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| Caucasus/Russia/Central Asia |
| Russians Not Finished Leaving; Block Port of Poti |
| 2008-08-21 |
| Russian forces blocked the only land entrance to Georgia's main port city on Thursday, a day before Russia promised to complete a troop pullout from its ex-Soviet neighbor. Armored personnel carriers and troop trucks blocked the bridge to the Black Sea port city of Poti, and Russian forces excavated trenches and set up mortars facing the city. Another group of APCs and trucks were positioned in a nearby wooded area. Although Russian President Dmitry Medvedev has promised that his forces would pull back by Friday, Russian troops appear to be digging in, raising concern about whether Moscow is aiming for a lengthy occupation of its small, pro-Western neighbor. Georgian President Mikhail Saakashvili told The Associated Press that Russia was thinning out its presence in some occupied towns but was seizing other strategic spots. He called the Russian moves "some kind of deception game." "(The Russians) are making fun of the world," he declared. An EU-sponsored cease-fire says both Russian and Georgian forces must move back to positions they held before fighting broke out Aug. 7 in Georgia's separatist republic of South Ossetia, which has close ties to Russia. The agreement also says Russian forces can work in a so-called "security zone" that extends more than four miles into Georgia from South Ossetia. Poti is at least 95 miles west of the nearest point in South Ossetia. In a sign Russia plans to solidify its control of South Ossetia, Col. Gen. Anatoly Nogovitsyn said Russia would build 18 checkpoints in the security cordon around the province, with 270 soldiers manning front-line posts. Shota Abramidze, a 73-year-old retired engineer, said Gori residents wanted the Russians out. "They've stolen everything. They've bombed everything. This is fascism, that's what this is." Socialist fascism, that is. From each according to their wealth, to each according to their ability to take it. |
| Posted by:Bobby |
| #9 As far as the looting goes, that is standard for old soviet doctrine. Russian soldiers are thugs but I am not saying anything new with that statement. |
| Posted by: ArmyLife 2008-08-21 17:48 |
| #8 If Russia is so pro-independence of small regions, why did they crush Chechnya? Russia provoked this conflicts by unilaterally giving Ossetians Russian passports, by killing Georgian policemen. I grew up in Russia, by the way, in St Petersburg, not in Georgia, and I don't have any bias. A friend of mine is Russian, but has friends in Tbilisi Georgia. She just talked with her friend. Russian troups rob everything in their path, they destroy bridges and roads in Georgia, they push people out of their villages. Russian troups didn't even bring their own food and supply, they rob villages to get it. There are refugees all over Georgia, the kids cannot go to school come September because the schools are taken up by refugees. Hospitals likewise. The Georgian soldiers are delivered with their head broken. This is called peacekeeping? Give me a break. |
| Posted by: kittycat 2008-08-21 12:39 |
| #7 I'd be willing to bet this little road block will soon be well within range of the USS McFaul. |
| Posted by: Ebbang Uluque6305 2008-08-21 12:24 |
| #6 plus the useful idiot buchanon-isolationist-Paulista crowd as well. |
| Posted by: liberalhawk 2008-08-21 11:50 |
| #5 And I suspect that by now, some few of the useful-idiot anti-America progressive crowd have decided to side with Vlad and will continue to leave similar droppings as well. Possibly with more plausible English. Possibly. |
| Posted by: Seafarious 2008-08-21 11:48 |
| #4 Russia has been dispatching human spambots all over the web to post badly written pro-Russia apologias in every comments section on every blog. I'm s'prised we haven't had more here. You can safely ignore, I don't think it's supposed to wait around for debate. |
| Posted by: Seafarious 2008-08-21 11:44 |
| #3 What LH said. Week late and a pound of brains short, giggles. |
| Posted by: DarthVader 2008-08-21 11:38 |
| #2 your a little late dude, we've heard all the excuses already. We know that the Ossetians provoked the Georgians. We know that the So Ossetian death toll was wildly exageratted, and apparently almost all due to the normal effects of urban warfare (and pales beside what happened in Grozny). And that Russia was never interested is S Ossetian independence when Georgia was an SSR. And that Georgia was willing to negotiate autonomy. And that Russia "peacekeepers' were there cause russia kept out neutral peacekeepers. And that said "peacekeepers" were arming and encourage S Ossetians. |
| Posted by: liberalhawk 2008-08-21 11:02 |
| #1 How can You Judge Russia and Ossetia if You See and have access to only One side of that conflict? You see only US TV and Media! BUT they LIE and protect only their gov's asses and interests in georgian ubnormal and unhuman leader because they made a bid on him. They Totally blocked Any other world opinions. So when people see only that Lie info all over again - they're for sure can't think Clear and Right - they think and eat what they got from Media and Politics etc... Nobody think about nightly killed ossetians. - But You? Nobody want to know that not Russians but Svilli broked his peace promisses and ordered a night civilians Bombing! BTW - it was at Olimpic openings night in hope to blitzcreig war win... And Russians start protect deadly attacked civilians and peacekeepers ONLY after 16 hours after Sakhashvilli ordered " Kill them all !" Would You like to fill bombs, bullets, Grads, mines and snipers at Your own Family 16 hours long before someone help You? Where were US EU helps??? And don't You ask a God to save Your Mom, Dad and kids from georgian troops armed by US etc...? So Please don't Judge if You listen only One side of any conflict(especially if that Side is Money/Miltary/Politicaly interested in...) |
| Posted by: Clem Flererong4404 2008-08-21 10:47 |