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| Caucasus/Russia/Central Asia |
| US Begins Flying Georgian Troops Home from Iraq |
| 2008-08-10 |
| BAGHDAD - A senior U.S. military official says the Americans have begun flying Georgian troops home from Iraq after they requested help with transportation. Georgia has called its 2,000 troops home from Iraq to help in the fighting against Russia in the breakaway province of South Ossetia and asked the U.S. military to help transport them. The official says that the U.S. military has agreed to their request and "some flights have already begun." The official spoke on condition of anonymity Sunday because he was releasing the information ahead of a formal announcement |
| Posted by:Sherry |
| #15 Your division handles those? |
| Posted by: Halliburton - Asymmetrical Reply Division 2008-08-10 23:40 |
| #14 A tunnel? |
| Posted by: Halliburton Earthquake Division 2008-08-10 23:17 |
| #13 Maybe Lend-Lease, tw. I hear it's been done before.... |
| Posted by: Barbara Skolaut 2008-08-10 22:42 |
| #12 Lease? Wouldn't that be counter-productive? ;-) |
| Posted by: trailing wife 2008-08-10 22:20 |
| #11 About now I suppose a cruise missile into the Roki tunnel would be a bit obivous, though useful, counterattack. Maybe Georgia could lease one? |
| Posted by: Halliburton - Asymmetrical Reply Division 2008-08-10 22:15 |
| #10 I've seen nothing that says that any airfields are out of action. The Georgians have so few combat aircraft that it is a waste of bombs to hit their airbases. The news reports claim 1-3 bombs falling, hardly enough to put an airfield out of action. We will have notified the Russians which airfield we are using. Doubt the transports are escorted, unless the Turks are flying with them as they cross Turkish airspace. Turks would not appreciate an accidental shootdown in their airspace, so they are likely escorts. |
| Posted by: Chuck Simmins 2008-08-10 19:57 |
| #9 #7 OldSpook Oddly last week before this started there were 2 bombing in Sochi, a Russian resort town just NW of Abkhazia on the Black Sea, As I recall one was a bomb on a beach 2-3 injured and I think the other was in an Apartment/Hotel. Both were spoken of as terrorist. #8 liberalhawk I agree, from footage I've seen It looks like the Georgians are digging in defensive positions and waiting for the bear. |
| Posted by: linker 2008-08-10 17:48 |
| #8 Getting out of S ossetia is hardly giving up. Its a wise move, I think. First tactically, by fighing in SO teh Georgians are commited to a purely conventional fight - which they cant win if the Russians will put in enought force. Second they leave the political situation at least somewhat ambivalent. By withdrawing they move to turf where they can supplement their conventional forces with guerilla war, and they make the Sov- oops, Russian aggression more blatant. And if they survive in defiance, they humiliate Putin. |
| Posted by: liberalhawk 2008-08-10 17:19 |
| #7 If I were Georgia, I'd try to figure some way to retaliate for the attack on civilians in Georgia - do the same inside Russia. Several truck bombs, a'la McVeigh would do the job nicely outside Russian governmental offices in Russian provinces nearby. US transports - that means US Fighter Escort. Its in range from Balad. F-22s have the legs. |
| Posted by: OldSpook 2008-08-10 16:27 |
| #6 INTERESTING.... wonder what the DEFCON level is? |
| Posted by: 3dc 2008-08-10 15:50 |
| #5 Georgia cracks under MoscowÂ’s military pressure as Russian planes bomb Tbilisi internationational airport DEBKAfile Special Report and Analysis August 10, 2008, 8:17 PM (GMT+02:00) Russian armor pours into South Ossetia and Abkhazia Russian planes bombed Tbilisi international airport and a military airfield near the capital Sunday evening Aug. 10, after Georgia handed the Russian embassy in Tbilisi a desperate message offering to halt military action in South Ossetia and withdraw its troops from the region. Russian forces were then reported to be on the way to invading the Georgian town of Gori after moving in on the second Georgian breakaway province of Abkhazia. The Russian president Dimitry Medvedev rejected the Georgian appeal and said the war would go on until Tbilisi withdrew its forces unconditionally from South Ossetia and pledged never to attack the region again. This is tantamount to Georgia accepting its truncation and surrender to Russian hegemony. DEBKAfile reports that the Russian jets pulverized Gori, leaving hundreds dead, to punish Georgian for invading the South Ossetian capital of Tskhvingali last Thursday. The air raids of the two Georgian airports took place as the US began flying hundreds of Georgian troops home from Iraq, leaving them nowhere to land. During the day, Russian soldiers and marines entered Abkhazia, Georgia's second breakaway province, by land and from Russian Black Sea naval vessels, which were ordered to block Georgian ports against arms delivery by sea. This opened a third front in RussiaÂ’s war with Georgia on Day Three of the armed conflict. At midday, Ukrainian military circles indicated the possibility of closing RussiaÂ’s main Black Sea base of Sevastopol to naval ships on their way back from blockading Georgian ports. The US has drafted a resolution condemning Russia in third UN Security Council session later Sunday. |
| Posted by: Legolas 2008-08-10 14:35 |
| #4 I also suspect that there is a considerable flow of goods across Georgia's southern borders. Maybe they will start issuing green cards to the innumerable people who want some payback against the Russians. |
| Posted by: Anonymoose 2008-08-10 14:35 |
| #3 No Problem Legolas - we've got spare airfields we can deliver. This isn't even the end game - sort of the stage where the dog catches the car - what do the Soviets do with Ossetia know that they've caught it? |
| Posted by: Halliburton - Airfield Delivery Division 2008-08-10 14:32 |
| #2 they being georgia |
| Posted by: Legolas 2008-08-10 14:03 |
| #1 and the russians bombed the int'l airport and airfields so there is probably no place to land- they have pretty much capitulated anyway - asking for ceasefire and negotiations |
| Posted by: Legolas 2008-08-10 14:03 |