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| Caucasus/Russia/Central Asia |
| 'Phone taps prove Russia aggression' |
| 2008-09-17 |
| Georgia claims intercepted phone calls prove its attack against South Ossetia started 20 hours after an invasion by Russian troops. Russia dismissed the allegations as "not serious". The recordings released Tuesday by Georgia aimed to blame Moscow for the five-day war that killed hundreds of people. The recordings are purportedly intercepts of two exchanges between a South Ossetian border guard at the southern entrance to the Roki tunnel, and another guard at the headquarters in the South Ossetian capital. According to the English translations of the recordings, in the first call, which purportedly began at 3:41 a.m. local time on Aug. 7, the South Ossetian guard at the tunnel says "they have moved armored personnel carriers out and the tunnel is full." In the next call, about 10 minutes later, the guard says "armor and people" had emerged from the tunnel. Asked whether there was a lot of armor, the guard says, "Well, tanks, BMPs and those things." Russia said the force movements referred to in the intercepts may have been a routine rotation by Russian peacekeeping forces already operating in Georgia before the war broke out. The tunnel, which connects the South Ossetia to Russia, is over 2 miles (3.7 kilometers) long. "Allegations that they have eavesdropped on someone and heard something are simply not serious,'' Russian Foreign Ministry spokesman Andrei Nesterenko said. Ever since Georgia and Russia's engagement in a five-day war last month, both sides have tried to prove the other as the first aggressor in the hopes of shedding the blame for the death of hundreds of people. |
| Posted by:Fred |
| #9 Dry also means lacking. When referring to alcohol availability, at least. ;-) God forbid the Frenchman anonymous5089 ever be in that situation! |
| Posted by: trailing wife 2008-09-17 20:44 |
| #8 Oh it's dry wit? Damn thanks for the info 5089. Dry also means lacking. |
| Posted by: .5MT 2008-09-17 20:05 |
| #7 Ok, I'll try to listen more to your own brand of propaganda then, since it's obviously the better one out there. I, for one, welcome my new russian Overlords! All hail the mighty putin (the manly, blue-eyed blond who wrestled away russia from the grip of the jooooooooo-ish oligarchs, according to my fellow gallic wingnuts). And since I'm now in agreement with the definite majority of the french reacosphère (russia = good, the only force standing against the Empire along with other nationalist regimes like iran, georgia = lackey of the Washington-Tel Aviv axis and their pipeline, bad), I'll just try not to become more Judeo-Vigilant (Judeo-Skeptic from times to times, with Judeo-Indifferent as a default mode) than I already am... because I know you already are wary of gentiles, as you said you knew about them, growing up in their midst... in jooooooooooo-friendly russia, the home of the manly blue-eyed sons of the Rus. So, dry-witted G(r)om, thanks for the enlightening correction! Now, I know better. |
| Posted by: anonymous5089 2008-09-17 16:52 |
| #6 I wish you could understand the distinction reality and propaganda, a5089. |
| Posted by: g(r)omgoru 2008-09-17 16:39 |
| #5 "I wish I could understand you rooting for russia." G(r)omgoru can correct me, but I believe he had emigrated from Russia to Israel. Which gives him two reasons to be obnoxious. |
| Posted by: Milton Fandango. 2008-09-17 11:55 |
| #4 While it is fine to fantasize that Georgia could have attacked the Russians at the tunnel, that ignores the fact that the Russians had tactical air superiority over South Ossetia. That superiority was evidenced by shooting down Georgian UAVs going back to April and the ravaging of Georgian Air Force assets during the opening days of the conflict. There are reports that a Georgian commando group was parachuted into the area south of the tunnel and managed to destroy a bridge and about 15 armored vehicles before being wiped out. The force that was sent to relieve them was the force that was accused of attacking the South Ossetian capital which sits astride the only road to the tunnel. If these reports are true then Georgia owes a great deal to that group who delayed the Russian advance for 24-48 hours and gave the Georgians breathing space until world opinion could halt the Russian advance outside Tblisi. The intercepted phone conversations serve to demonstrate that the Georgians were aware of the Russian invasion. The Georgians appear from the other reports to have acted promptly in defense of their country. |
| Posted by: DanNY 2008-09-17 07:42 |
| #3 If there was massive Russian movement, then wouldn't the Georgians have attacked them at the tunnel? No such attacks occurred. In fact, on Aug. 7, the Georgian Defense Minister went on state television to announce that his troops were acting "to restore the constitutional order," without reference to any other cause. At the time, President Saakashvili said they were moving against South Ossetia militias, and that is exactly what they did. In fact, the "Peacekeeper" barracks were a major target in the blitzkreig. Reports of the 9 in place "Monitors" of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (the US is a member state) contradicts the Georgian position on their conduct. The fog of war rises again. |
| Posted by: Flish Borgia2557 2008-09-17 05:31 |
| #2 I wish I could understand you rooting for russia. |
| Posted by: anonymous5089 2008-09-17 04:58 |
| #1 I wish I could get a USDS schoolarship to study in Ivy Lague university and be as smart as Saakashvilli. |
| Posted by: g(r)omgoru 2008-09-17 04:25 |