3
POPSUN: Georgians Effectively Blocked from Homes On Saturday, Sen. Bob Corker, R-Tenn., a member of the chamber's foreign relations committee, visited Gori to observe the distribution of U.S. food aid. Asked whether the United States was considering new military aid, Corker said "these subjects are part of a longer and mid-term discussion" when Congress reconvenes in September. Russia supplies the EU with about a third of its oil and about two-fifths of its natural gas. British Prime Minister Gordon Brown said European nations should adopt a united energy policy to avoid becoming too dependent on Russia. He said the EU nations should "use our collective bargaining power." "Without urgent action we risk sleepwalking into an energy dependance on less stable or reliable partners," Brown wrote in The Observer newspaper. Brown said he spoke with Russian President Dmitry Medvedev by telephone Saturday, and told the Russian leader "to expect a determined European response" to the crisis.
0
POPSRussians use Cluster Munitions Russian aircraft dropped RBK-250 cluster bombs, each containing 30 PTAB 2.5M submunitions, on the town of Ruisi in the Kareli district of Georgia
5
POPSHuge Train Blast as Russia Faces New Pressure to Leave Georgia But it added that international monitors would not replace Russian troops as a statement from the French presidency asserted. "During the telephone conversation between the Russian and French presidents, there was no discussion about replacing Russian peacekeeping troops by an OSCE mission in the buffer zone," said a Kremlin spokesman. The West sees the presence of OSCE monitors as critical to ensuring the success of the ceasefire. The speedy military victory over Georgia, which is pressing for membership of NATO, stunned Western powers and plunged relations between Russia and the West to their lowest point since the end of the Cold War. The latest focus of international tension was the Black Sea, where NATO naval exercises are taking place. A US destroyer arrived on Sunday in Georgia with what the Pentagon says are humanitarian aid supplies.
4
POPSCluster bombs used by Russians in Georgia “We were playing with them, as were the Georgian soldiers,” said Tatrishvili. “It was only when one of the bombs exploded after a soldier threw it that we understood that they were dangerous.”
0
POPSRussia restricting travel in Georgia French Ambassador Eric Fournier was reportedly stopped on the morning of August 21 near Gori for three hours as he tried to return to Tbilisi from a village further west. Matyas Eorsi, an envoy from the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, was initially refused entry to Gori on August 20, before the decision was reversed. In a blow to local sensitivities, the governor of Shida Kartli, Lasha Vardzelashvili, was detained for two hours by Russian forces after trying to secure a humanitarian aid convoy’s passage through a Russian checkpoint.
7
POPS Russian's Break Agreement As Usual 14.08.08 13:19 Declaration of U.S. support to Georgia has increased the aggression of Russia and instead of pulling out from the city of Gori, they have reinforced their positions there, ousted Georgian police and journalists from the city. Reporters say they are hearing explosions from the entrance of the city; Ossetian gunmen have abducted several vehicles of various TV crews, reportedly, Niva, Jeep and Mercedes type cars. Russians did not stop the robbers. Ossetian militant was even threatening the reporter of the Rustavi2 with a gun. Despite numerous evidences of various reporters, Russian general denies the abduction. Georgian Security Secretary, who was waiting for the settlement of situation in the city, and the team of reporters have been evacuated from the city. Russian general says he is no responsible for the security of journalists and says no exact date when Russian will leave the city.
2
POPSRussians Defy Cease-Fire: Troops In Georgia Digging In
Elsewhere in Georgia, it appeared very clear that Russian troops were staying put, building ramparts around tanks and posting sentries on a hill near Igoeti, a central Georgia town only 30 miles (50 kilometers) west of Tbilisi. Russian troops still effectively control the main artery running through the western half of Georgia because they surround the strategic central city of Gori and additionally the city and air base of Senaki in the west. Both cities are on the main east-west highway that slices through two Georgian mountain ranges. Russia also confirmed Sunday that it had taken over a major power plant in western Georgia. Rice noted that the text of the cease-fire, negotiated by French President Nicolas Sarkozy, the current leader of the European Union, outlined a very limited mandate for the soldiers that Russia calls peacekeepers who were in Georgia when hostilities escalated. She said these soldiers can go on limited patrols within the two separatist areas but in Georgia
1
POPSRice Arrives in Georgia With Cease-Fire Concessions Meanwhile, a flurry of international diplomacy was set in motion, even as regional tensions escalated dramatically over a missile defense deal between the U.S. and Poland — with a top Russian general saying the pact exposes Poland to attack. Gori, about 45 miles west of the capital Tbilisi, is key to when — or if — Russia will honor the terms of a cease-fire that calls for both sides to pull their forces back to the positions they held before fighting broke out last week in the separatist region of South Ossetia. By holding Gori, Russian forces effectively cut the country in half because the city sits along Georgia's only significant east-west highway. Russian military vehicles were blocking the eastern road into the city on Friday, although they allowed in one Georgia bus filled with loaves of bread. President Bush video statement
2
POPSRussian Offensive in Georgia Jeopardizes Ties With U.S. Condoleezza Rice rushed to the former Soviet republic with a new cease-fire plan offering concessions to Moscow. The new document would allow Russian peacekeepers who were in the disputed South Ossetia region before the fighting broke out a week ago to stay, and they would now be permitted to patrol in a strip up to six miles outside the area, the officials said. "The United States spent 45 years working very hard to avoid a military confrontation with Russia. I see no reason to change that approach today," Gates said at the Pentagon. Standing alongside, the vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Gen. James Cartwright, said it appeared Russia was "generally complying" with the truce. But then Georgian leaders said a convoy of more than 100 Russian tanks and other vehicles had moved from the western city of Zugdidi deeper into their nation before stopping. Cartwright had said Russian forces appeared to be forming up in Georgia in preparation for withdrawal.
