spoken by telephone earlier with Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili, who he said wanted to thank the American people for their support. "I told him that I know I speak for every American when I say to him, today, we are all Georgians," said the Republican, a hardliner against Russia who wants the mighty nation expelled from the Group of Eight club.

GEORGIA'S prime minister says he wants more evidence of a Russian halt to military operations after Russian fighter jets continued to bomb Georgian villages. Russian President Dmitry Medvedev said early on Tuesday he had ordered an end to military operations in Georgia. But Georgian Prime Minister Lado Gurgenidze said Russian jets were still targeting civilians. "Despite the Russian president's claims earlier this morning that military operations against Georgia have been suspended, at this moment, Russian fighter jets are bombarding two Georgian villages outside South Ossetia," Mr Gurgenidze said. He said the Kremlin's statement that it had ceased military operations was...

Headline only so far on fox news ...

I’m sorry but this is one reason why I have no real respect for the so-called “peace movement”. I would think a peacenik would abhor all war and call for peace whenever and wherever it broke out. But alas, the peace movement is currently silent (Day Four) when it comes to the recent Russian invasion of Georgia.

The Georgian National Anthem   Freedom Our icon is the homeland Trust in God is our creed, Enlightened land of plains and mounts, Blessed by God and holy heaven. The freedom path we've learnt to follow Makes our future spirits stronger, The morning star will rise above us And lighten up the land between the two seas. Glory to long-cherished freedom, Glory liberty!  

Erie, Pa: ARLINGTON, VA – Today, in Erie, Pennsylvania, U.S. Senator John McCain delivered the following statement regarding the current conflict between Georgia and Russia: “Americans wishing to spend August vacationing with their families or watching the Olympics may wonder why their newspapers and television screens are filled with images of war in the small country of Georgia. Concerns about what occurs there might seem distant and unrelated to the many other interests America has around the world. And yet Russian aggression against Georgia is both a matter of urgent moral and strategic importance to the United States of America....

As I write, Russia is waging war on my country. On Friday, hundreds of Russian tanks crossed into Georgian territory, and Russian air force jets bombed Georgian airports, bases, ports and public markets. Many are dead, many more wounded. This invasion, which echoes Afghanistan in 1979 and the Prague Spring of 1968, threatens to undermine the stability of the international security system. Why this war? This is the question my people are asking. This war is not of Georgia's making, nor is it Georgia's choice. The Kremlin designed this war. Earlier this year, Russia tried to provoke Georgia by effectively...

Build up: A column of Russian armoured vehicles head towards South OssetiaA bloodied woman lies injured in the ruins of an apartment block in Gori after another Russian air strikeAnguish: A man cradles the body of a relative in the street after Russian planes bomb homes in Gori, killing five peopleFleeing: A boy and a woman stare in terror at the carnage from a vehicle as they are evacuated from South OssetiaGeorgian soldiers stand near a lorry evacuating local residents from Avnebi, a Georgian enclave near Tskhinvali, in the breakaway Georgian province of South OssetiaDevastation: A Georgian tank burns after...