Free Republic

Takes Ukrainian citizenship, appointed Governor of Odessa region While it was pretty painful to watch the US-and-Israeli equipped and trained Georgian Armed Forces get their asses kicked by the Russians in 2008, the truth is that the greatly-outnumbered Georgians never stood a chance once the Kremlin decided to get militarily involved, due to the fact that loyal US ally Tbilisi had all their best troops still in Iraq... The Georgian army was reduced to five brigades, nearly all light infantry, ditching practically all its armor and artillery in favor of a counterterrorism and counterinsurgency approach to warfare, which of course was what...

Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko on Saturday appointed fiercely pro-Western former Georgian leader Mikheil Saakashvili, who once fought a war with Russia, as governor of the strategic Odessa region. Poroshenko made the announcement at a televised event in the Black Sea port alongside the reformist Saakashvili, calling the ex-Georgian president a "great friend of Ukraine". "There remain a large number of problems in Odessa: preserving sovereignty, territorial integrity, independence and peace," Poroshenko said. SNIP---- Saakashvili is replacing millionaire Igor Palitsa in the post, a close ally of banking magnate Igor Kolomoisky who has been at loggerheads with Poroshenko over control of...