Free Republic

Tbilisi: The Georgian military police tried to seize the Russian military base near the Black Sea port of Batumi Friday night, the commander of the Russian Group of Forces in the Caucasus said Saturday. Major General Andrei Popov said 25 military policemen seized a number of facilities at the Gonio firing range, "which is jointly used by Russian and Georgian servicemen". Popov said Georgian Lieutenant Colonel Gocha Ninindze, who commanded the group, said he was fulfilling an order. The incident was settled after the Russian commanders and the Russian Embassy in Georgia discussed the situation with Georgian authorities, he said.

Former Rep. Ron Paul says that America’s reaction to Crimea’s vote to secede from Ukraine should be,“so what?” “Why does the U.S. care which flag will be hoisted on a small piece of land thousands of miles away?” the Texas Republican and libertarian icon wrote in a USA Today op-ed Monday. ...Over the weekend, Crimeans voted to secede from Ukraine and join Russia,which the Russian government has moved to approve. American politicians have called the vote a sham and the administration has said it does not recognize the results of the vote,placing sanctions on some Russian officials in response. Ron...