8
POPSHey Congress! Georgia Attacked South Ossetia First!
Let Congress know who is being overlooked in the US-Russia-Georgia conflict--the people of South Ossetia who want and prefer Russian rule since their declaration of independence from Georgia years ago--whom Georgia attacked and invaded, killing civilians! Russia responded. Congress needs to stop listening to White House propagandists and see the real story, before they start a new Iraq conflict, with Russia, and even towards world war (i.e. NATO versus Russia and allies)! And Congress needs informed people to help wake them up to these documented facts: The Ossetians, a divided people with one section living within Russia on the north side of the Caucasus mountains, and the other in Georgia, generally felt more comfortable with Russian rule than as part of the new, post-Soviet Georgian state. A small and nasty war with Tbilisi in 1990-92 led to a declaration of independence Is it not the Ossetians that have the stake in all this, who will govern and rule them?
3
POPSPresident Saakashvili, "We are Giving Final Adios to the Soviet Union” It has indicated that it feels Mr Saakashvili, whom it accuses of war crimes, should resign, and that it is disinclined to negotiate directly with him. ” Saakashvili, however, has declined to play the loser. Speaking before flag-waving crowds the Georgian President announced that his country, in consultation with Parliament, had decided to leave the Commonwealth of Independent States and had urged the Ukraine to do the same. CNN quoted him as saying, “we are giving final adios to the Soviet Union.” A senior Russian military commander said the halt in the Russian advance into Georgia did not mean all operations would end.”If we have received the order to ceasefire, this does not mean that we have stopped all actions, including reconnaissance,” General Anatoly Nogovitsyn said. … Russia’s President Dmitry Medvedev on Tuesday ordered a halt to the military offensive against Georgia saying it had been punished but could be hit again. …
10
POPSEditorial from the President of Georgia "I have staked my country's fate on the West's rhetoric about democracy and liberty. As Georgians come under attack, we must ask: If the West is not with us, who is it with? If the line is not drawn now, when will it be drawn? We cannot allow Georgia to become the first victim of a new world order as imagined by Moscow. "
3
POPSGeorgia Says Russians Bombing, Looting Gori "The border has been along this river for 1,000 years," separatist official Ruslan Kishmaria told AP on Wednesday. He said Georgia would have to accept the new border and taunted the departed Georgian forces by saying they had received "American training in running away." An APTN television crew in Gori saw some Russian armored vehicles Wednesday morning near a military base there. Puffs of smoke in the air indicated some military action. An AP photographer saw several Russian troops and two armored vehicles on the northern outskirts of the city. His driver went further up the road and ran into Russian military volunteers, who warned that Russian forces would soon shell Gori. Georgia insisted its troops were driven from Abkhazia by Russian forces. At first, Russia said separatists — not Russian forces — had done the job. But the claim rang hollow — an AP reporter saw 135 Russian military vehicles heading toward the gorge Tuesday and Russia is the military patron for the separa
5
POPSGeorgian Villages Being Burned and Looted, Children Kidnapped! "Behind them (say eyewitnesses) is a whole column of irregulars who locals say are Chechens, Cossacks and Ossetians. "Eyewitnesses say they are looting, killing and burning. These irregulars have killed three people and set fire to villages. They have been taking away young boys and girls," said Harding, watching smoke rise from another village, Karaleti. Earlier, Georgia said its troops had pulled out of the separatist region of Abkhazia today after the Kremlin laid down humiliating peace terms as the price for halting the Russian invasion and its four-day rout of Georgian forces. Georgia's president, Mikheil Saakashvili, signalled his partial assent to the terms, announcing with Sarkozy that he accepted the ceasefire. But Saakashvili raised questions about a continuing Russian military presence in Georgia and the prospects for any durable settlement looked uncertain.
7
POPSGeorgians Rally in the Face of Russian Horror Related Story: Obama V.P. Hopeful claims Obama stopped the war! Need more proof that Obama and his supporters are a bit too full of themselves? Here’s the statement of Virginia Governor Tim Kaine, a hopeful in the Obama veepstakes: “It was a bad crisis for the world. It required tough words but also a smart approach to call on the international community to step in. And I’m very, very happy that the Senator’s request for a ceasefire has been complied with by President Medvedev.” — Tim Kaine, August 12, 2008 Hot Air has video and more. Kaine: Putin bent to Obama’s will e already has imbibed fully of The One’s Kool-Aid with his analysis of the purported Russian cease-fire this morning. Kaine told Fox News that he was glad that Russia listened to Obama’s demand for a cessation of its attack on Georgia http://hotair.com/archives/2008/08/12/kaine-putin-bent-to-obamas-will/
4
POPSGeorgia Report: Attacks Continue as Medvedev Orders Military Halt Russia's foreign minister called for Georgian President Mikhail Saakashvili to resign and Medvedev said Georgia must pull its troops from South Ossetia and Abkhazia — the two Russian-backed breakaway provinces at the heart of the dispute. A Russian general dismissed Georgian reports that warplanes again bombed a pipeline and accused Georgia of spreading false reports in order to rally anti-Russian sentiments in the West.
1
POPSBackground on Georgia President Saakashvili The Bush administration, with its broad assurances of support for Georgia, has come in for strong criticism in Georgia for having emboldened Mr. Saakashvili to challenge Russia. But Mr. Saakashvili has resisted the notion that he was somehow taken in. Asked in a recent interview on CNN if he believed Georgia could win against Russia militarily, Mr. Saakashvili said, “I am not crazy.”
0
POPSrussia digs in uhhhhh the "logical stopping point?" do these guys know what country they're talking about? russia doesn't do tit for tat. they do tanks to the capitol.
3
Pops
Newest Clips
Latest Comments
Most Pops
Print
Save
Turn on live update