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| Caucasus/Russia/Central Asia |
| America admits it has few options for dealing with Russia-Georgia war |
| 2008-08-11 |
| American diplomats have conceded that there are few options for dealing what President George W Bush has branded a 'dangerous escalation' by Russia and ruled out military intervention on behalf of Georgia. "We hope that Russia will declare a ceasefire, as Georgia has already done, and this can be settled diplomatically," a National Security Council official told The Daily Telegraph. "We need to work together with Russia over a host of important issues, including Iran." He was speaking as the United States drafted a resolution condemning the "military assault" by Russia to be considered at an emergency meeting of the United Nations Security Council. Russia holds a permanent veto on the council but the draft reflected growing world condemnation of Prime Minister Vladimir Putin's actions. A grim-faced Mr Bush said in Beijing on Saturday that he was "deeply concerned about the situation in Georgia" and that air strikes "far from the zone of conflict in South Ossetia" marked "a dangerous escalation in the crisis". Jim Jeffrey, President Bush's deputy national security adviser, said that White House had told Russia: "If the disproportionate and dangerous escalation on the Russian side continues...this will have a significant long-term impact on U.S.-Russian relations." Russia's action caught the Bush administration by surprise and are an embarrassment to Mr Bush, who was smiling and making small talk with Mr Putin at the Beijing Olympics as Russian aircraft were pounding Georgia, one of the strongest US allies among the former Soviet republics. After his first meeting with Mr Putin in 2001: "I was able to get a sense of his soul, a man deeply committed to his country and the best interests of his country." At the time, Mr Bush was warned by aides that Mr Putin was a former KGB man who was skilled in making it appear he was an adversary’s friend. In the years since, there has been growing concern about Mr Putin’s autocratic rule and his determination to extend Russian influence and regain prestige. On Saturday, Condoleezza Rice, the US secretary of state, demanded that Russia “respect Georgia’s territorial integrity” but gave no indication as to how the US would respond if Mr Putin remained defiant. The main impediment to tough American action against Russia, which diplomats said remained aggrieved by western recognition of Kosovo’s independence from Serbia, is the desire to keep the pressure on Iran over its nuclear ambitions — the administration’s foreign policy priority. Russia wants to prevent Georgia joining Nato. |
| Posted by:john frum |
| #7 Not loss in the profound sense of it, but we had a great deal of interest in Georgia's path towards true independence and it's just been crushed under Russian tanks. That's the loss. |
| Posted by: bigjim-ky 2008-08-11 16:41 |
| #6 So they win, and we lose How do you figure that? |
| Posted by: g(r)omgoru 2008-08-11 13:34 |
| #5 Bigjim-ky - do not despair, it's not that bad with American friendship as you think. Remember Kosovo - looks like one just must be a muslim and a drug trafficant... |
| Posted by: Matt K. 2008-08-11 11:35 |
| #4 So they win, and we lose, and georgia loses, and ukraine will lose when the time comes, and latvia, and so on and so forth. What a useless friend we are. |
| Posted by: bigjim-ky 2008-08-11 08:07 |
| #3 .....an embarrassment to Mr Bush, who was smiling and making small talk with Mr Putin at the Beijing Olympics as Russian aircraft were pounding Georgia, Attending the Olympics was a mistake for this and other reasons as well. Just my opinion. |
| Posted by: Besoeker 2008-08-11 07:52 |
| #2 There is little we can do in Georgia, but there is a lot we can do elsewhere. |
| Posted by: OldSpook 2008-08-11 02:13 |
| #1 HMMMMMM, my nose hairs are twitching... |
| Posted by: JosephMendiola 2008-08-11 01:20 |